What Credit Cards You Should Have by INCOME? [Detailed Review]
Summary
TLDRThis transcript discusses the benefits and strategies of using multiple credit cards, focusing on maximizing rewards through cashbacks, vouchers, and travel. The speaker shares personal experiences and recommendations for different spending levels, emphasizing the importance of discipline to avoid credit card debt and the use of concierge services for unique benefits.
Takeaways
- π³ The speaker owns multiple credit cards, possibly over a dozen, and manages them to maximize rewards and benefits.
- π° The speaker aims for a 7-8% return on their credit card spending, which can vary depending on the card and spending habits.
- π¦ Credit card rewards can be categorized into cashbacks, vouchers, and travel-focused rewards, with the latter offering the highest potential returns.
- ποΈ For those spending around 5 lakh rupees annually, a cashback card like the Amazon Pay IC card is recommended, especially for beginners.
- π¨ For higher earners with 15-20 lakh rupees annual income, travel-focused cards like the American Express Platinum Travel card are suggested for maximizing travel rewards.
- π’ The HDFC India card is highlighted as a top choice for its base reward rate of 3.3% and additional benefits like 5x reward rate on Amazon Pay vouchers.
- βοΈ The Club Vistara Infinite card from Access Bank offers free business class tickets and priority airport services, making it valuable for frequent flyers.
- π The Axis Atlas credit card is recommended for those with annual spends of 15 lakh rupees, offering bonus miles and high reward rates on travel spending.
- π The American Express Platinum charge card, despite its high annual fee, provides significant benefits like Taj vouchers, hotel memberships, and concierge services.
- π The speaker emphasizes the importance of managing credit utilization and making timely payments to maintain a good credit score, suggesting not to exceed 30-40% of the available credit limit regularly.
- π The speaker uses social media and public forums to stay updated on the best credit card deals and redemption opportunities, suggesting that planning and research are key to maximizing rewards.
Q & A
What is the average return rate one can expect from using credit cards for expenses?
-The average return rate one can aim for is between 7 to 8% on their expenses, depending on the credit card rewards program.
What are the three main types of credit card rewards mentioned in the script?
-The three main types of credit card rewards are cashbacks, vouchers or gifts, and travel-focused rewards such as domestic or international travel and hotel stays.
How does the cash back reward system work on credit cards?
-Cash back rewards work by providing a percentage of the spent amount back as a statement credit, for example, 2% cash back on a 100 rupee spend.
What is the benefit of using points to get vouchers or gifts from credit card rewards?
-The benefit of using points for vouchers or gifts is that it allows cardholders to receive items or discounts on shopping platforms like Amazon or Flipkart without directly paying out of pocket.
How can one maximize rewards in the travel-focused category of credit card rewards?
-One can maximize rewards in the travel-focused category by using points for high-value redemptions such as luxurious holidays or stays at premium hotels, which might not be affordable otherwise.
What is the recommended approach for someone with an annual spend of around 5 lakh rupees on choosing a credit card?
-For someone with an annual spend of around 5 lakh rupees, it's recommended to look for a cash back card, such as the Amazon Pay IC card, which offers simplicity and rewards on Amazon purchases.
Why is it important to be mindful of spending habits when using credit cards?
-It's important to be mindful of spending habits to avoid credit card debt, which is one of the most expensive forms of debt, as interest rates can be as high as 30 to 40% on outstanding balances.
What are some of the benefits of the HDFC Infinia card mentioned in the script?
-The HDFC Infinia card offers a base reward rate of 3.3%, 5x reward rate on Amazon pay vouchers, and the ability to redeem points for Indigo flights, making it beneficial for frequent flyers.
How does the American Express Platinum Travel card benefit its users in terms of travel rewards?
-The American Express Platinum Travel card offers bonus points on spending, high-value redemption options for hotels and flights, and additional perks like Taj vouchers, making it a strong choice for travel-focused rewards.
What is the significance of the concierge service provided by American Express Platinum Charge card?
-The concierge service, or 'con,' is a significant benefit that provides personalized assistance for various requests, from booking hard-to-get reservations to providing immediate help in emergencies.
How does the credit utilization ratio affect one's credit score when managing multiple credit cards?
-The credit utilization ratio should ideally not exceed 30-40% of the available limit on a card to maintain a good credit score. Regularly exceeding this limit or missing payments can negatively impact the credit score.
Outlines
π³ Maximizing Credit Card Rewards
The speaker discusses the number of credit cards they own and the returns they get from using them, emphasizing the importance of spending habits and life stage in determining rewards. They mention that rewards can range from 2% cashback to 30% on travel, with an average target of 7-8% returns. The rewards are categorized into cashbacks, vouchers, and travel-focused rewards, with the latter offering the highest potential returns. The speaker's family spends 30 to 40 lakh rupees annually, primarily on credit cards, leveraging rewards for luxurious travel experiences.
π Travel and Credit Card Rewards
The speaker provides insights into the best credit cards for different spending ranges, focusing on the benefits of travel-focused cards for those with higher incomes. They mention the American Express Platinum travel card and the AIS Atlas card as good options for earning substantial rewards. The speaker also discusses strategies for using credit card points for travel, such as maximizing luxurious redemptions and planning holidays based on the best deals available.
π¨ Top Credit Card Recommendations
The speaker outlines their top three credit card choices based on their experience and rewards structures. They highlight the HDFC Infinia card for its high base reward rate and the ability to earn bonus points through specific purchases. The Club Vistara Infinite card is recommended for its travel benefits, including free business class tickets and priority services. Lastly, the Axis Atlas credit card is praised for its simplicity and high reward rates for travel-related spending. The speaker also mentions the benefits of using social media and public forums to stay updated on the latest credit card deals and strategies.
πΌ Managing Multiple Credit Cards and Their Impact on Credit Score
The speaker shares their approach to managing multiple credit cards, mentioning that they keep track of spending and rewards mentally rather than using spreadsheets. They address concerns about the impact of multiple cards on credit scores, suggesting that closing cards can temporarily affect the score due to a reduction in overall credit limit. However, they emphasize the importance of responsible credit use, such as not exceeding 30-40% of the available limit and making timely payments, to maintain a good credit score.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Credit Cards
π‘Reward Rate
π‘Cashback
π‘Vouchers
π‘Travel Rewards
π‘Spending Habits
π‘Eligibility
π‘Co-Branded Cards
π‘UPI Cards
π‘Credit Score
π‘Concierge Service
Highlights
The speaker owns between 2 to 14 credit cards, including some with their mother.
Aims to achieve an average return of 7-8% on credit card expenses through rewards.
Credit card rewards can be categorized into cashbacks, vouchers, and travel-focused rewards.
The maximum rewards are typically found in travel-focused categories, sometimes reaching up to 30% returns.
Family's average annual spending is 30-40 lakh rupees, with 90-95% of expenses on credit cards.
A 7% return on 40 lakh rupees results in 2.8 lakh rupees of travel rewards annually.
For those spending 5 lakh rupees annually, a cash back card like Amazon Pay IC card is suggested.
American Express Platinum Travel Card is recommended for travel-focused rewards under 5 lakh rupees spend.
Eligibility for top-tier cards like HDFC card requires a high annual income and years of waiting.
For earners of 15-20 lakh rupees annually, travel-focused cards like American Express Platinum are suggested.
American Express Platinum offers benefits like 40,000 bonus points for spending 4 lakh rupees in a year.
Utilizing credit card points for luxurious holidays is a strategy to maximize rewards.
Social media and public forums are sources for staying updated on the best credit card deals and redemption strategies.
HDFC card offers a base reward rate of 3.3% and 5x reward rate on Amazon pay vouchers.
Club Vistara Infinite card provides free business class tickets and priority travel benefits.
Axis Atlas credit card is recommended for those with annual spends of 15 lakh rupees, offering high reward rates.
American Express Platinum Charge card, despite its high annual fee, offers significant tangible and intangible benefits.
Concierge services, or 'con', provided by American Express offer personalized assistance for a variety of requests.
UPI cards like the Tata Neu Rupe card offer rewards on spends at Tata group properties.
Maintaining a good credit score involves not exceeding 30-40% of the credit limit and avoiding missed payments.
Transcripts
straight to the point right how many
credit cards do you own 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 in my hand and maybe a
couple of more cards with my mother if I
have to sort of ask you for a number
right now based on the cards you have
what sort of return are you getting out
of these credit cards in a year when
you're investing in debt or in equity
you
ask right similar thing in credit cards
you will know how how much you will get
the only issue is that how much you can
spend and spending completely depends on
what life stage you are in and you know
how much you earn you can start with a
2% reward rate on your credit cards and
go as high as 15 20% also but on an
average I try to get somewhere between 7
to 8% uh Returns on my expenses lovely
and if if I have to ask you what are the
benefits I mean these are the
approximate returns you're getting but
what are the benefits you're sort of
getting out of these cards what are the
rewards which the SPs are giving you so
credit card uh rewards we can categorize
into three different types of buckets
right uh bucket number one uh would be
rewards in the form of cashbacks right
cashbacks basically mean that say if
you're spending 100 rupees you could get
a 2% cash back as a statement credit
second form of reward could be uh using
your points to get a voucher or a gift a
voucher could be an Amazon voucher or a
flip cart voucher or any other shopping
voucher as well right and third form of
third category of reward uh is the
travel Focus rewards basically using
your points to travel you know it could
be domestic travel it could be
international travel it could be hotels
also and where do you get the maximum
amount of rewards it's in this third
category in the first two category it's
very limited so in the first category
for example in the cash back category uh
there are cards that gives you 5% cash
back on specific spends right but that's
the upper limit I would say but in the
third category there is no upper limit
you know in certain years people have
made as much as 30% also on on their
card spends wow in our family our
average uh spending is in the range of
30 to 40 lakh rupees in a year and uh I
try to spend most of it on credit card
so 90 to 95% of our expenses are charged
on credit cards and if you take a
average return rate of say 7% also on 40
lakh rupees you get 2.8 lakh rupees back
which you don't get that back as a cash
back or you know in the form of money
that is something that you can use
towards your travel right so you can
basically do a holiday worth 2.8 lakh
rupees and in in 2.8 lakh rupees you can
do a decent luxurious holiday right uh
for a holiday where in the say a hotel
where the room night costs 40,000 rupees
per night I may not give pay that money
in cash you know no matter how rich I
get right but when you are getting that
through Reward Points it's very easy to
do that right and in early in life you
know I may get to a stage 10 years later
where I can shell out 40,000 rupees per
night in cash but when you can do it
today why wait for 10 years absolutely
people would want to know what would be
the best credit card they can take or
they should take right so we've spoken
about how your spending activity sort of
regulates which credit card you should
probably take so in terms of different
spending ranges uh what would be the
best cards you suggest in say the
multiple spending ranges there from low
to high so let's you know break this
into three different categories okay uh
the we can take the first category of
spends wherein someone is spending 5
lakh rupees in a year so here the
assumption is that you know you're
spending on your basic needs right and
uh you're not spending on anything
luxury so I would suggest you know
someone to look at a cash back card in
this range maybe they can look for a
card which is free so for example the
Amazon pay IC card one of the oldest
cards that I have uh in my wallet also
right this is a very simple to use cash
back card most of us spend money on
Amazon these days right say if you're a
Prime member and you're spending money
on Amazon you get 5% on your shopping
back as a Amazon pay balance for up to 5
lakh person a cash back card probably
makes more sense to start of it
absolutely because number one you are
most likely a beginner in the credit
card space as well right when it comes
to credit cards there are a lot of you
know uh Associated habits also that you
need to take care of right credit card
debt is the most expensive form of debt
now you think about it uh why do these
credit card companies give you so much
reward because when people borrow on
credit card they are easily making 30 to
40% you know uh interest on those uh
outstanding balances so that's where
they earn their money and you know they
reward the people who are uh very uh
disciplined with credit cards right but
if you still want a travel focused card
under 5 lakh rupees spend then American
Express Platinum travel card is your
card but the issue is that uh limited
acceptability so you have to deal with
that challenge another thing to see is
that you know you you may not be
eligible early in your career to get the
best of cards right because say for
example the HDFC inia card that I have I
had to wait like almost 5 to 7 years to
get this card the requirement for this
card today you know it keeps changing
but today it's 42 lakh rupees annual
income wow and now let's go to the next
step of the ladder say someone starting
at 15 lak 20 lakh income uh what cards
would you suggest there which would work
well and what kind of reward benefits
should that person be looking at so this
guy who is earning 15 to 20 lakh rupees
in a year is also in a position to you
know do at least one good holiday in a
year or once in two years right so they
should I would suggest focus on uh
travel focused cards right because uh
you are young and you want to travel I
think I have not seen anyone who doesn't
like to travel especially people in
their 20s and 30s right uh so with that
in mind uh they can look at a couple of
cards which I hold one of them is the
American Express uh Platinum travel card
okay uh this is a silver color card and
the other one is the AIS Atlas card
which I have the American Express
Platinum travel card uh eligibility it's
not difficult you you know uh the income
eligibility is 5 lakh rupees only perom
I think right uh so and you can get it
as a referral so when you ask someone to
refer you for this card it's free for
the first year and you also get 2,000
bonus points that's number one number
two is if you spend 4 lakh rupees in a
car on this card in a year you get
40,000 bonus points and then you get uh
some points on your spends also which is
around 7 to 8,000 uh points on spending
4 lakh rupees that's uh number two and
then you get 10,000 rupes worth of Taj
vouchers as well oh lovely so what you
what can you do with these 50,000 points
so I'll take an example of a recent
holiday that we did in February this
year which is at Western rishikesh it is
a new property opened uh in late last
year somewhere in November or December
and uh they had this introductory offer
wherein you can you know get a room
night for 20 21,000 points per night
right and you went for a two night
holiday to Western rishik 30 uh the room
night is 35,000 rupees per night so the
benefit that you got is worth 70,000
rupees for you know against 40 or 42,000
points correct right that this 70,000
rupees worth of benefit and another 10
000 rupes worth of T voucher which you
can use for a stay at any T property so
you got a return of you know a value of
80,000 rupes on spending 4 lakhs so the
net return here is 20% you really need
to be have to be mindful about you know
which property you you are using it so
most times it happens that you know we
plan our holidays based on the best deal
we are getting in right I think n have
two questions which sort of come to mind
one is that for say someone who wants to
travel once a year for example or maybe
twice say or something like that what is
the best way in terms of how that person
can plan to utilize credit card points
for that travel what what sort of
methodology do you use and how do you
plan your travel and the second part you
talked about moving points to Mar it or
you getting tge vouchers so where do you
sort of get to know about these deals
and how do you look these offers up sure
we try to do the most luxurious uh uh
redemptions possible right because I
will not be you know paying in cash for
that so I'll give you example of a
holiday we did last year in 2022 in
Dubai right so we were in Dubai and
there is a property called almaha yeah
so this property costs uh somewhere
between $1,500 to to to $2,500 per night
and it's an allinclusive property
wherein you know you don't really have
to pay for anything your all your meals
are covered and your stay is covered so
everything is covered in that including
some activities uh so we we stayed there
for two nights and we paid 2 lakh points
the only money that I paid at that
property was 3,000 rupees for you know a
couple of drinks that's it so our the
idea with our holidays and our
redemptions is to you know do things
which you will not be able to afford in
cash you utilize it in a way where you
know a lot of people can enjoy that
holiday right again you really need to
understand uh how what kind of holidays
you want to do right if I have a friend
who does not really like to do these
luxurious holidays so for that person he
can you know use the same amount of
points that I'm using for a luxurious
holiday for a lot more number of nights
in a cheaper Hotel correct right because
you can get a hotel night for 10,000
points per night also against one lakh
points per night right so he can do 10
nights in 10 different properties so if
someone is spending 10 to 15 lakh rupees
in a year I think you can easily do one
holiday at least either hotels or
flights if you're doing economy flights
maybe a combination of both hotels and
flights as well right right so that
completely depends on what you want and
how you want to red
and in terms of where do you sort of
look for these deals uh when you are um
planning these holidays right of course
we understand the deals keep changing
from time to time different hotels might
have different Co transfer ratios Etc so
at the current status what where do you
sort of look for these days so for me uh
social media is my uh Source there are a
lot of websites these days uh where they
keep talking about you know what's new
in the credit card space how are people
redeeming there are lot of public forums
maybe I can share a list with you and
you can put it in the description so
let's let me ask you this if I had to
ask you to choose your top three cards
in the series of cards that you have
what would you sort of say with those
three number one would be the HDFC inia
card uh this card is a good card but
again eligibility is a challenge with
this card but this card gives you a base
reward rate of 3.3% so for every 100
rupees you spend on this card you get
3.3 uh rupees back as points so if you
buy up to 20,000 rupees worth of Amazon
pay vouchers you get 5x uh reward rate
so 5x basically means that uh 16.5%
which is around 3,300 rupees back as
points every point is valued at one
rupee you can't really buy Amazon pay
voucher on the Amazon website there is a
specific website called gyft and you
know you have to go there and buy so
when it comes to maximizing credit card
rewards you have to put some efforts
right so you go there buy the Amazon
voucher so what whatever points I earn I
largely use to redeem it for my Indigo
flights and I have to fly at least once
a month so that it helps me a lot there
uh I don't spend much on this card but
whenever I spend I get 16.5% back from
this card right the second card uh that
I want to talk about is the club vistara
infinite card which is the which is from
access bank it's a co-branded card uh so
this card gives me free business class
ticket for a annual fee of 10,000 rupees
I don't use this card for spending
spending money my primar primary use is
the gold status that comes on this card
right so I take a lot of flights uh to
Delhi as well so this card gives me uh
not only uh priority checking it gives
me Priority baggage it gives me Priority
boarding and the exess baggage allowance
as well so this helps me a lot in you
know uh traveling faster right right and
along the business class ticket is uh
worth more than 10,000 rupees in any any
ways right corre and if somebody does
not want the business CL experience or
the uh you know the gold status they can
look at the lower end cards which gives
you a uh premium economy ticket or the
economy ticket even SBI has a co-branded
card with uh vistara idfc has co-branded
cards with vistara the third card that I
would keep in my portfolio is the axis
Atlas credit card so this is a card
which is very simple to use and if
someone has annual spends of say 15 lakh
rupees I would highly recommend using
this just one card so let us understand
what is the reward structure on this
card so this card comes with a fee of
5,000 rupees perom and on sign up you
get 5,000 miles on this card and on
spending say first three lakh rupees you
get 2,500 bonus miles on spending 7.5
lakh rupees you get another 5,000 bonus
points and then on spending 15 lakhs you
get another 10,000 bonus miles the base
reward rate on this card is uh 2 points
per 100 r that you spend and if you are
using this card for spending on travel
say you're booking tickets or you know
booking a hotel you get five points for
every 100 rupees spent so let us take
the base case wherein you are spending
15 lakhs you earn 30,000 points right 2%
is 30,000 so 30,000 plus 22,500 you got
52,500 points these can be transferred
to a lot of Hotel partners and Airline
Partners uh I generally use my access
points to transfer it to Hotel partner
called eor okay so in eor what happens
is uh when you transfer to eor you get 1
is to two points so 52,000 points I will
get 1 lak 14,000 uh eor points right and
when I'm redeeming hotels on eor one
point is worth 1.8 rupees so I got a
value of around 1.8 lakh rupees on
spending 15 lakh rupees so that's a
little bit more than 10% right once you
spend the 15 lakh rupees what you get is
you also get two airport airport pi Cs
on this C so basically a luxurious car
will come to your house and take you to
the airport so so wherever we don't have
to maximize our rewards in the form of
multiplier uh we just use this card to
spend right so largely any OTC spends
where we are you know traveling anywhere
or shopping or anything mostly it'll be
through this card the other cards I
would keep is the MX Trifecta uh one of
them is the MX gold charge card uh the
second one is the MX uh membership
rewards card right and the third one is
the MX Platinum travel card so these are
the five six cards that I would keep in
my portfolio if you were to ask me which
I I would discard all of the rest so one
question right which is the most
expensive card that you own and would
you recommend it to somebody else so I'm
not spoken about this card yet uh but
this is again from American Express
table it's the Platinum charge card
so I'll tell you what benefits you get
on this card uh when you sign up on this
card uh for in the first year generally
they give you 45,000 rupees worth of Taj
vouchers the annual fee on this card is
60,000 Rupees plus GST so net cost is
70,000 rupees
approximately uh so you get 70 45,000
rupees worth of Taj vouchers but there
are a lot of tangible intangible
benefits also that you get on this card
you get uh gold membership gold status
on Marriot you get get go sat on Hilton
uh you get Taj Epicure membership which
gives you like 20 25% discount on dining
and so on you they also give you a
10,000 rupees worth of Taj voucher every
year on your birthday so you have to be
in the highest spending category to use
this card the most intangible benefit
wherein you know people use this card is
the con so con is basically a you know a
helpl line wherein you can call them and
ask anything you want right and I have a
couple of friends who use conci almost
on a weekly or a monthly basis I barely
used the conage so n in terms of the
concer search which you mentioned you've
said that most mostly your friends use
it more often what sort of things do
they sort of ask from the coner SE which
is which is so let's just take an
example you know from one of my friends
wanted to do a uh you know stay on 31st
December night right in front of the BS
Khalifa and it's very difficult to get a
room night there right but if if you
approach uh American Express con they
can probably get you uh this deal you
are in a problem right say you're stuck
in the middle of the road and something
has happened to your card and you want
them to help so they will send help to
you immediately right so there are uh
you can use it for you know such kind of
experiences basically you call them and
they'll get things done for you or your
personal manager of sorts who has to do
it for you uh the experience obviously
will vary from person to person but
that's the whole day right you call MX
con and they will try to get it done for
you right N I think very recently we've
had these UPI cards which have come up
right do you own one of such yes I do of
course so I got the uh Tata new rupe
credit card so it's a very good card it
gives you uh you know five uh points on
uh money spent at all the Tata group
properties and normal reward rate uh as
if I'm not wrong it's two points per 100
rupees SP so uh whatever UPA spends I
have I have moved on this card now and
uh uh easily it's a between 5 to 15,000
rupees in a month how do you sort of
manage to keep track of the spins and on
what you will spend how much uh is there
some calculation which you do or how do
you sort of approach that yeah so I the
math keeps running in my head I don't
maintain any sort of excel sheets but my
wife keeps asking me whenever she has to
spend money which card should I use
right because she knows that if she uses
some other card uh I will ask her why
did you use that
so uh that math keeps running in my head
and I think one question which comes up
in everybody's mind is or when someone
thinks about having too many credit
cards is about your credit score are you
using your credit cards too much does it
impact your credit score negatively what
is your view and approach on that credit
score does get impacted when you're
closing a card because you know your
overall credit limit is coming down
right right uh so that is the but that's
a temporary impact and it again improves
ideally to keep your credit score you
know the uh you should not spend more
than3 40% of the available limit on a
card if one of it's happening it's okay
but don't do it on a regular basis don't
miss out on your credit card you know
payments uh due
[Music]
date
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