Planning to buy a co-branded travel card? Here are four ways to make the most of it.
Match rewards with lifestyle: It is important to research and buy a card that suits your requirements. After all, you don't want a co-branded card that gives you airline benefits if you only travel by train. If you want an airline card, look at the partner airlines that are linked to your card. For instance, the ICICIKingfisher card allows you to accrue miles on all the Kingfisher Red flights too.
Or, if you holiday regularly, don't limit yourself to just an airline or a hotel card. You would do better with a credit card that is partnered with the likes of Yatra or MakeMyTrip, where you also earn reward points for booking holiday packages.
Weigh the cost of card against its benefits: As Sachin Khandelwal, head, retail assets, ICICI Bank, puts it, "Check your profile. If over 50% of your card spend is on one category, why not seek an advantage there?" However, today, plain vanilla credit cards also offer competitive travel benefits. Many gold cards, and above, allow you to convert your reward points to air miles for leading carriers. In addition, many regularly partner with online portals to run promotions like the ongoing cashback scheme on ICICI debit and credit cards for bookings through www.ezeego1.co.in.
Remember that a co-branded card may be more expensive. For instance, the HDFC gold card, which offers travel benefits like discounts and cashback offers, has an interest rate of 3.25% a month; the SBI cards, co-branded with SpiceJet and GoAir, charge 3.35% a month as interest, and the ICICISarovar Hotels card charges 3.4%. Once you factor in the joining fee and annual fee—though many are free for life—the cost of a cobranded card can zoom up. Hence, opting for such a card will only work to your advantage if you swipe it frequently.
Check the fine print: Most cards require a certain threshold spend before the points can be claimed. Also, ask for applicable blackout dates, if any. If the fine print mentions such a clause, then you won't be able to redeem your reward points for a free flight on such dates, typically limited to the peak season.
Charge cards versus credit cards: While a co-branded credit card allows you to roll over your outstanding dues, a co-branded charge card requires you to pay the entire balance every month, thereby making the interest rates redundant. In case of the latter, a huge advantage is that there are no pre-set credit limits. So, based on your usage pattern and credit history, you can avail of higher credit limits. In India, the American Express offers the most number of co-branded charge cards.
