Who doesn’t like traveling? Knowing that there are multiple banks offering travel credit cards through which you can earn points is like a cherry on the cake. Travel credit cards are the credit cards made for frequent travelers that offer perks like complimentary airport lounge access, 24X7 concierge service, Airmiles, insurance, and also numerous benefits with various airlines, discounts on hotel stays, dining, etc. Let’s find out how they work, how many types of travel credit cards are there, and how you can make the most out of them.
- HOW DO THEY WORK?
Travel credit cards provide benefits like all other credit cards do, however when it comes to travel credit cards, they offer benefits in miles or points. Whenever you make a travel purchase such as booking an airline ticket it rewards you in means of miles. For example, one of the best travel credit cards in India at the moment is ‘CitiBank Premiermiles Credit Card’ which offers 10 miles per every Rs 100 spent on all the airline transactions that are made. Now how do they work? You can avail these miles on several airlines however, every other travel credit card offers different kinds of offers and discounts. Other travel credit cards in the market are Air India SBI Signature Credit Card, Axis Bank Vistara Signature Credit Card, and many more.
- TYPES OF TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS
Now when it comes to travel credit cards there are numerous types of it. The first type is the Co-branded credit cards,these cards are partnered with two entities. The bank and an airline company or travel company have a tie-up and issue a travel credit card for the same. Some co-branded credit cards in India are Air Vistara co-branded travel credit card by Axis Bank, 6E Rewards XL – Indigo by HDFC Bank credit card, Air India SBI Signature credit card, and many more. The travel credit cards which are co-branded usually offer higher benefits because of their loyalty program. Another type is the generic travel credit card, they are usually tailored for travelers in general and the users are free to avail their air miles with any of the airlines. Some examples of generic travel credit cards are Citibank Premiermiles Card, American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card. There’s also a travel credit card for those who prefer trains or are frequent travelers of the train which is the IRCTC SBI Premier Credit Card, IRCTC RUPAY SBI CREDIT CARD.
- BENEFITS OF TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS
Now that you know the two types of travel credit cards, let’s know the benefits of those cards as well. As you may be knowing, co-branded credit cards offer more benefits when compared with generic credit cards. The privileges and benefits included in the co-branded travel credit are that the Air miles points earned by the user are credited to the Frequent-flyer program. On the other hand, generic travel credit cards offer reward points that can be redeemed or transferred to any other airline or hotel. When we come to some of the basic travel benefits like complimentary airport/IRCTC lounges and insurance, these privileges are provided by both co-branded travel credit cards and generic credit cards. There is a welcome benefit as well that’s offered, in that the cardholder will get travel vouchers, hotel stay vouchers, gift cards, etc.
The bottom line is that there are innumerable travel credit cards in the industry and you’ve to see what your needs are and accordingly select the best one out of the lot. Supposedly if you are already a loyal customer and always stick to one specific airline then get a co-branded travel credit card of that airline as you’ll get benefits related to that airline only and if you don’t have a specific preference for a brand then go for a generic travel credit card as you’ll be able to redeem those on almost all airline transactions. Well, all these different kinds of travel credit cards are tailored for different kinds of customers’ needs and preferences.
