Devaluation Axis Magnus & Magnus Burgundy Credit Card Huge Devaluation Effective From 20th April 2024

[Namans]

I never found value in Krisflyer (Although hdfc is available for that).

Isn't Krisflyer a good option for South East Asia and australia?

Rest of the options like United, Avios, Thai etc are just not worth it. Haven't transferred anything to them yet.

Why do you think United is not worth it? I generally transfer to united so i want to understand if there is a better option?

 

[Harry1]

Isn't Krisflyer a good option for South East Asia and australia?


Why do you think United is not worth it? I generally transfer to united so i want to understand if there is a better option?

I always do budget travel. I will never like to spend more than 1.5x economy fare for business class. So, I don't see any value in most airline programs.

Vistara/Air India give good (or only) options for domestic travel. And international travel miles requirements are similar as others (not good). So far, I saw only Turkish (before devaluation) and JAL getting me close to 1rs value for international travel.

Singapore airlines economy is 40K miles + 4-5k taxes for Indian-Singapore round trip. If u manage to get spontaneous escapedes, it is 28K miles plus 4-5K taxes. Revenue is easily available in 25-28K round trip.

United only benefit is no expiry and free cancellation on award booking. But I see zero value in both of these. Miles requirements and specially taxes are quite high for domestic, nearby international as well as Europe. Maybe good for US, but haven't needed it yet. And there is some issue with US Address/Credit card requirements for booking as well.

 

[drsel]

I always do budget travel. I will never like to spend more than 1.5x economy fare for business class. So, I don't see any value in most airline programs.

Vistara/Air India give good (or only) options for domestic travel. And international travel miles requirements are similar as others (not good). So far, I saw only Turkish (before devaluation) and JAL getting me close to 1rs value for international travel.

Singapore airlines economy is 40K miles + 4-5k taxes for Indian-Singapore round trip. If u manage to get spontaneous escapedes, it is 28K miles plus 4-5K taxes. Revenue is easily available in 25-28K round trip.

United only benefit is no expiry and free cancellation on award booking. But I see zero value in both of these. Miles requirements and specially taxes are quite high for domestic, nearby international as well as Europe. Maybe good for US, but haven't needed it yet. And there is some issue with US Address/Credit card requirements for booking as well.

Fantastic reply very well said !
not only that you will always end up with some leftover miles which cannot be used efficiently.

To combine few left over miles with cash is substantially more expensive

 

[Thomas244]

I also think the best option is hdfc smartbuy for economy flights. And Accor/Marriott hotel bookings. The points for flights come in to the picture if u want to book first class or busines.

 

[Namans]

I always do budget travel. I will never like to spend more than 1.5x economy fare for business class. So, I don't see any value in most airline programs.

Vistara/Air India give good (or only) options for domestic travel. And international travel miles requirements are similar as others (not good). So far, I saw only Turkish (before devaluation) and JAL getting me close to 1rs value for international travel.

Singapore airlines economy is 40K miles + 4-5k taxes for Indian-Singapore round trip. If u manage to get spontaneous escapedes, it is 28K miles plus 4-5K taxes. Revenue is easily available in 25-28K round trip.

United only benefit is no expiry and free cancellation on award booking. But I see zero value in both of these. Miles requirements and specially taxes are quite high for domestic, nearby international as well as Europe. Maybe good for US, but haven't needed it yet. And there is some issue with US Address/Credit card requirements for booking as well.

I flew with Krisflyer and United once each and got value of less than .85 rs per mile compared to the cheapest flight i could find on MakemyTrip. I always fly economy - even award travel because I want to save the points for my next travel plan. For domestic, Vistara has always given me >1rs value for over 15 flights now. I will research JAL a bit more

For United, the US address is a non issue, you just put in your India card details but enter any random US address for billing.

But I think I see your point to some extent, you're getting 1.6-1.8 rs per point at accor and so why let the point get only 0.85 for flying economy when you can get double the value for stays.

I would appreciate any other suggestions that you may have as well because there's tons of articles on how to fly business/first or stay at 5 star hotels but very few on budget or non-luxury travel

not only that you will always end up with some leftover miles which cannot be used efficiently.

IDK how but i completely missed factoring this, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

I also think the best option is hdfc smartbuy for economy flights. And Accor/Marriott hotel bookings. The points for flights come in to the picture if u want to book first class or busines.

I don't have an HDFC CC. I have applied for BizBlack recently but it was denied so still in the process of escalating. But yes, HDFC smartbuy would definitely be the best option.

 

[Harry1]

I flew with Krisflyer and United once each and got value of less than .85 rs per mile compared to the cheapest flight i could find on MakemyTrip. I always fly economy - even award travel because I want to save the points for my next travel plan. For domestic, Vistara has always given me >1rs value for over 15 flights now. I will research JAL a bit more

For United, the US address is a non issue, you just put in your India card details but enter any random US address for billing.

But I think I see your point to some extent, you're getting 1.6-1.8 rs per point at accor and so why let the point get only 0.85 for flying economy when you can get double the value for stays.

I would appreciate any other suggestions that you may have as well because there's tons of articles on how to fly business/first or stay at 5 star hotels but very few on budget or non-luxury travel


IDK how but i completely missed factoring this, thanks for bringing it to my attention!


I don't have an HDFC CC. I have applied for BizBlack recently but it was denied so still in the process of escalating. But yes, HDFC smartbuy would definitely be the best option.

The discussion is deviating from main topic. But just adding one last reply.

Calculation of rs per miles is very subjective. It varies from person to person depending on how u value it (not the airlines) and how much effort u put in getting discounts in revenue bookings.

When u say u get 0.85 per miles value, did u reduce the taxes paid for award booking and usual 10-12% discount we can get from cards on revenue booking? Or atleast Skyscanner price? Also, did u compare with cheapest revenue option or only with the one airline u wanted to fly via award flight. If anything is no, then in my case, value would have been lower. But in ur case, it may not be.

Even for accor, I don't see it at 1.8rs value. As u get 25-40% discount and Many a times I end up choosing a better hotel than what I would have chosen if I went with revenue option. So, I see only 0.7-0.9rs value on average even with Accor. For example, if I am getting a 2 star hotel at 10K revenue after all discounts. But if Accor has only 5 star hotel at that place which is priced at say 25K points (45K INR), I will see value of just 0.4rs per point. I have actually did a few such bookings with about 0.5rs per point value just to experience the luxury once a while. But it won't be every time.

 

[sahilgulati5]

Points game is to enjoy the travel. It's Not about the value as It might vary from person to person. But the goal remains the same "Travel" for everyone. So, as i always say enjoy the Travel and the Journey and not about how much u saved through points..

 

[rogerthat]

Points game is to enjoy the travel. It's Not about the value as It might vary from person to person. But the goal remains the same "Travel" for everyone. So, as i always say enjoy the Travel and the Journey and not about how much u saved through points..

Exactly. Splitting hairs to derive "Miles value" won't really work because airline program designers are smarter than users especially with all the data they have access to.

I consider Miles as a method to help make my travels easier by monetising all my spends which would otherwise go without any value derived.

 

[drsel]

When u say u get 0.85 per miles value, did u reduce the taxes paid for award booking and usual 10-12% discount we can get from cards on revenue booking? Or atleast Skyscanner price? Also, did u compare with cheapest revenue option or only with the one airline u wanted to fly via award flight. If anything is no, then in my case, value would have been lower. But in ur case, it may not be..

You are right Harry.
Even if you have lacs of air miles, after using the air miles there is always some extra payment to be made in cash in order to get an award ticket. Only air miles will not do.

This cash component should be deducted from the regular revenue fare of the cheapest flight available of any airline (Revenue fare includes taxes, airport fees, convenience fee and credit card discount)

then the difference should be divided by the number of airmiles required to calculate the exact value of the air mile.

Real life example --
1. revenue fare 32500 (incl airport fees, taxes, convenience fee, credit card discount)
OR
2. 40000 Singapore air miles + 6200 extra charge.

In my case I got my Singapore Airlines one way flight for 40000 points + 6200 extra charge.
So the Singapore airlines point was worth around 66 Paisa only

 

[Namans]

The discussion is deviating from main topic. But just adding one last reply.

Calculation of rs per miles is very subjective. It varies from person to person depending on how u value it (not the airlines) and how much effort u put in getting discounts in revenue bookings.

When u say u get 0.85 per miles value, did u reduce the taxes paid for award booking and usual 10-12% discount we can get from cards on revenue booking? Or atleast Skyscanner price? Also, did u compare with cheapest revenue option or only with the one airline u wanted to fly via award flight. If anything is no, then in my case, value would have been lower. But in ur case, it may not be.

Even for accor, I don't see it at 1.8rs value. As u get 25-40% discount and Many a times I end up choosing a better hotel than what I would have chosen if I went with revenue option. So, I see only 0.7-0.9rs value on average even with Accor. For example, if I am getting a 2 star hotel at 10K revenue after all discounts. But if Accor has only 5 star hotel at that place which is priced at say 25K points (45K INR), I will see value of just 0.4rs per point. I have actually did a few such bookings with about 0.5rs per point value just to experience the luxury once a while. But it won't be every time.

I actually did, my flight was onward to Bali with the same mileage requirement. Revenue was around 40-41k and mileage was 40k+6k taxes.
Anyway it doesn't matter, as @sahilgulati5 said, we just need to enjoy ourselves!

 

[CVR]

The discussion is deviating from main topic. But just adding one last reply.

Calculation of rs per miles is very subjective. It varies from person to person depending on how u value it (not the airlines) and how much effort u put in getting discounts in revenue bookings.

When u say u get 0.85 per miles value, did u reduce the taxes paid for award booking and usual 10-12% discount we can get from cards on revenue booking? Or atleast Skyscanner price? Also, did u compare with cheapest revenue option or only with the one airline u wanted to fly via award flight. If anything is no, then in my case, value would have been lower. But in ur case, it may not be.

Even for accor, I don't see it at 1.8rs value. As u get 25-40% discount and Many a times I end up choosing a better hotel than what I would have chosen if I went with revenue option. So, I see only 0.7-0.9rs value on average even with Accor. For example, if I am getting a 2 star hotel at 10K revenue after all discounts. But if Accor has only 5 star hotel at that place which is priced at say 25K points (45K INR), I will see value of just 0.4rs per point. I have actually did a few such bookings with about 0.5rs per point value just to experience the luxury once a while. But it won't be every time.

I think we should have balance between “maximising” value per point and saving actual cash. I also travel economy only like you guys. But if goal is only “maximising” then everyone should transfer only to Accor as no one can beat the straight 1.8 rs value (atleast on headline basis) but that would mean using points only for hotels (assuming we find Accor everywhere we go) and paying hard cash for all flights which doesn’t make sense in my view. So i will split between Accor and airlines so that both can booked using points and save hard cash even if airline value per point is lower. Like for my upcoming Newzealand trip i first transferred points to Krisflyer to book 4 tickets (which saved me Rs.4 lakh of actual money although value per point would be 90 paise maybe) and balance i transferred to accor for hotels. In hotels anyways you have many options and even airbnb while for airlines you have limited options only.
Also, i would add Krisflyer is really great program not from value per point (which is also decent at 85-90 paise) but ease of use, booking ability and finally great product. Krisflyer is especially good for SE Asia, Australia, Newzealand and even US west coast (only 49k miles one way). Easy to book for others. No issues like Turkish or United while booking. And sweetspots like free stopover is great. One can do Singapore + Bali/Vietnam in 40k miles return. Doing that on revenue will be far higher. Just Singapore might not give you good value.

 

[Harry1]

I think we have to be having balance between “maximising” value per point and saving actual cash. I also travel economy only like you guys. But if goal is only “maximising” then everyone should transfer only to Accor as no one can beat the straight 1.8 rs value (atleast on headline basis) but that would mean using points only for hotels (assuming we find Accor everywhere we go) and paying hard cash for all flights which doesn’t make sense in my view. So i will split between Accor and airlines so that both can booked using points and save hard cash even if airline value per point is lower. Like for my upcoming Newzealand trip i first transferred points to Krisflyer to book 4 tickets (which saved me Rs.4 lakh of actual money although value per point would be 90 paise maybe) and balance i transferred to accor for hotels. In hotels anyways you have many options and even airbnb while for airlines you have limited options only.
Also, i would add Krisflyer is really great program not from value per point (which is also decent at 85-90 paise) but ease of use, booking ability and finally great product. Krisflyer is especially good for SE Asia, Australia, Newzealand and even US west coast (only 49k miles one way). Easy to book for others. No issues like Turkish or United while booking. And sweetspots like free stopover is great. One can do Singapore + Bali/Vietnam in 40k miles return. Doing that on revenue will be far higher. Just Singapore might not give you good value.

Just one thing. I never said using cash for revenue flights, if u see my original post. I said using Yes/HDFC Bank points for revenue flights. And axis points for accor, as hdfc/yes bank doesn't have that option. But if someone doesn't have those cards, then yeah, no option and need to manage within 2L limit.

 

[CVR]

Just one thing. I never said using cash for revenue flights, if u see my original post. I said using Yes/HDFC Bank points for revenue flights. And axis points for accor, as hdfc/yes bank doesn't have that option. But if someone doesn't have those cards, then yeah, no option and need to manage within 2L limit.

Yes but never have so many points on hdfc to book 4 international return tickets! Hdfc points generally get over by booking indigo domestic tickets on smartbuy.

 

[Harry1]

@Namans Devaluation news from United😅. Good thing that at least Europe/US rates are same.

 

[drsel]

@Namans Devaluation news from United😅. Good thing that at least Europe/US rates are same.

Thanks for informing all of us.

It is always risky to transfer your points into any airline program because airmiles devaluation keeps happening every now and then

 

[drsel]

The airlines collect payment in advance from the credit card issuing banks and then conveniently devalue the points sold to the bank whenever they please.
It's a money making racket

 

[sourpai]

Yes but never have so many points on hdfc to book 4 international return tickets! Hdfc points generally get over by booking indigo domestic tickets on smartbuy.

Same here. I am never able to cross ~15K points on Infinia as they get used very seamlessly and regularly for domestic travel. For me personally, HDFC points are most usable from ease of use and frequency standpoint

 

[Rags]

I think we should have balance between “maximising” value per point and saving actual cash. I also travel economy only like you guys. But if goal is only “maximising” then everyone should transfer only to Accor as no one can beat the straight 1.8 rs value (atleast on headline basis) but that would mean using points only for hotels (assuming we find Accor everywhere we go) and paying hard cash for all flights which doesn’t make sense in my view. So i will split between Accor and airlines so that both can booked using points and save hard cash even if airline value per point is lower. Like for my upcoming Newzealand trip i first transferred points to Krisflyer to book 4 tickets (which saved me Rs.4 lakh of actual money although value per point would be 90 paise maybe) and balance i transferred to accor for hotels. In hotels anyways you have many options and even airbnb while for airlines you have limited options only.
Also, i would add Krisflyer is really great program not from value per point (which is also decent at 85-90 paise) but ease of use, booking ability and finally great product. Krisflyer is especially good for SE Asia, Australia, Newzealand and even US west coast (only 49k miles one way). Easy to book for others. No issues like Turkish or United while booking. And sweetspots like free stopover is great. One can do Singapore + Bali/Vietnam in 40k miles return. Doing that on revenue will be far higher. Just Singapore might not give you good value.

Well said ...

 

[Namans]

@Namans Devaluation news from United😅. Good thing that at least Europe/US rates are same.

So that's why there were so many 100% bonus miles promotions going on. It sucks! I just hope other Airlines don't follow suit.

 

[Namans]

The airlines collect payment in advance from the credit card issuing banks and then conveniently devalue the points sold to the bank whenever they please.
It's a money making racket

Watch this. It's very informative!