Airmiles really worth it?

[tsj49]

Hello,
I am exploring miles game now as I am new to this. The reasons are, I have some plans to go for international trips. I always take Economy ticket so no business class/first class air ticket. I just want to get the best out of each CC point so that it saves the cost as much as possible.
The biggest issue I feel I'll get with the miles redemption are

1. Low availability for redemption in Economy.
2. Lower value (most if used in Economy). e.g. If the ticket price in INR is 10000, in miles it would be 20000 or so. Basically it halves the reward rate. (Sometimes I have seen, the miles are 3x the cost) and don't forget that, if we use miles, we still need to pay the surcharges and taxes.
3. Limited options for the airlines. I can't choose any airline for redemption. In case of hotel loyalty points, this is BIG problem for me because there are limited airlines but hotel options are too many.

I have DCB, but its points are 1:1 because I don't get any of the above problems. Initially I thought it would be 1:1 ratio for airmiles and totally ignored DCB for use but I was very much wrong.
For example, yesterday only I had booked a flight of 7888/- price, I had below two options.

• Through Smartbuy, costed me 5521 points + 2367/- through card.
• Through miles which requires 17000 miles + 1220/- (surcharges and taxes).

We can clearly see the cash difference and points difference which no where close to 1:1.

I have read many places that using business class/first class will give better value for miles but I would never opt for that because it's waste of miles (rather than experience) because the difference in miles (Economy to Business) is exponentially high.
The point is, the reward I was assuming (1:1) for miles (24% in Magnus) against DCB points (3.33% default), the real difference in rewards are very very less than 20.66% (24-3.33).
If we consider default rate of Magnus is 4.8% (in miles) but the actual redemption is not 1:1 (I see that as less than 0.5) in this case but DCB I would get 3.33% with 1:1 conversion.

The similar thing goes for hotel loyalty programs as well.

Please share your view/experience on this. It would be great for all, knowing all the aspects of this game.

 

[visvin]

I used 7500 CV miles + ₹1200 for a return Kol-Del ticket (normal is 10,000 miles but Vistara was running a 25% discount during that period for using miles). Booked 3 days before the departure date, cash ticket was 16K return. So I got close to ₹2 per point in value.
Similarly booked a vistara from Del to Kol in Dec for 15K miles +1600 for 3ppl, but revenue ticket was >₹22K. Again more than ₹1 value.

If you're going to compare Intermiles with DCB, you're going to get a wrong picture. IM has very poor conversion, use CV

 

[tsj49]

I used 7500 CV miles + ₹1200 for a return Kol-Del ticket (normal is 10,000 miles but Vistara was running a 25% discount during that period for using miles). Booked 3 days before the departure date, cash ticket was 16K return. So I got close to ₹2 per point in value.
Similarly booked a vistara from Del to Kol in Dec for 15K miles +1600 for 3ppl, but revenue ticket was >₹22K. Again more than ₹1 value.

If you're going to compare Intermiles with DCB, you're going to get a wrong picture. IM has very poor conversion, use CV

ok. If you search Google flights between Kol-Del on that date, was 16k min cost coming in the results? OR 16k was the amount of same Vistara flights?
I agree on the points on Intermiles. Its conversion is very bad.

 

[visvin]

ok. If you search Google flights between Kol-Del on that date, was 16k min cost coming in the results? OR 16k was the amount of same Vistara flights?
I agree on the points on Intermiles. Its conversion is very bad.

Just vistara. Indigo may have been cheaper by 2K maybe but Vistara is a full service airline w.r.t indigo and even at ₹14K vs 7.5k miles. I'm much better off.
Also for Dec trip, 22K was cheapest from any airline when i was booking.

 

[tsj49]

Just vistara. Indigo may have been cheaper by 2K maybe but Vistara is a full service airline w.r.t indigo and even at ₹14K vs 7.5k miles. I'm much better off.
Also for Dec trip, 22K was cheapest from any airline when i was booking.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Tejas]

Hello,
I am exploring miles game now as I am new to this. The reasons are, I have some plans to go for international trips. I always take Economy ticket so no business class/first class air ticket. I just want to get the best out of each CC point so that it saves the cost as much as possible.
The biggest issue I feel I'll get with the miles redemption are

1. Low availability for redemption in Economy.
2. Lower value (most if used in Economy). e.g. If the ticket price in INR is 10000, in miles it would be 20000 or so. Basically it halves the reward rate. (Sometimes I have seen, the miles are 3x the cost) and don't forget that, if we use miles, we still need to pay the surcharges and taxes.
3. Limited options for the airlines. I can't choose any airline for redemption. In case of hotel loyalty points, this is BIG problem for me because there are limited airlines but hotel options are too many.

I have DCB, but its points are 1:1 because I don't get any of the above problems. Initially I thought it would be 1:1 ratio for airmiles and totally ignored DCB for use but I was very much wrong.
For example, yesterday only I had booked a flight of 7888/- price, I had below two options.

• Through Smartbuy, costed me 5521 points + 2367/- through card.
• Through miles which requires 17000 miles + 1220/- (surcharges and taxes).

We can clearly see the cash difference and points difference which no where close to 1:1.

I have read many places that using business class/first class will give better value for miles but I would never opt for that because it's waste of miles (rather than experience) because the difference in miles (Economy to Business) is exponentially high.
The point is, the reward I was assuming (1:1) for miles (24% in Magnus) against DCB points (3.33% default), the real difference in rewards are very very less than 20.66% (24-3.33).
If we consider default rate of Magnus is 4.8% (in miles) but the actual redemption is not 1:1 (I see that as less than 0.5) in this case but DCB I would get 3.33% with 1:1 conversion.

The similar thing goes for hotel loyalty programs as well.

Please share your view/experience on this. It would be great for all, knowing all the aspects of this game.

You have already listed all aspects of the game except Experience & Luxury. You cant put a monetary value to it sadly. At the end of the day, its upto the individual. If you do not value Experience or Luxury, then dont go for Airmiles or Hotel Loyalty Points. Stick to regular redemption process.

 

[Slayer]

I used 7500 CV miles + ₹1200 for a return Kol-Del ticket (normal is 10,000 miles but Vistara was running a 25% discount during that period for using miles). Booked 3 days before the departure date, cash ticket was 16K return. So I got close to ₹2 per point in value.
Similarly booked a vistara from Del to Kol in Dec for 15K miles +1600 for 3ppl, but revenue ticket was >₹22K. Again more than ₹1 value.

If you're going to compare Intermiles with DCB, you're going to get a wrong picture. IM has very poor conversion, use CV

Can you book flights with CV points for anyone?

 

[visvin]

Can you book flights with CV points for anyone?

Yes, you can book for 8 'nominated' people, friends & family. You have to add them to your profile in CV. But you can't delete or make changes to the list for one yr once added.

 

[coinhunter]

How long does it take for Axis Vistara Infinite and SBI Prime Vistara to transfer the CV points to the actual CV account?

 

[tsj49]

You have already listed all aspects of the game except Experience & Luxury. You cant put a monetary value to it sadly. At the end of the day, its upto the individual. If you do not value Experience or Luxury, then dont go for Airmiles or Hotel Loyalty Points. Stick to regular redemption process.

I really value experience. That's why we travel. The definition of experience and luxury varies from person to person.

 

[TheMentalist]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Also, transfer points to Vistara or Intermiles during their promotions, where they offer extra upto 50% also

 

[tsj49]

Also, transfer points to Vistara or Intermiles during their promotions, where they offer extra upto 50% also

Currently intermiles have the offer of 2x miles conversion so thought of transferring my old points of Yes Preffered to intermiles but even after calculation, I noticed, the best value came out to be use to book flights through Yes rewards website. For what all options did you get best redemption for intermiles?

 

[BMR]

How long does it take for Axis Vistara Infinite and SBI Prime Vistara to transfer the CV points to the actual CV account?

For Vistara infinite, Within 8-10 days after statement generation.

 

[TheMentalist]

Currently intermiles have the offer of 2x miles conversion so thought of transferring my old points of Yes Preffered to intermiles but even after calculation, I noticed, the best value came out to be use to book flights through Yes rewards website. For what all options did you get best redemption for intermiles?

Used it for converting my Regalia RP to IM, as Regalia was giving only 0.5rs per RP and IM was offering 0.25rs, plus helped me reach an upgrade to next tier which gave a complimentary yearly Amazon Prime membership. Also, you can redeem IM to get 5% discount on Amazon GV

 

[Slayer]

Used it for converting my Regalia RP to IM, as Regalia was giving only 0.5rs per RP and IM was offering 0.25rs, plus helped me reach an upgrade to next tier which gave a complimentary yearly Amazon Prime membership. Also, you can redeem IM to get 5% discount on Amazon GV

So base conversion rate is 0.25 and during 2x offer you got 0.5?

 

[TheMentalist]

So base conversion rate is 0.25 and during 2x offer you got 0.5?

yeah.. got 2x or similar miles which basically gave value of 0.5rs per RP. Also Regalia gives 0.5rs only for flights, whereas IM can also be redeemed through Pay With Rewards (Twidpay) on various merchants

 

[coinhunter]

Has anyone tried contacting Intermiles' customer service? I tried getting in touch with them but no response. Need to change my mobile number

 

[anotheruser]

Intermiles is one of the biggest scam.
Ex: If you have to buy intermiles, for let say 1000 intermiles, you'll need to pay >rs 1000.
If you have to redeem, let say for flight with value 1000rs, you'll need to pay > 1000 intermiles.

So, while buying, they value intermiles more and while redeeming, they value it less than money!!

 

[tsj49]

Intermiles is one of the biggest scam.
Ex: If you have to buy intermiles, for let say 1000 intermiles, you'll need to pay >rs 1000.
If you have to redeem, let say for flight with value 1000rs, you'll need to pay > 1000 intermiles.

So, while buying, they value intermiles more and while redeeming, they value it less than money!!

Buying miles/points is rarely profitable unless it's on an offer. Sometimes even on offers, it's losing bet. That's how they make money.

 

[coinhunter]

Intermiles is one of the biggest scam.
Ex: If you have to buy intermiles, for let say 1000 intermiles, you'll need to pay >rs 1000.
If you have to redeem, let say for flight with value 1000rs, you'll need to pay > 1000 intermiles.

So, while buying, they value intermiles more and while redeeming, they value it less than money!!

I kept asking HDFC to change my Intermiles card for the last 2 years and still no update on their end. I even stopped using it