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How did you move from cashback to reward points card? Share your story
- Thread starter cardio_guy
- Start date
- Replies 42
- Views 1K
No I am not taking that. Realized that not everyone needs that card. The only highlight I could see there is 10% cashback on insurance spends through phonepe. Just for that purpose, I don't need that card -- because my insurance spends are not that high. And Neu infinity gives 5% on insurance, that's enough. I haven't installed phonepe ever, and I need to start from scratch, which I don't need. Rest of my cards fulfill my spends and returns, so keeping it aside for now.
That also gives 10% on any bbps payment made via phonepe along with flights
what about inconvenience fee ? heard its ~1% ?
Friend who is working there said that if any employee applied for cuckdfc ultimo card then not eligible for black card 🤣
Inconvenience fees will slowly be implemented ~ no roadmap as such for this year
Currently card is only available for phonepe employees through a different channel
After using Atlas for about a week, I now think that I should have moved from cashback card to reward point based card long back.
These are some of the problems of beginners and people who are not so indulged into cards from my learnings and experiences.
This is for people who are serious about their card journey and expect a good lifestyle
Do not focus on cards in the first few years of your work life. Atleast for the first 5-8 years, earn and make a stable income and a good corpus.
If you fix focus only on cashback cards, then target at leat 5% and above. Do not settle for lesser returns because it is not really rewarding.
This makes you take more then 3-4 cards because one card gives 10% only on some categories. So you will need more cards that give 5+ on different categories.
If at all one is going for cashback cards, go for those that do not have a limitation of low cappings, so that your rewards are not limited.
Another big thing is love for LTF cards. I was also once hooked upon LTF cards forever. The main reason is that even if I don't spend on that card, I don't have to pay any fees. That is in one sense good only. But just because of that one reason, there is no need to stack up all LTF cards available.
Take cards that you need and take cards that aligns with your spends. But there are some paid cards that gives equivalent points in return for the fees paid - both joining and renewal fees. So even though we pay fees, we get equal or more points in returns. So, paying fees is not always bad.
Coming to reward point based cards, Most of them comes with a good base reward rate of atleast 2% or higher which when transferred to partners can give better returns. Here you need to be a little careful. There are many types of reward cards. Some are tied to a specific hotel or airlies, some are generic cards, some are milestone based and all. So the first step I would say is to analyze and evaluate what kind of person are we, what are our spend patterns and what are our preferred redemption patterns etc. While choosing cards also first I would say study the ecosystem and then go for the card. Each ecosystem is different - HDFC, ICICI, Axis or Amex. We need to have a broad understanding of their exclusions, point earning systems, reward multiplier platforms, and redemption possibilities. After going through these, we need to see which one suits our needs and spends. Also look at milestone rewards, multiplier rewards and lot more.
I just thought of scribbling down some thoughts because I have only been exposed to one reward system, and I am yet to taste the other two. If someone is still hesitant to move from cashback to rewards, I think this thread can give some insights. All in all, I think this is also an investment that gives you better lifestyle experiences along the journey.
These are some of the problems of beginners and people who are not so indulged into cards from my learnings and experiences.
This is for people who are serious about their card journey and expect a good lifestyle
Do not focus on cards in the first few years of your work life. Atleast for the first 5-8 years, earn and make a stable income and a good corpus.
If you fix focus only on cashback cards, then target at leat 5% and above. Do not settle for lesser returns because it is not really rewarding.
This makes you take more then 3-4 cards because one card gives 10% only on some categories. So you will need more cards that give 5+ on different categories.
If at all one is going for cashback cards, go for those that do not have a limitation of low cappings, so that your rewards are not limited.
Another big thing is love for LTF cards. I was also once hooked upon LTF cards forever. The main reason is that even if I don't spend on that card, I don't have to pay any fees. That is in one sense good only. But just because of that one reason, there is no need to stack up all LTF cards available.
Take cards that you need and take cards that aligns with your spends. But there are some paid cards that gives equivalent points in return for the fees paid - both joining and renewal fees. So even though we pay fees, we get equal or more points in returns. So, paying fees is not always bad.
Coming to reward point based cards, Most of them comes with a good base reward rate of atleast 2% or higher which when transferred to partners can give better returns. Here you need to be a little careful. There are many types of reward cards. Some are tied to a specific hotel or airlies, some are generic cards, some are milestone based and all. So the first step I would say is to analyze and evaluate what kind of person are we, what are our spend patterns and what are our preferred redemption patterns etc. While choosing cards also first I would say study the ecosystem and then go for the card. Each ecosystem is different - HDFC, ICICI, Axis or Amex. We need to have a broad understanding of their exclusions, point earning systems, reward multiplier platforms, and redemption possibilities. After going through these, we need to see which one suits our needs and spends. Also look at milestone rewards, multiplier rewards and lot more.
I just thought of scribbling down some thoughts because I have only been exposed to one reward system, and I am yet to taste the other two. If someone is still hesitant to move from cashback to rewards, I think this thread can give some insights. All in all, I think this is also an investment that gives you better lifestyle experiences along the journey.
You included earn factor but forgot burn factor. Most of these reward cards' points have just an year of longevity. Unless one travels frequently it's hard to burn the earned points else they vanish.
Thanks, I will add the burn factor next with my real case example. Got too much of thoughts here itself, even earn factor I didn't write fully. Will plan and write more/better later.
With the recent changes, discontinuations, devalutations and all, people having points cards really need to have a good portfolio. Depending on just one card or one bank may not be the right thing to do always. Within points cards itself, one can categorize as: cards for hotels, flights, vouchers, general purpose etc.
Atlas is purely a traavel card - It earns good base reward + more on hotels and flights. You can transfer to a good number of partners as well. You can use it for on general spends to earn EMs. But it may not be a great card for vouchers - because there are not so high voucher bonus points like 5x and 10x.
With Atlas you still earn 2EM/100 on voucher purchases. That's still not bad. But if someone wants, they can have an HDFC Regalia Gold (or higher) for smartbuy vouchers which gives like 5x-10x points. That way, we are not fully invested on one ecosystem.
Why Atlas is a great card compared to other travel cards is that - it gives 5EM/100 (not accelerated like 5x-10x, but still great) on flights and hotels bookings on direct arilines and hotel websites. You don't have to depend on their accelerated portal to get multiplier points. Many people find it convinient to book directly than OTAs. For all those, this is a better card than others.
A combo of two cards is enough for most people. Something that covers excluded categories, reach milestones, get vouchers, get points. That's it.
We just need to see which categories are our spends mostly on, and take cards accordingly. For eg,
- Insurance, Education, Utilities, General spends, hotel and flights, vouchers - this covers all of my spends.
- I don't have rent and wallet load expenses
- Jwellery purchase is very rare for me.
Another important point is to stick to a relianble bank and system. Lesser known banks and systems take time to build trust. I have no experience with smaller banks and their point systems like Yes, RBL, Indusind, AU, etc. So I like to stay away from them. Among the smaller ones, I like IDFC First only - mianly because their tech is good, point never expire etc. I think we need to like the bank and its system to like their cards.
So coming to what we can shortlist: we can classify as super-premium (invite-only kind of), mid tier (popular and accessible for all), next best (if not getting the best)
I may have missed some, and these are just my choices, feel free to add more.
Having 2-3 cards is enough for most of the people and that can actually help earn good rewards with milestones and redeem for a good flight or hotel stay.
Atlas is purely a traavel card - It earns good base reward + more on hotels and flights. You can transfer to a good number of partners as well. You can use it for on general spends to earn EMs. But it may not be a great card for vouchers - because there are not so high voucher bonus points like 5x and 10x.
With Atlas you still earn 2EM/100 on voucher purchases. That's still not bad. But if someone wants, they can have an HDFC Regalia Gold (or higher) for smartbuy vouchers which gives like 5x-10x points. That way, we are not fully invested on one ecosystem.
Why Atlas is a great card compared to other travel cards is that - it gives 5EM/100 (not accelerated like 5x-10x, but still great) on flights and hotels bookings on direct arilines and hotel websites. You don't have to depend on their accelerated portal to get multiplier points. Many people find it convinient to book directly than OTAs. For all those, this is a better card than others.
A combo of two cards is enough for most people. Something that covers excluded categories, reach milestones, get vouchers, get points. That's it.
We just need to see which categories are our spends mostly on, and take cards accordingly. For eg,
- Insurance, Education, Utilities, General spends, hotel and flights, vouchers - this covers all of my spends.
- I don't have rent and wallet load expenses
- Jwellery purchase is very rare for me.
Another important point is to stick to a relianble bank and system. Lesser known banks and systems take time to build trust. I have no experience with smaller banks and their point systems like Yes, RBL, Indusind, AU, etc. So I like to stay away from them. Among the smaller ones, I like IDFC First only - mianly because their tech is good, point never expire etc. I think we need to like the bank and its system to like their cards.
So coming to what we can shortlist: we can classify as super-premium (invite-only kind of), mid tier (popular and accessible for all), next best (if not getting the best)
| Bank | Super premium | Mid Tier | Next Best Alternative |
| HDFC | Infinia, DCBM | Regalia Gold | Mariott Bonvoy |
| ICICI | EPM | - | Times Black |
| Axis | Burgundy Private, M4B | Atlas, Magnus | Horizon, Olympus |
| HSBC | Premier | TravelOne | - |
| Amex | Plat Charge | Plat Travel | MRCC |
I may have missed some, and these are just my choices, feel free to add more.
Having 2-3 cards is enough for most of the people and that can actually help earn good rewards with milestones and redeem for a good flight or hotel stay.
Last edited:
Nothing is visible in dark mode..
After changing to light mode, i could able to see the which you have thrown on various aspects 😜😜
Initially i also thought if i want to take a card then it must be LTF card as most of the cards I hold are LTF.
Earlier was offered infinia FYF didn't take it as it was not LTF.
Then after looking at my spend pattern and needs, I felt I will be able to extract value using cards line infinia or EPM.
So recently acquired EPM as I am poor person for Infinia. 😂😂
Enjoying the EPM and this is where I moved from cashback to RPs based card.
Fixed it now, sorry I copy psated once, and that might have created this problem. Thanks for pointing out.
nikhilv0303
TF Ace
Hi, what is SQ?
saber.mbt
TF Premier
Reward points cards keeps on devaluing reward points. Especially Hdfc smart buy removed many categories from 2850 points for 1000 voucher. So points available are sometimes difficult to redeem for maximum value. Ppl who use for travel milestone earns better. On the other hand cashback card like tata neu credited has neu coins, apay balance gives flexibility and hassle free experience with variety of ways. Mental peace matters✌🏻
Hemang
TF Legend
bhai reward points can easily be transferred, in which you will get better value back, use that hard cash to buy what you want directly.
nikhilv0303
TF Ace
Great thread !
First of all @cardio_guy thank you so much for this thread,it really changing my mindset and i am now keen to learn many new things about the miles game..
As i am also using mostly sbi cb card for all of my spend and where its excluded then some other LTF or other cashback cards i am using,and was thinking from long time that how to make that first switch from cb card to miles card,now understanding slowly slowly and learning things from this thread is great..
Thinking to acquire axis atlas after my cooldown period gets over,and if any doubt will ping you here😁
As i am also using mostly sbi cb card for all of my spend and where its excluded then some other LTF or other cashback cards i am using,and was thinking from long time that how to make that first switch from cb card to miles card,now understanding slowly slowly and learning things from this thread is great..
Thinking to acquire axis atlas after my cooldown period gets over,and if any doubt will ping you here😁
akiratoriyama
TF Premier
saber.mbt
TF Premier
In HDFC reward points to cash value is 0.20p with redemption charge of 99+GST
Indusind only 50% points can be converted to cash. For eg 10000 points available means 5000 can be converted and 5K is maximum capping per month. They charge 149+GST for redemption
And their reward system points+cash is useless. Most-wanted vouchers are available at 10-20% points and balance cash with 99+GST
Then have to look for other alternatives as my cooldown period will get ends in october month..
