Travel | | Personal Finance | Health | CA | ✈️ 30+ countries. Optimising Wealth and Travel via CC points.
Bengaluru
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Sister’s off to Japan for her first anniversary.
Booked two seats, Bangalore → Tokyo on Japan Airlines, nonstop — for a paltry ~₹6,000.
Cash would’ve been about ₹1,26,000. That’s ₹1,20,000 saved on one-ways alone.🤯
I’m off the hook for the anniversary gift…😂
CC geek hours, well spent.
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Spotted an old man giving his phone to stranger and clicking his picture with both thumbs up.
Family group approved.
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🤑 Ba Na Hills, Da Nang Budget Hack! 🤑
Thinking about visiting the Golden Bridge in Vietnam? Staying at the Mercure Danang French Village Bana Hills — actually unlocks hidden savings:
💰 The Cable Car Discount: Standard day-tripper tickets cost 1,000,000 VND. But if you buy your tickets directly from the Mercure front desk at the bottom of the mountain, the price drops to around 600,000–665,000 VND! That’s nearly 40% off per person.
Another offer from Sun world (limited time):
🚌 Free Transit: You can skip private taxis! Take advantage of the free Sun World shuttle bus pilot running directly from central Da Nang straight to the mountain base.
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This is why more and more I am convinced miles and points are a complete waste of time.
They are not free travel. They are a discount you pre-purchased redeemable only on the routes nobody else wanted.
Two connections through Colombo and Doha. 255,000 Amex points laundered through Marriott at 3:1. And your own review says the first leg was basically economy.
Delhi to Barcelona in business with proper routing is about $1200.
Just pay for the ticket.
3 Business Class flights. 13+ hours of flying. Just 42.5K miles + ₹6K in taxes per person ??
Hell yeahh, bring it on! ✈️🔥
I booked my onward journey from Delhi to Barcelona using Amex Membership Rewards points, flying a combination of SriLankan Airlines + Qatar Airways.
DEL → CMB → DOH → BCN
Delhi–Colombo was SriLankan Airlines Business Class on an A320, while Colombo–Doha and Doha–Barcelona were Qatar Airways Business Class on their new 787-9 Mini QSuites.
And the cost?
42.5K American Airlines AAdvantage miles + ~₹6K taxes per person.
Now, how do you get AA miles from India?
There’s no direct Indian credit card transfer partner. The workaround is Marriott Bonvoy, at a 3:1 transfer ratio.
So I transferred 2.55L Amex MR points → Marriott → 85K AAdvantage miles, enough for 2 Business Class seats.
The SriLankan Business Class experience was… basically Economy with better legroom 😂 They served breakfast, which was okay. I didn’t have very high expectations anyway, so overall, it was decent.
But Qatar Business Class?
An experience in itself.
The crew, aircraft, food and service were all exceptional.
You could choose when you wanted to eat, and almost everything we tried was delicious. (The frozen idli appetizer was the one exception 😂)
The drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) were top notch too.
And the hard product was easily the best I’ve experienced so far.
Enclosed suites. Beautiful lighting. Gorgeous colour combinations. And those Mini QSuites are just 🔥
And then there was the Al Mourjan Business Lounge – The Garden at Doha.
Calling it a “lounge” almost feels like an understatement. The sheer scale, the massive indoor fountain and the beautifully designed spaces made it feel more like a luxury hotel than an airport lounge.
You genuinely get that feeling of exclusivity the moment you walk in. A pretty spectacular place to spend a few hours between flights.
The amenity kits were beautiful too…
Unfortunately, they were immediately hacked by my wife. 😂
So that’s my little review of Qatar Airways Business Class and how I managed to book this entire journey for just ~₹12K for two people.
And this is only the beginning.
Next up: how I booked our return journey from Switzerland in Business Class, again using a completely different airline and this time, through their promotional fares.
If you found this useful, a like + repost would be hugely appreciated. ❤️
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Imagine coping this hard over someone flying world-class luxury suites. Here's one more for you.
Sister’s off to Japan for her first anniversary.
Booked two seats, Bangalore → Tokyo on Japan Airlines, nonstop — for a paltry ~₹6,000.
Cash would’ve been about ₹1,26,000. That’s ₹1,20,000 saved on one-ways alone.🤯
I’m off the hook for the anniversary gift…😂
CC geek hours, well spent.
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Stop begging for a Tax Audit extension. It’s embarrassing.
Closer to deadline, Many CAs stop working to chase a CBDT miracle. Let’s be real: if the deadline shifts to Oct 31, the exact same panic and portal crying will just happen on Oct 29.
An extension doesn’t fix inefficiency; it just delays it.
The deadline is September 30. Period. Log off, ignore the rumours, and finish your forms.⏱️
#TaxAuditExtension #CA #CBDT #Extend_Due_Date_Immediately #TaxAudit #IncomeTax
No official CBDT notification has been issued regarding a tax audit due date extension. The deadline for filing Tax Audit Reports remains.
Ignore the rumours to avoid the penalty - push hard to finish your filings now! ⏱️💼
#TaxAuditExtension #TaxAudit #IncomeTax #CA #TaxTwitter #CBDT
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🏝️ Your Maldives vacation could soon get cheaper.
The Maldives has long been a standout for redeeming hotel points. With a wide range of excellent all‑inclusive resorts and sky‑high cash rates, points can deliver outsized value.
But there’s always been a catch: the seaplane transfer. That often means an out‑of‑pocket bill anywhere from ₹50,000 to ₹1,00,000 per person.
The good news: Etihad Guest has added Maldivian, the region’s seaplane operator, as its 28th airline partner.
That means you may soon be able to redeem Etihad Guest miles for seaplane transfers. Award pricing hasn’t been announced yet, so we’ll need to see how the numbers work out.
Until now, doing the Maldives on points was only half the deal.
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TMA and Maldivian are the only two. Maldivian have a smaller fleet of sea planes as compared to TMA but covers several islands.
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3 Business Class flights. 13+ hours of flying. Just 42.5K miles + ₹6K in taxes per person ??
Hell yeahh, bring it on! ✈️🔥
I booked my onward journey from Delhi to Barcelona using Amex Membership Rewards points, flying a combination of SriLankan Airlines + Qatar Airways.
DEL → CMB → DOH → BCN
Delhi–Colombo was SriLankan Airlines Business Class on an A320, while Colombo–Doha and Doha–Barcelona were Qatar Airways Business Class on their new 787-9 Mini QSuites.
And the cost?
42.5K American Airlines AAdvantage miles + ~₹6K taxes per person.
Now, how do you get AA miles from India?
There’s no direct Indian credit card transfer partner. The workaround is Marriott Bonvoy, at a 3:1 transfer ratio.
So I transferred 2.55L Amex MR points → Marriott → 85K AAdvantage miles, enough for 2 Business Class seats.
The SriLankan Business Class experience was… basically Economy with better legroom 😂 They served breakfast, which was okay. I didn’t have very high expectations anyway, so overall, it was decent.
But Qatar Business Class?
An experience in itself.
The crew, aircraft, food and service were all exceptional.
You could choose when you wanted to eat, and almost everything we tried was delicious. (The frozen idli appetizer was the one exception 😂)
The drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) were top notch too.
And the hard product was easily the best I’ve experienced so far.
Enclosed suites. Beautiful lighting. Gorgeous colour combinations. And those Mini QSuites are just 🔥
And then there was the Al Mourjan Business Lounge – The Garden at Doha.
Calling it a “lounge” almost feels like an understatement. The sheer scale, the massive indoor fountain and the beautifully designed spaces made it feel more like a luxury hotel than an airport lounge.
You genuinely get that feeling of exclusivity the moment you walk in. A pretty spectacular place to spend a few hours between flights.
The amenity kits were beautiful too…
Unfortunately, they were immediately hacked by my wife. 😂
So that’s my little review of Qatar Airways Business Class and how I managed to book this entire journey for just ~₹12K for two people.
And this is only the beginning.
Next up: how I booked our return journey from Switzerland in Business Class, again using a completely different airline and this time, through their promotional fares.
If you found this useful, a like + repost would be hugely appreciated. ❤️
Just back from a 14 day long couple’s Europe trip that covered Spain, Italy and Switzerland 🇪🇸🇮🇹🇨🇭
The flights were booked in business class and hotels were a mix of luxury and budget options.
Very high level breakdown of the numbers:
Amex MR points burnt: 5,19,000
Axis Atlas Edge Miles burnt: 1,59,750
Out of pocket cost: ~INR 3,50,000
Details of all the redemptions and costs dropping soon 👀.
Follow along if you are someone who’s looking to optimise their points stash and keeping the out of pocket cost relatively low.
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Planning a trip to Japan? 🇯🇵 Time it with a Grand Sumo Tournament (Honbasho)! This legendary cultural event happens 6 times every year across 4 historic cities:
🗼 Tokyo (January, May, September)
🏯 Osaka (March)
🏎️ Nagoya (July)
🍜 Fukuoka (November)
Fun fact for WWE fans: look up what "Yokozuna" and "Rikishi" actually mean! 🤯👇
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Credit card geeks, which one would you pick between ICICI Emeralde Visa and SBI Elite - Mastercard/Visa? I already have HDFC Regalia.
Got upgrade offers for both but the annual fee is 🥀🥲
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Why are bank employees asking for a 5 day working week?
Currently, banks are closed on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays, but work on the 1st, 3rd & 5th.
The demand: Make all Saturdays holidays and compensate by extending weekday working hours.
With UPI, mobile banking & ATMs available 24/7, does India really need banks to operate 6 days a week?
What do you think?
#BankStrike #5DaysBanking #IBA
#PSUBankStrike
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People who are still watching TMKOC during dinner- You should genuinely stop being and oldie and go beyond and find better series/movies/serial to watch.
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Sister’s off to Japan for her first anniversary.
Booked two seats, Bangalore → Tokyo on Japan Airlines, nonstop — for a paltry ~₹6,000.
Cash would’ve been about ₹1,26,000. That’s ₹1,20,000 saved on one-ways alone.🤯
I’m off the hook for the anniversary gift…😂
CC geek hours, well spent.
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Crossing 67k views and 100+ bookmarks on this. Wild to see how many people are planning a trip to Japan. 🌍
Based on my own travel there this May, & booking my sister's anniversary trip, I’m drafting a complete Guide.
I’ll cover JAL, Air India, American Airlines, Accor, and Marriott point redemption options—plus cash bookings for folks not into the miles or CC points.
Dropping later this week.
Sister’s off to Japan for her first anniversary.
Booked two seats, Bangalore → Tokyo on Japan Airlines, nonstop — for a paltry ~₹6,000.
Cash would’ve been about ₹1,26,000. That’s ₹1,20,000 saved on one-ways alone.🤯
I’m off the hook for the anniversary gift…😂
CC geek hours, well spent.
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There is nothing to optimize, take a good card and keep accumulating points. Like Yes Marquee gives 4.5% on all online spends. HDFC Diners gives 3.3% on all spends and 16%+ on accelerated spends. And after all you use the points that you accumulate from spending, not for free.
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