I currently have a Diners Club Black Credit Card with 8 Lakhs limit, which might not be enough. I’m thinking of getting a second card with a good limit that I can use everywhere in the US and get good reward points. All spends will be offline for dining out, fuel etc.
I am a salaried person and monthly takehome is just about 2 lakh rupees per month.
Im thinking of either Axis Atlas, Infinia or an Amex card, but open to other suggestions. Also, I’ll need a card that gets delivered quickly <2 weeks possibly.
Amex will give you convenience in reimbursements (gives one entry per transaction) while others give 2-3 entries per international transaction (gst and forex charges).
I have used both the cards. Axis Atlas, it has great rewards as well. So maybe use Atlas for big spends (hotels, flights etc) and Amex for smaller ones (food, taxi etc.)
Number of transactions shouldnt be an issue. I will have a lot of transactions but most will be in the category of higher reward generation. Would Atlas and Amex both deliver in 1-2 weeks?
I realize that I haven’t communicated the pain of multiple transactions. So just giving an example for you, it’s still your call on how to proceed.
Let’s say you did a $100 transaction. Converting it to INR, it’s around INR 8,700. Add a 3.5% forex fee (approx. INR 305) and a 18% GST on the forex fee only (approx. INR 55).
Now, Amex will show only one transaction for you on your app and statement (required for reimbursements). So, it will show INR 9,060 with the merchant’s name on it.
However, other cards will show three separate transactions for this. One of INR8,700 with the merchant’s name; INR 305 with Forex Fee; INR 55 with GST. And these transactions won’t be next to each other nor will be charged the same day. If you did multiple transactions on your trip, then it would be a pain to find which forex fee and GST charge is corresponding to which one. Plus, you’ll have to explain why these transactions are billed separately.
Just sharing it as an FYI, wish someone had told this to me before I spent a lot on my non-Amex cards.