[sahil624]

Originally Posted by drwat

1) I and my better half are traveling to Houston shortly. I want to use Magnus and Priority Pass at Mumbai T2 for lounge access. This is the first time in our lifetime that we would set foot in an airport lounge! Humble beginnings at that!
My wife would be a guest.
Also we plan to book Meet and Greet on Magnus.
Any suggestions, tips and guidance on how to go about it?

2) Will it be possible for us to use complimentary lounge services at Hamad airport in Doha as our layover is for almost 5 hours.

Thanks.

You may book meet and greet service at Mumbai airport through their website extraordinaryweekends.com. They will provide confirmation 24-48 hours prior to departure. Also, you may use lounge at Mumbai T2 airport and take your wife as guest using Priority Pass that came with Axis. As far as I know, Magnus allows eight guests in a calendar year for lounge access.
For Hamad airport you may check the lounge list available on Axis bank website. If any lounge at Hamad airport’s international terminal is mentioned in the list, then you can access the lounge using the Priorty Pass.
Have a safe journey

[batish]

Is there any card which offers substantial benefits on fuel apart from Citibank? Other cards I have used do offer surcharge reversal but there is no GST reversal for the surcharge. Always end up paying extra for nothing every time I refuel.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by batish

Is there any card which offers substantial benefits on fuel apart from Citibank? Other cards I have used do offer surcharge reversal but there is no GST reversal for the surcharge. Always end up paying extra for nothing every time I refuel.

While looking for a RuPay based card - I found the following to be most rewarding- Again, this is only for RuPay cards.
Axis Iocl - 4%cashback [come LTF based on offers]
SBI Octane - BPCL - 6%/7%?? [there is a lower variant with 4% cashback+500 annual fee]
HDFC bharat - 5% cashback

The HDFC one a versatile one, applicable at all retailers but HDFC refused to issue me a card(some rule about not issuing 2 to same customer).
The BPCL is a paid one and I do not have a BPCL bunk close to my place.
The Axis Iocl suggested by member navigator_ravi is the one I finally took - this was LTF and I have good iocl bunk near my place

[Highh5]

Finally after a lot of hustle, back & forth with RM for about months. I got my hands on Infinia and got upgraded from Regalia which I had been using for the last 7 years. Now, I will go ahead and close my Magnus in the coming months. Infinia users any suggestions to maximize the returns and how does Marriott membership work with Infinia, do they provide Gold/Platinum Elite status or any other accelerated nights awards?

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by Highh5

Infinia users any suggestions to maximize the returns and how does Marriott membership work with Infinia, do they provide Gold/Platinum Elite status or any other accelerated nights awards?

The way to maximize is doing SmartBuy transactions of 5X for 16% return. So any travel bookings, any Gift Vouchers purchase from SmartBuy Gyftr will give 3X-5X returns.

Also, the Marriott membership is not Bonvoy membership. It is the Club Marriott membership which is similar to ITC Culinaire, Accor Plus or Taj Epicure where you get vouchers to upgrade to Suites, get discounts on dining, stay etc.
Not very useful if you plan to do redemption stays.

Originally Posted by batish

Is there any card which offers substantial benefits on fuel apart from Citibank? Other cards I have used do offer surcharge reversal but there is no GST reversal for the surcharge. Always end up paying extra for nothing every time I refuel.

Standard Chartered's Super Value Titanium.
The Good:
4% return in the form of cashback.
1.18% surcharge waiver.
Will give cashback for all the fuel outlets (including Shell, however, Surcharge will not be waived off).

The Bad:
The rules are convoluted, like all fuel transactions of INR 2,000 or below are eligible for cashback. So, you can't do a tank-fill and pay in a single swipe. You may have to break the transaction down to INR 2000 tranches.

[cormodore]

Originally Posted by batish

Is there any card which offers substantial benefits on fuel apart from Citibank? Other cards I have used do offer surcharge reversal but there is no GST reversal for the surcharge. Always end up paying extra for nothing every time I refuel.

Please check out the IDFC power plus credit card for fuel spends(Downside being: you need to use only in HPCL bunks).

https://www.idfcfirstbank.com/credit...el-credit-card

Following are the benefits that I avail using the card.

• HPCL petrol is cheaper by 6 paisa in Hyderabad/Telangana when compared to Indian oil or BPCL.
• 4% savings as Rewards on HPCL fuel & LPG expenses
• 1.5% savings as Payback Rewards through HP Pay App
• 1% savings as fuel surcharge waiver on fuel expenses at all the pumps

I make sure to fuel up my vehicles using the HP pay app to avail the addition 1.5% savings in addition to the normal savings of 4%. Its a seamless experience in Hyderabad using the HP pay app.

In addition to fuel, I also use the card to book the HP gas refills, on which I get the cashback.

[Funny]

HDFC seems to have messed up their new net-banking portal/app. I am unable to see or redeem the accumulated rewards points for my "EasyShop Classic Platinum" debit card. I have been trying for few weeks now but all the links simply re-direct me to their debit card summary page which has no information or link of reward points. I have raised a complaint via phone-banking, the lady on the call said that she will get back to me after checking with the backend team. Anyone else facing this issue?

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by Highh5

Now, I will go ahead and close my Magnus in the coming months.

I retained it purely for it's 8 x meet & greet and 8 x guests into int'l lounges offering. This in itself more than covers the annual fee and I don't think there are any other cards that do this. I do a couple of vacations in a year with my parents and family together and this helps you save a ton of time at every junction. Happy to be corrected.

[vkochar]

Just got my wife's card upgraded from the useless Regalia to Infinia

All it took was 2 emails and it was done within a week.

Now I noticed My Infinia is Visa Infinite and my wife's Infinia is a Mastercard World Elite - she had a regalia Mastercard so can understand they kept her on the Mastercard instead of a Visa. Also what defines this ?

What is the difference between the 2 ? We have a lot of travel amongst us and the reason to get this was the FCY and the business travel put on here - we both also hold Amex Platinum's and among these 2 would divide our personal and business expenditure.

I have one more question - If I pay my travel agent via credit card do I accrue points and which one would be more rewarding - Amex or Infinia ?

[Abhinav V]

Originally Posted by Abhinav V

Hello all,
This is the first time I am applying for a credit card.

Quoting myself here.
After 28 days of application, I received my HDFC Regalia Gold Credit card.

After setting up and using it, here's the doubt I am facing.
Dear team bhpians,
Kindly clarify my doubt.

I log in to my HDFC mobile banking app and even Net Banking and select credit cards section I see my reward points and that's fine.

However, in offers.reward360 smart buy / Regalia Gold Portal, My reward points is shown as zero.

I call the customer care and the IVR read out my reward points but says redeemable reward points as 0.

I called their travel concierge who also said would clarify my doubt.
His version is that Reward points shown in Net Banking/ Mobile Banking is different and can only be redeemed through Net Banking Portal.

The reward points shown in Regalia Smart Buy Portal is different and the reward points get credited within 90 days of purchase/shopping through smart buy portal.

Please shed some light on this as I am quite confused.

Is the reward points I have accumulated and shown in net banking/mobile banking not redeemable on smart buy?

October 12th is my Bill Generation date.
Do the reward points get credited on Smart Buy Portal after Bill Payment?

Thank you.
Regards.
Abhinav

[K_Drive]

Originally Posted by Abhinav V

October 12th is my Bill Generation date.
Do the reward points get credited on Smart Buy Portal after Bill Payment?

Yes, net-banking will show total accumulated points till date. Post Bill Generation date, Smart Buy will reflect the reward points till the Bill Generation date and you can redeem it.

[ACMerchant]

Hello Friends,
I have a SBI BPCL Octane CC and now have accumulated @20K points. I would like to know how can one open the rewards catalogue and what is the procedure to get fuel for the reward points.

Thanks.

[motorworks]

I have been holding an AMEX Platinum travel credit card for nearly 7-8 years now. My original idea of credit card usage was to use it for overseas trips, big ticket purchases etc. And the AMEX card did come in handy on most occasions. Their excellent customer service and responsiveness has always been good and the yearly Taj vouchers were an added bonus too.

However, over the last 2 years or so, i have tried to consciously keep a tab on credit card spends and have ended up using the card less than usual. And most importantly, I have faced quite a few issues with Amex. Last year, when I tried to revise my overseas flight tickets with Emirates, they refused to accept AMEX. And this year the official Singapore airlines website too did not accept AMEX. This prompted me to immediately get an ICICI visa credit card and being an icici savings account user, i found re-payments easier too. The limit on this ICICI card is also way higher than AMEX, not that i need it since I have anyway cut down on credit card usage.

Now, i have never had 2 credit cards, didn’t need it. With such instances of issues with acceptability of AMEX, im thinking of closing the card. There is an yearly charge of nearly 5k and unless i use it effectively and regularly, having this card makes no sense. I have also now lost interest in the Taj vouchers, i feel its just a waste these days since Taj has hiked tariffs so much so that it would be silly to spend 50-70k for a 3-day stay just to utilise 10k Taj vouchers!

Any feedback on this idea of closing the AMEX card and just retaining the ICICI saphiro card?

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by vkochar

What is the difference between the 2 ?

I have one more question - If I pay my travel agent via credit card do I accrue points and which one would be more rewarding - Amex or Infinia ?

Difference is the lounge access (negligible for Infinia), but you get access to World Elite features like Elite Hotel memberships (Epicure for Taj, Culinaire by ITC), Advanced Medical Opinion, Global Data Roaming etc. Check out TechnoFino forum for details (link attached here)

Regarding the reward rate, the answer is easily Infinia (INR 5 per INR 150 spent). However, Amex Plat Charge runs many offers like Taj GV on fulfilling spends etc. If you are into Marriott ecosystem, then Amex Membership Rewards are more valuable, however, the reward rate is paltry at 1 point per INR 40. 1 MR = 1 Marriott Bonvoy point and typically, the world values them at 40-50 paise per Marriott point.

Originally Posted by ACMerchant

..what is the procedure to get fuel for the reward points.

You need to go to a BPCL outlet for getting INR 5000 worth of fuel. If there is a SBI person selling cards there, they will help out with the redemption. Best to go to a COCO where the training is better. The catalogue and the online redemption will charge INR 99 + GST.

[Night Raven]

Originally Posted by ACMerchant

Hello Friends,
I have a SBI BPCL Octane CC and now have accumulated @20K points. I would like to know how can one open the rewards catalogue and what is the procedure to get fuel for the reward points.

Thanks.

I would suggest you not to use those points for the rewards in the catalog. The redemption ratio of octane card is best if you redeem points for fuel. The SBI card website has a list of designated pumps for point redemption. Most BPCL Coco outlets will be having the facility. Find out the one nearest to your location, drive in and tell them you want to redeem the points before you start filling. They will swipe the card in their specific POS machine and that’s it. It’s as simple as swiping the card for buying fuel.