Banks removing Lounge benefits from non-premium cards

[Slayer]

But I have heard similar stories from people in other metro cities now a days. So I believe all T1 cities(atleast) have been impacted by this, different scale maybe

I have a very anecdotal example let's take price of FMFL in IT cities of 3 different states - NCR, Pune, Bangalore

Everyone knows that NCR is the cheapest, equivalent product in MH is 50% higher than NCR which is I think a fair price considering purchasing power of IT people and all the old money in Slumbai and Pune now here in comes the funny part wherein the same product is priced over 50% higher in Karnataka when compared to Maharastra price.

So as a pseudo bootlegger I can go to Delhi buy 6 bottles of FMFL in L1 and then come to Bangalore and sell at 20-30% cheaper rate than available in the market.

 

[anotheruser]

Haha, yeah.
No doubt bangalore is worst in taxes and more importantly worst in taxes vs quality of life.

 

[Deleted member 11974]

15-20k is a stretch no? I think 5-10k on living expenses is a reasonable assumption if you aren't considering living lavishly. Most companies should cover travel, and if they don't, buses should operate almost everywhere. So 3k/month at max? Food is subjective, but I expect they should probably eat at home more often. So 10k/month on food. That's about half their income gone. The other half can be split into investment and savings. This is a pretty decent life.

I stay in mumbai and I actually might have said less when I meant 15-20k.
A decent livable pg with water and electricity might go even much higher.
As for travel being covered companies cost cutting exercises have removed it I guess.
Locals are overcrowded same with roads and buses.
So if you look at private transport another 3-5k a month on that
Food based on time and availability a person would roughly spend another 2-3k on this.
The total expenses go at 28k at the higher band.
This is almost 60-70% of your CTC gone

 

[Deleted member 11974]

So yes survival is possible in 5L CTC
Where you stay in a chawl in dharavi paying 5-7k as rent
Eat Street food that will cost you 1-2k a month
Very tough conditions for a decent living

 

[Naro007]

Banks now want you to pay(indirectly) for lounge access by paying a card fee.

As per the report banks now want to focus on premium cards for lounge access since their costs have now increased. That is something you can see whenever you go to a lounge. People get 10-15 cards and get in from whichever card they have a balance. This might not be possible.

Cost cutting has hit Banks as well now.

Banks reduce airport lounge access for non-premium credit cards, shift focus to reward programs - ET BFSI

The expense allocated to lounge access has risen from 0.10% to 0.25% of the total product cost, creating a financial burden.

bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com

It happening globally

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

Its not. I will talk about Bangalore as thats what I have idea of.I have heard similar from my friends in other metro cities as well. 15-20k is now sort of new normal for PG . Even then, if location is close to techparks, it becomes shared room in same cost.
One of the biggest issue is, if in close by techparks, let say some companies pay high and some pay low, as per demand surge(post covid), prices are solely decided by ability to pay. Hence, if you are being paid good, you might afford living nearby, else you'll need to go farther and farther.
And public transport is again public transport. Considering the population we have, no amount of public transport is sufficient enough.
Also, as rentals are higher, everything else becomes costly as every industry(folks working in it) bears brunt of increased rentals and they increase prices to adjust spiralling cost throughout
You may survive at 5L but it wont be "pretty decent".

I can’t debate on this as I was mostly presuming. I am unaware of the pg prices, but I do know of the rental prices going up slightly as of late as I am into real estate. But as you said, some sacrifices need to be made and one would have to live in one of the cheaper neighbourhoods of BLR to save a decent portion of their income. Is it difficult? Most certainly. But it’s achievable.

 

[thanix]

15-20k is a stretch no? I think 5-10k on living expenses is a reasonable assumption if you aren't considering living lavishly. Most companies should cover travel, and if they don't, buses should operate almost everywhere. So 3k/month at max? Food is subjective, but I expect they should probably eat at home more often. So 10k/month on food. That's about half their income gone. The other half can be split into investment and savings. This is a pretty decent life.

I will give two examples I have seen personally in the last year about PG for fresh graduates and freshers joining workforce in Hyderabad and Chennai.

In hyderabad, PG starts at 5k/month which is 4 sharing a room. Just 4 cots with food. Mostly occupied by unemployed graduates doing courses to enter IT. 3 sharing and 2 sharing is 10k to 12k. Mostly entry level freshers occupy this. If a single room is needed 22k and with AC it is 24k+, less availability and some people on short term transfer occupy this. But many take 2 or 3BHK houses and share it among friends which will be 30K

In Chennai, twin sharing PG costs 9k each in the IT area. Many girls prefer this or houses that can be shared.

On transport, many companies eliminated office paid cabs post covid. Earlier it was fixed around 2500. In few companies now it is 5k per month but 3 days a week due to hybrid. Most get their 2 wheeler because of it. Applicable to both boys and girls.

This should give a rough estimate on what an out of town entry level fresher faces in Hyderabad and Chennai.

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

So yes survival is possible in 5L CTC
Where you stay in a chawl in dharavi paying 5-7k as rent
Eat Street food that will cost you 1-2k a month
Very tough conditions for a decent living

True. But again, from what I said earlier, living with only the utmost basic necessities, you can still save a good portion of your income in India. Same thing in the UK, the US and parts of Europe you would need to take loan to survive for your basic necessities if you are paid the minimum wage.

 

[Deleted member 11974]

True. But again, from what I said earlier, living with only the utmost basic necessities, you can still save a good portion of your income in India. Same thing in the UK, the US and parts of Europe you would need to take loan to survive for your basic necessities if you are paid the minimum wage.

agreed
but your quality of life goes down drastically just due to corporate greed

 

[aggarwal]

Not really. Any person who can afford 2nd AC train can afford flight on same route unless the route is remote and flights are scarce. For example Mum - Blr or Mum - Del. No one in his right mind will spend 18 -24 hrs travelling by train in 2nd AC unless absolutely necessary.

I disagree. First 2AC fare is almost half. Second one major difference is that plan changes or get cancelled. Train means we have to pay 200 Rs cancellation charge while we get almost nothing for flight. Second, getting too and from airports is most of time much costlier and add to cost.

Regards

 

[thanix]

So yes survival is possible in 5L CTC
Where you stay in a chawl in dharavi paying 5-7k as rent
Eat Street food that will cost you 1-2k a month
Very tough conditions for a decent living

It is just that the alternative is even worse - being unemployed or doing gig jobs. So yes people opt for it.

Entire cheap labour concept existed in various forms for thousands of years like getting workers from war prisoners, slavery, colonialism, modern example of controlled wages + expenses with long working hours by china and will continue to exist. There is no perfect answer to it.

For India, we are still seeing it in milder form. Wage suppression will be there since other parameters couldn't be controlled much like input prices inflation or market competitiveness due to globalization. And given the availability for it, cheap labour will continue to flow.

 

[Deleted member 11974]

It is just that the alternative is even worse - being unemployed or doing gig jobs. So yes people opt for it.

Entire cheap labour concept existed in various forms for thousands of years like getting workers from war prisoners, slavery, colonialism, modern example of controlled wages + expenses with long working hours by china and will continue to exist. There is no perfect answer to it.

For India, we are still seeing it in milder form. Wage suppression will be there since other parameters couldn't be controlled much like input prices inflation or market competitiveness due to globalization. And given the availability for it, cheap labour will continue to flow.

just because the alternative is much worse is why we are seeing companies like kpmg stoop lower every day

 

[rohant]

I will give two examples I have seen personally in the last year about PG for fresh graduates and freshers joining workforce in Hyderabad and Chennai.

In hyderabad, PG starts at 5k/month which is 4 sharing a room. Just 4 cots with food. Mostly occupied by unemployed graduates doing courses to enter IT. 3 sharing and 2 sharing is 10k to 12k. Mostly entry level freshers occupy this. If a single room is needed 22k and with AC it is 24k+, less availability and some people on short term transfer occupy this. But many take 2 or 3BHK houses and share it among friends which will be 30K

In Chennai, twin sharing PG costs 9k each in the IT area. Many girls prefer this or houses that can be shared.

On transport, many companies eliminated office paid cabs post covid. Earlier it was fixed around 2500. In few companies now it is 5k per month but 3 days a week due to hybrid. Most get their 2 wheeler because of it. Applicable to both boys and girls.

This should give a rough estimate on what an out of town entry level fresher faces in Hyderabad and Chennai.

very true. I can relate with it.

 

[ALOAK]

080 domestic T1 lounge has a dedicated VIP section(a la carte menu). But it has an additional access fee of around 3k INR. But no segregation as such for different card holders.

I think I saw one in T2 bangalore forgot was it before security check or after. When I asked the person said VIP lounges are for MLA MP and ministers.

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

I think I saw one in T2 bangalore forgot was it before security check or after. When I asked the person said VIP lounges are for MLA MP and ministers.

Most airports have VIP lounges meant for celebrities, politicians and other important people. This lounge is no-frill meant only for privacy.
In 080 T1, they have a dedicated section in the lounge that serves an a la carte, gourmet menu. This can be accessed by anyone by paying a fee.

 

[anotheruser]

I disagree. First 2AC fare is almost half. Second one major difference is that plan changes or get cancelled. Train means we have to pay 200 Rs cancellation charge while we get almost nothing for flight. Second, getting too and from airports is most of time much costlier and add to cost.

Regards

This is total situational scenario.While may hold better for shorter journeys, not necessarily for longer journeys.
Ley say someone work far away from their home/family, then train travelling can easily touch 36-48 hours. They'll spend 4-5 days of their holidays just in commute.
So if they somehow get 1 week leaves from office, they'll mostly end up spending more time in travel than with their family.
Even if salary doesnt allow easily, they'll think that they can maybe go home only once or twice a year, clubbing leaves and use flight to save time and spend more time with family.

 

[rohant]

This is total situational scenario.While may hold better for shorter journeys, not necessarily for longer journeys.
Ley say someone work far away from their home/family, then train travelling can easily touch 36-48 hours. They'll spend 4-5 days of their holidays just in commute.
So if they somehow get 1 week leaves from office, they'll mostly end up spending more time in travel than with their family.
Even if salary doesnt allow easily, they'll think that they can maybe go home only once or twice a year, clubbing leaves and use flight to save time and spend more time with family.

This is so true. Even I do that; travel frequently from Del to Hyd. Although, that take a toll on pay, but it's worth the amount spent. We get more time!

 

[Deleted member 9785]

 

[Deleted member 11974]

Even centurion lounge in LA had a 30 min waiting queue saw this on twitter

 

[Slayer]

Even centurion lounge in LA had a 30 min waiting queue saw this on twitter

AmEx penetration is quite deep in NA