Hello,
I am exploring miles game now as I am new to this. The reasons are, I have some plans to go for international trips. I always take Economy ticket so no business class/first class air ticket. I just want to get the best out of each CC point so that it saves the cost as much as possible.
The biggest issue I feel I'll get with the miles redemption are
For example, yesterday only I had booked a flight of 7888/- price, I had below two options.
I have read many places that using business class/first class will give better value for miles but I would never opt for that because it's waste of miles (rather than experience) because the difference in miles (Economy to Business) is exponentially high.
The point is, the reward I was assuming (1:1) for miles (24% in Magnus) against DCB points (3.33% default), the real difference in rewards are very very less than 20.66% (24-3.33).
If we consider default rate of Magnus is 4.8% (in miles) but the actual redemption is not 1:1 (I see that as less than 0.5) in this case but DCB I would get 3.33% with 1:1 conversion.
The similar thing goes for hotel loyalty programs as well.
Please share your view/experience on this. It would be great for all, knowing all the aspects of this game.
I am exploring miles game now as I am new to this. The reasons are, I have some plans to go for international trips. I always take Economy ticket so no business class/first class air ticket. I just want to get the best out of each CC point so that it saves the cost as much as possible.
The biggest issue I feel I'll get with the miles redemption are
- Low availability for redemption in Economy.
- Lower value (most if used in Economy). e.g. If the ticket price in INR is 10000, in miles it would be 20000 or so. Basically it halves the reward rate. (Sometimes I have seen, the miles are 3x the cost) and don't forget that, if we use miles, we still need to pay the surcharges and taxes.
- Limited options for the airlines. I can't choose any airline for redemption. In case of hotel loyalty points, this is BIG problem for me because there are limited airlines but hotel options are too many.
For example, yesterday only I had booked a flight of 7888/- price, I had below two options.
- Through Smartbuy, costed me 5521 points + 2367/- through card.
- Through miles which requires 17000 miles + 1220/- (surcharges and taxes).
I have read many places that using business class/first class will give better value for miles but I would never opt for that because it's waste of miles (rather than experience) because the difference in miles (Economy to Business) is exponentially high.
The point is, the reward I was assuming (1:1) for miles (24% in Magnus) against DCB points (3.33% default), the real difference in rewards are very very less than 20.66% (24-3.33).
If we consider default rate of Magnus is 4.8% (in miles) but the actual redemption is not 1:1 (I see that as less than 0.5) in this case but DCB I would get 3.33% with 1:1 conversion.
The similar thing goes for hotel loyalty programs as well.
Please share your view/experience on this. It would be great for all, knowing all the aspects of this game.