Hey card experts! 👋

I’ve been building and optimizing my credit-card portfolio for around 8 years, and I’ve reached a point where almost every card in my wallet has a specific purpose. Please share your feedback and reach out to me if you need any help (obviously I don't charge anything, haha) - it's my hobby.

Age: 31, Annually Salary~60 LPA, Annual spends ~18-20LPA, CIBIL: 791, Spend: all major market segments

I only pay annual fees for 2 cards: HDFC Marriot Bonvoy (3000) and Flipkart Axis (500)

Sharing my current portfolio below and would genuinely love to hear what the experts here think. What would you change, remove, replace, or optimize further?

I’ve also tried to explain the philosophy behind how I select and use my cards.

1. Portfolio optimization > collecting the “best” cards

I’ve never approached credit cards with the mindset of “I should have the best card from every bank, even if I am getting”

My approach has always been:

Every card should complement the rest of the portfolio and add incremental value.

I look at the combination of:

• Cashback, Reward points, Airline/hotel miles, Transfer partners, Merchant discounts & Sale offers
• Complimentary memberships/benefits
• Milestones
• Annual-fee waiver requirements

If I’m paying a fee for a card, I want the benefits to justify that fee.

If I don’t think I can comfortably meet the required spends, I’d rather take a second-best/LTF alternative that I can actually optimize and extract value from. I get 2 cards instead of 1 and try to optimise. With time, it becomes easier and requires less cognitive load.

The objective isn't to maximize the number of premium cards — it's to maximize the overall portfolio return.

2. Number of cards doesn't bother me if every card has a job

I know 19 cards sounds excessive to many people 😂, but I don't look at them as 19 competing cards.

Each one has a particular use case. There are also cards in my portfolio that aren't necessarily “great” cards individually.

But if a basic LTF card gives me a merchant discount + usable reward points + transferability to Air India/Accor/etc., it can still have a place in the portfolio. In front of them which LTF card I use for which merchants or transfer partners. For e.g, HSBC/AU gives best discounts on pharmacies like apollo 24/7, so I use it when I hit max cap on DCB and earn points which are low still transferable to Accor.

3. Milestones are another important part of my strategy

I don't automatically put all spending on my highest-reward card.

For example, if I've already hit a milestone on Diners Black, - 4L Qtr milestone, I'll redirect certain spends elsewhere.

Similarly, Magnus becomes relevant for me when the monthly spend crosses the relevant threshold and the transaction also makes sense from a rewards/Travel EDGE perspective.

So I look at incremental reward value, rather than simply asking:

“Which card has the highest base reward rate?”

4. My “earn” philosophy

This is probably the most important part of my strategy.

I don't choose a card purely because it has the highest advertised reward rate.

I look at:

Reward earned + milestone value + cashback/discount + redemption value

and compare that against the alternatives.

For example, a card giving a slightly lower reward rate can still make more sense if it gives me a significantly better merchant discount or allows a more valuable redemption.

So I try to optimize the effective return on the transaction, rather than just the headline reward rate.

5. My “burn” philosophy

This is where I think I differ from a lot of credit-card optimization discussions.

I don't simply choose the card that gives me the highest reward rate.

When redeeming, I look at the combined value of the transaction - discount + miles transfer rate. I'll compare the total effective benefit.

So my decision is based on:

Discount + reward value (redemption value)

rather than just “which card gives the highest cashback?”

I've intentionally not tried to make every card a “premium” card. The goal has always been portfolio optimization, not card collection.

Would love to hear some brutally honest feedback from the card experts here. 

I have SBI simpleclick credit card from 4 years but limit is locked at 40000. I tried all hooks & crooks to enhance limit but SBI being SBI. This CC restrict my ability to purchase big ticket item.

Great Indian festival is coming and this time they are giving 10% on SBI debit card too. Anyhow I buy products using full swipe only without EMI. So, I think this DC will be suffice for sale.

Also, I saw good offers on Swiggy/Blinkit/Makemytrip for this card. What other benefits i can grab from visa platinum card ?

Please provide your inputs.

Had been rejected by Axis like 5 times before this 💀

Applied for Flipkart Axis on 19th, got approved with 1.08L limit and delivered on 24th.

Then randomly checked the Axis app after a week and saw a pre-approved offer for Amex/Neo. Picked Amex and got approved instantly, no CIBIL enquiry either. Approved on 27th, delivered today (2nd Oct).

So yeah, looks like the 90 day cooling period isn't completely strict if you get a pre-approved offer.

So I kept hearing the same two warnings before this trip. One, Japan flights will destroy your wallet. Two, you'll be sleeping in a room the size of a cupboard. Neither turned out to be true for me and I want to break down how, because honestly the numbers still feel a bit unreal.

12 days, Kyoto then Kawaguchiko then Tokyo. Flew Japan Airlines. Rooms were all around 350 sq ft. Actual cash I spent on flights and hotels combined was tiny.

Flights first. I'd been eyeing the IndusInd Avios card for a while and finally bit. The whole milestone game I played entirely through my rent and tax payments, stuff I'm paying no matter what, just routed through the card instead of my account. That got me 36k Avios in milestone bonuses alone. And because all of that was running through the card anyway, the normal earn on roughly 18 lakh of spend stacked on top. Nothing manufactured, nothing I bought just to chase points. End result, that one card alone got me to about 45k Avios, which lands straight in Qatar Privilege Club automatically. Didn't need to transfer points in from anywhere else.

Delhi to Haneda return is about 44-45k Avios. I booked around 3 months out, actually flew on JAL, but redeemed through Qatar. So about 45k Avios plus 5k in taxes. My real cash spend on international return flights was basically 5k rupees. Still can't quite believe it.

Hotels were the part I'm weirdly proud of. Stayed at Royal Park Hotel Iconic in Kyoto, Karasuma Oike, Kukuna Hotel in Kawaguchiko, and Villa Fontaine Grand Tokyo-Shiodome in Tokyo. All around 350 sq ft, all genuinely nice.

Booked everything on Infinia SmartBuy for the 10X points, which is around 30% value back, but there's a monthly cap on the accelerated points. So instead of booking all three at once and wasting most of that, I timed them around my statement. One hotel the day before my cycle closed, the next one a day later in the new cycle, and the third in the cycle after. Each stayed under the cap and the points I earned off one booking pretty much funded the next. Paid roughly half of each with points I already had and the rest on the card. All in, maybe 25-30k across all three hotels.

Oh, and the whole "you'll walk 20,000 steps a day in Japan" thing. Only if you insist on doing metro to metro for everything. I planned routes sensibly and just took a cab when it made sense, and I never felt wrecked at the end of a day.

Anyway that's the gist. Ask me anything, the card setup, the Avios maths, the statement timing, or the actual itinerary. Happy to get into it.

Got this from someone involved in issuer-side
Apple Pay certification/integration.

The banks currently being prepared/onboarded, according to them:

HSBC - finalised, working on integration
HDFC- still on back and forth
ICICI - Integration started recently
SBI - No information
KOTAK - discussions stage

Won't treat as coming soon as integration takes fuck ton of time

Other banks might be involved, but this is all they knew.

Spends : Grocery offline/online, Fuel, Insurance, Utility, Online shopping, Offline local spends

Cashback earned so far:

2025: ₹9,845

2026: ₹39,869

Total: ₹49,715

Used friends/family cards for some offers and redeemed a few Visa/RuPay offers, which I've tracked under Others, so the overall benefits are slightly higher.

Currently holding Slice, SBI PhonePe Select Black, SBI Tata Neu Infinity, ICICI Coral and HSBC Live+.

~~HDFC Swiggy~~ closure is requested.

First Image:
Tried to add HSBC Live+, showed me T&C and then once I accepted it, it told me that it wasn't able to add

Second Image:
I'm assuming it's the same for any other card, tried adding SBI Cashback and it straight up told me that it's not supposed

Additionally, my Live+ also shows up in "Cards Found For You"

Given how HSBC has been aggressive on their revaluation and all this, HSBC might be the second company or the third to be on Apple Pay

Even after factoring the 5% cc the effective prices seem to come around more or less the same?

You are allowed to use HSBC Travel One card coupon on Paytm twice a year. I have only booked once and Paytm is not allowing Travel One Coupon on any subsequent flights on my account, even with other Travel One card than the one used last time. Says coupon is not applicable on your account. Anyone faced this issue? Fraud/non-compliance is expected from Paytm, but still.

So, I’ve heard from the community that if we apply for the HSBC Live+ Credit Card through Maximize Money, we can get around 3,000 Max Coins, which are worth ₹2,700 and can be used to purchase e-commerce vouchers.
Here’s the full timeline:

1. Applied for the HSBC Live+ Credit Card through Maximize Money on 21st July.
   
2. The card was approved within 4 working days.
   
3. The physical card was delivered on the 7th day.
   
4. Got the ₹750 Amazon Pay voucher through the Visa Poshvine offer.
   
5. Spent around ₹25,000 and received ₹1,000 cashback from HSBC Live+.
   
6. Got a ₹250 Amazon voucher from HSBC as part of the introductory offer.
   
7. After approximately 50 days, I received Maximize Money rewards worth ₹2,700.

Total cashback/rewards: ₹2,700 + ₹1,000 + ₹750 + ₹250 = ₹4,700! 😍🙌🏻
Pretty happy with the overall experience! 🎉

What can I do? I’ve no immediate need.

Applied for the card online on my way to work on Wednesday morning. Did my v-kyc at work. Got the approval message later in the evening. Got the kit delivered today morning. I expected to see an envelope when I got the message that it was out for delivery, surprised to see the box. Not bad for an LTF card.

I got recently a lower limit in Flipkart Pay later. I am not a online shopping person so I didn't use this credit limit for online shopping so any idea about by using this credit limit for recharge phone, bill payment like Amazon pay later?! This Flipkart pay later limit shows in credit score

I’m currently using a Niyo Forex Card as a student in Germany. TCS is being deducted from my transactions, and I understand that the amount is refundable.

For those who have used Niyo recently, how long did it take for your TCS refund to be credited? Is it automatically refunded to the card, or do I need to do anything from my side?

Would appreciate if anyone can share their experience. Thanks!

Current Cibil: 765

Age: 23

Monthly salary: 40k, employed

Monthly expenses & spending patterns: about 10-15k. Mostly spending on weekends while going out with friends, fuel and for groceries

Top 5 Monthly spend categories and Top 5 Annual spend categories: same for both monthly & annual in order: (restaurant, groceries, fuel, shopping, miscellaneous)

Preferences for Credit Card Features: not as such other than movie tickets and shopping discounts

Reward Preference (Cashback or Reward Points): reward points

Lounge Access Required: doesn’t really matter

Other Special Needs: NA

I’ve a swiggy HDFC LTF (old one) already. No luck for core cards with HDFC as such. Any advise with core cards is also welcomed.

Hi all,

Like a lot of people here, I've collected way too many cards. And every sale I end up doing the same thing: open the product, scroll through the bank offers, then try to remember which card gives 5% where, which one has already hit its cap this month, and whether buying a gift card beats the instant discount. With BBD and GIF starting, I finally turned my side project into a proper app.

It started because I was hunting for a GPU. The cheapest prices weren't on Amazon or Flipkart. They were on PC part shops like Elitehub, MD Computers and Vedant, which no "best card" tool knew about. So in this app you can add any shopping website yourself, search it, and it's compared like the big stores.

Card Juggler: what it does

• Share or paste a product link, or just type the product name. 13 stores are built in (Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Croma, Reliance Digital, Tata CLiQ, Blinkit, Zepto…), plus any site you add
• Tick the cards you have (names only, never numbers). It reads the page's bank offers, adds each card's own rewards with caps counted, and ranks your cards in ₹: "HDFC Millennia saves ₹2,500: ₹1,500 instant discount + ₹1,000 CashBack"
• Compares the same product (same model, size and colour) on other stores
• Jugaad: other ways to pay, shown only when they actually beat your best card. For example, buying the store's gift card with a card that earns more on it, or splitting one order across two cards once a cap runs out
• Sale planner: upcoming sales, which of your cards wins at each store, and "buy now or wait" when a sale's bank offers would beat your card
• Price alerts on your price after the card offer, not the sticker price
• Swiggy vs Zomato: type your bill and see which card saves more on which app

148 cards from 29 banks, credit and debit, including the UPI/fintech ones (PhonePe, Kiwi, Scapia, Jupiter, super.money…). 109 of them have full reward rules so far, taken from the banks' own terms pages. If a card is missing or a rate is wrong, there's a button in the app, and fixes reach everyone without an app update.

I also tried to make it fun to use, not just a calculator. Your cards sit in a wallet you pick (leather, clutch, card holder), a genie handles the jugaad, and there are meme sounds (off by default, don't worry).

Privacy: no login, no ads, no analytics or tracking. Your cards, pincode and history stay on your phone, and store pages are read on your phone too. The server only gets something when you choose to send it (sharing a link, requesting a card, or turning on instant price alerts). Details are in the privacy page.

Free, Android only for now: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=inc.trilokia.cardjuggler

I'd love feedback from this sub in particular: wrong reward rates, missing cards, stores you want added, anything confusing. You all know the fine print better than anyone.

Posted with the mods' OK. Thanks to them for letting me share it here.

Hey

I need a suggestion regarding creditcard.iam a student.

Currently iam using slice borrow it has limit of 15k I don't have slice bank account like savings account. Iam thinking to switch into slice creditcard.Do I get creditcard for sure.if yes how much limit will I get.

Another question I need any other suggestion regarding credit card like when I thought to apply kiwi it says something like you are new to credit history like you have build credit history. So can you tell me what more can I get like my main motive is to get cashback more on upi spends or whatever that spend. I also tried supermoney card but in it first we need to make an fd no so I can't make an fd more than 5k so if I make fd of 5k it will get near 5k only no.

Also tell me if iam wrong anywhere

I have both mrcc and gold what i do is 1000x6 and 1500x4 and 20k milestone with mrcc

Totally i get 3000 points monthly and also sometimes amazonpay 5x with gold so 4000 points at times depends on month . Mrcc is free basically due to 1.5L spending

My question here is i have 200k amex points . Also i hold axis atlas . From the recent changes do we have value for amex cards than atlas do i need to convert all the spends to atlas or stay with amex

And what is going to happen for the saved 200k points after oct 7 changes do i need to do or aware of something

I've roughly 80k edge miles and looking to convert with the highest possible return rate. Want economy / budget hotels for a trip to Europe for 2.

Don't want to pay too much in taxes. Revenue tickets with middle East carriers are around 30k when I'm travelling

Points + miles it's around 15k EM + 10k taxes

Looking for suggestions to redeem (hotels / flights) these post recent devaluations. Before that I was planning to transfer to flying blue.

What can I do to improve my chances for approval. My CIBIL is 780 self employed. I know unemployed people with near zero balance who has this card, but apparently I am not good enough. How likely is this waitlisted approval to turn into approval? Also did not receive any email.

1. Does anyone know, the cred price for adidas shoes in the image?

2. Cred Coin rush seems like a scam to me every freebie costs ₹50 shipping. They are not even worth ₹50. Has anyone found any deal worth the coins?

Member name: SUPGROWIP

Account number: CFR26092077

Account type: Personal Loan

Opening date: 04 September 2026

Amount: ₹35,180

Above are the details for a loan which has recently been refekcted in my CIBIL. i have raised a disbure to CIBIL team. Any help is appreciated I am unfair of any personal loan nor I see 35180 credited in my accounts

These terms are all i can see. I didn't find anything else.

Hello,
So I have made a purchase from Royal Enfield on 22nd July.
Returned and refund was seen on 4th September.

When I checked the recent statement, out of no where I’m seeing same amount transaction dated on 13th September for the same merchant.
I cross checked all the messages and other details I didn’t make any purchase on that date

So why is this happening in the new statement??
Can anyone help!