[10nitin]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Somebody who knows about Airmiles redemption can actually book multiple Business Class Tickets on Singapore Airlines or Vistara by converting these reward points to miles.

Hey! I've been reading your posts about credit cards and their points mechanics and I must say, you are amazing at it! I have an Infinia card too and I agree that it has one of the best returns in the country. However, I don't know anything about the airline miles and how they can be used to our advantage. Just had a question, forgive me for sounding like an amateur but, what's the point of converting the Infinia points to Krisflyer miles when you can just book the tickets with those points on smartbuy? Sure, the only advantage I see is that you pay a nominal amount as opposed to 30% (revised recently) when you book via smartbuy.

Looking at the Krisflyer chart, a Singapore to India return flight in economy class comes to about 74k miles (which will be converted from 74k infinia points) plus some taxes. Whereas, just buying the ticket using the points on smartbuy would probably end up costing half of that. Am I missing something?

[akhil_007]

I'm curios to know how good/bad is SCB Manhattan Platinum Credit card. I have been using Citibank Rewards Card exclusively. No complaints.

But if Manhattan is better- I'll switch to using that

PS: have Manhattan since many years but never got around to using it

[pvivek2]

Originally Posted by 10nitin

Hey! I've been reading your posts about credit cards and their points mechanics and I must say, you are amazing at it! I have an Infinia card too and I agree that it has one of the best returns in the country. However, I don't know anything about the airline miles and how they can be used to our advantage. Just had a question, forgive me for sounding like an amateur but, what's the point of converting the Infinia points to Krisflyer miles when you can just book the tickets with those points on smartbuy? Sure, the only advantage I see is that you pay a nominal amount as opposed to 30% (revised recently) when you book via smartbuy.

Looking at the Krisflyer chart, a Singapore to India return flight in economy class comes to about 74k miles (which will be converted from 74k infinia points) plus some taxes. Whereas, just buying the ticket using the points on smartbuy would probably end up costing half of that. Am I missing something?

When you say 74k, do you mean for two people? Because Singapore to India round trip costs 37k (per person) via economy saver in Singapore airlines actually - it's 50k if you use any other airline from star alliance. But the real benefit of getting more than 1 re per point (or airline mile) is when you redeem it for business class. A business class round trip from Singapore to India is 78k points per person (via Singapore airlines) or even better, from Europe to India is 109k points per person per round trip (in star alliance) - the amount in rupees for the latter would be easily ~4 lacs, thus making it worth almost Rs 4 per point (barring taxes).. You can check out the mile redemption rates of Singapore airlines and star alliance here:

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/s.../redeem-miles/

For economy too, there will be a few good routes where miles works out better than points on smartbuy, and of course, instances like last minute tickets where prices are high but miles requirement is still constant, but the real difference in redemption rates comes in business class usually. Of course, this is a moot point if you do not consider redeeming business class as an option at all, but this is one of the ways these elusive classes just about can come within reach, which otherwise is so exorbitantly priced!

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by 10nitin

Hey! I've been reading your posts about credit cards and their points mechanics and I must say, you are amazing at it! I have an Infinia card too and I agree that it has one of the best returns in the country. However, I don't know anything about the airline miles and how they can be used to our advantage. Just had a question, forgive me for sounding like an amateur but, what's the point of converting the Infinia points to Krisflyer miles when you can just book the tickets with those points on smartbuy? Sure, the only advantage I see is that you pay a nominal amount as opposed to 30% (revised recently) when you book via smartbuy.

Looking at the Krisflyer chart, a Singapore to India return flight in economy class comes to about 74k miles (which will be converted from 74k infinia points) plus some taxes. Whereas, just buying the ticket using the points on smartbuy would probably end up costing half of that. Am I missing something?

I am happy you asked

This brings me to the real reason why I am madly in love with the credit card rewards.

What you saw about Economy Class Redemption on Singapore Airlines is an Economy Advantage Ticket. An Economy Saver ticket (Go over to the next page of that Redemption tickets pdf) is 37K Points as against 74K points. Minor differences between the two. I am not going to get into it because I dont have my eyes on an Economy ticket.

My eyes are on Business Class Tickets via Miles. A Mumbai - Singapore Singapore Airlines Business Class return ticket costs about 1 to 1.2 Lac Rs. Via Miles redemption, its 78K Miles + ~4000 Rs.

To add to this, 78K Miles can get you return business class tickets to anywhere in South East Asia via Singapore. (Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and a couple of more countries). You can also add a stopover at Singapore in this same booking without paying a single rupee extra.

I am not sure if I allowed to post a Twitter link here but I had posted about this same miles redemption on Twitter giving a comparison of Miles requirement Vs Price of the ticket for the same flights on the same days.

https://twitter.com/tejasghongadi/st...145823233?s=19

[noopster]

Originally Posted by catchdoon

You have even dared to compare ICICI Amazon Pay CC w/ Infinia which is Bold.

It's like comparing Aluminium to Gold!

Still when you need aluminium you need aluminium! ICICI Amazon Pay is actually a very nice card. The Amazon benefits are obvious but they also give full 5% cash back on fuel expenses and other benefits.

[rjainv]

Originally Posted by noopster

Still when you need aluminium you need aluminium! ICICI Amazon Pay is actually a very nice card. The Amazon benefits are obvious but they also give full 5% cash back on fuel expenses and other benefits.

5% is for prime members for purchases only on Amazon website. Fuel expense isn't 5% cashback.
Attaching screenshot of benefits for your quick reference.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Yes. Me. You can pay me 500 Bucks per route and I will give you the 5 best Airmiles program for flying that route.

But then there are other paid options on the internet. I haven't come across a free site with a good enough database yet for this research.

Haha, I might take you up on the offer if you are serious. Need to build up my points though. Now I feel stupid blowing up valuable points on Amazon vouchers and stupid gadgets. I used to redeem the moment I hit the 24k mark on the Amex gold charge card. I had managed to get a few domestic tickets for free too on Kingfisher and Spicejet using Amex points.

I don't mind the paid options too, just to start learning the process. There was a pitch by a company "Reward Stock" on S10 of SharkTank. The concept was the same but didn't get a deal.

[10nitin]

Originally Posted by pvivek2

For economy too, there will be a few good routes where miles works out better than points on smartbuy, and of course, instances like last minute tickets where prices are high but miles requirement is still constant, but the real difference in redemption rates comes in business class usually.

Originally Posted by tejas08

I am happy you asked

This brings me to the real reason why I am madly in love with the credit card rewards.

To add to this, 78K Miles can get you return business class tickets to anywhere in South East Asia via Singapore. (Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and a couple of more countries). You can also add a stopover at Singapore in this same booking without paying a single rupee extra.

This sounds so tempting! Thank you so much to both of you for explaining in such great detail. I'll do my research on this and try to put it to use once things are more conducive to travelling

[vvijay]

Quick question - is it possible to "lend" one of our credit cards for the usage of parents by just changing mobile number to theirs? I actually tried checking this for a couple of cards (SBI, HDFC) and it doesn't look like it actually works.

Any pointers / workarounds for this would help. Thanks a lot.

Cheers,
Vijay

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by vvijay

Quick question - is it possible to "lend" one of our credit cards for the usage of parents by just changing mobile number to theirs? I actually tried checking this for a couple of cards (SBI, HDFC) and it doesn't look like it actually works.

Any pointers / workarounds for this would help. Thanks a lot.

Cheers,
Vijay

Get them an add on card. It will be on their name and linked to their mobile. The bill and points will get clubbed to the original card.

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Now I feel stupid blowing up valuable points on Amazon vouchers and stupid gadgets. I used to redeem the moment I hit the 24k mark on the Amex gold charge card.

Been there, Done that. More than 1 Lac points on Amex spent on Statement Credit / Amazon Vouchers in the initial two years of Amex usage.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

There was a pitch by a company "Reward Stock" on S10 of SharkTank. The concept was the same but didn't get a deal.

Thanks for this input. Will go through this. I have been contemplating something like that but there are few hurdles.

1. Indian Market is still too oblivious to this concept. You can see it even on this thread. The general outlook is that people are ok with taking 5 Rs. per 100 Rs. instead of 10-15 Rs. benefit on travel redemption. North Americans travel a lot as compared to us. So this is a huge business in North America. Even the signup bonuses from Banks & credit cards are crazy.

2. We love free advice. Consultancy Service is not valued in India as we have 100s of people giving different opinions and hence, we do not see the need to take that 101st Advice from the right person.

3. The lesser of the issue, actually not an issue too. Possible mental block. Difficult to do a setup of this, marketing & managing with a full-time job in hand.

[nbhar24]

Originally Posted by abhipuri

Hi Guys,

Query to all CC users on the forum. Had purchased phone on HDFC debit card EMIs(in 2019, 1/6 EMIs bounced due to wrong account linking but the charges were immediately paid up in next installment). I had applied for Icici Amazon credit card card in Apr 2021 but my application got rejected (no reason mentioned on website). Any idea where I can check cancellation reason as no response is received from email id ?

I do not have a dying need for credit card but just wanted to have one for good credit history purposes. Currently using add on credit card issued on father's name.

All CC transaction are updated in your Cibil score. For any Emi missed or bounced a red flag is generated in your score. All such factors do impact issuance of any new financial products, not specifically CC.

This might be the reason your credit card application may have been rejected.

Also, using your father's addon card will not help you in improving your credit history, since it's linked to your father's PAN.

Originally Posted by tejas08

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post5059722 (The Credit Card Thread)

The 1000 Bonus Points for the new 20,000 Rs. milestone will be credited at the end of the subsequent month. So the 1000 Bonus Points for the Month of April-2021 will be posted by end of May-2021.

That's a monstrous explanation.

I assume even bank employees may not have thought about all this in their careers.

But very well explained.

[yashcosmos]

Wow I am amazed to read so many different views amongst the members here with respect to credit card usage, redemptions etc.
I am a big enthusiast when it comes to credit cards and in the course of last 4 years I have collected 11 credit cards, which are all active as of today. The kind of savings I've been able to do using the combination of these cards and my future plans to use these points is enough to convince anyone why credit cards are a boon IF used responsibly. Till date I've not even missed 1 single due date with any of the credit cards that I have.
In due course of time I was able to understand that not all cards with joining or renewal fees are bad, its just have smartly can you make the most out of it.

My obsession with credit cards made me start a YouTube channel also 2 months ago and I am amazed to see the response of so many people across India, its like so many didn't even know the power of credit cards that are lying in their wallet since a long time now!

It will be a lot of fun for me to be active on this thread and share with other members the things I've learnt till day. Looking forward to engage :-)

[Lobogris]

In India there is a strange reluctance on the past of the banks to lend to older people. Many banks seem to have a 60 year limit for credit cards. Can any senior members comment on what happens if you already have some cards and then turn 60? Are they canceled or is that rule just for new applications? In the US, seniors are coveted customers as they are usually more wealthy and more responsible. What is a person supposed to do if they want a card after they reach 60? I have seen some banks having the maximum age at 70 but most mention 60 as the maximum.

[Fordlover88]

Installed payzapp today after coming to know about cashbacks from this thread. Did a postpaid bill payment to kick things off. To my amusement bill payment was not processed but amount has been deducted from my account. This has never happened with me in any other platforms (paytm,gpay,amazon etc.). There is a red mark on IAP. What does it signify?