Your credit card can offer you more travel benefits than just being a mode of payment. Here's hoping your plastic money can help you travel more comfortably in the days ahead
AJ
Plastic money is increasingly becoming the mainstay of urban India; an increasing number of establishments are now offering the facility to pay with cards. However, on your travels, your credit cards can offer you more facilities than just being a mode of payment. Various banks offer perks to their credit cardholders (and sometimes to debit cardholders as well) and I’ll list some of the most useful ones for you here.
Airport lounge access is one freebie that comes bundled with many credit cards and some debit cards these days. If you hold a premium credit card, such as an American Express Platinum Charge Card or an HDFC Bank Regalia, you’ll be able to access lounges globally for free via their tie-ups with a company called Priority Pass. Co-branded cards, such as the Jet Airways Citibank Credit Card and American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card, will offer lounge access when you are flying on that particular airline. MasterCard has tied up with the Clipper and Plaza Premium chain of lounges across India to provide free access to cardholders at the mid- and higher-end.
Mileage earning is a big perk on credit cards as well. Like we all know, frequent flyer miles can usually be redeemed to get airline tickets by only paying the surcharge and taxes. There are a lot of co-branded credit cards in the market which will allow you to earn miles on various programmes. Apart from the local airlines, various international airlines, such as Lufthansa, British Airways and Singapore Airlines, also offer the opportunity to earn miles on their programmes while staying in India. If you buy your tickets directly from the airline using their co-branded credit cards, usually you will be able to earn a lot more miles for the same amount compared to what you would by writing a cheque to your travel agent. Almost every credit card, which offers reward points, also offers an option to convert them into air-miles. A substantial number of miles in the bag, and you’ll be able to get a ticket to go somewhere without paying a lot for the ticket.
Co-branded cards also offer the ability to upgrade your air travels. Citibank (along with Jet Airways) and Kingfisher (along with American Express and ICICI Bank) offer cards where you get upgrade vouchers on these airlines, and then you could buy economy class tickets for business class travel.
In case you are a frequent traveller, or intend to be one, do also look out for loyalty benefits on these credit cards. Kingfisher Airlines offers a Gold level membership on their co-branded tie-ups, and Jet Airways offers Platinum tier membership on Citibank Ultima and HSBC Premier MasterCard memberships. Being at the highest end of these airlines’ programmes, these members get preferred treatment from the airline, including upgrades, priority check-in and boarding and lounge access. These are the most loyal customers of the airline, and you could get the same royal treatment without having to travel as much, if your credit card offers the benefit.
Credit cards frequently offer free tickets (base fare only) and membership points on payment of membership fees as welcome benefits. These tickets and points are usually good enough to cover the cost of the card membership, so the effect is neutral at best. They also tie up with various vendors who could help make your travel easier, such as international cellular phone services coming for free. An invisible benefit offered by almost all credit cards is travel and air insurance. On a premium card, this could go to as high as Rs1.5 crore. The insurance usually covers almost everything—from baggage loss to life cover—and, hence, you should look up the details of the insurance your credit card offers on your travels. Here is hoping your plastic money can help you travel more and travel comfortably in the days ahead.
AJ writes a travel and aviation blog called LiveFromALounge.com and can be reached at [email protected]