As a frequent traveller, I’m always in the need for the most number of miles and free flights. This comes from the earnest belief that most times I can get more for my travel spends than just the usual commute from Point A to B. Hence, the preference for Jet Airways where I’ve ended up receiving Platinum Status for the past 5 years at least given their network which helps me commute domestically and abroad, mostly to the places I need to go.
Towards my own personal travel, which is a big part annually as well, with my folks in Delhi, Shipra’s in Gorakhpur, and our wanderlust which frequently takes us to meet friends for the weekend in other parts of the country, I’m always on the lookout for cheap tickets as well. And this is where I get in with some really cheap deals using Jet Airways’ free tickets we receive per annum in the family due to our subscription to all the JetPrivilege / Jet Airways co-branded credit cards!
I’ve gotten some great uses of these vouchers over the years. For instance, I went to Amritsar this year using redemption ticket from Mumbai, and I was able to get an INR 9500 ticket for just INR 1764 all-inclusive. That more than pays for the cost of the credit card fee itself and makes the JP Cards a worthy keep in my wallet.
Free Ticket Discount from Jet Airways Credit Cards
The good news is, one can have up to 4 of these ticket codes every year, with the four banks that partner with Jet Airways and JetPrivilege each issuing a code to the members per annum. A great place to check out the cards which issue free ticket codes for holding co-branded cards is cards.jetprivilege.com, a portal launched by JetPrivilege itself to showcase and help you apply for all the personal credit cards in their fold.
With a built-in profiler that helps choose cards and an option which allows me to have a look at all the cards and customising my approach, I was able to see the following cards which have free ticket codes.
JetPrivilege HDFC Bank Platinum Credit Card
At INR 1000, this is one of the cheapest ways to get a free ticket code, apart from other benefits on Jet Airways and accumulate JPMiles. If you are able to get a Mumbai-Delhi ticket on it which usually costs INR 4000 (including taxes), you’ve more than recouped the fees of your card for the year. (Apply here)
JetPrivilege HDFC Bank Signature Credit Card
But, if you’d like to top it off with some tier-points for your spends which will also help you get or retain your JetPrivilege tier, look towards the higher cards. For example, the JetPrivilege HDFC Signature Credit Card which gets you the free ticket with 7500 JPMiles and International and domestic lounge access. Plus, you get tier points for every INR 200K spent. (Apply Here)
Jet Airways American Express Platinum Credit Card
The Jet Airways American Express Platinum Credit Card gives 10,000 JPMiles for signup, along with one free Jet Airways flight (taxes payable!) For a fee of INR 5000 + GST, that is a great option, apart from access to the Amex Lounge in Delhi T3, and 12 other lounges across 11 cities in India. This is Shipra’s favourite Credit Card, purely because of the access to the Terminal 3 Amex Lounge in Delhi, that helps her given the numerous times she passes through Delhi. (Apply here for an instant decision)
Going via the JetPrivilege Card Portal also means you get some good discounts on fees for the cards. Take for instance the ICICI Bank JetPrivilege co-branded credit cards such as the Jet Airways ICICI Rubyx Credit Card or Jet Airways ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card which offer free tickets, but are going at a 50% fee if you apply before December 31, 2017.
Just like the HDFC credit cards mentioned above, these cards also have a great value proposition if you are getting free base fare tickets in exchange of INR 1250 fees. Essentially, that makes the card free of cost since you recoup your fee, and all the miles accumulation is a bonus. And don’t even get me started on the Buy-one-get-one free movie tickets which I redeem almost every month.
Of course, there are many more cards that are there to choose from on the JetPrivilege Card portal, so one could use the compare feature to check out which is the best card for their use. In this case, I’m trying to help a friend who wants to spend 50K INR per month and not wanting to go for a very high end card.
I get numerous questions from people about what is the best free credit card to hold, and I don’t think there is one. You need to pay for your benefits, and airlines and card issuers will make it up to you in other ways. Like these free tickets.
So which JetPrivilege / Jet Airways co-branded cards are you adding on to your wallet to get more free tickets for yourself or your family?
While you do that, my finger is twitching to go ahead and book this lucrative deal which is only going to cost me only INR 1500 when I apply my JetPrivilege IndusInd bank Voyage Card code on this ticket. Shall I book it?
Only pay taxes and charges for Jet Airways Economy Class Travel
Hey Ajay,
Great article! I’ve been following your blog for a while now. Some really helpful content you’ve got out there.
Cheers,
Dharmil (FIFA)
Mostly i have seen fares of spicejet and indigo are better than jet domestically isnt it better to have hdfc diners black and redeem those points for travelling specially with the 10x points deals what would you suggest
Ajay,
One big value add I find with these cards is the priority check in at Jet in Metro cities for lower tier members like myself have to pay INR 400 for that.
You are dead-on right about using the right card based on the fee and then maximizing the benefits for the ticket accordingly. I got 4 such tickets with Jet AmEx and ICICI Jet Sapphiro for both myself and wife, while applying on offers on both, where for 5000 on Jet AmEx I got 20K miles when applied through JP site (offer closed in September) and half fee on ICICI Jet cards as is on-going. Thus for each buck I got 4 JP Miles instead of the 2 and then got the vouchers. Milked the voucher codes for a family break with parents from Delhi to Port Blair paying Rs. 1545 for each seat which instead of the 8k actual per seat. Topped it off with AmEx Monthly BlockBuster BookMyShow vouchers and I feel content now 😀
Looking to switch the Jet AmEx for wife to one of the lower fee HDFC variant to keep the value for money in mind.
AJ,
I was under the impression that you already have the IndusInd Odyssey Jet Card, will you still be allowed to subscribe to the Voyager Card.
Another thing- the ICICI and Indus Ind Co-branded cards give you free tkts and miles for joining/renewal to Plats even if you opt for non-payment of fees. HDFC cards give you miles and tkt code only if you pay but mercifully the payments are very small. The renewal of Jet Amex card costs a bomb (Rs. 10K + GST) for its benefits (one free tkt + 5000 miles)- the worth of this card is marginal.
Regards
@Majumdar, oops. I mixed up the names. My bad! You can have only one variant, and you can have both the cards (Amex and Visa) in the variant.
Agree with @Harsha.
Earlier these discount codes did not have the restriction of being applicable only on “Deal fares”. At that point, even I had received discounts like 9k and it was very useful in cases where ticket price had already increased a lot. But these days, the base fare code seems like junk as Deal fares are mostly sold out by the time one decides to use or are already low that the quantum of discount is rarely so high. I am not sure how you are still able to get such high discounts @Ajay.
@Avy, the key is to plan ahead, which is what I do. Even earlier, tickets had the restrictions on fare classes which it could book into, and now they have just named those ticket buckets as Deal tickets. So no difference. As for how I get such high discounts, I don’t use them on metro routes. 🙂
Well as @Sourav Sarkar pointed platinums who dont pay annual renewal charges dont get one base fare waiver code on renewal. This is quite different from other cobranded cards as I hold Indusind Odyssey and ICICI sapphiro both of which give provide it even when I dont pay annual renewal charges as platinum member. I am not sure about HDFC world as my first year renewal is still 2 months away. These codes are actually sent in an email by Jetprivilege. I even asked them via email about my pending amex code but never came. Contacted Amex and they said since I dont pay renewal fees I am not supposed to get it. Same program has different renewal conditions for platinums. Strange!
Ajay, to be honest, this post reads a lot like a paid placement. It might be wise to put a disclaimer in such cases. Just saying!
I had a very poor experience with their HDFC JetPrivilege co-branded card. Their one way base fare ticket redemption code didn’t work after umpteen number of back-and-forth with Jet Airways sending random responses which didn’t help even after escalating to social media and nodal officers. #neveragain
@Prashant did not work as in how?
JetPrivilege HDFC Bank Credit Card benefits are a damn squib. I have been one of the earliest Card applicants, beyond the First year I have never received any renewal benefits i.e. ticket vouchers. Hopefully, the new Visa Variant is more laudable.
Let me know how it goes with Customer Service and switch-over to the Visa Variant.
The IVR is more courteous than the HDFC Credit Card Reps who can’t think beyond a script.
Thinking of going with the Jet Amex option instead
What about Titanium? Have they gutted all the benefits?
Should I cancel and apply for the Platinum
Only thing is you have to book this free tickets, 14 in advance. and change rules apply.
@Balaji, sometimes even able to get the ticket less than 14 days in advance. And change rules apply on everything, so I don’t know how that affects any decision.
I have booked award tickets most of the times within 7 days before the travel date
Only times I do it in advance is during Diwali etc
Hi Ajay. Can you please explain how exactly you are saving 7000 Rs ? The one way free ticket where the base fare is waived is only on the “Deal” category. Additionally, the code they give you only gives you 5% off.
@Harsha, Savings is with the deal code you will get for one way ticket. This is different from 5% off you will get.
Yes but the deal code is only for a one way ticket base fare, that too for only “Deal” category tickets, which is the lowermost revenue ticket slab on jet. The only way this is possible if the “Deal” slab ticket is worth 7000 Rs!
@Harsha, the free ticket code, when used strategically, saves you a good amount of money. Like you see in the screenshot, I use it for a good discount to the tune of 7000 INR.
I’m a jet plat, so don’t pay the annual fee on my Jet Amex platinum card. I guess I’m not eligible for free ticket code then right? Assuming you are also a plat, how do you get these?
@Sourav, On Amex Jet if you don’t pay a fee you don’t get the code or renewal miles. But I have all the cards and other cards issue miles and codes for renewal as well.