Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card: Low Reward Rate, Good Milestone Benefit

Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card offers the following features and benefits-

Welcome Benefits

• 1 complimentary Vistara Economy Class ticket voucher on card joining and renewal fee payment
• Complimentary Club Vistara Base Membership

Club Vistara Reward Points

• 2 CV Points per Rs. 200 spent across all the categories
• Points can be used for ticket upgrades and award flights
• Certain spends are not eligible to earn CV Points and to achieve milestone benefits, including wallet load, rent, fuel, government services, utilities, EMI transactions, cash withdrawals, card fees & charges, insurance and gold/jewellery spends.

Milestone Benefits

• 1 Economy Class ticket each on reaching the spending milestones of Rs. 1.25 lakh, Rs. 2.5 lakh and Rs. 6 lakh

Lounge Access

• 2 complimentary domestic lounge access per quarter on spending min. Rs. 50,000 during the previous 3 months*
  
• If you have a newly issued card, the minimum spend condition is not applicable for the month of issuance followed by the next 3 months. Here, getting a card upgrade will not be considered as new card issuance.
• Click here for the list of eligible lounges and other terms and conditions

Dining Benefit

• 25% off up to Rs. 800 with Axis Bank EazyDiner at the partner restaurants across the country
• Can be availed twice a month on minimum order value of Rs. 2,000

Insurance Benefits

• Purchase protection cover of up to Rs. 1 lakh
• Insurance cover of up to USD 300 on loss of travel documents and delay or loss of check-in baggage

One of the most valuable features of Axis Vistara credit card is that you can get up to 4 free economy class tickets in a year, including 1 as a welcome or renewal gift and the rest as a part of the milestone benefits on reaching certain spending limits.

To better understand how much you can save, let’s take an example. Suppose, on an average, a one-way flight trip from New Delhi to Hyderabad costs you Rs. 5,500 in Economy Standard and Rs. 25,000 in Business Value.

In addition to the above tickets, you will get 1 complimentary ticket per year on card renewal (Rs. 5,500 in this example) and earn 6,000 CV Points on annual spends of Rs. 6 Lakh.

Now for the same journey from Delhi to Hyderabad, the Vistara Award Flights can be booked in exchange for the CV Points earned by using the card as shown below:

• Economy Class- 5,000 CV Points
• Premium Economy Class- 8,500 CV Points
• Business Class- 18,000 CV Points

According to the above rate, Axis Vistara cardholders can avail at least 1 economy class flight ticket in exchange for 6,000 CV Points. So, you can save the cost of 1 economy ticket which is around Rs. 5,500.

Therefore, if a card user avails 1 economy class ticket in exchange for CV Points, along with 4 economy class tickets given as welcome and milestone benefits, they can save around Rs. 27,500.

Note: The redemption value of CV Points is taken from Air Vistara website and is subject to change at the airline’s discretion. Moreover, the savings will differ depending on your places of origin and destinations.

A comparison of Axis Vistara credit card’s features with two other cards that offer similar benefits has been given in the table below:

Note- Some of the above-discussed card benefits may have terms and conditions applicable on them.

If you prefer Vistara Airlines and wish to get a low-fee credit card offering benefits on Vistara, this co-branded credit card could be the right fit for you. On putting maximum spends on this card and meet the milestones of 1.25 Lakh, 2.5 Lakh and 6 Lakh, the card can offer significant value in the form of free flight tickets.

However, this is not the best Vistara co-branded credit card in the market; if you are eligible for Club Vistara IDFC FIRST Credit Card or even premium variants of Axis Vistara Card (Signature and Infinite), you could save more on travel.

Get Axis Vistara Card if:

• You prefer Vistara Airlines and generally travel in Economy
• You will be able to spend Rs. 6 Lakh in a year to maximize the milestone benefit
• If you can satisfy the spending criteria required to avail complimentary airport lounge benefits
• You already have other cards that offer better rewards on shopping, fuel, etc. as this card is completely travel-focused

Consider other options if:

• You are not loyal to an airline but go for one that offers the highest savings. In this case, it would be better to go for a card that offers general travel benefits.
• You are a high spender and would be able to spend more than Rs. 6 lakh in a year. However, if you would be able to spend up to Rs. 12 Lakh in a year and would not mind paying a higher annual fee, a mid-range or premium card could provide you better value.