[jomyboy]

I just shopped with my Axis Select Card for Rs 3000 on big basket and got 650 rupees cashback (bigbasket offer for shopping between 1-7 of each month) plus 500 discount for axis select holders. Nothing beats this combination. In effect, I only paid 1850 on a 3000 grocery bill.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by VaibhaoT

I personally use HDFC Infinia.

I was going through the HDFC website and it says that Infinia is by invitation only. I have a Regalia and NRE Savings account in HDFC but these are not my primary Card and Account. The salary criteria for the Infinia, I should be able to meet.
Any idea how to apply for the card.

[heysac]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

I was going through the HDFC website and it says that Infinia is by invitation only. I have a Regalia and NRE Savings account in HDFC but these are not my primary Card and Account. The salary criteria for the Infinia, I should be able to meet.
Any idea how to apply for the card.

Talk to the Branch Manager, make a strong case with your background, etc. If needed open Imperia a/c for some time. Are you an NRI? If so, check NRI rules.

[texens]

Which is the best credit card for shopping on amazon.in. I end up spending a good chunk of money on amazon.in and I've been using ICICI Amazon Pay Credit Card so far, and it promises 5% cashback. I'm trying to reduce the number of accounts and cards I own and maintain - and hence reconsidering whether to retain this card. I don't use it for any purpose except for amazon.in. My primary card is Axis Magnus, but it doesn't seem to have good benefits for shopping on amazon.in.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by texens

Which is the best credit card for shopping on amazon.in.

If you have HDFC or Amex cards, then purchasing gift vouchers using HDFC Smartbuy or Amex Gyftr is one way to go. I use this route when I need stuff from Flipkart, Amazon, Decathlon, Uber, Luxe etc. At times Amazon also gives 10% off on HSBC cash back credit cards. For me, these 3 cards cover most scenarios.

Amazon pay credit card is lifetime free, best to retain. Big basket offers 10% off at times.

[Mumbaiker]

After a lot of deliberation, I closed my Axis Atlas card as I didnt see a lot of value in the 5900 fee. Most spends are now devalued, either for milestone or for reward points itself.

I will move my travel spends to Amex Plat Travel till 4L milestone, and then mostly it will be the SBI Cashback card and Tata Neu Infinity for remaining spends.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by heysac

Are you an NRI? If so, check NRI rules.

Yes, I'm a NRI. Basically a seafarer. I split my time between India and the ship.

[gismosin]

Originally Posted by Mumbaiker

After a lot of deliberation, I closed my Axis Atlas card as I didnt see a lot of value in the 5900 fee. Most spends are now devalued, either for milestone or for reward points itself.

Not all travels needs are same. Atlas is a damn good card for Accor and air miles. Plus 5x on travel spends and even with devalued milestones benefits it’s one of the best out there.

[anti21]

Originally Posted by gismosin

Not all travels needs are same. Atlas is a damn good card for Accor and air miles. Plus 5x on travel spends and even with devalued milestones benefits it’s one of the best out there.

I think to different people it has different value, not everyone wants to learn about Accor Point or TK Miles or JAL Miles and how to book them and the caveat that comes with booking with miles/points (and many a times booking itself *cough cough* TK Miles). It is incredibly rewarding for those who know but for some saving 1-2 lakhs on a flight doesn't matter or maybe they just don't want to put in the effort. Even though Accor Points is the simplest way to redeem points/miles in the whole wide world.

For such people, a simple card like SBI Cashback for online spend is good.

For those who know how to use it, Atlas is the best card on the market for its ease of availability. For those who don't, it's not. And the bank makes money on latter and want majority of consumers to be in that section.

[Mumbaiker]

Originally Posted by gismosin

Not all travels needs are same. Atlas is a damn good card for Accor and air miles. Plus 5x on travel spends and even with devalued milestones benefits it’s one of the best out there.

Yeah totally. I used Atlas for nearly all my spends last year and then transferred out the points to ITC. As I dont travel out of India, so ITC was the best option available.

Another thing which comes into picture for me is the cost benefit.
I am currently planning a road trip within Maharashtra, but I find that booking hotels through Amazon or MMT save me a good 10000 over the hotel website (which would have fetched me 1000 airmiles on Atlas). Now if this same scenario plays out 5 times, I save 50000rs in lieu of 5000 points on Atlas.

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by Mumbaiker

Yeah totally. I used Atlas for nearly all my spends last year and then transferred out the points to ITC. As I dont travel out of India, so ITC was the best option available.

Another thing which comes into picture for me is the cost benefit.
I am currently planning a road trip within Maharashtra, but I find that booking hotels through Amazon or MMT save me a good 10000 over the hotel website (which would have fetched me 1000 airmiles on Atlas). Now if this same scenario plays out 5 times, I save 50000rs in lieu of 5000 points on Atlas.

I faced similar situation recently for booking flights to Japan. Amazon flights showed a massive discount + 5% cashback through ICICI Amazon Pay card (over smartbuy and even MMT suprisingly). I ended up overlooking my HDFC points and booking using amazon flights.

I guess at some point, I will still book with points and not compare against other sites just to utilize the points.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by anti21

..... but for some saving 1-2 lakhs on a flight doesn't matter or maybe they just don't want to put in the effort. ...
.
For such people, a simple card like SBI Cashback for online spend is good.

I am curious: people for whom saving 1-2 lakhs on a flight doesn't matter, saving just ~5% for online spends (that too only upto 5k per month) still makes sense?!

Have you indeed seen such people in real life?
.

[deep_bang]

My opinion is that in general, ANY points system will give at max 1 to 3% benefit. Anything more, you are probably paying in a different way. For example, with prime membership, you get 5% cashback on Amazon pay card. Very good. However your real savings start only after you have earned enough that is more than the prime membership.

So my point is, there is usually no free lunch. For most of us, we probably save about 2% of our spends. For most of us, not saving the 2% would not really make a huge difference in terms of quality of life. And so there are many people who don't want to bother about finding the best deals. They just take what's available the easiest way. And that's ok.

If you are subscribed to this thread, I would like to suggest that it's more likely that you are excited to play this game of getting the best deal - not necessarily that your life would change if you don't take such deals, but more because you like to beat the system (or atleast get a feeling that you beat the system). There are enough people who fall in the trap of credit cards who will fund these people who beat the system - because remember, it's just a percent or two that all of us get.

[Noctis]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

My opinion is that in general, ANY points system will give at max 1 to 3% benefit. Anything more, you are probably paying in a different way. For example, with prime membership, you get 5% cashback on Amazon pay card. Very good. However your real savings start only after you have earned enough that is more than the prime membership.

Prime membership has so many other benefits from free delivery to access to prime video/music that people get it even without the Amazon card. So I think it's quite unfair to consider prime subscription cost as part of the card's fee.

As for points based cards, if you are open to getting multiple cards and playing the hotel/airmile game its possible to get 5-20% returns without any extra expenditure.

[anti21]

Originally Posted by meerkat

I am curious: people for whom saving 1-2 lakhs on a flight doesn't matter, saving just ~5% for online spends (that too only upto 5k per month) still makes sense?!

Have you indeed seen such people in real life?
.

Yeah, you can see here people don't believe that you can save that much.

Like until last year with Magnus, you could use 30k airmiles plus 10k INR to get a one way Business Class ticket on Air India for flights to Europe. The value ranges from 1.5 lakhs to 3.5 lakhs. But you need to know how to book those tickets and it might involve effort of talking to customer care and searching for availability. Experienced folks can do it in 15 mins. First time or with bad luck it might take 1-2 hours. This means 37.5k Magnus points which needed back in the day approx 1-1.25 Lakhs spend you could get tickets worth 1.5 lakhs to 3.5 lakhs.

Granted the return rate is not possible now, but it was possible for more than a year.

But learning all this takes one time effort and many people dont want to do that.