How to improve the return % on credit cards?

[knight]

Back here. After this month's statement got generated, I am feeling bad again.
The return % is roughly 3% max.
It is somewhat less I think. It is mainly because of the cards I hold.
That too after spending around 1.6L.

I am not explicitly writing down each card's bill amount, cashback received etc.
I mainly used Amazon pay ICICI, Swiggy HDFC, and Tata Neu Infinity HDFC.
Overall, I feel it could have been better. Am I wrong in expecting higher rewards or returns?

Without buying Amazon pay and other vouchers (without entering the voucher game), and without travel and hotel spends, is it not possible to get a better reward?
My spends are not voucher based and hence I find it difficult to go that way.

Apart from that, when people posting free hotel stays and business class flights, I feel I am missing something.
Other than that, for normal offline card swipes and some bit of online spends, is this the best we can achieve?

Any hacks, tips or tricks?

Hitting good returns with offline spends is usually not feasible.

If any of the offline insurance swipes can be shifted online, Tneu app or Apay Voucher would be your friend.

If you can't shift the expenses online, 1-2% return is what we usually get.


If you're open to applying new cards:
Milestone Oriented Cards:
You can check some cards with Milestones, to try for a better return %.
Like Regalia Gold, Amex, DCB.

Cards with High Base returns:
If monthly 1.6L is sustainable, you can try getting better cards like DCB/Infinia etc that give 3.3% on offline spends (assuming you meet the fee waiver criteria).
Although, since you haven't mentioned any core HDFC cards, upgrading to these seems difficult.
You can check other cards like Axis Atlas, other members can suggest cards if you're open to getting into Miles instead of Cashback.

This would increase your overall return by ~2%. (or more if you can utilize smartbuy/grabdeals)


You may also check if AU LIT has any add-on feature for offline insurance.


Lastly, don't get carried away with people tweeting about luxury vacations using points, most of the points are through online spends on accelerated categories like smartbuy.
Also, many are from manufactured spends and loopholes (which sometimes backfire).
Accumulating those many points with offline spends is not that feasible.