SimpleLife
TF Neo
I currently hold the following cards:
I was going through my redemption options after accumulating decent point on the travel cards, and I realised something is just not adding up. Let me discuss one by one:
HDFC DCBM:
My most used vouchers are from Amazon and Flipkart; they have 2.5% and 3.5% surcharge (including GST), which effectively makes the value like 6.5%
The next best will be BigBasket and Zepto, here the transaction is not big enough to make an impact.
Smartbuy on top of that inflates the price of most of the hotels and flights, I have been able to get the same price or lower price only 2-3 times a year, rest of the time, Skyscanner or MMT with a card offers give a lower price, better value than the percentage that I earn hence, reducing the percentage even lower than 6.5%,
why all this hassle and not just use a cashback card?
The only reason I am holding this is unlimited lounge access, which my wife and I, with an add-on card, enjoy a lot during our international and domestic travel.
Amex Travel:
I accumulated about 80K points on this, I am so confused after I tried calculating the per point value, everyone on the internet is like you get 80p to 1 rupee value. I checked the whole SAE only Combonia had 1 hotel with 75p value and one hotel in Bali with 80p everywhere else is 20-35p.
I am not with the folks who say, to book where their price is right, I don't travel based on my card, my card gets used based on my travel.
In a few countries where I was getting better value, the hotels were so expensive that you had to have 2L-3L points in order to redeem 100%, which is hard for the majority of people, especially those who are not earning mad with referrals.
don't I get better value with a Cashback card?
ICICI Times Black:
This is one card may hate because of the fee, for me Its a 100% recovery, as 10K Easymytrip voucher is already redeemed for me in next trip and 10K koolk is something we use every trip, hence not concerned about the fee.
I am hopeful about this card, as the prices on ishop till now are not inflated. Fingers crossed! Plus they don't have stupid surcharge on vouchers and they have milestones (don't care about the helicopter, I just calculated 3k as cab voucher)
The point I am trying to drive home, is all drama worth it for travel. Should we just get better value with Cashback card? I know business class travel is a case, but for me I have to book two tickets, me and my wife, both businesses class ticket is hard with 2 years of spends, if possible, then mostly we are compromising on when we get that ticket than when we actually wanted to travel.
What is your opinion on true value of Travel vs Cashback?
Has anyone switched, and tried both and want to share their opinion?
- HDFC DCBM
- ICICI TImes Black
- Amex Travel
- SBI Cashback
- Airtel Axis
I was going through my redemption options after accumulating decent point on the travel cards, and I realised something is just not adding up. Let me discuss one by one:
HDFC DCBM:
My most used vouchers are from Amazon and Flipkart; they have 2.5% and 3.5% surcharge (including GST), which effectively makes the value like 6.5%
The next best will be BigBasket and Zepto, here the transaction is not big enough to make an impact.
Smartbuy on top of that inflates the price of most of the hotels and flights, I have been able to get the same price or lower price only 2-3 times a year, rest of the time, Skyscanner or MMT with a card offers give a lower price, better value than the percentage that I earn hence, reducing the percentage even lower than 6.5%,
why all this hassle and not just use a cashback card?
The only reason I am holding this is unlimited lounge access, which my wife and I, with an add-on card, enjoy a lot during our international and domestic travel.
Amex Travel:
I accumulated about 80K points on this, I am so confused after I tried calculating the per point value, everyone on the internet is like you get 80p to 1 rupee value. I checked the whole SAE only Combonia had 1 hotel with 75p value and one hotel in Bali with 80p everywhere else is 20-35p.
I am not with the folks who say, to book where their price is right, I don't travel based on my card, my card gets used based on my travel.
In a few countries where I was getting better value, the hotels were so expensive that you had to have 2L-3L points in order to redeem 100%, which is hard for the majority of people, especially those who are not earning mad with referrals.
don't I get better value with a Cashback card?
ICICI Times Black:
This is one card may hate because of the fee, for me Its a 100% recovery, as 10K Easymytrip voucher is already redeemed for me in next trip and 10K koolk is something we use every trip, hence not concerned about the fee.
I am hopeful about this card, as the prices on ishop till now are not inflated. Fingers crossed! Plus they don't have stupid surcharge on vouchers and they have milestones (don't care about the helicopter, I just calculated 3k as cab voucher)
The point I am trying to drive home, is all drama worth it for travel. Should we just get better value with Cashback card? I know business class travel is a case, but for me I have to book two tickets, me and my wife, both businesses class ticket is hard with 2 years of spends, if possible, then mostly we are compromising on when we get that ticket than when we actually wanted to travel.
What is your opinion on true value of Travel vs Cashback?
Has anyone switched, and tried both and want to share their opinion?
