ICICI MakeMyTrip credit cards have been on the market for a long time now. However, ICICI Bank has refreshed its offering with the new ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card. The new credit card will come in dual variants of Mastercard and Rupay. That is, you will get 2 credit cards, one Mastercard variant and another Rupay variant. So, how does the new ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card fare and what happens to the old ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card, read to find out.
ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card
Apply ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card Now!
Snapshot of the ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card
Fees:
Annual and joining fee of 999+GST. Waived off on spending 3lk per year
Rewards and Benefits
Joining/Annual Benefits
- MakeMyTrip voucher of ₹1000 valid for one year, on payment of Joining fees
- MMTBLACK Gold Membership is valid for one year
- Annual Benefit- MakeMyTrip Hotel voucher of ₹1000 valid for three months, on payment of annual fees
Reward Points
- 2 myCash on every 200 spent with 1myCash = INR 1. Thus resulting in a 1% reward rate
Accelerated Reward Points
- 12 myCash on every 200 spent on hotel bookings on MakeMyTrip. 6% reward rate.
- 6 myCash on every 200 spent on flight, bus and cab bookings. 3% reward rate.
- Flat 25 myCash on every train booking
- These reward rates are over and above the discounts on MakeMyTrip
- myCash never expires and no usage restrictions
Exclusions
- EMI and rental payments
- Reward points on insurance are capped at 1000 per anniversary year. i.e., a maximum of 1lk insurance spent in a year.
Other benefits
- Lounge Access: 8 complimentary domestic lounge access per year. 1 complimentary international lounge access per year. No minimum spend criteria for the lounge access.
- Movie tickets: 25% up to INR 150 on the second ticket. 2 times a month on BMS and INOX
Thoughts on the ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card
ICICI has completely revamped the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card lineup. The old credit cards on the Visa platform are now discontinued. The new credit cards are launched on Mastercard and Rupay platform. Nonetheless, if you use the old variant of the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card, they continue with the existing benefits and you can switchover to the new variant. More on that later.
As mentioned already, the new credit cards come in dual variants. That is, you get 2 credit cards, one a Mastercard variant and the other a Rupay variant.
Positives of the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card
myCash can be clubbed with other credit card offers
The highlight of the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card is that myCash can be clubbed with other offers on MakeMyTrip. Thus, you can accumulate myCash on your daily spending and then club that with credit card offers on MakeMyTrip.
Apply ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card Now!
In fact, the T&Cs mention that the balance amount can be paid using any other payment option on the MakeMyTrip payment page.
myCash never expires
Another positive about the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card is that the reward points i.e. myCash never expire. Thus, you can accumulate as many points as possible and plan that dream holiday completely on reward points. This and the previous feature make the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card a winner compared to the AU iXigo credit card.
Nearly 0 forex markup
The ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card offers nearly 0 forex markup on international spending. This credit card has a forex markup of only 0.99%+GST. Against this, you get a 1% reward rate on your spending. Thus effectively, you are paying just 0.18% as forex markup. While there are many 0 forex credit cards available, not many credit cards have such a low markup and offer reward points on international spending. Probably, only AU Ixigo credit card is one where you have 0 forex markup and a 1% reward rate.
Apply ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card Now!
Reward points for wallet load and fuel
The ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card gives a 1% reward rate (i.e. the base rate) for wallet load and on fuel too.
MMT Black Gold membership for 1 year
The ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card gives a one-year MMT Black Gold membership as part of joining benefits. Thus, as an MMT Black Gold member you get 10% additional discounts, room upgrades, meal upgrades, hotel credits etc on selected hotels. Furthermore, you get a 25% off on add-on services on domestic flight bookings. More details about the MMT Black program are available here.
Negatives of the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card
MMT Black Gold Membership – No double dip on myCash
The MMT Black Gold membership offers myCash on every booking. You get 0.5 myCash for every 100 spent on flight tickets and 1 myCash for every 100 spent on hotel bookings. However, the MMT Black Gold membership that comes complimentary with the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card does not offer myCash benefits. You get myCash only from the card spending. Thus this sort of robs the cardholder of a nice double-dip opportunity.
However, a workaround for this is, assuming you are an MMT Black Gold/Platinum member; get the credit card in your spouse’s name who is not an MMT Black member. Thus, you can get myCash both on the credit card and on your MMT Black account. But the drawback is, you will not be able to club the points for redemptions. Since the points lie in different accounts.
High spending criteria for the fee waiver
The ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card has an annual fee of 999+GST, which gets waived off on spending 3lks per year. However, I feel that the annual spending criteria of 3lks is on the higher side.
Discrepancy in the fee waiver criteria
There is a small discrepancy between the fee waiver criteria mentioned on the landing page and the T&Cs page. The landing page mentions fee waiver at 3lks while the T&Cs mention fee waiver at 2.99lks. While the difference is not large, it creates confusion among the cardholders
Movie benefit of 150 is a clever marketing tactic
The ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card offers the benefit of buying 1 movie ticket and you get up to 150 off on your second ticket. However, this is a clever marketing tactic by the ICICI Bank. The T&Cs mention that you get 25% off up to 150 on your second ticket and not a flat 150 off.
Further, the offer is available twice a month, but once on the Mastercard variant and once on the Rupay variant. Again, a clever marketing tactic is to keep the Rupay credit card active in the system.
What happens to the existing ICICI MakeMyTrip credit cards?
The issuance of the old Visa variant of the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit cards is now discontinued. However, the existing cards continue with the old features. In fact, the T&Cs mention that existing cardholders can also apply for the new ICICI MakeMyTrip credit cards. Their existing Visa cards will be cancelled within 45 days of issuance of the new credit card.
Apply ICICI MakeMyTrip Credit Card Now!
The recent devaluation of the ICICI credit cards
There has been a recent devaluation of the ICICI credit cards. A detailed note on the same is available here. However, the good news is that the new ICICI MakeMyTrip credit is not in the list.
Nonetheless, I sense that it will be added in months to come. Nonetheless, the devaluation as such doesn’t impact the reward rate of the card.
Conclusion
The ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card is a decent offering for travel buffs who are not into hotel or airline loyalty miles. The card best suits someone who uses MakeMyTrip very often. However, outside of MakeMyTrip it’s a mediocre credit card. The SBI Cashback(Apply Now), Tata Neu(Apply Now) and other cashback cards will offer better-blended reward rates. Further, the Amex MRCC(Apply Now) and the Amex Plat Travel credit card(Apply Now) with the milestone bonuses would give better reward rates than the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card.
What are your thoughts on the ICICI MakeMyTrip credit card? Do share your views in the comments below.
The post was written/updated on 12th Oct 2024. Featured Image Courtesy: www.icicibank.com
Disclaimer
In the interest of full disclosure, Credit Cardz may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the links in this post. However, opinions and views expressed here are of the author's alone and not those of the bank, credit card issuer, or anyone else and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Not being able to double dip is a major drawback of the card. What is the point of spending on this card offline then? My current MMT cc can be used for double dipping and I use it exclusively with my MMT Black membership for good enough rewards.
Not to mention the major flaw of the new card is the fees. My MMT card is essentially LTF as I just had to pay the joining fee which I have recouped in all this while.