r/indianawardtravel

Transferred 1,25,000 Infinia points to Kris Flyer.

Booked flight No.1 from Mumbai to Frankfurt in business class on Air India for 68,000 KF miles + ₹2317/- (Excited to try the new 787-9 - hope it doesn't get swapped out by July)

Booked flight No.2 from Frankfurt to New York premium economy on Singapore Airlines (Fifth Freedom Flight) for 57,000 KF miles + ₹15,300/-

Mumbai to New York - Business & Premium Economy - 1,25,000 Infinia points + ₹17,617/-

Could I have done this better? My dates were fairly fixed - I had to be in New York that particular week. I have a Schengen visa so stopping over in Frankfurt is not a problem.

Mumbai to Frankfurt revenue fare was 2,72,000/-

Frankfurt to New York revenue fare was 1,83,000/-

https://preview.redd.it/dwcszycalryg1.png?width=2252&format=png&auto=webp&s=9819a3e3e6ca8fa92390a1f38825c6f7904db906

Hi all,
I am planning a trip to Japan and have currently 35K Atlas points available with me.

Since Accor is no longer a transfer partner. I was thinking of transferring to Air India and get 2 economy seats for 60k points in total for a direct flight from Tokyo to Mumbai. I am getting a 1rs per point value redemption there.

I had 18k accor points available with me, using which I booked my hotel stay at Kyoto for 3 nights with that.

Is there a better alternative to using my points? I want to get the maximum points per value for this trip.

I don’t have an account JAL and they require atleast 2 months of account activation before booking flights with points. Tried looking at asia miles for Cathay Pacific/ JAL flights. Didn’t find any options available for my dates. I have fixed flying dates. I am planning to fly out from Mumbai in September end and come back by October 1st week

Hello Everyone,

As per the post title, I have around 68K Infinia points and I do not have immediate plans for Travel (Flight/Hotel).

Probably my card would be downgraded as I was not able to maintain spends for Infinia.

Here are the following options

1. Apple/tanishq:
2. Frequent Flying program: (Krysflyer/Avios/Flying Blue)

I also have around 1.2 lac Amex MRCC points.
Please recommend me the best flying partner where I can transfer them and use all the points for two people atleast for 1 way.

Hi all.

I used to redeem edge miles for accor points. But now i have to redeem for airmiles which i havent done till now. So i don't have any idea. Pls help me maximize my points for my upcoming trip to ITALY ( For me & my spouse)

Currently i have accumulated

Atlas edge mile= 65k miles

Amex MR = 100k points

Accor points= 10k

Please suggest me flights from delhi/mumbai where i will be able to redeem my miles effectively.

Hey folks, planning an 8-night DEL-KUL-LGK-SIN-DEL trip for 2 adults + 1 toddler (3yo). Sitting on 140k DCB points and torn on the best redemption:

1. SQ Business Class (SIN-DEL): Transfer 129k points to KrisFlyer (1:1) for 3x one-way Saver tickets. Incredible value (~₹2.5L) and SilverKris lounge access, but it's only a 5.5-hour flight and I'd pay cash for all hotels and rest of the flights.
2. Luxury Hotels (Accor 2:1) or smartbuy :** Take the 50% devaluation hit. 140k DCB = 70k Accor points (worth ~₹1.26 Lakhs). Covers almost our entire 8-night stay,
3. SmartBuy (1 RP = ₹1): use smartbuy for all lux hotels or economy flight bookings

Hi All,

I have 30k points through T1, I am planning to transfer to Accor for a trip this September. Here are some questions.

1. I am confused if I have to transfer or not since its a short trip and I can manage it through revenue and earn more points

2. Is there a possibility of HSBC giving 1:1.5 again for accor transfer and will I miss that.

3. There is a fear as well what if Accor goes away from HSBC, similar to Axis, these points will be of very less use.

Opinions and suggestions would help!

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to buy the ALL Accor+ Explorer membership, which should give me Gold status + 30 status nights immediately. From what I understand, I’ll need 60 status nights total for Platinum, so effectively another 30 nights.
Here’s my tentative travel plan for 2026:

July – Jaipur
Planning to use one Stay Plus BOGO/free night offer at Raffles Jaipur
Will probably book a suite costing ~₹40K before taxes
Then stay 4 nights at ibis Jaipur City Centre for ~₹10K total before taxes

October – Thailand trip
Current plan:
Chiang Mai: 4–5 nights
Bangkok: 6–7 nights
Phuket: 3 nights
Average budget:
Around ₹12–15K/night
I may not stay entirely in Accor properties throughout the trip
I also want to maximize my second Stay Plus free night in Thailand, so I’m okay splurging a bit on a luxury Accor property to get maximum value from the membership.

A few questions:

Based on this travel pattern, what’s the smartest route to Platinum?

Should I prioritize cheaper Accor stays just to accumulate nights, or focus on higher spend/status points?

Is the ALL Signature Plan worth considering for faster Platinum qualification?

Which Thailand Accor properties would give the best balance of elite benefits + value for money?

Any mattress-run strategies or promos I should keep an eye on?

Would really appreciate advice from experienced ALL/Accor members, especially anyone who has recently gone from Gold → Platinum efficiently.

I have almost 1 lakh worth of ICICI Emerald Private Metal points. With the ongoing 50% bonus points that Air India is offering for points transfer I am seriously considering transferring all the points over to Air India.

My wife and I live in Bangalore and do travel to Southeast Asia once a year and US/Europe once a year. Does it make sense to transfer to Air India?

Hello All,

I have some Accor points around ( 10k ) left . Since i am using Atlas CC, i wont be able to transfer any more points to Accor. i have already booked an Accor hotel in Phuket. Now i was thinking of booking some tours or activities in phuket/phi phi island through Accor hotel and then pay using the points at the checkout. is it a good way of using the rest of the points?

Do Accor hotels have provision to book island tours or activities through them? or is booking through external services better?

Thanks in advance

Hey guys,
I’ve accumulated 140k points on my HDFC Diners Club Black (DCB) and I’m planning a 7-night trip to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi from Delhi in late July.
It’s 2 adults and a 3-year-old toddler.

My goals are:
1.Try Business Class one-way (never done it before!).
2. Maximize the remaining points for hotels or return flights.
3. Open to better ways too use points

Hey folks, planning an 5-night Dubai trip from Hyderabad for 2 adults + 1 child (11yo). Travel dates are between 15th May to 25th May. Sitting on 115k Infinia points and need advice on the best redemption:

The goal is to pay as much as possible for flights and hotels using the points

1. Luxury Hotels (Accor 2:1) or smartbuy: Transfer 90k points to Accor, which would help redeem ₹1 lakh worth of stay in luxury hotels. Give suggestions for hotels, including the likes of Sofitel, The Palm, or Fairmont Dubai. And using the remaining points, book a one-way flight from Hyderabad to Dubai

2. SmartBuy (1 RP = ₹1): use smartbuy for all economy flight bookings. Return journey fare from Hyderabad to Dubai costs 37k rs for the cheapest tickets, which would mean I can utilize around 26k points for one person to pay for that. That means an overall utilization of around 78k points and around 33k rupees in cash.

3. Transfer to Singapore Airlines at 1:1: One way from Hyderabad to Singapore costs 19k miles and one way from Singapore to Dubai costs 32,000 miles. Overall Hyderabad to Dubai would cost 51,000, meaning it would cost 102k miles per person for a return journey, which I don't think is a wise choice.

4. Transfer to Air India at 2:1 : return journey from Hyderabad to Dubai generally costs 31k Air India points plus around 5,000-6,000 in cash. That would mean I can book the return journey for two people using the 120k points on Infinia converted to 60k AI points plus some taxes, and book the hotels and the flight for the third person in cash.

Hi,

I have 50k miles&smiles points (Turkish airlines) that are expiring at the end of this year. I don’t want to add more points to the account to extend its validity.
Any suggestions on where I could use or transfer to another airline or hotel partner if not use it directly to fly to any other country besides Turkey this year?

If using it for domestic is the best option, how do I book those flights?

With the price hike, I don’t have high hopes for a sale, and if it’s there, I am not sure if the prices will be as low as usual. Has anyone flown Singapore airline from Mumbai to Tokyo? It’s a connecting flight but who minds spending time at Changi. Please share your experience, if you have.

Hey everyone,

I tried booking a stay using an Epicure voucher (which is supposed to give 20% off), but the price I’m seeing is almost the same as the Taj member rate, there doesn’t seem to be any additional benefit.

Am I missing something here? Does the Epicure discount not stack over the member rate, or is there a specific way to apply it to actually get a better deal?

Would appreciate any tips from people who’ve used Epicure vouchers before. Thanks!

I got the epicure membership via Amex.

Hi all,

Me and my partner are planning to go to Maldives in November for 5 days. We plan to stay in local island mostly dighura for 3 days and stay for 2 days in a private resort near dighura in south atoll.

I need help utilising my points to the maximum to book the private resort for free if possible.

I have the following cards and points-

Axis atlas - 20k edge miles

DCB metal - 30k points

EPM - 30k points

Will earn more in the following months.

We might also go for a family trip to Singapore , let me know if using points there makes more sense. We are looking to book only budget friendly property in Singapore

As stated above, any leads to use 3L Amex points to book both flights and stays from these points??

How to plan Switzerland Trip from Bangalore using Axis M4B Travel Edge Points?

I have been using T1 for the past 7 months and here's what I like/dislike.

Post Axis Devaluation its the straight forward card for Accor points with great 1:1 transfers for airline partners.

The easiest way to max out on 18k points is through bookings made through Hopper. And Yes! you need a lot of patience and time to navigate through.

1. Some of the hotel bookongs are straight forward, I booked Sheraton hotel for my parents in Malaysia, the price is better on hopper or was matching others

2. In Singapore, I wasn't finding hotels with breakfast, i called their customer care, they told HSBC has different tie ups with hotels and inclusions are based on that.

Here ask the hotel whats the breakfast buffet price and try to calculate.

Novotel was 65k for 3 days and approx 31k value to Accor. Breakfast costed 12,500 for 2. Still overall was on positive side.

\+ ask customer care for price match you get INR 1500 back.

Note: I am not aware of returns on other cards.

Right now, forex charges are zero, its 8% value to Accor. Used the card for multiple transactions in Singapore and has not been charged any forex + got 4% points.

3. Also, in India there are multiple hotel chains like Olive, Bloom etc. Where the price matches with all other platforms.

Flight bookings:

For flight bookings, its a mess, I wouldn't risk it until its straight forward, there are tons of options especially for international flights, the luggage weight would not be mentioned in most cases.

I would suggest to book on 'Yatra' which has max discount around inr 5000 - 10k for HSBC cards + we get 4%.

Another tip is to search for Agoda HSBC, there is a microsite which has some good offers around 5% less price compared to what you search on general Agoda.

One important thing to note is on Make My Trip you get only 2% back not 4%, only cleartrip, yatra, agoda and a couple of others mentioned on their website get 4%.

I have hit 1L milestone and got 3k points in a couple of days.

Use the card anywhere except exclusions you get straight 2%.

For someone planning a Europe or Southeast asia trip, this card helps a lot to transfer points to accor and plan in such a way to maximize the accelerated rewards.

For Singapore trip, I booked flights in January got 4%, some hotels in Feb got 20k points overall (41k accor), booked hotel using those points for 2 days.

Could have maximized by booking flights as well but I was skeptical.

Let me know if anyone needs clarification.

Note: Calculations are approx