Credit cards in India is not a new concept, however, the economic upliftment over the last decade and a half, coupled with the convergence of lifestyle across the globe have seen a greater number of Indians warming up to the idea of credit cards. In addition to that, the stigma of over utilisation and high credit interest charged by the credit cards is somewhat gone too. As a result of this, the number of people using credit cards in the country has shot up rapidly.
Despite greater awareness about the credit cards, a majority of the credit card users in India are still not very clear about the concept of reward points. Under the credit card reward points scheme, a customer earns reward points every time he or she uses the credit card to make some sort of payment. Although the concept sounds straightforward, there are certain hacks to which will help you make the most of the rewards points. Some of them are as follows –
Dive Deep into the Details
Almost all the credit cards these days offer a wide range of credit card rewards to their customers. They can range from offers on basic amenities to luxury, entertainment, and travel. Therefore, if you can avail them then you can save a lot of money irrespective of lifestyle. However, availing them does not merely mean spending some money on the credit card and earning points. These offers have many details that you should read carefully and adhere to if you are to avail them.
You must particularly be careful and find out if there is any limit on the amount that you spend to avail the offer. Whereas there may also be time limits, I.e. you must spend a certain amount within a certain time to avail the offer. Offers related to flight tickets may also have blackout dates. Therefore, it is essential that you read the fine details and make a note of these factors. It can help you if you spend some time and mark it on your calendar. This will ensure that you know what offers are available and the finer details of it.
Get More from Seasonal Offers
It is not a secret there are many products and services which have peak seasons. There are many offers on these products during the off-season. These can be so high that these products can be bought using a credit card at half the price or even less. These offers usually pertain to hotel bookings, cinema tickets, online shopping and even on some basic amenities like gas, etc. You should look to maximise your benefits by purchasing goods and services during these periods.
Pick a Credit Card that Aligns with Your Expenditure Habit
It is essential that you sign up for a credit card which gives you rewards that suit you and your spending habits. For a person who rarely travels, getting discounts or rewards on airfare may not be an attractive proposition. However, the said person may benefit more if he regularly goes out for movies and dinners, and gets rewarded whenever he uses his credit card for those payments. Therefore, before you get a new credit card you should closely analyse the card’s rewards system and your spending habits.
To establish where you spend money on a regular basis, you must carefully go through your credit card statement and analyse your spending habits. This will not only help you get the best rewards for you but also help you cut down on unnecessary purchases.
Use and Pay
Getting reward points is great, however, you should ensure that you do not spend extra just for the purpose of getting some type of rewards. In order to do so, what you need to do is keep a track of uses and payments of your credit card. You should be mindful, that once you use your credit card to gain rewards, you need to make the payment before the interest-free period expires. Interest-free period usually extends between 30 to 55 days. This is the period if within which the payment is made then no interest will be charged. Hence, it gets you the reward benefits, without actually paying for it.
At the same time, if you miss the payment, then you will have to pay interest on the amount that you may have used. This can often be more than the actual benefit of getting rewards. Thus, nullifying the benefit of rewards.