A Cashback Card that Fell Flat: My Alarming Experience with Alfa Travel

I'm still fuming about my recent experience with the Alfa Travel cashback card. I signed up about a year ago, thinking it was a great way to earn miles on everyday purchases and redeem them for flights and hotel stays. But what I got was a frustrating and costly ordeal that left me feeling like I'd wasted my time.

Here's the deal: I'd accumulated around 12,000 miles, which is equivalent to 12,000 rubles, over the past year. I thought it was a great opportunity to redeem them for a long-haul flight, but that's when things started to go wrong. The problem was that all the flights I searched for on Alfa Travel were more expensive than those on Aviasales or directly with the airline. We're talking about a difference of thousands of rubles for long-haul flights. So, if I wanted to book a flight and pay part of it with miles, I'd end up paying almost the same amount as if I'd booked it directly, minus the miles I'd wasted on Alfa Travel. It just wasn't worth it, especially when I could have used those miles to pay for other things.

So, I decided to redeem my miles for a shorter flight to get some value out of them. But, of course, it wasn't that simple. When I logged into my Alfa Travel account, I couldn't find my miles. I spent days emailing the customer support team, only to get vague responses that didn't help me at all. I even managed to get through to someone on the phone, but they just told me they'd 'made a note' and would get back to me within 7 days. Spoiler alert: they didn't. I ended up buying the flight without using my miles, and it wasn't until 10 days later that I finally got a response from Alfa Travel, saying they'd 'attached' my ID and bonus number. It's just ridiculous that it took so much effort to get something as basic as this done.

But that wasn't the end of it. When I finally managed to redeem my miles, I discovered that I'd have to pay a 30% commission to use them to book a flight for someone else. Are you kidding me? I'd never heard of such a condition, and I certainly wouldn't have signed up for it. So, I had to call Alfa Travel again and go through the same song and dance, only to find out that I needed to re-enter all my personal info, including my name, passport number, and all that jazz. Can't they just transfer the info from my Alfa Bank account to my Alfa Travel account? It's not like I'm trying to be difficult.

So, after all this hassle, I finally got to redeem my miles, but not before I'd wasted a ton of time and effort. And the cherry on top? The flight I booked was actually cheaper on the airline's website than on Alfa Travel. I mean, what's the point of using a cashback card if you're not going to get any real benefits? My advice is to just save your cashback as money and use it when it's convenient and worthwhile. Don't tie yourself down to a card that's just going to give you headaches.

That's my two cents on the Alfa Travel cashback card. It's a total letdown, and I'm just glad I'm finally getting rid of it. Looking back, I wish I'd done more research before signing up. I'd have avoided all this stress and hassle. If you're considering getting a cashback card, make sure you read the fine print and understand the terms and conditions. It's not worth the risk of ending up in a situation like mine.

One thing that really gets my goat is the lack of transparency from Alfa Travel. They make it seem like you'll be getting amazing rewards, but in reality, it's just a bunch of hoops to jump through. I've had enough of their games, and I'm not going to recommend this card to anyone. It's just not worth the hassle.

So, there you have it - my experience with the Alfa Travel cashback card. It's been a wild ride, but not in a good way. If you value your sanity and don't want to waste your time, stay far, far away from this card.