Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card: New Entrant in Airline-agnostic Cards

• 5 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 spent: On Axis Bank Travel EDGE portal and direct airline websites/counters
• 2 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 spent: On all other spending categories
• Excluded Categories: Spends made on fuel, utilities, rent, insurance, transportation and tolls, educational or government institutions and wallet loading are not going to accrue any rewards

EDGE Miles Redemption

Cardholders must have minimum 500 EDGE Miles accrued in their accounts to carry out their redemption. The earned EDGE Miles can then be redeemed against the following redemption options:

Partner Miles: Convert your EDGE Miles into partner miles at a value of 1 EDGE Mile = 1 Partner Point via Axis Bank Miles Transfer program, divided into Group A & Group B.

Users can redeem a total of 5,00,000 Miles in a year, with a capping of 1,00,000 Miles for Group A partners and 4,00,000 Miles for Group B partners.

• Travel EDGE Bookings: You can use your EDGE Miles to book flights, hotels or other travel experiences by logging into the Axis Bank Travel EDGE platform.
• Rewards Catalogue: You can redeem the accrued EDGE Miles to purchase the products and gift vouchers available in the Axis Bank credit card rewards catalogue.
• SMS Based Redemption: You can avail instant EDGE Miles redemption via SMS while shopping at select retail merchants. 
• Redemption at Partner Outlets: EDGE Miles can also be instantly redeemed offline while shopping at select retail outlets.

Axis Horizon allows users to earn uncapped rewards, enabling them to earn value back without any spend-based limitations. Users can earn 5% value-back on travel spends and a base reward rate of 2% on other spends, which is comparatively better than other travel cards like SBI Miles Elite, which offer a maximum reward rate of 3% on travel spends and drop to 1% on other spends.

Axis Horizon offers a 5% value-back, similar to Axis Atlas, which comes at an annual fee of Rs. 5,000. However, while Axis Atlas allows you to earn 5% value-back on all travel spends (airlines and hotels), Axis Horizon users can earn the accelerated 5% value-back only on travel bookings through the Travel EDGE portal and airline bookings through standalone websites/counters, which might be a drawback for users with a significant amount of hotel spends.

Moreover, the 1:1 point-to-mile conversion ratio is good, as the earlier Citi PremierMiles offered a 2:1 point-to-mile conversion ratio. However, compared to the popular travel card Axis Atlas, this card falls a bit short, as Atlas offers up to a 1:2 point-to-mile conversion ratio, leading to more significant savings.

Axis Horizon, Axis Atlas, and SBI Miles Elite are airline-agnostic credit cards that are designed to offer Air Miles on every spend.

Let’s compare how much value back you can get with these cards on spending Rs. 1 Lakh in a month.

It is clear from the above table that if you are looking for an airline-agnostic travel credit card, Axis Atlas would be a better choice due to its 1:2 point-to-mile conversion ratio. However, if you consider the annual fee, Axis Horizon also offers decent benefits. This card justifies its annual fee with a 5% reward rate and a 1:1 point-to-mile conversion ratio. But if you prefer to fly with a particular airline, such as Vistara, you might consider co-branded credit cards like Club Vistara IDFC or Axis Vistara.

Axis Horizon Credit Card users can avail the complimentary airport lounge access every year as described below:

Axis Horizon competes well with other cards in the similar annual fee segment, such as Axis Atlas or SBI Miles Elite. With Axis Horizon, users can avail 8 international and up to 32 domestic airport lounge visits every year without any spend-based conditions. Whereas, Axis Atlas offers 12 international and 18 domestic lounge visits in a year by achieving the Platinum Tier on annual spends of Rs. 15 Lakh. Similarly, SBI Miles Elite offers 6 international and 8 domestic lounge visits annually, along with 15 additional domestic lounge visits in a year on spending Rs. 15 Lakh. These spend-based conditions make it a bit difficult to get the maximum value from both Axis Atlas and SBI Miles Elite Cards. Meanwhile, Axis Horizon offers a higher number of lounge visits without any spend-based conditions, making it a suitable choice for frequent travellers.

• Welcome Bonus: 5,000 EDGE Miles on making the first card transaction worth Rs. 1,000 or more within 30 days of card issuance
• Renewal Benefit: 1,500 EDGE Miles as renewal bonus credited within 30 days from credit card anniversary date

The welcome bonus of 5,000 EDGE Miles turns out to be quite good, as unlike most credit cards, it doesn’t just match the fee amount of Rs. 3,000 but goes beyond that if redeemed against partner points at a 1:1 redemption ratio. And though the renewal benefit is worth half the card fee, it is still a decent amount if utilized against the options that have a high redemption value.

• Dining Discount: 25% off, up to Rs. 800 per month, via EazyDiner on minimum order value of Rs. 2,500
• Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% waiver up to Rs. 400 per month on fuel spends worth Rs. 400 to Rs. 5,000
• Lost Card Liability Cover: Insurance cover of up to Rs. 10 lakh

Axis Horizon Credit Card is designed to offer travel benefits. Users can earn 5% value-back on travel spends and 2% value-back on other spends. While Axis Horizon offers a reward earning rate similar to Axis Atlas, it offers a comparatively lower 1:1 point-to-mile conversion ratio as opposed to 1:2 for Axis Atlas. Additionally, Horizon does not offer accelerated reward points on hotel bookings through standalone websites or counters, which might be a drawback for users who have a large chunk of hotel spends.

Overall, Axis Atlas offers better value-back with a 5% reward rate across all travel spends and a 1:2 point-to-mile conversion ratio. However, Axis Horizon can be a reasonable choice for frequent travellers who do not have a preferred airline or hotel brand and want to earn good value back on travel spends.

Opt for this card if:

• You are a frequent traveller seeking an airline-agnostic travel credit card
  
• You are looking for a card with high number of complimentary airport lounge visits
• You do not have any travel brand preference or are not loyal to any airline or hotel
• You prefer utilizing your rewards for travel bookings, instead of cashback, catalogue or other redemption options

Look for other options if:

• You are loyal to select travel brands and platforms and wish to get co-branded benefits
• You prefer travel discounts or cashback over rewards
• You want better value back across multiple rewards redemption options
  
• You want good spend-based milestone benefits to maximize the returns on your spends

Axis Atlas Credit Card

4_/5

Joining fee: ₹5000

Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹5000

2.5X EDGE Miles on Travel spends

Up to 12 international lounge access every year

Travel

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Product Details

• 2,500 bonus EDGE Miles as welcome benefit
• Up to 5 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 spent on travel
• Redeem EDGE Miles at value of 1 EDGE Mile = 2 Partner Points
• Milestone benefits of up to 5,000 EDGE Miles
• Up to 18 complimentary domestic lounge visits in a year

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SBI Card Miles Elite

3_/5

Joining fee: ₹4999

Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹4999

6 Travel Credits per Rs. 200 spent on travel

Up to 8 domestic and 6 international airport lounge access per year

Travel

Reward Points

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Product Details

• 2 Travel Credits per Rs. 200 spent with up to 1:1 redemption ratio for AirMiles or partner points
• 5,000 Travel Credits as joining bonus on spending Rs. 1 lakh within the first 60 days
• 1 additional domestic lounge visit with every Rs. 1 lakh spent in a year
• 1.99% forex mark-up fee
• 20,000 Travel Credits and annual fee reversal on Rs. 12 lakh and Rs. 15 lakh annual spends respectively

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American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card

4_/5

Joining fee: ₹3500

Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹5000

10,000 Rewards Points on spending Rs. 15,000 in the first 90 days

25,000 bonus Rewards Points worth Rs. 7,500 on spending Rs. 4 Lakh in a year

Travel

Reward Points

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Product Details

• 1 Membership Rewards Point for every Rs. 50 spent
• 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits per year
• 15,000 Membership Rewards Points worth Rs. 4,500 & bonus 3,400 regular Membership Rewards Points worth Rs. 1,020 on annual spends of Rs. 1.90 lakh
• 25,000 Membership Rewards Points worth Rs. 7,500, bonus 3,600 regular Membership Rewards Points worth Rs. 1,080 & Taj Stay voucher worth Rs. 10,000 on annual spends of Rs. 4 lakh

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Co-branded Travel Credit Cards

If you prefer to make your travel bookings using a specific travel portal or have brand loyalties to certain airlines, there are several travel card options which offer incremental savings on spends made on the associated brand. Some of these co-branded cards are listed below:

Kotak IndiGo 6E Rewards XL Credit Card

3.5_/5

Joining fee: ₹2500

Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹2500

8 complimentary domestic airport lounge access per year

Up to 6% rewards on spends across different categories

Travel

Co-branded

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Product Details

• Rs. 3,000 IndiGo ticket & Rs. 1,099 6E Prime add-ons as welcome gift
• Rs. 150 off on the convenience fee on IndiGo bookings
• 6 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on IndiGo flight
• 3 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on dining, grocery & entertainment
• 2 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on other categories

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Air India SBI Signature Credit Card

3.5_/5

Joining fee: ₹4999

Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹4999

20,000 reward points and complimentary Air India Frequent Flyer program membership as welcome benefits

Up to 1 Lakh bonus reward points as milestone benefit every year

Travel

Co-branded

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Product Details

• Up to 30 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on Air India
• Redeem reward points at a value of 1 Reward Point = 1 Air Mile
• 5,000 bonus reward points every year on card renewal
• 8 complimentary domestic lounge access every year
• Complimentary Priority Pass Membership

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Etihad Guest SBI Premier Card

3_/5

Joining fee: ₹4999

Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹4999

3X Air Miles on Etihad Airways booking

Complimentary Etihad Guest Gold Tier status

Travel

Co-branded

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Product Details

• Up to 10% off on direct Etihad Airways booking
• Up to 10% discount on travel rewards miles redemption
• 1,500 Etihad Guest Miles on spending Rs. 1.5 lakh in a quarter
• 1 companion voucher on spending Rs. 8 lakh in a year

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