Credit card: What are air miles and how to monetise them to get free air tickets? An explainer

Credit cards: Would you like to buy an air ticket without having to pay for it? That sounds cool, doesn’t it? This can happen with the aid of reward points that can be monetised to buy a flight ticket.

Notably, air miles are a very generic term and are often used interchangeably with reward points, Skywards miles, and Maharaja points (in the case of Air India).

But how can a credit card user accumulate enough air miles to buy a free air ticket? Let’s find out.

Air miles are accrued based on following:

Joining a co-branded card: Sometimes, merely securing a co-branded card leads to earning air miles. For instance, ICICI Bank’s Emirates Sapphiro Credit Card offers 5,000 Skywards miles on annual renewal and at the time of joining.

Spending: When you use co-branded credit cards, you are awarded air miles (or reward points) when you shop for travel-related spending.

For instance, HDFC Bank’s co-branded card – IndiGo HDFC Bank Credit Card – enables cardholders to earn 2.5 per cent 6E rewards when booking on the IndiGo App or on Goindigo.in.

Promotions or partners: Booking hotels or buying merchandise online can also offer additional miles. IndiGo HDFC Bank Credit card, for example, offers 2 per cent 6E rewards on grocery, dining, and entertainment.

To be able to earn miles efficiently, one can follow these points.

Earn air miles: Follow these steps 

Fly regularly: Book flights regularly with the airline or its partners to earn air miles based on distance or fare.

Choose the variant that maximises points: Sometimes, banks offer different variants of the same co-branded card based on the reward points they offer. For instance, one variant of HDFC Bank’s co-branded card (6E Rewards XL – IndiGo HDFC Bank Credit Card) offers 5 per cent 6E Rewards on IndiGo bookings instead of 2.5 per cent in the basic variant (6E Rewards – IndiGo HDFC Bank Credit Card).

Leverage partners: You can earn air miles through partner services such as hotels, or online marketplaces.

Promotions: You can look for some limited-time offers, e.g., bonus miles for specific routes or spending thresholds.

Free loyalty programmes: You can also sign up for free loyalty programmes with airlines you frequently fly.

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