A selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower, a day among the Roman ruins, watching the London Bridge opening up to let those steamers pass or a serene boat ride on Lake Lucerne. Seems like a dream? Not anymore! You can enjoy all that and more by flying to Europe for as low as Rs. 12,000. (No cash? No problem! Credit Cards accepted!). No,we aren’t joking! We’ll fill you in.
Singapore based airline, Scoot, will soon offer low-fare tickets to Europe. Consider this: A one-way flight from Mumbai to Copenhagen will cost you only Rs. 12,000 – Rs. 13,000, including a 20 kilo check-in baggage and a meal. This means that you could get a return ticket for as low as Rs. 26,000. If these prices aren’t incredible enough, these happen to be direct flights from India to Europe.
But, how is Scoot able to offer flights at such low fares? To put it simply, airline companies are given what is known as the ‘fifth freedom’. This allows them to operate direct flights between two foreign countries. So, Scoot operates flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, to destinations such as Copenhagen, Vienna, Manchester and Cairo.
Wondering what other airlines are offering? Fares offered by other airlines start at Rs. 45,000 for a round trip to Europe. While these fares are for direct flights, you could get slightly cheaper tickets if you opt for a flight that halts in the Middle East. This means you can save as much as 40% by booking flights with Scoot. Yay!
Can you save even more? Of course, you can! With a Travel Credit Card.
Additional Reading: 5 Amazing Ways You Can Use Your Credit Card To Travel On The Cheap
Travel Credit Cards are cards that give you freebies, cashback, reward points and more when you use it to make transactions abroad. You also get these benefits if you choose to use the card in India.
Here are some hand-picked Travel Credit Cards to choose from:
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The American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card
Love freebies? Then you will love this card. This travel card gives you 5,000 bonus membership reward points as a joining bonus. You can redeem these points for travel vouchers worth Rs. 4,000.
You can even get travel vouchers worth Rs. 7,700 on annual spends of Rs. 1.9 lakhs. If you spend more than Rs. 4 lakhs a year, you get Taj group vouchers worth Rs. 10,000 and additional travel vouchers for up to Rs. 11,800.
You can also enjoy 4 complimentary visits to 29 airport lounges in cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. In addition, the first year fee is just Rs. 3,500 plus taxes.
With this card you get 4,000 Skywards Miles as a joining bonus. And by spending just Rs. 10,000 on your card, you get a complimentary priority pass through which you can avail 2 free airport lounge visits every month.
Through the Mastercard World lounge program that this card offers, you also get access to 32 domestic airport lounges. You even get 6 Skywards Miles for every Rs. 150 that you spend abroad.
Want more? Shop at the duty-free stores and get a 5% cashback. There’s also a Rs. 1 crore complimentary air accident cover that you can avail of.
Want domestic travel perks? You get 20% cashback on all your Uber rides. You also get 4 Skywards Miles for every Rs. 150 spent in India. The annual fee is Rs. 3,000 and the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) or interest rate is 37.2%, which is much lower than the 40% rate charged by other cards.
Additional Reading: Top Indian Credit Cards For The Best International Travel
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The American Express MakeMyTrip Credit Card
All bookings done on MakeMyTrip using this card will get you a 5% cashback. You can also get up to 70% instant discount on hotel bookings that you make using the MakeMyTrip website.
Spend Rs. 1.25 lakhs on your card and get MakeMyTrip vouchers worth Rs. 2,000. If you spend over Rs. 2.5 lakhs a year, you get MakeMyTrip vouchers worth Rs. 5,000.
Enjoy spending time at airport lounges? Get discounted access to 28 domestic airport lounges. The best part is that you don’t have to pay any sort of fee to get this card. However, an annual fee of Rs. 1,500 will be applicable from the second year onwards.
Additional Reading: Here’s How You Can Travel To Europe On A Frugal Budget
Looking for a card with low fees that gives you a ton of benefits? Then this one is for you.
Get Yatra gift vouchers worth Rs. 8,250 as a joining bonus along with your card. You also get an instant discount of Rs. 1,000 on domestic flight bookings and Rs. 4,000 instant discount on international flight bookings. What’s more? Get a flat 20% discount on domestic hotel bookings.
Love those airport lounges? With this card, you can get exclusive access to Mastercard airport lounges in India.
Looking for domestic perks? Get a reward point for every Rs. 100 that you spend using this card. You also get 6x reward points for departmental and grocery store spends.
The best part is that all these benefits are available to you by paying an annual fee of just Rs. 499. In fact, BankBazaar also offers paperless approval for this card. Awesome, isn’t it?
Additional Reading: Financing Your Travel – The Smart Way
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Jet Airways ICICI Bank Sapphiro VISA Credit Card
Want a card with hefty joining bonuses? Look no further! This card offers you 10,000 welcome bonus JP Miles, a Shopper’s Stop gift voucher worth Rs. 200 and a Provogue voucher worth Rs. 2,499 as joining bonuses.
Apart from this, you will get a renewal bonus of 5,000 JP Miles every year. You also get complimentary airport lounge access and you can enjoy complimentary golf rounds, movie tickets, dining discounts and more with your card.
All you have to do is pay just Rs. 5,000 plus taxes to get these benefits. BankBazaar also offers paperless approval for this card as well.
Additional Reading: 7 Ways To Protect Yourself From Credit Card Theft While Travelling
Didn’t find the card you were looking for? Don’t worry! We have plenty of others lined up. What are you waiting for? Go on and explore our cards and choose the one you like.