Which credit card gives best reward points?

D

dhawald3

Disciple
Hi

I do not have a credit card now, I do all my shopping on debit card.

was looking to benefit from the reward/cashback that the credit cards gives.

Which credit card do you suggest for that?
my spending will be limited to the amount that I can pay the credit card bill every month fully.

should I go for HDFC or CITI

and reward points or cashback?

please help.
 
Depends on the type of purchases you make. I don't think you will get a single card which gives good rewards/cashback for all categories.

1. Standard Chartered Super Value Titanum -- 5% Cashback on Fuel, Telecom and Utilitty bill payments and 1 reward point per Rs 100 for everything else -- Annual Fee Rs 750 - You may get it waived.
2. Standard Chartered Manhattan Platinum -- 5% Cashback on Departmental Stores and Supermarket and 5 reward points per Rs 150 for everything else -- Annual Fee Rs 999 - I don't think they will waive it.

I am using the Manhattan and the reward points are awesome, and I can get a Rs 1000 Lifestyle Voucher for 2250 points. Not bad.

Edit : Corrected the error
 
+1 to what varkey said. For heavy spenders, I strongly recommend the Manhattan. I just am not aware of any card which gives as many points.
varkey, a correction - starting December the points are now 5 for 150 (damn those idiots), however they still score higher in terms of amount of reward per 100 bucks as compared to any one else that I know.

The only two problems I have faced with these guys - if it can be called a problem - are credit limit increases are hard to come by, and they don't waive off the annual fee. AT ALL. Or may be my negotiation skills aren't good enough.

Citibank recently 'upgraded' (in their words, though I feel I have been downgraded) me from a Platinum to a Platinum rewards card which gives 10X rewards at 'many outlets' - the only problem is that number is 700 across India and most of them are places I don't bother about.
 
agantuk : Is it? :mad: :( Still its good compared to others and the points to voucher conversion rate is also pretty good.

Lifestyle Rs 1000 Voucher -- 2250 Points
Vodafone Rs 500 Voucher -- 1250 Points

Other banks I checked require about 3000-4000 points for a Rs 1000 voucher and give less reward points per 100!

Btw agantuk, any chance of getting the annual fee waived? I just got the card few months back so it hasn't reached the renewal time yet.

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agantuk said:
The only two problems I have faced with these guys - if it can be called a problem - are credit limit increases are hard to come by, and they don't waive off the annual fee. AT ALL. Or may be my negotiation skills aren't good enough.

Citibank recently 'upgraded' (in their words, though I feel I have been downgraded) me from a Platinum to a Platinum rewards card which gives 10X rewards at 'many outlets' - the only problem is that number is 700 across India and most of them are places I don't bother about.
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Yea same here. They said to wait for 6 months from the card issuing date and only then they can even take a request for revising the credit limit.
Oh I was thinking, there was a slight possibility to get the annual fee waived. :( Btw my friend was issued a Super Value Titanium card with no annual fee.

Yes the Citibank rewards card is not worth it, earning reward points seems to be extremely difficult.
 
@varkey, unfortunately, they don't waive off. Someone told me they do, but not in my experience. First year I had to pay the 999 + taxes, in the second year they agreed to balance it against 2000 points. I was still charged the 100 odd bucks service tax, I didn't bother following up with them for that.One word of caution regarding their credit limits. They don't block your transactions unless you have EXCEEDED your limit, this is unlike others who block transactions that will CAUSE you to exceed the limit. And then by the time these charges reflect on your online statement, if you are still over limit, you will be charged an overlimit fee of 500 + taxes. I learnt it the hard way multiple times, and again they are adamant that they can't do anything about it. A real pain.For instance, if your credit limit is 50K, and you have already used up 48K. Now if you want to do a transaction of 5K, it will GO THROUGH. Since most transactions take at least 2 days to show up, if you pay up the overlimit amount the next day or before it shows up online on your account, you are OK. If not, if 2 days later when the transaction gets added, and your outstanding is more than your limit, you will be charged the over limit fee. Absolutely ridiculous.

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The Super Value Titanium is just like all those other scamster cards which give you extra points for a 'lavish' lifestyle - not people like us who mostly shop online
 
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@agantuk

If they allow you to pay the annual fee with reward points I am fine with it. At least its better than paying the Rs 999 + tax. I guess the Rs 99 + tax is the processing fee for redemption of points. I was charged the same the both times I redeemed points for gift vouchers.

Never had that problem with credit limit. In fact they even blocked the transaction which would have exceeded the credit limit by Rs 150 or so, maybe cause I've been with them for less than 6 months. Anyway thanks for the heads up.

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agantuk said:
The Super Value Titanium is just like all those other scamster cards which give you extra points for a 'lavish' lifestyle - not people like us who mostly shop online
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Hehe, true. But it comes useful in some instances. Last quarter they had some promotion which offered double benefits, ie 10 reward points per 100 for Manhattan and 10% cash back for the Titanium.

I wanted to apply for that too and keep it as a backup (provided they waive the annual fee :p), but they have some condition that you can have only one cash back card per account.

Btw @agantuk ICICI Debit Card gives 10 Payback points for every Rs 100 spent on international transactions that includes PayPal transactions charged in INR too. Can be redeemed for Bigbazaar, Futurebazaar vouchers etc at the rate of 4 points = 1 Re so effectively 2.5% discount.
 
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That ICICI Debit card thing I believe was a limited period offer and not valid throughout the yaer. In any case, as a matter of principle I avoid using my debit card for any transaction apart from withdrawing cash.
 
agantuk said:
That ICICI Debit card thing I believe was a limited period offer and not valid throughout the yaer. In any case, as a matter of principle I avoid using my debit card for any transaction apart from withdrawing cash.
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It looks like its valid throughout the year cause I have been getting the 10x rewards for quite sometime now. Anyway I prefer a CC too.

Another card I found -- Tata Platinum Card

Get 3X Points per Rs 100/- on Departmental Stores, Grocery, Dining & International Spends
Get 1 point per Rs 100/- on other Retail Spends
1 Reward Point = Re 1
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Only problem is the Annual fee (I should have taken it when they came to office and offered it for free :mad: )
 
Citibank Indian Oil card is another good option.No fuel surcharge, 2 points per 150 at Indian oil.

Annual fee 999. Will be waived if you spend more than 30K in a year. Can be done easily if you just dont use debit card and use credit card.

Best of all you can redeem points for fuel.
 
xtremevicky said:
Citibank Indian Oil card is another good option.No fuel surcharge, 2 points per 150 at Indian oil.

Annual fee 999. Will be waived if you spend more than 30K in a year. Can be done easily if you just dont use debit card and use credit card.

Best of all you can redeem points for fuel.
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not all Indian Oil outlets, only selected ones, download the list from their website, I applied for the same but only came to know when i got it.

I am using Stanchart Super Value Titanium Card & HDFC Titanium International, which is serving me well.
 
agantuk said:
When they say 1 point = 1 re, how exactly can you redeem those points? Oh, I didn't notice the Annual fees. Crazy
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It can be redeemed at partner brands which includes Croma, Star Bazaar, West Side, etc -- Welcome to Tata CAPITAL

Yes the annual fee is crazy but you do get some freebies

Joining Offer - Get 1 Base Fare Return Domestic Air Ticket from Indigo Airlines OR Gift Voucher of Rs.3,000/- from any of our Lifestyle Partners(Louis Philippe/ Adidas) OR Taj Gift Certificates worth Rs.2,000, 50% off on Buffet Lunch, 2nd Round of Complimentary drinks & 50% off on Weekend Packages on enrollment.
Click to expand...
 
citi reward points can be redeemed with purchase in indiaplaza, infibeam i guess.. i used my brother citi cc for purchase of 35K in indiaplaza, got charged only 30K by using 10000 reward points.
 
I think the Manhattan card looks good for my kind of spending, since some people here are using the card can you provide me some details?

1) Where to get the list of stores where I will get the 5% cash back apart from the 3-4 given on the website?

2) do the 5 times rewards also include my online spends?
3) Will I get 5 times rewards on fuel from SHELL petrol bunk?
 
I have been using Standard chartered Manhattan platinum from over 3 yrs and got most out of it. As far as I can remember, 10K in lifestyle vouchers and about 4-5K in money back form on super markets..

Never went for an emi option, used to clear the outstanding promptly on 1st of every month. Was successful in negotiating with them for annual fee 2 times and over limit usage fee 500/- once. An excellent card.

I must admit, once I started using it, my expenses gone up. Now I am paying at least 30K per month. Using it when ever there is a chance. Its almost like 1-2% off on everything using the card.
 
dhawald3 said:
I think the Manhattan card looks good for my kind of spending, since some people here are using the card can you provide me some details?

1) Where to get the list of stores where I will get the 5% cash back apart from the 3-4 given on the website?

2) do the 5 times rewards also include my online spends?
3) Will I get 5 times rewards on fuel from SHELL petrol bunk?
Click to expand...

1) No list as such. It is all department and apparel stores. Their list is pretty exhaustive and they really rely on Visa's categorisation of the store. So if Visa has categorised your neighbourhood mom and pop store as a departmental, you will get the 5% off. I am not a big fan of the 5% off thing, here's why - minimum spend of 1000 is required to avail it. A max of 200 per transaction, and 500 per month. And you don't get any points whatsoever. Now you see why :)

2) 5 times points (or really 1 point per 30 bucks spend) is for ALL OTHER transactions except apparel and department.

3) Covered by 2 above.

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This also reminds me, 2 years back when I was hunting for additional cards with good rewards, I came across a couple of Kotak credit cards which had awesome value for regular spenders, like a cash back (2% I think) on ALL transactions and the like. I applied multiple times and each time was rejected without reason. The process is completely online. Jokers now want me to get a card but I have given up. Manhattan is good enough for now :D
 
Even I am going to apply for SCB credit card. This thread will help me also.

Any SCB card providing free 1 on 1 movie tickets like the ICICI Coral CC gives.
If i am monthly spending 3-4k in Dmart, paying 1k utility bills and filling up 3k petrol monthly then Manhattan will be good.
 
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