Fly the way you choose

The one problem with an airline’s frequent flyer programme is that you cannot pick your choice of airline when you redeem your reward points. If you like to pick and choose your airline, then opting for specialised credit cards makes sense.
Citibank — which was associated with Jet Airways in the past — pulled out its co-branded card and introduced an ‘airline agnostic’ credit card which allows you to earn miles and redeem them across airlines of your choice. Many other banks offer such schemes linked to their specialised credit cards.
So, how do these cards work? When you book airline tickets using your credit card, you are rewarded with points or miles. After reaching a particular threshold, you can use these points or miles for purposes such as booking air tickets, hotels stays and car rentals, among others.
The catch, however, is that maximum points are earned only if you book through the bank’s specified Web site or channel. For example, while Citibank’s PremierMiles card allows you to earn miles for both your airline and non-airline spends, you earn 10 miles for every Rs 100 you spend on all airline bookings made at airline owned Web sites, airline counters or through premiermiles.co.in. But for all other purchases you earn only 4 miles for every Rs 100.
Read News In Full 21/12/13 Radhika Merwin/Business Line