Vacation planning help needed

[anamay]

Hi guys,

I'm planning an international vacation in May, wanted to know the best way to optimize current as well as vacation spends.

Current cards: Apay ICICI, IDFC First Select, HDFC swiggy, Regalia gold, DCB metal.

1. Should I apply for any other cards right now which would be more beneficial for the trip?
2. Which cards should I focus spending on and gathering reward points on to help with flight and hotel bookings?
3. Which card will help with foreign payments?
4. Which one shall be good for lounge access?

I've never travelled much before so I'm quite clueless here, so any help would be much appreciated 🙂

 

[sahilgulati5]

DCB metal is good for booking flights and hotel. But if you can get atlas before that it will help u a lot. As you can book directly with airlines and get 10% miles/points back which we can use to book hotel in Accor.

Since u have DCB you should be having some points you can use that to reduce ur outgo and book hotel/ flight usimg smartbuy

 

[S U D O]

Should I apply for any other cards right now which would be more beneficial for the trip?

Axis Atlas .

 

[coolguy1]

Option 1 - If your spends are around 4L, you can simply for the Amex Plat Travel card.

That will get you 40K MR points and 10K Taj voucher which is the highest reward that any card will offer for this kind of spends.
If you hit 2-3L too, then you can spend the 1L later somewhere to meet the milestones.
(DM me and I can share some tips on how to maximise earning the rewards!)

Option 2 - Axis Atlas

Travel and Atlas goes hand in hand, it's a little fussy, actually a lot fussy to deal with Axis bank and their exceptions and their RMs but if you're okay with dealing with all of that and tracking MCC codes then this could be a good addon.

Option 3 - DCB Metal

This option to keep it simple without getting any extra card, DCB can be a good one if you book everything through the HDFC Smartbuy sites. In rare occasions, the prices there are similar or cheaper than other travel sites but if the prices are cheaper elsewhere then this might not be the best idea.

 

[Vivek86]

If you are planning to use HDFC for foreign payments then do remember to subscribe for GVP (Global Value Program). Simply call the customer care to activate it. Though do check acceptability of Diners in the location you are travelling to.
DCB metal used to have 10k bonus points for spending 4L+, another reasons in it’s favour.

 

[pythonlover]

How much will you spend on flights & hotels roughly? That will give a better idea to make suggestions.

 

[mj01]

Hi guys,

I'm planning an international vacation in May, wanted to know the best way to optimize current as well as vacation spends.

Current cards: Apay ICICI, IDFC First Select, HDFC swiggy, Regalia gold, DCB metal.

1. Should I apply for any other cards right now which would be more beneficial for the trip?
2. Which cards should I focus spending on and gathering reward points on to help with flight and hotel bookings?
3. Which card will help with foreign payments?
4. Which one shall be good for lounge access?

I've never travelled much before so I'm quite clueless here, so any help would be much appreciated 🙂

Diners acceptance can be a problem internationally. Get a visa/ mastercard CC with good benefits on forex (there is a good thread for this in the community!). You can also use IDFC cc for direct cash withdrawal without interest charges!