How to Earn Credit Card Reward Points: 5 Great Ways

A credit card is a great tool to manage your finances. In addition to providing instant and easy access to money, it offers you exciting features and benefits too. Along with cashback credit card offers, reward points are one way you can earn when you spend. This is because you can redeem these reward points against products and services offered by partner establishments. It is important to note that reward points are earned only when you complete a purchase and not when you use your credit card to make withdrawals. Here’s how you can add reward points to your kitty.

credit cards

Use your credit card to dine out

When going out for a movie or for a meal with your friends, offer to clear the bill on your credit card if it offers entertainment and dining benefits. This will allow you to collect a number of points in one go. You can then ask your friends to pay you back in cash or through other methods such as a mobile wallet.

Purchase travel tickets using your credit card

With special air miles available on most credit cards, it only makes sense to use yours for all travel-related costs, especially if you fly frequently. Apart from gaining access to a number of airport lounges depending on the card you hold, you can earn points as per the distance you fly. For instance, the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank Platinum Plus SuperCard offers convenience to you by way of free airport lounge access twice a year and unlimited paid access.

Choose a credit card basis your needs

Different cards offer you accelerated points for certain transactions like when you shop from a listed fashion label, fill fuel from specific petrol pumps, book tickets with partner airlines or stay at an affiliate hotel. Select a card after taking a look at the partner brands. If the list ties in with the brands and companies you regularly shop from, using the credit card is an easy way to maximize your savings. For example, if you shop at supermarket A because it’s right next to your office, you should look into cards that list it as a partner instead of taking one that has partnered with supermarket B, which probably doesn’t operate in your city.

Moreover, once you get the hang of choosing online credit card that offers the best perks, you can consider taking multiple credit cards to make the most of the benefits that each one has to offer. But, be sure to do so only if you can pay them in full each month or else you’ll land yourself in debt and harm your credit score.

Use online shopping portals

Instead of shopping from company websites, shop for products and services through leading shopping portals. You have a better chance of getting the products of your choice at a lower price, while you get superlative reward points as well as cashbacks. For example, apart from offering you the chance to shop on No Cost EMIs, Platinum Choice SuperCard, a Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank credit card, offers twice the points when you use it to pay online. You get 2 points when you spend Rs.100 online as opposed to 1 point.

Pay for larger purchases and services on your card

Settle large expenses using your credit card as long as you can pay the balance in full before the due date. This means instead of issuing a cheque or swiping your debit card use your credit card. This will not only give you some breathing room to repay the amount but the more you spend, the more points you can accumulate! That said, don’t do this all the time as a consistently high credit utilization ratio shows up as a red flag on your credit report.

Save big with rewards, welcome and bonus points

Further, choose a card that makes it easy for you to reap credit card rewards. For instance, opt for the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard and earn reward points with every transaction. As a SuperCard member, you can save more than Rs.55,000 annually and earn up to 20,000 reward points as a welcome gift that you can redeem against a number of goods and services. In addition, if your expenditure crosses a certain amount each year, you get bonus points too.

Apart from this, you can withdraw money from an ATM at no interest for up to 50 days and convert your credit limit into an emergency loan for up to 90 days without paying any interest. So, apply right away by checking your pre-approved credit card offer from Bajaj Finserv and get instant approval on your credit card application.

Ranbeer Maver is a Computer Science undergraduate. He's a geek who embraces any new consumer technology with inhuman enthusiasm.