Amex Plat Charge vs HDFC Infinia for Air India Tickets

[vishalgupta2]

I recently upgraded my Amex Platinum Travel to Platinum Charge card (card to be delivered this week)

I just found that with Rewards xcelerator, I can get 25 MR points per 100 Rs spent on Air India.

I am trying to compare this with 16% points I can get on Infinia.

For Amex:
- I would think the value of 25MR points will be atleast same or more than 16 Infinia points (when used for travel booking)

- Amex has no capping while Infinia caps at about 1L spending per month on smartbuy (out of which Amazon, Flipkart and other GVs use up about 60k per month between primary and supplementary card) leaving very little room for any major tickets.

- 1 less party in between (every time I call smartbuy, it takes a long time for them to reach out to say clear trip etc)

For HDFC:
- Infinia points are easier to use online and on phone with a lot of versatility between Air & Hotel
- More flight options on smartbuy than Air India (for obvious reason)

My conclusion:
I see few scenarios where I will use Amex Rewards Xcelerator or Kaizen
1) AI is the best itinerary for my upcoming travel (pricing/timing). Off topic, I prefer AI as I am based out of BLR and T2 is fantastic
2) Ticket value is high enough that I wont get Infinia points on whole booking and I can find a reasonable AI flight around same cost 5-8% extra is ok
3) Travel plans above 1L and Kaizen offer available

Am I missing anything?

 

[sahilgulati5]

Following the post. ON the same boat bro!!

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

1) AI is the best itinerary for my upcoming travel (pricing/timing). Off topic, I prefer AI as I am based out of BLR and T2 is fantastic
2) Ticket value is high enough that I wont get Infinia points on whole booking and I can find a reasonable AI flight around same cost 5-8% extra is ok
g?

If your travel tickets are more than 1L, use first 1L using Infinia and rest with Plat Charge. As Infinia points can be used for redemption on Smartbuy for 1:1 directly, you can consume points and balance also fetch rewards.

Beyond 1L use Plat Charge, and one more thing just check with Plat Charge desk they will offer some vouchers for 1L and above txns. Finally decide on whichever is the best.

 

[vishalgupta2]

If your travel tickets are more than 1L, use first 1L using Infinia and rest with Plat Charge. As Infinia points can be used for redemption on Smartbuy for 1:1 directly, you can consume points and balance also fetch rewards.

Beyond 1L use Plat Charge, and one more thing just check with Plat Charge desk they will offer some vouchers for 1L and above txns. Finally decide on whichever is the best.

The only problem with this approach is that I am already buying vouchers of about 75k from smartbuy every month (Apay, Amazon Shopping Vouchers, Flipkart, all these 10k * x + BigBasket 1.5k x 2, Swiggy about 8-10k). This leaves me with about 25-30k a month (barely a BLR-DEL-BLR now a days) that I can spend on Infinia, that's how I came up with the approach of using plat charge or amex travel services where possible.

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

The only problem with this approach is that I am already buying vouchers of about 75k from smartbuy every month (Apay, Amazon Shopping Vouchers, Flipkart, all these 10k * x + BigBasket 1.5k x 2, Swiggy about 8-10k). This leaves me with about 25-30k a month (barely a BLR-DEL-BLR now a days) that I can spend on Infinia, that's how I came up with the approach of using plat charge or amex travel services where possible.

That's how many maximizes Infinia Spends. In that case just try Amex travel service, whether they have any offers for 1L spends, else go with Amex RM.

 

[vishalgupta2]

That's how many maximizes Infinia Spends. In that case just try Amex travel service, whether they have any offers for 1L spends, else go with Amex RM.

Thanks. Appreciate your help.