Anyone who travels regularly, be it for business or personal reasons, can benefit from travel cards. The first thing that people associate with travel cards is air miles. However, a travel card can also come with additional benefits.
Unlock Discounts, Upgrades, and Lounge Access
However, travel cards come with a range of benefits that make travel more comfortable and less expensive. These include special discounts on select websites, airport lounge access, auto-upgradation, priority pass membership, premier check-in facility, excess baggage allowance benefits, spending linked miles if your spending exceeds a certain specified amount, and more. This is in addition to the other features such as joining bonuses and dining discounts at partner restaurants.
How Air Miles Work
Reward points or air miles earned vary from card issuer to issuer and depend on the card type, spend types, mode of card transaction whether online or offline, etc. The redemption of reward points and air miles also varies between credit card issuers and even card types. There are about a half-dozen ways points can be redeemed, and each issuer will often offer several.
“In most cases, air miles will be converted to future travel purchases, including airfare, hotel accommodations, ground transportation, travel package deals, etc. The value of air miles depends on your usage,” says Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.com.
For instance, a co-branded credit card may offer you four miles per Rs 100 spent on the card. However, you get 30 miles per Rs 100 spent if you book airline tickets with the partner airline via their website. Then there are sign-up bonus miles and miles for reaching spending milestones on the card.
How To Redeem Air Miles
The same applies to redeeming points and air miles as well. “Your issuer may allow you to redeem air miles against flight tickets, hotel bookings, or even package tours. So you'll need to look up what it would cost you to book your hotel room or airfare using cash instead of air miles or reward points,” says Shetty.
For instance, you may be eligible for a 40 per cent discount on your hotel or a free air ticket. You need to calculate what is better. For instance, redeeming rewards may save you Rs 15,000 on hotel bookings while the cost of the flight ticket may be only Rs 10,000. So, you need to understand what rewards to leverage. Make sure to factor in the redemption charges as some issuers charge a redemption fee at the time of redemption.
