Nikhil Sunkarineni

Neurologist 🧠 | Traveller 🌍 | Credit Card & Rewards enthusiast 💳

Sharing my journeys, redemptions, premium travel & the art of getting more from every spend

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

I’m a neurologist by profession 🧠 — but outside medicine, I’m fascinated by travel, credit cards, points & rewards.

Over the years, I’ve realised that earning points is only half the game.

Knowing how to use them well is where the real value lies.

My current card stack:
💳 Axis Magnus for Burgundy
💳 HSBC Premier
💳 Amex Platinum Reserve
💳 Scapia
On this account, I’ll share:
✈️ Flight & hotel redemptions I actually make
🎯 Points, miles & transfer strategies
💳 How I use different cards for different spends
🛍️ How I maximise rewards on major purchases
🌍 Hotels, flights & travel experiences
📊 The actual numbers behind my redemptions
I’ll share what I paid, what I redeemed, what value I got — and, importantly, whether I think it was actually worth it.
No theory for the sake of it. Mostly things I’ve personally tried, booked or learned along the way.

And occasionally, I might wander back into my day job and talk about the brain, health, AI & medicine. 🧠

If you enjoy travel, rewards and getting more value from your spending, follow along.
Let’s see how far the points take us. ✈️

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

Make your everyday spends work towards your next holiday ✈️

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

I think the T-shirt puts all the rumours to rest!

[ANI @ANI]

#WATCH | Amritsar, Punjab: On India cricket team's gold medal win against Pakistan in the Asian Games 2026, father of cricketer Abhishek Sharma, Rajkumar Sharma, says, "Huge congratulations to the Indian cricket team and all the players on today's victory. Many congratulations to the BCCI and its officials present there. The players have brought home the gold. Both our women's and men's teams have won gold medals. The cricket team has truly made a mark today, proving that we are indeed number one in the world... I congratulate all Indians who support the nation on our gold medal victory at the Asia Cup."

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@Cric46966 I am proud of what we have achieved but we have a long way to go before we become a sporting powerhouse. But I like what I see around me. There a lot more emphasis on sports and fitness in general.

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@Points_Mafia Couldn’t agree more!

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

1/ Every points nerd has a subscription they swear by. Mine is https://t.co/6XoB5DrKm9 Pro ✈️

It’s transformed how I find award seats. The email & SMS alerts alone make it worth every penny for me.

Serious about redeeming miles? Try it.

Here’s how to use it well 👇

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

✈️ ₹11.05 lakh worth of flights.
💳 470,000 credit card points.
💰 ₹88,464 paid in taxes.
That’s how I booked our 9-night Europe trip

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

One car rental. More than one way to earn rewards 🚗💳

For my upcoming Spain trip, I booked a SIXT car for 4 days. Before booking, I checked how to earn something extra on the same spend.

Here’s how the double dip works:

1️⃣ Credit card points on the payment.
2️⃣ Extra miles by booking through an airline’s partner link or a rewards portal.

Pay with a zero-forex card and you save on the markup too!

My approach: choose the rental company and car first. Then compare prices across booking routes and decide which miles you want to earn.

⚠️ The key step: start your final booking by clicking the rental link on the airline or rewards portal. Complete the purchase in the same session so it has the best chance of tracking correctly.

I settled on SIXT and booked through Rove because I find Rove miles flexible. I earned 5.2x miles on a spend I was anyway doing.

What’s the best car-rental triple dip that you guys have done? 👀

[Kartik | Travel & Finance Writer @KartikDiscovers]

🏓 Mastercard has some seriously underrated Pickleball & Padel benefits in India!

If you hold an eligible Mastercard World or World Elite Credit/Debit Card, you can get access to exclusive courts, discounts, and events through Mastercard’s partnership with Courtly.

And this isn’t just a token discount. 👀

You get:

🏓 Dedicated Mastercard slots at selected courts
💰 Up to 50% off court bookings
🎾 Discounts on Pickleball & Padel gear
🏆 Access to exclusive events
🎓 Masterclasses with pros

Currently available across Mumbai, Delhi & Bengaluru.

The interesting part? There are 250+ courts, 50+ events, and 12 cities listed across the broader Courtly program. 🔥

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@PointsPro But you need to be aeroplan elite to transfer to Hyatt if I am not wrong?

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@bigulchugh For me it would be
M4B
Premier
Biz black

Superb combination. Covers most categories.

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

Folks, what’s the real benefit of adding the ChatGPT extension to Siri AI? 🤔

Daily use mein actually kya kaam aata hai?

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@vred8263 @imYadav31 Yes that’s right. After we double press, the Face ID gets activated and boom the payment goes through!

[Vineeth K @DealsDhamaka]

🌏 Axis Bank Overseas Spend Offer ✈️🔥🔥🔥

Upto Rs.₹20,000 worth of MakeMyTrip vouchers every month

📅 Extended Till : Dec 31st 2027

🎁 Monthly MakeMyTrip Vouchers:
💳 ₹1 lakh–<₹2 lakh → ₹2,500
💳 ₹2 lakh–<₹4 lakh → ₹6,000
💳 ₹4 lakh+ → ₹18,000

✨ Bonus: Complete 3 international POS transactions in the same month and get an additional ₹2,000 MakeMyTrip voucher.

✅ Same offer as last time.

⚠️ Registration is mandatory.
Give a missed call to 9152972125 from your registered mobile number.

Axis Magnus for Burgundy (AEP) + this campaign = an incredible combination. For Olympus - combine it with VISA POWER TRAVEL OFFER - its massive !

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@PointsPro Can we find two business class seats on any given date

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@asktarunn Would definitely want to try this. Will get in touch with you when I intend to go. Thanks for the info!

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

3/ Another useful trick: search partner programs.

You can spot Air India-operated flights through Aeroplan on @SeatsAero , then check the same flight with Air India.

Treat it as a lead—award availability & pricing can differ between programs.

What’s your go-to award search tool?

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

2/ My workflow:

🔎 Find routes &amp; award availability on https://t.co/6XoB5DrKm9.
✅ Confirm the seat, miles &amp; taxes on the airline or loyalty program’s website/app.
✈️ Then book.

Always verify with the program you’ll use to redeem your miles before transferring points.

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

Apple Pay + Axis Magnus. It’s working! 👀💳

My Magnus for burgundy is now in Apple Wallet—and suddenly I’m a lot more excited to tap and pay 😂

Anyone else managed to add their Axis card? Which one?

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

@imYadav31 I don’t have the atlas. But I feel scapia also does a good job for hotel security deposits. You get real time transaction updates on the app which can be very helpful.

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

Now the final math.
✈️ Cash value of flights: ~₹11.05 lakh
💳 Credit card points used: 470,000
🔄 Transferred at 5:4 → 376,000 airline miles
💰 Taxes & fees paid: ₹88,464
That means the points offset roughly ₹10.17 lakh of airfare.
≈ ₹2.16 of flight value per Magnus for Burgundy point.
And there’s some irony to this redemption.
I made these transfers before the recent Magnus for Burgundy transfer-partner changes/devaluation.
I’m sad to see the changes — but very glad I used the points while I could.
It reinforced something I’ve increasingly come to believe about this hobby:
Don’t just earn and hoard points.
Programs change. Transfer ratios change. Devaluations happen.
Keep earning. Keep burning.

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

✈️ ₹11.05 lakh worth of flights.
💳 470,000 credit card points.
💰 ₹88,464 paid in taxes.
That’s how I booked our 9-night Europe trip

[Nikhil Sunkarineni @sunikhil]

There was another small win here.
Air India wanted 20,000 Maharaja Points for that Business Class seat.
The exact same flight was available through Aeroplan for:
12,500 points + ₹2,000
So I transferred points to Aeroplan instead.
A useful reminder:
Don't transfer points before checking partner programs.
The same seat can have very different mileage requirements.