In all honesty, do you think HDFC cards or Axis cards are genuinely better than Amex?
I understand most criticisms and flaws people point out here. (People here mention Customer support, devaluation, bad concierge, not accepting at many POS, low point transfer value)
But one big benefit not many praise is that the points never expire.
HDFC Axis ICICI HSBC all have 3 years expiry. Meaning, earning points is only beneficial to you *so long as your spends are regular and consistent.*
Based on your spending level, of course these cards will give you great returns in the form of vouchers or hotel stays or flights etc.
But the fact that Amex doesn’t expire is honestly so underrated.
Maybe it is just my personal spending. But consider this: I recently bought a laptop for 4L. I dont need another laptop for another 7 or 8 years easily. These points, I have no use for them and no reason to spend. I would much rather save over 10 years and then enjoy a big luxury vacation, business class intl flight and good 5 star hotel.
So maybe it depends on your personal preferences. For me I feel having ongoing expenditures is too much. Last month my expenses were 4.5L (laptop and some household stuff). For the next 6 months my expenses will be like 5k rupees total 😂. So it feels nice there is no pressure in the back of your mind to use the reward points before they expire. Just let it sit in my account, i’ll look at it in 5 or 10 years and see what I can do with it.