✈️ Flight Booking Price Comparison – SmartBuy vs Travel Edge vs iShop (Delhi, New York, Tokyo)

PointsProfessors · Sunday at 9:41 AM

Hi Everyone!
I recently did a detailed comparison of flight prices across three major platforms tied to our reward ecosystems:

HDFC SmartBuy
Axis Travel Edge
ICICI iShop
Goibibo (only for Tokyo)

🔍 Routes compared:

Bangalore → New York
Bangalore → Tokyo
Bangalore → Delhi

💳 I checked fares across SmartBuy, iShop, and Travel Edge, Goibibo (only for Tokyo) and included partner providers like Goibibo, Yatra, and Cleartrip. Here’s a sample snapshot from my analysis:

Route	Platform	Provider	Flight No.	Base Fare	Taxes	Fee	Discount	Total Fare	% Above Lowest
BLR → Delhi	Travel Edge	Tripjack	IX 1116	₹3,839	₹1,270	₹0	₹0	₹5,109	0%
BLR → Delhi	iShop	Yatra	IX 1116	₹3,646	₹983	₹540	₹0	₹5,169	+1.17%
BLR → Delhi	SmartBuy	Yatra	IX 1116	₹3,646	₹1,318	₹440	₹0	₹5,404	+5.77%
BLR → New York	SmartBuy	Cleartrip	EK 569, EK 201	₹80,395	₹32,451	₹1,299	₹0	₹1,14,145	0%
BLR → New York	iShop	Goibibo	EK 569, EK 201	₹85,695	₹32,411	₹1,199	₹-2,000	₹1,17,912	+3.30%
BLR → New York	Travel Edge	Cleartrip	EK 569, EK 201	₹87,581	₹32,411	₹0	₹0	₹1,19,992	+5.12%
BLR → Tokyo	Goibibo	Goibibo	JL 754	₹39,481	₹0	₹750	₹-3,159	₹37,072	0%
BLR → Tokyo	iShop	Goibibo	JL 754	₹26,260	₹13,221	₹999	₹-2,000	₹38,480	+3.80%
BLR → Tokyo	SmartBuy	Goibibo	JL 754	₹25,273	₹13,221	₹999	₹-1,974	₹38,506	+3.87%
BLR → Tokyo	Travel Edge	Cleartrip	JL 754	₹26,838	₹13,221	₹0	₹0	₹40,059	+8.06%

🧮 Note: All fares include taxes and fees after applying platform-specific discounts and travel date is 01-Sep-2025.

🔧 Observations:

Cleartrip via SmartBuy gave the best rate for US routes.
Goibibo + ICICI credit card discount offer provided the cheapest ticket to Tokyo.
Domestic Delhi route was cheapest through Travel Edge.

💬 Would love to hear if others have noticed similar trends.
Do you factor in rewards % or go with the lowest fare? Also, LMK if I missed anything.

msankadi · Sunday at 9:45 AM

Great comparison. Just a small callout SmartBuy charges convenience fee but traveledge doesn't and that's not reflecting above

ashwinikumar900 · Sunday at 9:58 AM

PointsProfessors said:
Hi Everyone!
I recently did a detailed comparison of flight prices across three major platforms tied to our reward ecosystems:

HDFC SmartBuy

Axis Travel Edge

ICICI iShop

Goibibo (only for Tokyo)

🔍 Routes compared:

Bangalore → New York

Bangalore → Tokyo

Bangalore → Delhi

💳 I checked fares across SmartBuy, iShop, and Travel Edge, Goibibo (only for Tokyo) and included partner providers like Goibibo, Yatra, and Cleartrip. Here’s a sample snapshot from my analysis:

Route Platform Provider Flight No. Base Fare Taxes Fee Discount Total Fare % Above Lowest
BLR → Delhi SmartBuy Yatra IX 1116 ₹3,646 ₹1,318 ₹0 ₹0 ₹4,964 0%
BLR → Delhi Travel Edge Tripjack IX 1116 ₹3,839 ₹1,270 ₹0 ₹0 ₹5,109 +2.92%
BLR → Delhi iShop Yatra IX 1116 ₹3,646 ₹983 ₹540 ₹0 ₹5,169 +4.13%
BLR → New York SmartBuy Cleartrip EK 569, EK 201 ₹80,395 ₹32,451 ₹0 ₹0 ₹1,12,846 0%
BLR → New York Travel Edge Cleartrip EK 569, EK 201 ₹87,581 ₹32,411 ₹0 ₹0 ₹1,19,992 +6.33%
BLR → New York iShop Goibibo EK 569, EK 201 ₹85,695 ₹32,411 ₹1,199 ₹-2,000 ₹1,17,912 +4.49%
BLR → Tokyo Goibibo Goibibo JL 754 ₹39,481 ₹0 ₹750 ₹-3,159 ₹37,072 0%
BLR → Tokyo iShop Goibibo JL 754 ₹26,260 ₹13,221 ₹999 ₹-2,000 ₹38,480 +3.80%
BLR → Tokyo SmartBuy Goibibo JL 754 ₹25,273 ₹13,221 ₹0 ₹0 ₹38,494 +3.83%
BLR → Tokyo Travel Edge Cleartrip JL 754 ₹26,838 ₹13,221 ₹0 ₹0 ₹40,059 +8.06%

🧮 Note: All fares include taxes and fees after applying platform-specific discounts and travel date is 01-Sep-2025.

🔧 Observations:

Cleartrip via SmartBuy gave the best rate for US routes.

Goibibo + ICICI credit card discount offer provided the cheapest ticket to Tokyo.

Domestic Delhi route was cheapest through SmartBuy (Yatra).

💬 Would love to hear if others have noticed similar trends.
Do you factor in rewards % or go with the lowest fare? Also, LMK if I missed anything.

I observed that most of the time IShop flights (domestic) are a bit cheaper in comparison to SmartBuy.

ayman · Sunday at 10:03 AM

For international flights smartbuy is far cheaper than ishop & idfc despite higher convinience fee

PointsProfessors · Sunday at 10:06 AM

@msankadi Thanks for pointing it out. I have updated the table.

Slayer · Sunday at 10:06 AM

@cardio_guy took your limelight

PointsProfessors · Sunday at 10:24 AM

@Slayer already thread available on this?

Slayer said:
@cardio_guy took your limelight

PointsProfessors · Sunday at 10:25 AM

ayman said:
For international flights smartbuy is far cheaper than ishop & idfc despite higher convinience fee

Yes, for international smartbuy seems to be cheaper or comparable.

m4b · Sunday at 10:33 AM

So Goibibo is cheaper?

PointsProfessors · Sunday at 10:39 AM

m4b said:
So Goibibo is cheaper?

@m4b I couldn’t compare all booking platforms for every route. For Japan, Goibibo showed up as the cheapest on Skyscanner, so I proceeded with the booking to check the final cost and it did turn out to be the most economical option.

Assuming I book through EPM on Goibibo and earn 3% rewards, the effective cost on Goibibo comes down to ₹35,959.84, making it about 12% cheaper than the most expensive option without considering edge rewards.

yayin · Sunday at 10:53 AM

Thanks for the post! @PointsProfessors

mojo_jojo123 · Monday at 12:24 PM

compare w.r.t skyscanner as well

Slayer · Monday at 12:27 PM

mojo_jojo123 said:
compare w.r.t skyscanner as well

Googol Flites > > > Skyscanner

Slayer · Monday at 12:28 PM

PointsProfessors said:
@Slayer already thread available on this?

No no @cardio_guy is the person who would be the most likely person to create such threads

magnusfan · 2025-06-24T23:59:11+0530

Thanks for the comparision - I did a similar activity for domestic sector and results are as below.

Conclusion: Its clear that Ishop is cheaper than Smartbuy by ~8%. Also, Goibibo makes more sense than the rest!

Portal	Partners	Total Amount	Points	Net	Gap to lowest	Addl for Insurance
Ishop	Goibibo	15,600	2,808	12,792	0%
Ishop	Easemytrip	16,548	2,952	13,596	6%
Ishop	ClearTrip	17,108	3,060	14,048	10%
Ishop	Yatra	16,312	2,916	13,396	5%
Smartbuy	Goibibo	16,508	2,750	13,758	8%	1876
Smartbuy	Easemytrip	16,548	2,750	13,798	8%	1876
Smartbuy	ClearTrip	16,508	2,750	13,758	8%	1876
Smartbuy	Yatra	16,908	2,800	14,108	10%	1876

msankadi · 2025-06-25T09:51:57+0530

magnusfan said:
Thanks for the comparision - I did a similar activity for domestic sector and results are as below.

Conclusion: Its clear that Ishop is cheaper than Smartbuy by ~8%. Also, Goibibo makes more sense than the rest!

Portal Partners Total Amount Points Net Gap to lowest Addl for Insurance
Ishop Goibibo 15,600 2,808 12,792 0%
Ishop Easemytrip 16,548 2,952 13,596 6%
Ishop ClearTrip 17,108 3,060 14,048 10%
Ishop Yatra 16,312 2,916 13,396 5%
Smartbuy Goibibo 16,508 2,750 13,758 8% 1876
Smartbuy Easemytrip 16,548 2,750 13,798 8% 1876
Smartbuy ClearTrip 16,508 2,750 13,758 8% 1876
Smartbuy Yatra 16,908 2,800 14,108 10% 1876

Do both ishop and SmartBuy charge convenience fees?

imdjay · 2025-06-25T10:39:23+0530

In ishop, we can utilise 100% rps while doing the booking.

FinCurious · 2025-06-25T10:54:34+0530

I have utilised another loophole for cheaper flight.
I found google flight to be cheapest and on top of it on bottom of the page change the countries and compare prices.
I also found that Netherlands or some other European countries was giving me 5-10% lower prices than country selected as India.
So end up booking from some Netherlands website and paid via IDFC wow credit card in Euro without markup.
PS - Flight was from Delhi to Lucknow.
So try this in your next flight search.

msankadi · 2025-06-25T11:10:59+0530

FinCurious said:
I have utilised another loophole for cheaper flight.
I found google flight to be cheapest and on top of it on bottom of the page change the countries and compare prices.
I also found that Netherlands or some other European countries was giving me 5-10% lower prices than country selected as India.
So end up booking from some Netherlands website and paid via IDFC wow credit card in Euro without markup.
PS - Flight was from Delhi to Lucknow.
So try this in your next flight search.

Just a word of caution to check the website reviews before booking. Sometimes google flights give very weird and unreliable websites for booking and a simple google search and tripadvisor search will save you from a big loss, as often people discuss about any potential frauds they faced

PointsProfessors · 2025-06-25T15:47:46+0530

msankadi said:
Do both ishop and SmartBuy charge convenience fees?

Yes, both charge convenience fees.

✈️ Flight Booking Price Comparison – SmartBuy vs Travel Edge vs iShop (Delhi, New York, Tokyo)

TF Buzz

🔧 Observations:​

TF Ace

TF Premier

🔧 Observations:​

TF Buzz

TF Buzz

TF Legend

TF Buzz

TF Buzz

TF Legend

TF Buzz

TF Buzz

TF Ace

TF Legend

TF Legend

TF Premier

TF Ace

TF Legend

TF Buzz

TF Ace

TF Buzz

🔧 Observations:

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