How To Find the Right Travel Credit Card?

A travel credit card can be a great choice for you if you spend a considerable amount of your income on hotel, flight ticket bookings, and other travel-related expenses. With the right card that matches your spending patterns, you can save a substantial amount through benefits like free flight tickets, air miles, discounts with popular travel brands, complimentary lounge access, travel insurance, and more.

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However, choosing the right card can be confusing with so many options available. You may find a card co-branded with popular airlines and travel portals to those that offer general travel benefits in the form of discounts, rewards, or cashback on all spends; the options are endless. Additionally, the cards are also scattered around the entry-level to premium cards category.

To help you compare and make the right choice, here are a few suggestions to find the right travel credit card.

Choose a card with lounge access if you frequently travel via airlines

Free lounge access will be very beneficial if you frequently travel via airlines. Via these, you can avail free food or snacks, relax, and conveniently spend a long time at the airport waiting for your flight to arrive.

Prefer a card that offers access to international or domestic lounges as per where you travel. With credit cards that offer free airport lounge access, the number of visits will be limited, beyond which you will have to pay.

Some cards may offer you free memberships to certain lounges like Priority Pass, DreamFolks, etc. Some of the best lounge access credit cards are SBI Elite, HDFC Regalia Gold, AU Zenith+ Credit Card, etc. Some other cards also offer unlimited lounge access, but they usually belong to the premium cards category and come with a high annual fee. These include HDFC Diners Club Black, HDFC Infinia, Axis Magnus, etc.

Choose cards with extra rewards on travel if you want the flexibility of usage

For those who wish to travel more, a card with accelerated reward points on travel will help. These cards also come with shopping, dining, and other benefits, which enhance the overall card value.

Even if you do not use the card for travel often, you can still capitalise on other benefits. And when you use it for travel, it will reward you better. Such cards usually offer rewards in terms of miles or membership points. For instance, the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card offers up to four MYCash points on every spend that is redeemable across MMT at a 1:1 ratio. Thus, every penny you spend adds up to your travel savings.

Choose co-branded travel cards if you are loyal to a brand

Card issuers also offer credit cards in association with airlines like Air India, British Airways, Vistara, or travel portals like Yatra, MakeMyTrip, and EaseMyTrip etc. You should choose these co-branded cards only if you are a loyalist and book tickets or holidays quite often through a specific platform.

While airline cards extend benefits via free miles, free tickets, and exclusive membership plans, co-branded platforms extend reward points, discounts, vouchers, etc.

Choose domestic or international travel benefits

If you are a frequent domestic traveller, look for benefits like domestic airport lounge access, railway lounge access, benefits on rail travel, etc. At the same time, if you frequently travel abroad, some features like a low forex markup fee, international lounge access, travel concierge service, insurance plans, or flight cancellation cover will be more adequate.

On a concluding note, understand that choosing the right credit card is subjective as per your lifestyle preferences and spending habits. Thus, always ensure making a wise decision by analysing the card features and doing a cost-benefit analysis.

Additionally, understand that a credit card holds great avenues for savings, but at the same time, it also poses a risk of overspending and debt. Thus, ensure that you use your card appropriately when required, within your repayment capability.