u/TwentiesKozmicBlues

I want to book tickets from Rome to New Delhi end of this month. Please let me know if anyone has any good deals on air india direct flights. Thanks! The ticket is wroth: 25-35k INR. I can pay with UPI / Card etc

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm looking to buy the Millennium Falcon 75192 in Italy, and the current price I'm seeing is $150 (€130). However, I've noticed comments here mentioning they got it for $100. Am I overpaying at this price, or is that standard for Europe right now

Hi everyone,

I am trying to book a flight from Rome to Istanbul and IndiGo flight from Istanbul to Delhi at the end of July, along with a hotel stay for 2 to 3 days.
Please let me know if anyone knows of any points / deals or credit card discounts available for this. Total value is 5-15K for each leg depending on the flight and 5K per night for hotel.

Thanks!

Trying to book a hotel in Sweden. One night. Hyatt Story Hotel Malmö. Please let me know your offers. The price is 14K without credit cards etc.

I want to book a hotel in Europe for 2 nights. its around 13-18K on various platforms. Can someone with card discount help me? Thanks.

I want to book european flights and hotels. please let me know if anyone has card discounts to offer. thanks. price is around 40K

Hi,

I am trying to book European flight tickets (Ryanair etc) and hotels for June and July 2026. Let me know if someone has a credit card etc with steep returns. I can pay UPI / cash in India

Every time I try to download form 15ca/cb new or old the portal gets stuck on loading for the past few hours. Am I alone? anyone else with similar issues?

The path of least resistance is opening an Interactive Brokers account directly from India. IBKR uses Aadhaar, PAN, and CKYC database for onboarding. There’s a startup called Paasa that will open the IBKR account for you and have their CAs handle Schedule FA and other ITR compliance. If you want to stop using Paasa, IBKR will cut them off and give you complete control of your account. One another option is Charles Schwab, Schwab debit card gives unlimited worldwide cash withdrawals.

The simplest setup is usually INR → USD → Irish ETFs through IBKR. I have a 70:30 split between iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF & Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF 

Ireland-domiciled ETFs are more tax efficient. Because of the US–Ireland tax treaty, they pay 15% dividend withholding at the fund level. With platforms like INDmoney, you usually end up buying US domiciled ETFs, where Indians face 25% dividend withholding and potential US estate tax risk.

FX costs are another problem. most banks quietly charge around 1% over the interbank rate, which is roughly ₹1 lakh on $100K. IOB has the best card rates. You can even negotiate FX rate down to 0 if you have enough money. AU Small Finance Bank has a promotion for 0 FX markup and 0 remittance fee, though you usually need to visit a branch in person for the very first transfer.

My final cost including 0 Forex markup; 0 remittance fee is IBKR brokerage fee: $0.005 per share.

The path of least resistance was opening an Interactive Brokers account directly from India. IBKR uses Aadhaar, PAN, and CKYC database for onboarding. There’s also a startup called Paasa that will open the IBKR account for you and have their CAs handle Schedule FA and other ITR compliance. The simplest setup is usually INR → USD → Irish ETFs through IBKR. One another option is Charles Schwab, Schwab debit card gives unlimited worldwide cash withdrawals. I have a 70:30 split between iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF & Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF 

Ireland-domiciled ETFs are more tax efficient vs Indmoney etc. Because of the US–Ireland tax treaty, they pay 15% dividend withholding at the fund level. With platforms like INDmoney, you usually end up buying US domiciled ETFs, where Indians face 25% dividend withholding and potential US estate tax risk.

FX costs are another problem. most banks quietly charge around 1% over the interbank rate, which is roughly ₹1 lakh on $100K. This rate is negotiable. AU Small Finance Bank was the best option for me because they agreed to a 0 FX markup and 0 remittance fee, though you usually need to visit a branch in person for the very first transfer.

HDFC is delusional if they think I’m parking ₹50L in a savings account just to get Infinia. My mom already keeps too much idle cash sitting there for emergencies anyway. An card would honestly help convince her to move some of that money out.

My yearly spends probably won’t cross ₹7L, but the lounge access + flight booking perks will be 100% maxed out. I’ll also route household spends through Amazon or smartbuywherever reward rates make sense.

Also, nobody else in my family uses credit cards, so this would basically become the main household card with add-ons. Open to holding multiple cards too if that’s the more optimal setup.

CIBIL: 800

AGE: 45

I have personal savings and scholarships to cover 100% of college costs but let's say I take a ₹1 crore education loan at 7% for study abroad. The interest is ₹7 lakh a year.

Under Section 80E, this interest is deductible for up to 8 years. There is no cap. If the person paying the interest is in the old tax regime and has a 35.88% marginal tax rate, the tax saving is ₹2,51,000 a year. So the true yearly cost is ₹4,49,000.

The loan might be at 7% but after tax it costs 4.49%!!!

Should I take this loan, stash my savings in USD treasury bills and use the loan money for college instead?

This is too good to be true. there has to be a catch. wtf am I missing?