Best Super Premium Credit Cards in India
Best super premium credit cards in India for 2019 and 2020. Detailed review of top 9 super premium credit cards along with fees, eligibility and rewards More »
NiYO Global: Best forex card currently in India
Detailed review of NiYO Global forex card More »
Redeem 12,000 Amex reward points for 5,310 credit
Amex has introduced a new reward redemption option at 12,000 MR points for a statement credit of INR 5310. Recently, I was having a word with Amex customer care to adjust my 18,000 MR rewards points for a statement credit of 7,500 on my Amex MRCC credit card (Detailed review here and more about the card here) . It was then the executive informed me that they have introduced another slab at 12,000 points. This new option gives statement credit of 5,310. To be sure I got the numbers right, I this time opted for chat feature in the Amex app. The executive there too confirmed the existence of new slabs and told about the T&Cs.
Best Credit Cards for Lounge access in 2020
I am usually very excited about air travel, maybe the child in me has not grown up yet :D. Apart from the flight, another exciting part of air travel is the airport lounge, where one can relax and grab something to eat and drink, free of course. :D. Well, to get free airport lounge access one needs to have right credit cards.
Here, I have made a detailed list of most credit cards that provide complimentary lounge access. . The post is divided into 2 parts, part one where I list the credit cards on the basis on free lounge access they provide. The second part is my thoughts on how to select the best credit card for lounge access.
Best Travel Credit Cards in India for 2020
After writing on Air Vistara credit cards last week, I thought of figuring out the best travel credit cards available in India. Simply because when we go on vacation or travel, the single largest expense is the flight cost.
While there are only 2 full-service domestic airlines in India that offer air-miles, the travel credit cards space has lot more choices thanks to few international airlines offering co-branded credit cards locally and few card issuers who allow conversion of reward points to air-miles of multiple airlines.
Of all the travel credit cards available in India, I have listed the best 5 cards below. For others, I have made a comparison table to indicate why they did not make the cut.
Air Vistara credit cards – Detailed comparison
Air Vistara has recently launched two new co-branded credit cards in tie-up with SBI. The SBI Club Vistara Prime credit card and SBI Club Vistara credit card. Given that Air Vistara already has three credit cards in tie-up with Axis Bank. The Axis Bank Air Vistara Infinite credit card, Axis Bank Air Vistara Signature credit card and Axis Bank Air Vistara Platinum credit card. The launch of these new cards is an opportune time to compare and see which cards are best suited.
Citibank Premiermiles: How I saved 100,000 last year on it
I love minting credit card points and I do so by putting my every expense on credit card. Last year, I saved nearly 100,000 on my Citibank Premiermiles card alone. Below are the details on how I did it.
Redeemed Citibank Premiermiles point for flight tickets on MMT
Citibank Premiermiles reward points offer the best value (1 point=45paise) on flights and hotel bookings. Thus, I used my points to book return tickets to Singapore. Two return tickets for Singapore were priced at 46000, but I booked them just 4 bucks!! For rest, I redeemed my Premiermiles reward points. An instant savings of 46,000.
HDFC Diners Club credit cards – Review
It is a well-known fact that HDFC Diners Club offers the best rewards among all Indian credit cards. Their 10x program at present is unbeatable. Recently, HDFC launched a new credit card with Diners Club, the HDFC Diners Club Privilege. This card is a mix of Diners Club Black card and Diners Club Miles. Also, the bank has further enhanced the value proposition of its flagship, the HDFC Diners Club Black card.
Thus, this is an opportune time to compare all the Diners Club cards available here in India to see how they fare with each other.
Best super premium credit cards in India
Banks offer a bouquet of credit cards suitable for a wide range of audiences, from entry level cards to super premium credit cards. Well, I did write about a few entry-level credit cards here, it’s now turn to look at the other extreme, the best super premium credit cards available in India.
Banks look to make their super premium credit cards an object of desire or a status symbol and as exclusive as possible. They start with making super premium credit cards available only to HNIs or select customers, high annual fee, high spending limit and exclusive or curated offers & experiences. Another common theme across all super premium credit cards is concierge service. While some concierge such as one from the Amex is way ahead of others, but nonetheless all banks will offer one.
Below is the list of top super premium credit cards available in India. I have ranked the credit cards based on reward points accrual based on a set template of annual spend. The template is spread over various categories, details in footnote.
Citibank – Changes in reward program
Citibank has announced changes to its reward program and excluded many major categories from it, effective from 12th October 2019. Personally, Citibank is my primary card (till now that is) because of its simplicity. One gets reward points for all the transactions (no exceptions) and no expiry of reward points. However, this has now changed.
Below are the details on changes made to the Citibank credit card reward program:
What are the changes in Citibank reward program?
If one reads the official update about changes to Citibank reward program (link here), it’s not very clear as to which merchants are excluded from reward points and which are not. Thus I dug up on what these MCC codes meant and found the details here.
Thus, combining information from these sources, I made a ready reckoner for reference, below.
Amex Membership Reward card (Amex MRCC) – Review
American Express Membership Reward card (Amex MRCC) is one card that I recommend everyone should keep in one’s wallet, without fail. Not only this card gives a status symbol of using an Amex card but also the reward rate and features of the card are among the best in class.
About the Amex Membership Reward Card
The Amex Membership Reward card is the twin of Amex Gold Charge card (review coming soon); with nearly all the benefit that the Gold charge card offers but in the form of a credit card and lower fees.
Amex Membership Reward Credit Card
In the Amex portfolio, this would sit in the entry-level card category along with Amex Smart Earn credit card (Review soon). However, at overall level it fits as Lifestyle card suitable for people who have a decent monthly income (~50,000/month).
Stanchart Digismart Credit Card -Review
Just a few days back HDFC Bank launched its Millennia Credit Card (Read review here) and now StanChart has launched its DigiSmart Credit Card again targeting millennials (aka people who like to spend more online)
About the StanChart DigiSmart Credit Card
StanChart DigiSmart Credit card is an entry-level credit card that means it has low fees and offers decent reward rate on online spends. Well one would agree that DigiSmart credit card despite being an entry-level credit card, is one of the most attractively designed credit card.
