Top 5 Credit Cards in India to Earn Maximum Airline Miles (and Fly Free)
MUMBAI: If you put big spends on plastic, these five cards can turbo-charge your airline miles. We’ve shown miles earned per ₹100 and what ₹5,00,000/month looks like.
1. Axis Bank ATLAS
- Earn rate: 5 EDGE Miles/₹100 on travel (up to ₹2L/month), 2 EDGE Miles/₹100 on other spends. EDGE Miles transfer to most airline partners at 1:2—i.e., 1 EDGE Mile = 2 airline miles.
- Miles per ₹100: Travel 10; other 4.
- ₹5,00,000/month: If ₹2L travel + ₹3L other ⇒ (₹2L ×10/₹100) 20,000 + (₹3L ×4/₹100) 12,000 = 32,000 miles.
2. HSBC TravelOne
- Earn rate: 4 pts/₹100 on flights, OTAs and FX (cap 50k pts/month), 2 pts/₹100 elsewhere; transfers to multiple airlines at 1:1 instantly.
- Miles per ₹100: Travel/FX 4; other 2.
- ₹5,00,000/month: All-other = 10,000 miles; if all travel/FX within cap = 20,000 miles.
3. HDFC Bank INFINIA (Metal)
- Earn rate: 5 RP/₹150 (=3.33 RP/₹100); transfers to partners like Singapore KrisFlyer, United, Turkish (several at up to 1:1).
- Miles per ₹100: ~3.33 (assuming 1:1 partner).
- ₹5,00,000/month: 16,667 miles.
4. HDFC Diners Club Black
- Earn rate: 5 RP/₹150 (3.33/₹100); broad partner set similar to HDFC ecosystem; frequent 10X on SmartBuy for bookings.
- Miles per ₹100: ~3.33 (assuming 1:1 partner where available).
- ₹5,00,000/month: 16,667 miles.
5. American Express Platinum (Charge)
- Earn rate: 1 MR/₹40 (=2.5 MR/₹100); 3× on overseas spends; airline transfers typically 2:1 (e.g., KrisFlyer/Avios).
- Miles per ₹100: India spends ~1.25; overseas ~3.75.
- ₹5,00,000/month: 6,250 miles (domestic mix) or 18,750 miles (if all overseas).
Where can these miles take you? Example: Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer economy round-trip India↔Singapore is ~40,000 miles—often doable from a single month of optimized ATLAS/HSBC travel-heavy spend.
Pro tips: know transfer caps/grouping on Axis (Group A/B partners) before you stockpile, and plan redemptions early for peak dates.
The Strategy That High-Mileage Travelers Use
Frequent travelers don’t just put spends on cards—they optimize categories deliberately. They split rent, insurance, travel, dining, fuel, subscriptions, and business expenses across cards to trigger maximum bonuses.Smart users also cycle through:
- quarterly promotions
- SmartBuy 10X windows (for HDFC)
- OTA flash sales that earn double points
- Amex hotel collection bonuses
This category-splitting technique is how many Indian flyers hit 1–2 lakh miles a year without increasing their spending—just routing it better.
The Mindset That Makes the System Work
Ultimately, maximizing miles isn’t about spending more—it’s about spending deliberately. Once travelers shift their mindset from “collect points” to “engineer free flights,” the entire process becomes fun, strategic, and surprisingly rewarding.
For many, the first redemption—whether it’s a Singapore hop or a Middle East weekend—becomes the moment they realize: If you’re going to spend anyway, you might as well fly free while doing it.
Bottom line: route your ₹5L+ strategic spends through transferable-points cards (ATLAS, TravelOne, HDFC super-premium). Stack category bonuses, then move points to the airline with best saver seats—and your “free” vacation gets very real.
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