Financial and Banking Learnings

[quino]

moved to their top loyalty tier.

any benefits with that tier?

Travelled most of the flights in Air India Express

how did u book them?

 

[cardio_guycardio_guy is verified member.]

any benefits with that tier?

how did u book them?

All details are in this thread: https://technofino.in/community/thr...-tiers-air-india-express-titan-and-taj.39608/

 

[hender]

Restarting this thread this year to collate the learnings of 2025. I'll go with my list.

1. Moved from cashback cards to points and miles card.
2. Started using vouchers from Amex and Axis gyftr. Started learning the accelerated points game.
3. Started transferring edge miles to Accor and using for hotel stays.
4. Claimed most of the hotel status matches (Marriott Gold, GHA Titanium, ITC Gold, Wyndham Diamond etc) - though never used anything yet.
5. Started using Rupay Select debit cards and claiming offers/vouchers. Good as long as it lasts.
6. Started using SBI debit card reward points for utility bill payments.
7. Stopped using Unipay for bill payments at the last moment, failures can cause mini-heartattacks. Moved to Phonepe/Paytm.
8. Withdrawn full amount from EPF and moved it to a debt fund. Not comfortable locking big amount in EPF, not enough confidence on their system.
9. Claimed Google One AI Pro 2TB Students plan, ChatGPT Go. Did not get Perplexity Pro.
10. Travelled most of the flights in Air India Express, moved to their top loyalty tier.
11. Bought a new scooter TVS Jupiter scooter.
12. Completed an online MBA degree.
13. Bank accounts: SBI, HDFC Preferred, ICICI Wealth. Most used cards: Axis Atlas, Amex Plat Travel.
14. Investments: Continuing with Mutual Funds alone for both equity and debt.
15. Learnt that never trust anyone - never share credit card details with friends or colleagues. I lost a significant amount by trusting a colleague.

Things that I still need to sort out:

1. Stuck between HDFC and ICICI bank acocunts, need to get rid of one.
2. Get an HDFC Core card. Regalia Gold or higher.
3. Monthly family expenses are coming near 1L. Need to see if that can be reduced.
4. Need to explore airline point redemptions for international flights.

Fantastic write up ✍️ as always ✅ 👍, very well summarised, kinda essence of 1 year of TF.

Balancing the emotions of Greed, FOMO and More Money 💰/Over Optimization, is the key takeaway !!!

 

[cardio_guycardio_guy is verified member.]

Adding some things that I missed or let go:

1. There were many entry level LTF cards being offered. Skipped all of them.
2. Skipped all the new card launches - SBI Phonepe, HSBC cards, etc.
3. Skipped the debit card hacks to get cashback on bill payments.
4. Skipped the hotel MCC hack for apay vouchers on maximize

 

[msankadi]

Restarting this thread this year to collate the learnings of 2025. I'll go with my list.

1. Moved from cashback cards to points and miles card.
2. Started using vouchers from Amex and Axis gyftr. Started learning the accelerated points game.
3. Started transferring edge miles to Accor and using for hotel stays.
4. Claimed most of the hotel status matches (Marriott Gold, GHA Titanium, ITC Gold, Wyndham Diamond etc) - though never used anything yet.
5. Started using Rupay Select debit cards and claiming offers/vouchers. Good as long as it lasts.
6. Started using SBI debit card reward points for utility bill payments.
7. Stopped using Unipay for bill payments at the last moment, failures can cause mini-heartattacks. Moved to Phonepe/Paytm.
8. Withdrawn full amount from EPF and moved it to a debt fund. Not comfortable locking big amount in EPF, not enough confidence on their system.
9. Claimed Google One AI Pro 2TB Students plan, ChatGPT Go. Did not get Perplexity Pro.
10. Travelled most of the flights in Air India Express, moved to their top loyalty tier.
11. Bought a new scooter TVS Jupiter scooter.
12. Completed an online MBA degree.
13. Bank accounts: SBI, HDFC Preferred, ICICI Wealth. Most used cards: Axis Atlas, Amex Plat Travel.
14. Investments: Continuing with Mutual Funds alone for both equity and debt.
15. Learnt that never trust anyone - never share credit card details with friends or colleagues. I lost a significant amount by trusting a colleague.

Things that I still need to sort out:

1. Stuck between HDFC and ICICI bank acocunts, need to get rid of one.
2. Get an HDFC Core card. Regalia Gold or higher.
3. Monthly family expenses are coming near 1L. Need to see if that can be reduced.
4. Need to explore airline point redemptions for international flights.

Great thanks for sharing... If you could add some kind of prioritisation to your lists it might help others understand better

 

[vchouksey80]

Restarting this thread this year to collate the learnings of 2025. I'll go with my list.

1. Moved from cashback cards to points and miles card.
2. Started using vouchers from Amex and Axis gyftr. Started learning the accelerated points game.
3. Started transferring edge miles to Accor and using for hotel stays.
4. Claimed most of the hotel status matches (Marriott Gold, GHA Titanium, ITC Gold, Wyndham Diamond etc) - though never used anything yet.
5. Started using Rupay Select debit cards and claiming offers/vouchers. Good as long as it lasts.
6. Started using SBI debit card reward points for utility bill payments.
7. Stopped using Unipay for bill payments at the last moment, failures can cause mini-heartattacks. Moved to Phonepe/Paytm.
8. Withdrawn full amount from EPF and moved it to a debt fund. Not comfortable locking big amount in EPF, not enough confidence on their system.
9. Claimed Google One AI Pro 2TB Students plan, ChatGPT Go. Did not get Perplexity Pro.
10. Travelled most of the flights in Air India Express, moved to their top loyalty tier.
11. Bought a new scooter TVS Jupiter scooter.
12. Completed an online MBA degree.
13. Bank accounts: SBI, HDFC Preferred, ICICI Wealth. Most used cards: Axis Atlas, Amex Plat Travel.
14. Investments: Continuing with Mutual Funds alone for both equity and debt.
15. Learnt that never trust anyone - never share credit card details with friends or colleagues. I lost a significant amount by trusting a colleague.

Things that I still need to sort out:

1. Stuck between HDFC and ICICI bank acocunts, need to get rid of one.
2. Get an HDFC Core card. Regalia Gold or higher.
3. Monthly family expenses are coming near 1L. Need to see if that can be reduced.
4. Need to explore airline point redemptions for international flights.

Great experience and honestly it's a very informative and well structured summary, appreciate it...!!!

 

[cardio_guycardio_guy is verified member.]

Adding one more:
Started using HDFC Millenia Visa debit card, transfer 40k to Amazon pay wallet and get 1% cashback (Rs 400) every month.
I also have the old HDFC easyshop platinum DC, but I don't trust autopay (seen so many instances of it failing, so not using it)

 

[akiratoriyama]

Restarting this thread this year to collate the learnings of 2025. I'll go with my list.

1. Moved from cashback cards to points and miles card.
2. Started using vouchers from Amex and Axis gyftr. Started learning the accelerated points game.
3. Started transferring edge miles to Accor and using for hotel stays.
4. Claimed most of the hotel status matches (Marriott Gold, GHA Titanium, ITC Gold, Wyndham Diamond etc) - though never used anything yet.
5. Started using Rupay Select debit cards and claiming offers/vouchers. Good as long as it lasts.
6. Started using SBI debit card reward points for utility bill payments.
7. Stopped using Unipay for bill payments at the last moment, failures can cause mini-heartattacks. Moved to Phonepe/Paytm.
8. Withdrawn full amount from EPF and moved it to a debt fund. Not comfortable locking big amount in EPF, not enough confidence on their system.
9. Claimed Google One AI Pro 2TB Students plan, ChatGPT Go. Did not get Perplexity Pro.
10. Travelled most of the flights in Air India Express, moved to their top loyalty tier.
11. Bought a new scooter TVS Jupiter scooter.
12. Completed an online MBA degree.
13. Bank accounts: SBI, HDFC Preferred, ICICI Wealth. Most used cards: Axis Atlas, Amex Plat Travel.
14. Investments: Continuing with Mutual Funds alone for both equity and debt.
15. Learnt that never trust anyone - never share credit card details with friends or colleagues. I lost a significant amount by trusting a colleague.

Things that I still need to sort out:

1. Stuck between HDFC and ICICI bank acocunts, need to get rid of one.
2. Get an HDFC Core card. Regalia Gold or higher.
3. Monthly family expenses are coming near 1L. Need to see if that can be reduced.
4. Need to explore airline point redemptions for international flights.

How did you get itc and marriot gold?