Infinia Credit card with better Reward Points for Travel Redemption

[hysteriadoc]

Hello Guys. I already have an Infinia Credit Card & mining points upto the 4X threshold of 15K per month. However, I am in search of a Credit Card better or somewhat inferior to Infinia where I could get higher Reward Points for use of Travel Redemption in cash/revenue (I am not interested in Miles Program). As of now, I am using Axis Atlas for the same where 1 EM = 1 Rs. in revenue (Again, I am not interested in Miles Program) for my Travel redemptions. I don't use Accor or Marriott or any other miles program. Can someone suggest the next best Revenue Rewards Credit Cards (with accelerated earings or subscription) !

 

[percolate]

HSBC Premier is great for Travel.

 

[SmartyAadi]

May I know why you won't use any miles options?

As it is a bit stupid to not do so.

I get that its best to have flexibility of being able to book any hotel using your points (SmartBuy offers just that), but suppose you were already going to stay at a 3 / 4 / 5 star, you will be much better with Accor or Marriott in that case, so might as well make use of miles transfer.

 

[drsel]

May I know why you won't use any miles options?

As it is a bit stupid to not do so.

I get that its best to have flexibility of being able to book any hotel using your points (SmartBuy offers just that), but suppose you were already going to stay at a 3 / 4 / 5 star, you will be much better with Accor or Marriott in that case, so might as well make use of miles transfer.

Look like he is planning to never fly and never stay in any hotel for the rest of his life

 

[drsel]

HSBC Premier is great for Travel.

This is not for him, as he wants only real money/ cash.
so all the cash back cards would be ideal.

SBI Cashback 5%, max 5000 on 1 lac
Axis Cashback over 5%, max 4000
Axis Airtel 10%, 25%, max 250 on 2500/1000
HSBC Live plus 10%, max 1000 on 10000
Roar Bank 20%, max 250 on 1250
AU Lit with subscription

 

[hysteriadoc]

HSBC Premier is great for Travel.

I am Self-Employed. I cant get Hsbc cards.

 

[hysteriadoc]

May I know why you won't use any miles options?

As it is a bit stupid to not do so.

I get that its best to have flexibility of being able to book any hotel using your points (SmartBuy offers just that), but suppose you were already going to stay at a 3 / 4 / 5 star, you will be much better with Accor or Marriott in that case, so might as well make use of miles transfer.

I am capable of finding the cheapest revenue rates across cities & countries which I find atleast 50% cheaper than the miles program. My few redemptions are - Nag-Shj 2A+2C Return on Air Arabia Direct route @ Rs. 50,000 /-. Also, Bom-Sin 2A+2C Return on Singapore Airline A380 direct route @ Rs. 69000 /- , also Nag-Vns 2A+2C Return on Indigo via Del @ Rs. 14700/-. The miles program nowhere comes near these rates. However, I am out of 15K Infinia limits every month, hence looking for reasonable alternatives. Not interested in Cashback cards, but interested more in accumulation of reward points for revenue redemption later.

 

[PreciousTincture]

A bit contradictory: you want travel redemption , but not interested in transfer programs??

if you want brand/partner agnostic RPs. nothing can beat Infinia/BizBlack imo. you can literally use those points to book hotels/flight at 1:1 ratio using Smartbuy ( 70% points, 30% cash).

Since you already own Infinia and you said you are "self-employed". Try to get HDFC BizBlack as a floater card and pay all your taxes/GST with it. its a gold-mine. easily gets you 1.2 Lakh INR worth of RPs and 20k in vouchers. these points hold same value as Infinia (1:1) for hotel/flight bookings.

 

[subham23]

From all your shared screenshots, i understood you always prefer to use infinia points directly on smartbuy flights only (70% points and 30% pay), also you've mentioned you use atlas for other spends (like hotel stays). So my suggestion is, as you already have 2 of the best travel cards and using most of them, getting a 3rd card may divert your spends and collecting sufficient points for a family of 4 (2A+2C) for particular trips. As suggested above try your luck to get 2nd hdfc card along with infinia to increase your smartbuy points. (15k infinia + 10k bizblack)

 

[aashishnb]

I am capable of finding the cheapest revenue rates across cities & countries which I find atleast 50% cheaper than the miles program. My few redemptions are - Nag-Shj 2A+2C Return on Air Arabia Direct route @ Rs. 50,000 /-. Also, Bom-Sin 2A+2C Return on Singapore Airline A380 direct route @ Rs. 69000 /- , also Nag-Vns 2A+2C Return on Indigo via Del @ Rs. 14700/-. The miles program nowhere comes near these rates. However, I am out of 15K Infinia limits every month, hence looking for reasonable alternatives. Not interested in Cashback cards, but interested more in accumulation of reward points for revenue redemption later.

Hi, just to understand your process / method / special websites to get the cheapest prices.
Would be very helpful for others like us.

 

[hysteriadoc]

Hi, just to understand your process / method / special websites to get the cheapest prices.
Would be very helpful for others like us.

Skyscanner, Cheapflights, Momondo, Google flights does most of the work. Keep flexible dates, subscribe for fare drop alerts etc....

 

[hysteriadoc]

From all your shared screenshots, i understood you always prefer to use infinia points directly on smartbuy flights only (70% points and 30% pay), also you've mentioned you use atlas for other spends (like hotel stays). So my suggestion is, as you already have 2 of the best travel cards and using most of them, getting a 3rd card may divert your spends and collecting sufficient points for a family of 4 (2A+2C) for particular trips. As suggested above try your luck to get 2nd hdfc card along with infinia to increase your smartbuy points. (15k infinia + 10k bizblack)

I am planning for Europe trips & as per my research, flights from India to Europe are 30% cheaper than those from Europe to India. For Europe to India leg, I would use miles+taxes one way & for India to Europe I would book revenue one way direct flights from Smartbuy. I need more Rewards for Revenue redemptions. I dont see much value in Axis Atlas beyond 7.5 Lakhs Gold Tier, however I am hitting 15L Platinum Tier every year. For the rest 7.5 - 10 Lakhs spends, I needed Credit Card at par/ or somewhat inferior to Infinia with reward redemptions in actual cash/revenue.

 

[nh124001]

icici epm, no transfer partner.. i think upto 90% redemption..

 

[subham23]

I am planning for Europe trips & as per my research, flights from India to Europe are 30% cheaper than those from Europe to India. For Europe to India leg, I would use miles+taxes one way & for India to Europe I would book revenue one way direct flights from Smartbuy. I need more Rewards for Revenue redemptions. I dont see much value in Axis Atlas beyond 7.5 Lakhs Gold Tier, however I am hitting 15L Platinum Tier every year. For the rest 7.5 - 10 Lakhs spends, I needed Credit Card at par/ or somewhat inferior to Infinia with reward redemptions in actual cash/revenue.

That's true, i've also Atlas, and my target is only 7.5 L per annum. Also you can explore Yes Marquee (if not approved ICICI EPM), reward points are 25p but 4.5% returns for online txn, direct flight booking on yes rewardz portal and upto 70% points redeem like infinia and if your family enjoys movies (3+3 upto 800/- every month), and only 1% forex txn.

 

[cesc007]

This is not for him, as he wants only real money/ cash.
so all the cash back cards would be ideal.

SBI Cashback 5%, max 5000 on 1 lac
Axis Cashback over 5%, max 4000
Axis Airtel 10%, 25%, max 250 on 2500/1000
HSBC Live plus 10%, max 1000 on 10000
Roar Bank 20%, max 250 on 1250
AU Lit with subscription

S B I phonepe Black is still better

 

[percolate]

I am Self-Employed. I cant get Hsbc cards.

if you open Premier account with them, they should give you Premier credit card.

 

[hysteriadoc]

Well ! Closing this thread as I got my answers. 4 recmmendations - Hdfc Bizblack, Icici EPM, Hsbc Premier & Sbi Phone Pe Black. Thanks folks !

 

[drabhishek90]

I would just like to comment that you are the first guy I have seen who has such a different outlook for all the miles and rewards games. Interesting perspective. These miles games offer a good value only if you are aiming business class or high end hotels. Otherwise cashback cards make a good sense many a times.

 

[Altius]

I understand you said closed the thread, but if you are looking for just points and 1-1 redemption based on milestone - do check White Reserve - https://www.kotak.bank.in/en/person...ards/white-reserve-credit-card/whitepass.html