How this family turned reward points into a 'Game of Thrones' adventure

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For Dhaval Gandhi, a devoted Game of Thrones fan, visiting Croatia to see the show's filming locations had long been on his bucket list. When his six-year-old’s summer break arrived, he seized the chance to make the dream trip a reality.

Early planning was essential for saving money, especially during Europe’s busy travel season in June and July. Gandhi, whometiculously collected credit card points, adopted a strategic approach: spend more to gather points that would fetch free business class tickets and stay in luxury hotels. Gandhi and his family are into luxury travel, but they don't splurge on just about anything.

He has been collecting credit card points for the past two to three years to plan for these fancy tickets. He’s been paying everything using his Axis Magnus credit card, from his son’s school fees to groceries. “Income tax is the only thing I don’t pay using a credit card," said Gandhi, whose CA advised him against doing that.

He converted all the points he had earned over the years into Avios points. These are the loyalty points for British Airways and Qatar Airways customers. With enough points, one can use them to book flight tickets.

He converted all his Edge reward points (for Axis Magnus) and other points from his HSBC Platinum and IndusInd credit card to Avios. “I emptied all my credit card points and transferred them to Avios," said Gandhi, whose family owns a business that provides credit information of companies to banks. A few months back, Axis Bank devalued many of the lucrative rewards systems in the Magnus card.

Luckily, Gandhi had accumulated most of the points when plastic was still fancy. Gandhi is currently using an Axis Atlas card. Gandhi booked three