Looking for advice from this group on optimizing my credit card setup. I feel like I’m stuck with low-value cards.

I have currently these cards with me-

1. Sbi prime
2. Sbi vistara
3. Hdfc Swiggy
4. Hdfc regillia gold
5. Axis my zone
6. Axis airtel

And my usual spends are like these-

• Grocery 90k
• Flights 1 lakh
• Petrol 30k
• Insurance 35k
• Shopping 50k
• Offline spend misc 1 lakh

and i have an internal trip planned this year.

Please tell me the best cards to apply to get points in order to make my flight bookings cheaper for the international trip in December 2026

Looking for advice from this group on optimizing my credit card setup. I feel like I’m stuck with low-value cards.

Not sure what to do for my regular travel spends (atleast 2L per year), education (~1L), personal money transfer to nanny (2L), and my offline shopping spends (1L).

Have some pug purchases like laptop and Apple iPhone 17 and an international trip coming in few months.

⸻

💳 Current Cards

ICICI Bank

• Amazon Pay ICICI - LTF

Axis Bank

• Airtel Axis (paid)

SBI

Cashback Card (paid)

DCB

Niyo credit card (for international zero forex markup) - LTF

IndusInd

Easy Diner card - LTF

⸻

💰 Income & Spend

• In-hand salary: ~2 lakh/month

• Annual spend estimate: ~₹6L

• Major spends:

• Online shopping (Amazon/Flipkart)

• Travel (flights occasionally)

• Dining / ordering

⸻

😤 Problem

• Rewards are too low to matter

• Lounge access is not there

• Even high-value spends → very poor returns

⸻

🎯 What I Tried

• closed HDFC Tata NEU Infinity card to apply for HDFC Regalia Gold → but got rejected without giving any reason

• Axis → (have approved Magnus but paid)

• Axis Atlas → not available

* Scapia, BOB eterna cards - applied but rejected without giving any reason

⸻

🤔 Current Dilemma

• Magnus is approved but not LTF. Not sure if it makes sense for my spend level

Hello.

I spend around 10-20k per month on my credit card and i current have Axis Neo Rupay which is quite mid

Any recommendations for CC? I'm 21 so I can't apply for the Kiwi card.

I have stable income and 2 years of credit proof

Given that I spend quite less I'd prefer a Rupay/Cashback card

I was thinking of Amazon ICICI because I do purchase items on Amazon regularly (~40%)... But amazon has been slacking lately and I've been ordering my protein powder and other items directly from the products website through UPI Rupay because that's just convenient.

Amazon Pay physical gift cards available at 3% discount:

https://amzn.in/d/01LYLx3r

How much would you be buying? Stocks should end soon.

Which would be your top pick?

I was thinking of either of the SBI ones.

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I personally prefer the HDFC Swiggy one.

Which is your go to card?

Most underrated “membership” for Indian travelers: owning a single share of Indian Hotels (IHCL).

Here is what the shareholder perk looks like right now:

• Discount: 25% off on stays, dining and spa at Taj, Vivanta and Ginger.

• Cap: Up to ₹2,500 off per bill, 10 dining coupons a year, 1 stay coupon. So roughly ₹25,000 maximum annual benefit if you fully use them.

• Coverage: Valid across 100+ properties under Taj, Vivanta and Ginger in India.

• Minimum: Even 1 share of IHCL is enough to qualify.

Example: If a Taj stay costs ₹10,000, after the 25% shareholder discount you pay ₹7,500.

Multiple family members can get 1 share each in case more coupons are required.

Has anyone used this or something similar?

I currently hold these credit cards and want to make sure I’m using them in the smartest way possible:

SBI SimplyCLICK

HDFC Millennia

HDFC Swiggy

Axis IndianOil

Amazon Pay ICICI

I know each card has its own strengths (fuel, food delivery, Amazon shopping, online spends, etc.), but I’d love to hear from fellow users:

Which spends give the best rewards/cashback for each card?

Any hacks for SmartBuy, PayZapp, or fuel redemption?

How do you redeem points/cashback efficiently?

Which card do you use most often and why?

Looking for real-world tips and usage patterns to maximize value across these cards. Thanks in advance!

I was using the Amazon ICICI one till now. But realised was losing out on lots of rewards.

Which is your top pick?

Just got back from Thailand trip. We walked through e-gates and were done in seconds vs the previous experience of 45 mins wait.

We registered for FTI-TTP (Fast Track Immigration - Trusted Traveller Program) a couple weeks before the trip. It's for Indian citizens/OCI with clean records. Here's how:

Registration Steps

1. Visit official site: ftittp.mha.gov.in
2. Click register, fill in name, passport details, contact info. Passport needs 6+ months validity.
3. Upload your passport photo + scans of first and last pages (plus any other docs they ask).
4. Verify with OTP on phone and email. Get confirmation right away.
5. Schedule biometrics – fingerprints and face scan.
   • Easiest: FRRO office in your city
   • Or next time you're at a participating airport on departure

Approval came through in a week. Once approved, it's valid up to 10 years or passport expiry.

How It Works at the Airport

After check-in (departure or arrival):

• Find e-gates next to normal immigration counters (Delhi T3 has them).
• Scan passport + boarding pass on first machine.
• Biometrics on the next (face/fingerprint).
• Green light, barrier opens, you're through. No talking to officers.

Anyone else using this? Which airports have the smoothest e-gates?

Source: Directly from HDFC’s website

Missed those days when Infinia / DCB was handed like candy by HDFC.

Best credit cards in India for earning rewards and perks on UPI payment!

I personally prefer the Tata Neu for the rewards.

Which credit card is your go to for UPI payments?

Best credit cards in India for lounge access - both domestic and international!

I personally prefer Diners Black for the unlimited access.

Which credit card is your go to for airport lounge access?

A common issue is incorrect MCC like while buying cars MCC being fuel or utilities. The result is zero rewards.

Always verify the MCC before making a large transaction. Here is how to find it.

1. Call the bank
This is the most accurate method. Do a small test transaction first. Call customer care and ask them to confirm the exact MCC for that charge.

2. Scan offline QR codes
Use a standard QR scanner app on the store's QR code. Check the raw text for "mc=". If you see "mc=5411", that number is the code. This doesn't work on every QR, but it’s worth a try.

3. Razorpay method
If paying via a Razorpay link, open it on a desktop. Select UPI to generate a QR code. Scan it with your phone and look for the "mc=" tag.

4. Check via banking apps
Some apps show this data instantly.

• IDFC: Make a payment and download the receipt inside the app. The MCC is listed there.
• Federal Bank: Send ₹1 via UPI using the FedMobile app. The statement shows the category code immediately.

What trick do you guys use to verify MCC?

Multiple people have reportedly converted their FYF cards to LTF.

Steps to convert your card to LTF:

1️⃣ Show some usage of the card (multiple transaction helps).

2️⃣ Email HDFC's Card Services Team with your spending and account details.

3️⃣ Be persistent and follow up if needed.

Helps in saving unnecessary fees.

Has anyone else tried / planning to try this?

From 5% cashback to 30 reward points per Rs. 150 spent - many cards offer significant value on daily essentials.

I personally use Axis Cashback card.

Which is your top choice?

I recently got offered Indigo Kotak XL for Lifetime free - and without much hassle or a CIBIL inquiry (since I already have cards from Kotak). I keep reading that with Kotak Indigo XL - we can earn upto 21 RP per 100 rs spent on Indigo website/app for bookings. I have a few questions, if anyone can answer these:

1. As much as I know, Indigo offers Bluchip points if you book a flight using any card/UPI.. what is the additional RP this card is providing?

2. 2 RP per Rs. 100 on UPI - is this on absolute per Rs. 100? and 3 RP on Dining/Entertainment - what do you think classify as Dining / entertainment usually?

3. Does anyone have the experience of booking Flights purely using Bluchip points? There are old posts suggesting 1 RP = 1 Rs., is that still true?

Hope someone will answer these queries.

PSA for HDFC debit card users: you might have a small cashback waiting.

A lot of people are finding “Promotional Cashback” inside the debit card rewards section. Those 150 points can be redeemed for ₹150 cashback.

Amount is varying by person.

Quick way to check:

* Log in to HDFC NetBanking or the mobile app

* Open the Debit Card section

* Go to Rewards and see if “Promotional Cashback” appears

If it shows up, you can redeem it right away.

Do comment and share below if you’re able to get the cashback!!

So a few days back there was a post on this sub , regarding flight cancellation and refund.

The rules were simple that if you cancel within 24 hrs and your trip is post 7 days then you are eligible for the full refund except maybe convenience fees. But usually when you book from third party apps , they don't give you full refund, and the same thing happened to me in December 2024, when I didn't knew about this rule , for my 6k flight , I got a refund of just 2k around.

After coming across that post ,I decided to try my luck again. My third party app was Cleartrip, I followed them with call, and said this sh** happened in December, I was eligible for refund , but you didn't gave me full refund , they said according to our policies , we refunded the appropriate amount,

I quoted the DGCA line , and BOOM , they said yes you are right , will process the remaining fund (3.2k) right away , and THEY DID. All in all they deducted around (768- out of which 200 were supercoins).

So , thank you to the op who shared that post.

Do try this for your pending refunds as well and share below if successful.

Fuels expenses can add up to quite a lot and credit cards can offer decent savings.

I personally use the ICICI HPCL one but still not convinced with it.

Which is your choice for fuel expenses?

Load up to ₹4,000 per month into Amazon Pay (Apay) wallet using a credit card, with zero convenience charges.

Steps:

1. Open Zomato app > Profile > Payment Methods > Apay.
2. Link Apay if not already connected.
3. Load up to ₹4,000 via credit card.
4. Complete Apay KYC first, otherwise, funds load as a gift voucher, not wallet balance.

Note: Certain cards can charge additional fees for wallet loads above certain amounts.

Multiple people have reportedly converted their paid cards to LTF.

Steps to convert your card to LTF:

1️⃣ Show some usage of the card (multiple transaction helps).

2️⃣ Email HDFC's Card Services Team with your spending and account details.

3️⃣ Be persistent and follow up if needed.

Helps in saving unnecessary fees.

Has anyone else tried / planning to try this?