Sourav

CA | Personal Finance | Credit Cards | Travel - 30+ countries | Redeemed millions of points |

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

I swiped ~₹11.5L on my credit card to buy a Škoda Kylaq. The reward points turned into ₹3L+ in hotel stays, a return of nearly 30% on a routine spend.

🚗 Car: Škoda Kylaq, about ₹11.5L
💳 Card: Magnus Burgundy
🏨 Reward Points: ~2L edge points converted to 1.6L ALL Accor at then conversion ratio of 5:4 (about ₹3.4L)

Last year, around the festive season, we bought our first car. As a cc geek, I was more excited about the reward points than the car itself 😂

Here's what I did.

First, I timed the purchase in an AEP month to get maximum value. Then actual purchase below:

A. MDR negotiation
The dealer wanted 2%, to cover MDR charges, to take a card. I negotiated it down to 1.25%, about ₹14k.

B. Paying the card bill
1️⃣ From savings
No loan and no extra interest. Only cost is the ₹14k fee.
Net benefit: about ₹3.25L in travel value.
Trade-off: ₹11.5L of savings gone in one go.

2️⃣ With a personal loan instead of a car loan (my pick)
A car loan pays the dealer directly, so a card swipe isn't possible. A personal loan gives you cash, and cash can be used to pay card bill.

Net swipe cost:
MDR fee: ~₹14k
Interest earned on the loan money (~40 days till the card bill was due): ~₹7k
Net cost: ~₹7k

The personal loan was about 10%, against 8% for a car loan.

Net benefit after the extra interest:
1 year: ~₹3.2L (extra interest ~₹13k)
3 years: ~₹2.9L (extra interest ~₹39k)
5 years: ~₹2.7L (extra interest ~₹67k)

Either way, the car cost the same, and the card paid for my stays in Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Japan, Hong Kong and Laos in 2026 ✈️

C. Things to consider

- Be extra careful with the MCC. Do a small dummy swipe first and call your card issuer to confirm which MCC the dealer's terminal is coded under before you put the full amount through.

- Accelerated points run only up to your credit limit + ₹1.5L in a month, so check your limit first.

- Axis has since cut Burgundy to Accor from 5:4 to 5:2, so the hotel return on the same swipe today is half. Savvy redemption experts can still get similar value by moving the points to airline miles and booking premium-cabin award tickets.

- The maths changes with other cards, but with the right earn rate and transfer partner it can still work in your favour.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@kartikaygaur11 Why not Travel one instead?

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@AvionicX Thanks. I can't risk devaluations of points. I am booking the flights too to completely eliminate risks.

Have you transferred too?

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

Emptied out Amex. Only 51 points left 😄

Moved most of it to Virgin Atlantic, and a bit to Marriott and KrisFlyer.

Honestly, the clawback changed how I see points. I used to sit on a big balance and feel comfortable with it. Now it just feels like a risk.

Earn and burn. That's the whole strategy now. 2027, I'm burning almost everything 🔥

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@VishalBhargava5 Dil Dhadk ne do!!

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@dhimantn Haha...just a matter of time when it hits back... on a related note, there is nothing left to hit at now 😂😂

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@PranayCC I have transferred all points too.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@knowaaryan I have few redemption that i am working on:
1. ICN-DEL on Korean Air
2. BLR - LHR on its own metal
3. BOM - NBO on Kenya Air

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@unlearnlife I intend to go to Switzerland coming summer. Will book the flights in a week or 2. While i am now insulated from Bank devaluation, i can risk airline and hotel devaluations.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@unlearnlife Where are you planning to go?

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@unlearnlife Have you moved your amex too?

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@Anirban12Mandal Yeah, there are so many good options from DEL/BOM. Hopefully BLR will get a piece too🤞

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@unlearnlife Welcome. Krisflyer was not a speculative transfer. I finalised my travel plan and then transferred the shortfall in Krisflyer.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@tejasghongadi Same here, i moved 100%. where are you off to next?

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@skh27 Already redeemed

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@PointsPro Transferred all my Amex stash.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@PranayCC @ProfessorCardz I have transferred all.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@SandeepMall Haha !!!! So true. Home filled with organic tea boxes.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@sanjeevan_dass From both Bank's and customer's perspective, i don't think it makes sense to do an FD backed premium CC at such low amount.

[Sourav @NotesEnRoute]

@yourpsb This is equally good. Just that we need to use de facto Air India Co branded card too, so we use ishop 😂