Why Should You Get a Travel Credit Card? Top Reasons That You Must Know

By | September 1, 2023
Travel Credit Cards

Nowadays, all the major banks and card issuers have started offering credit cards on the basis of different categories, like shopping, travel, movies, lifestyle, and many more. This is because different people have different spending habits and requirements, and choosing a card as per their needs helps them a lot in saving more & more. If you are a credit card user, you might have heard of the term ‘travel credit cards’ or you might be having one. Travel Credit Cards are cards that are targeted at frequent travelers and come with different types of benefits over the ‘travel’ category. Many people still don’t understand the benefits of having a travel credit card. In this article, you can find some of the most significant reasons why you should get a travel credit card:

Welcome Bonuses and Gifts

Travel Credit Cards, especially the premium ones, come with exclusive welcome benefits that may be extremely advantageous for people who travel frequently. Some cards may offer you hundreds or thousands of bonus Airmiles, others may offer complimentary flight tickets. Some cards even offer Taj Hotels’ stay vouchers or complimentary stays at some of the premium hotels around the world. For example, the Axis Bank Vistara Infinite, and Indigo co-branded 6E Rewards Credit Cards offer complimentary flight tickets, and Intermiles co-branded HDFC Bank Credit Cards offer up to 25,000 bonus intermiles as a welcome gift. 

Other than all these things, some cards also offer complimentary memberships to selected airlines or hotels. For example, with Club Vistara co-branded credit cards, you get complimentary Club Vistara membership and avail of all the benefits that are offered under the same. Similarly, Emirates co-branded cards come with a complimentary emirates skywards membership.

Earn Miles & Rewards

Most travel credit cards offer Airmiles or reward points that can be converted into miles. These Airmiles can be redeemed against flight or hotel bookings and hence you can save amazingly whenever you travel. However, not only the card offering Airmiles can be considered good travel credit cards, but some of the general cards also offer very good reward rates on travel spends and these rewards are redeemable against travel-related bookings. For example, the HDFC Infinia Credit Card offers general reward points, but these points can be converted into Airmiles or can directly be used against flight/hotel bookings via SmartBuy. 

Similarly, ICICI Bank issues credit cards in partnership with MakeMyTrip, and these cards reward you in the form of My Cash. These My cash Points are automatically credited to the cardholders’ My Wallet and can be redeemed against all the types of travel-related bookings via the MakemyTrip app/website. So, this is how co-branded as well as general travel credit cards can help you save a lot on your traveling expenses.

Discounted Travel Bookings

With the credit cards that are best suited for travel, you get discounts on travel-related bookings most of the time. Some cards offer discounts or accelerated cashback on travel bookings, while others offer discount vouchers or discounted flight tickets. For example, the Intermiles ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card offers complimentary flight as well as hotel discount vouchers worth up to Rs. 1,500 as a welcome benefit. Similarly, the Yatra SBI Credit Card comes with some exclusive privileges, under which you can get amazing discounts on travel bookings via the yatra app/website. 

Complimentary Lounge Access

Complimentary airport lounge access is one of the most desired features among the people who are frequent travelers and this is why most of the credit card issuers have partnered with Lounge access programs like Priority Pass, Dreamfolks, etc, to provide their customers with the best world-class benefits. Some of the super-premium cards like the Infinia Credit Card offer unlimited complimentary access to domestic as well as international airport lounges. However, some of the premium and basic cards like HDFC Regalia, SBI Elite Credit Card, etc, offer a limited number of complimentary lounge access every year. 

If you are a frequent traveler, you should try to get a credit card with complimentary lounge access to make your travel experiences super luxurious. It is because even if you reach the airport one or two hours earlier than the time of your flight, you can take a rest at these comforting lounges and avoid the noisy environment at the airports.

Add-on Services

Other than all the travel benefits mentioned above, some super-premium credit cards offer additional services like complimentary spa sessions at the airports, VIP services, and many more. Other than this, you may get complimentary travel-related insurance covers against lost/delayed baggage, delayed flight, lost documents, missed connections, lost tickets/passports, etc.

Bottom Line

Travel Credit Cards are a blessing for frequent travelers as they can not only enjoy extraordinary services for free but also save a lot on their traveling spends. Though most of the travel cards come with a higher annual fee, the cardholders can save a lot more than this fee if they have chosen their credit card wisely. Having the best credit card is not enough, instead, you should also be aware of how you can make the most out of your credit card. If you have a card that offers complimentary discount vouchers as a milestone benefit, you must try to achieve that spend milestone if it is possible without overspending. Moreover, if your card offers reward points that are redeemable against travel-related bookings, make sure that you use them to save some money whenever you book a trip for yourself. So, if traveling is your hobby, get a travel credit card and save every time you go out on a trip.

Note: This is a sponsored content generated by www.cardinsider.com

Disclaimer

In the interest of full disclosure, Credit Cardz may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the links in this post. However, opinions and views expressed here are of the author's alone and not those of the bank, credit card issuer, or anyone else and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Author: CreditCardz

Hi, I am an avid credit card user who loves minting reward points on credit cards. I try to put every possible expense on credit card to earn maximum reward points and want realize my dream to travel the world using just rewards points.

3 thoughts on “Why Should You Get a Travel Credit Card? Top Reasons That You Must Know

  1. amoghvenkatanarayan

    Do we get reward points/miles for transactions done on OTAs like cleartrip, easemytrip etc.. or is it only on airline websites where they accrue miles/points?

    Reply
    1. CreditCardz Post author

      Yes. Skyscanner is an aggregator, you book your tickets on the website that Skyscanner forwards you to. Most of the online ticketing site are reliable.
      At least i have never faced issues using Skyscanner till date.

      Reply

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