Credit card discussions

vyral_143

Jarvis
Staff member
Super Mod
Nov 28, 2011
3,673
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香港
I am opening this thread to consolidate various details on credit cards in India. Such as which cards offer most suitable rewards points/cash back/rebates; which card are targeted to a particular spending pattern/category; if there is any strategy you are following in using credit card(s) to maximize benefits; etc. This is NOT about coupon codes and related discussions.

This is inspired by a blog here in HK where author lists out details, welcome bonuses, guide to earn rewards for various credit cards and bank accounts. It helps in a great way at saving some extra pennies.
 

chiron

Skilled
Feb 8, 2006
1,573
538
202
Isn't there any deals oriented forums for India? USA has slickdeals, Canada has Redflagdeals. Both have lots of discussion on this topic. In fact I think if such a system were implemented in TE then it would increase a lot of traffic here.
 
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kalph09

Adept
Dec 10, 2020
341
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Bangalore
Avoid Bankbazar, paisa Bazar, etc.

Speaking on raking points and getting good returns, I found Amex Members Rewards Card pretty VFM (for starters and online spenders) with zero joining fee and annual fee. Besides that, I found customer support way better than any banks out there.

Bad bits, poor acceptance rate within India or outside. No additional benefits like lounge access, et al.
 

mav2000

Skilled
Dec 19, 2008
2,295
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The best points as of today is HDFC Diners Black and Infinea. I dont think anyone else comes close to the value of points they offer.
 

alekhkhanna

Skilled
May 29, 2008
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The best points as of today is HDFC Diners Black and Infinea. I dont think anyone else comes close to the value of points they offer.

This.

For low priced cards, the FK Axis card is decent. 1.5% CB on any transaction is higher than other cards in it's range (or even above it's range).

I was calculating RPs when buying the Macbook Air, and among the cards I have - HDFC Regalia, HDFC Intermiles Signature, Amazon ICICI, AMEX Plat Reserve, Citi, OneCard and FK Axis, the highest RPs were with Axis. Rest all gave RPs which when redeemed had lesser monetary value than Axis FK cb.

Any recommendations for a good return card is welcome. Missing an SBI card. Which one is good VFM ?

I am thinking of applying for Axis Vistara, but the high fees are putting me off. Heck, not using too much of AMEX Plat Reserve, and thinking of cancelling it before year end since renewal fee is quite high. Pandemic has curtailed all travel and primary reasons of owing such a card.
 

apurva512

Disciple
Oct 9, 2009
43
50
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Axis ace is better than axis fk for general spends. I have both, use fk one for use only on fk. Other than that, infinia for any high value stuff as well as when their smartbuy specials are on, and citi premier miles before corona when i used to travel :D
 

alekhkhanna

Skilled
May 29, 2008
1,396
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Axis ace is better than axis fk for general spends. I have both, use fk one for use only on fk. Other than that, infinia for any high value stuff as well as when their smartbuy specials are on, and citi premier miles before corona when i used to travel :D

Damn. I missed looking at Ace. Looks like a better overall card.

Need to move from Intermiles to Infinia or others. Too lazy to call up CC. :bag:
 

alekhkhanna

Skilled
May 29, 2008
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Not too worried about fuel as it is reimbursed by the company (up to a limit).
Any other card with good reward options except Axis Ace ?
Which SBI card is a good VFM ?
 

indy1811

Skilled
Dec 24, 2006
2,289
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Amazon Pay card is pretty good if you shop a lot from Amazon. Flat 5% back on goods bought from Amazon and 1% cashback on Bill payments and everything else. The FK Axis card gives 1.5% cashback on Flipkart
 

mayank4823

Disciple
Aug 3, 2009
190
311
178
Jaipur
www.youtube.com
Amazon Pay card is pretty good if you shop a lot from Amazon. Flat 5% back on goods bought from Amazon and 1% cashback on Bill payments and everything else. The FK Axis card gives 1.5% cashback on Flipkart
They restricted the bill payment via CC to 10k. Earlier I used to pay bills as big as 40k for my office and get 2% cashback. Not anymore.
 

Chhotu uttam

Disciple
Mar 23, 2020
27
18
17
I think the most points per reward is usually given by companies which have their own points system. Like Amex have their own, so does Standard Chartered. In the least, they feel like they give more points per rupee spent compared to something like payback, icici reward or intermiles IMO. I might be wrong though