[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by AbelAFC

Doesn't Amex have bad acceptance levels as well? There are very few places that accept my Amex. :/

At big outed like Lifestyle, ShoppersStop and the likes Amex is accepted. However, you walk into a shop in Commercial street or any medium size shop, your Amex might either be rejected or you might be charged 2% bank charges. I discontinued my Amex because of the acceptance problem. A year or so later they called me asked me to take their card again, saying that it is now accepted everywhere, but by that time I had already got my Citibank Premier Miles MasterCard.

[condor]

IMO, Amex best at corporate kind of transactions- major hotels, Car rentals, airlines etc.

[shankar.balan]

Yes, compared with a top end Visa or Master.

Might as well take a top end Visa and MasterCard and use them like a charge card.

If you have a decent history and card usage behaviour they are pretty generous on the limits too. Of course, if you have an Unlimited Platinum from Amex etc then you are already at the top of the heap so I dont think they can beat that really.

Else, in my opinion, the Visa and Master wins any day on acceptance and ease of use.

Originally Posted by AbelAFC

Doesn't Amex have bad acceptance levels as well? There are very few places that accept my Amex. :/

[AbelAFC]

I struggle with the Amex at most restaurants - and at merchants like Thom's.

[sgiitk]

At one time Amex used to charge the vendor more than Visa or MC. This is one of the reasons they were not that popular. Now Amex card ops (at least in India) are owned by StanChart,

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

At one time Amex used to charge the vendor more than Visa or MC. This is one of the reasons they were not that popular. Now Amex card ops (at least in India) are owned by StanChart,

They still charge vendors or merchants more than visa or Mc because of their 'unique and valuable consumer data base of cardmembers'. Even today many merchants shy away from taking Amex.

[huntrz]

Details of credit card transactions on Petrol bunks. Its not really free even after the surcharge waiver. There is some residual component(tax?) that is still charged.

HDFC Platinum card-
Bill- 2486.86
Debit amount in statement- 2556.74
Credit Amount in the statement- 62.38
Difference- (2556.74-62.38=2494.36) - 2486.86=7.5

Indusind Bank Aura

Bill- 2813.49
Debit amount in statement- 2892.54
Credit Amount in the statement- 70.55
Difference- (2892.54-70.55=2821.99) - 2813.86 = 8.5

[binand]

Originally Posted by huntrz

HDFC Platinum card-
Bill- 2486.86
Debit amount in statement- 2556.74
Credit Amount in the statement- 62.38
Difference- (2556.74-62.38=2494.36) - 2486.86=7.5

They are not waiving service tax on the surcharge for you. Write to their customer care and ask ***? I get the full thing returned to me (usual a couple of paise to my advantage).

Here is how the calculation is:

Bill amount: 2486.86
Surcharge @2.5% = 62.17
Service Tax @12.36% = 7.68
Total debit in statement = 2556.71 (round off differences)

[Oxy]

Choosing the right credit card can be pretty much a nightmare.

I was largely happy with my Citibank Cash Back Titanium card. I really enjoy the form of cashback it gives, automatically adjusts against my outstanding balance once the cashback amount reaches Rs.500.

Over a period of time, I pretty much got frustrated with a couple of inconveniences it caused, with which I used to live earlier:

1. I can get a fuel surcharge waiver only on IOC bunks on Citibank EDC (Same is the case with ICICI: HPCL bunk on ICICI EDC). My car is a Spark LPG, and I don't think any IOC bunk in Bangalore stocks LPG.

2. I used to pay my BESCOM bill using it on the Citibank website, but they decided to remove my BESCOM circle from their website one fine day. I tried the BESCOM website, but my bill just won't display there.

So today, after some extensive research, I applied for an HDFC Titanium Edge Card. It gives me fuel surcharge waiver on all petrol bunks and allows me to register utility bill payees free of cost on the HDFC website till 30th September. Also, it gives 2 reward points for every Rs.150 spent, each reward point is of a Rs.0.40 value (At ICICI and some other banks, each reward point is around Rs.0.25). Plus, I can get these points adjusted towards my outstanding balance.

http://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/cre...-edge/gts8miq6

The overall feature set looked like it would suit my needs.

However, HDFC have now started charging for their cards. This one comes with an yearly fee of Rs.599. The first year fee will be waived off if I spend Rs.10,000 on the card within the first 3 months, and second year onwards the fee will be waived off if I had spent Rs.50,000 on the card the previous year. I am pretty sure I will spend that much.

Let's see how the experience turns out.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Oxy

2. I used to pay my BESCOM bill using it on the Citibank website, but they decided to remove my BESCOM circle from their website one fine day. I tried the BESCOM website, but my bill just won't display there.

This is a problem now for me too. My BESCOM (S7) too has vanished off Citi's online bill payment system. BESCOM's own website (bescomepayment.com) needs an account ID which my bill doesn't have and Bangalore One (bangaloreone.gov.in) charges something extra over the actual bill amount.

[Chetan_Rao]

Visa/Mastercard charges vendors 2%, AMEX charges 4%.

I bought my company phone with my AMEX card (mandatory for reimbursement). The Samsung store guy was happy to swipe my VISA card without additional charges, but wanted 2% to swipe the AMEX (to cover the 2% difference).

[Oxy]

I am pretty new to the concept of air miles. I hardly fly.

Was just wondering if there are any restrictions on redeeming your miles. Take JP Miles for example. After I create a Jet Privilege account, can I just convert my credit card points into miles, put it into my JP account and start redeeming them? Is it as simple as that or is there some catch to it?

If I take any random credit card and use it for years together not bothering about points, can I then get a sizable number of points converted to miles and use it when I want to?

The Jet Airways site mentions about some 'activities' to be eligible to redeem. What exactly constitutes an activity? Do I need to fly a couple of times before redeeming my miles?

[binand]

Originally Posted by Oxy

Was just wondering if there are any restrictions on redeeming your miles. Take JP Miles for example.

[My personal opinion]

I was an "aero commuter" for about 18 months till earlier this year (a return BLR-BOM trip every other week). If I had taken all of them on Jet Airways, I'd have probably been in their highest club now. It is my view that for domestic travel in India, it is not worth chasing miles.

1. You accrue too few miles per flight. It doesn't add up to anything much. If you are in the "I hardly fly" category, then you will gain nothing except a monthly email newsletter.
2. You are tied to an airline. I flew Indigo for the bulk of my aerocommuting, which had convenient times (for me), better planes and was punctual - but no loyalty programme.
3. Lounge access is something you might not ever use. For domestic travel - especially business travel - you turn up at the airport with hardly any time to spare.
4. Dedicated counters etc. are a mirage. With web-checkin you don't need them. Plus I think the most crowded Jet counters at CSIA are those dedicated to their premium club members. :-)
5. The co-branded card, if used via a travel agent (OTA or B&M), does not add anything of value. You have to use it on the airline's website to get the reward points.
6. The "reward tickets" are a very limited commodity. There never are any when you need them. Definitely not during summer vacations or puja holidays etc.

I surrendered my Jet co-branded card and took a Premier Miles card instead. At least it is somewhat more useful. You cannot use the JP miles for anything else - I eventually had to let go of all the miles I had accumulated.

I do web-checkin, turn up at the airport about 30 minutes in advance, walk through security (both BIAL and CSIA allow this) and board my flight. After I consciously got rid of my JP number and co-branded card, I fly that much better.

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by binand

[My personal opinion]

Thanks a ton.

I am not looking for a co-branded card. I am trying to choose between the following two:

1. HDFC Titanium Edge (This is a pure shopping card) - http://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/cre...-edge/gts8miq6

2. HDFC Platinum Edge (This looks like a travel card. The reward points redemption to miles ratio is even better than the Signature/World card here) - http://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/cre...-edge/gts8miq5

[ashwinsid]

Originally Posted by binand

This is a problem now for me too. My BESCOM (S7) too has vanished off Citi's online bill payment system. BESCOM's own website (bescomepayment.com) needs an account ID which my bill doesn't have and Bangalore One (bangaloreone.gov.in) charges something extra over the actual bill amount.

BESCOM is upgrading their billing system in phases. The new bill is a bit shorter. I could not pay BESCOM bills online for one month because my circle was removed from the system (was not able to pay even at Bangalore One). Once you get the new bill, you will have the account ID, using which you have to register at the BESCOM epayment portal.