Axis Bank Credit Cards Major Devaluation Effective 20 April, 2024

*In case of a newly issued card, the minimum spend criteria is waived for the month of issuance followed by the next 3 months.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

While Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card remains a good option for Flipkart loyalists, the reduced base rate of 1% would affect the savings of those who sought decent cashback across other online and offline spends as well. Moreover, where previously users could avail lounge access without any minimum spend, now they will need to spend Rs. 50,000 in a quarter to avail complimentary domestic lounge access. Though Rs. 50,000 is an easily achievable number for high-spenders, people who do not put frequent spends on their credit cards might lose the complimentary lounge access.

Despite these changes, if you frequently shop from Flipkart or its preferred merchants, you would still be able to get good value out of the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card. However, consumers who wish to avail substantial value across online spends without any brand preferences can consider cards like Cashback SBI Card, or cards covering multiple categories such as HDFC Millennia or American Express SmartEarn Credit Card.

To read in detail about the changes related to Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card, click here.

*These categories are not considered for earning CV Points and milestone benefit calculation.
**In case of a newly issued card, the minimum spend criteria is waived for the month of issuance followed by the next 3 months.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

The major benefits of Axis Vistara Infinite are offered in the form of CV Points, which can be redeemed to get award flights or class upgrade, and milestone benefits of up to 4 business class tickets. However, in addition to the existing exclusions, insurance and gold/jewellery transactions will also be excluded for reward calculation as well as for calculating spend milestones. Since gold/jewellery are generally high-ticket purchases, they could account for a major portion of your monthly spends. Thus, removing gold/jewellery transaction could make it difficult for some consumers to reach the milestones required for availing free Business Class Ticket.

Moreover, cardholders will be eligible for complimentary domestic lounge visit only if they reach the spending milestone of Rs. 50,000 in the previous quarter. While most premium cards offer both international and domestic lounge access, providing only domestic lounge visits was already a disadvantage of this card. Now, putting spend-based eligibility condition further reduces its value as a premium travel card.

To read in detail about the changes related to Axis Vistara Infinite Credit Card, click here.

*These categories are not considered for earning CV Points and milestone benefit calculation.
**In case of a newly issued card, the minimum spend criteria is waived for the month of issuance followed by the next 3 months.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

While the rate of earning CV Points and their redemption value remain unchanged, Axis Bank has excluded insurance and gold/jewellery transactions for earning CV Points as well as for calculating spend milestone (in addition to the existing exclusions). Since gold/jewellery purchase are, generally, high-value transactions, removing them could affect the cardholder’s ability to achieve spend milestones and lose the free ticket benefit. Another significant change on Axis Vistara Signature Card comes in the form of spend-linked lounge access. Cardholders would have to spend Rs. 50,000 in the previous quarter to avail the free lounge access, which again puts its ‘travel card’ status in question, as most cards in its fee range provide lounge access without any associated terms and conditions.

To read in detail about the changes related to Axis Vistara Signature Credit Card, click here.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

Axis Ace continues to remain a good card for utilities as it is still providing 5% unlimited cashback for utility bill payments made via Google Pay. However, utility bill payments made via any other platform will not earn any cashback. The base rate of 2% has now been reduced to 1.5%, which could affect the savings for consumers seeking all-rounder benefits. The quarterly spend condition of Rs. 50,000 added to the lounge access benefit, further makes it difficult for cardholders to maximize the benefits. Users who regularly put utility bill payments (via Google Pay) on Axis Ace, along with some general spends across different categories can continue using it as the base rate of 1.5% is still decent for a low annual fee card.

To read in detail about the changes related to Axis Bank ACE Credit Card, click here.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

Though there was no change in the reward rate of Axis Privilege Card, gold/jewellery purchases have been added to the list of exclusions. Also, six new exclusions have been added for calculation of milestone and fee waiver condition, making it difficult for cardholders to achieve these milestones and avail benefits. The spend condition for annual fee waiver has also been doubled to Rs. 5 Lakh. However, in place of the fee waiver and multi-brand vouchers with double redemption value that were previously offered on Rs. 2.5 lakh annual spends, you would still be offered EDGE rewards worth Rs. 2,000 which can make up for the annual fee that you may have to pay.

For transferring EDGE Reward Points into Partner Miles, airline and hotel partners have also been categorized into Group A and Group B with separate capping under each group. This might affect consumers who have brand preferences for redeeming rewards. Spend-based eligibility added to the lounge access program further makes it difficult to maximize the card’s overall benefits.

To read in detail about the changes related to Axis Privilege Credit Card, click here.

*Effective May 1, 2024.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

While Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card already went through a phase of devaluation back in September 2023, the revised terms and conditions applicable from 20th April 2024 further put the card’s premium status in a questionable spot.

Though the reward earning and redemption rates remain the same, Axis Bank has divided their Miles Transfer Partners into Group A and Group B, with different capping for each group.

In a calendar year, cardholders will be able to transfer a maximum of:

• 1 lakh EDGE Reward Points under Group A (including Etihad, Marriott, Accor Hotels, etc.)
• 4 lakh EDGE Reward Points under Group B (including Air India, Vistara, SpiceJet, Air Asia, ITC Hotels, etc.)

Axis Bank’s extensive list of Airline and Hotel Partners stood as their major USP, especially on premium and travel cards. Though the number of partners increases, in the case of Magnus, grouping them and putting caps on redemption makes it hard for users to avail the maximum redemption benefits. This also affects consumers with brand loyalties. Someone who prefers flying Etihad or staying at Marriott, for example, will not be able to redeem more than 1 lakh EDGE Points in a year, even if they have accumulated substantial points by spending.

Furthermore, a number of features that added to Magnus’s premium appeal have also been discontinued, such as:

• 24*7 concierge service
• Complimentary airport meet and greet service
• Buy One Get One movie ticket benefit via BookMyShow

Besides, guest visits under their domestic and international lounge access program have also been reduced from 8 visits to 4 visits in a year. In addition to the existing exclusions, fuel, jewellery, and insurance spends will neither earn any EDGE Reward Points nor will they be counted towards meeting the spend threshold for annual fee waiver. Irrespective of the number of free lounge visits offered, users will have to reach the spending threshold of Rs. 50,000 in the previous quarter to be eligible for complimentary access.

Thus, the latest devaluation has put in question Axis Magnus’s categorization as an all-round credit card tossing out benefits on fuel, movies, insurance payments and travel concierge. Users looking for a premium category card with all round benefits may definitely find a better  card within a similar fee range. However, those using this card primarily for its reward rate, unlimited lounge access and travel benefits like low forex markup fee, may continue using it.

Even after the sep’23 devaluation, Burgundy cardholders continue to redeem the same redemption ratio against partner airlines of 5:4. However, effective April 2024, the redemption for miles transfer program is set as maximum of 2 Lakh rewards for redemption across Group A and maximum of 8 Lakh rewards for redemption across Group B partners.

To read in detail about the changes related to Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card, click here.

*For the year 2024, customers can convert 1.5 EDGE Miles from 20th April, 2024 to 31st December, 2024. From next year onwards, capping will be applicable from 1st Jan’25 to 31st Dec’25.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

The major benefit on Axis Atlas credit card comes as EDGE Miles which can be transferred to partner airmiles to save on travel. In this phase of devaluation, Axis Bank has added some new categories to the list of inclusions not only for EDGE Miles accrual but also for meeting milestones. Previously up to 17,500 bonus EDGE Miles could be earned for milestone benefits, which is now reduced to 10,000 EDGE Miles. All this impacts the user’s ability to accumulate a substantial number of EDGE miles which in turn would reduce the overall savings that a user can get from this card.

Similar to Magnus, the card now has spend-based criteria to earn accelerated rewards on travel bookings. Thus, users can save more on travel bookings only by keeping bookings valued up to Rs. 2 Lakh. This is contradictory to a card that offers rewards value as air miles, hampering the card’s label as a travel credit card. Furthermore the removal of perks like airport concierge and Meet & Assist, add more to this damage.

Besides, the card now comes with a cap of 1,50,000 miles a year for redemption against travel partners per year. The partners are grouped into categories – this makes the already complicated structure of the card, more complex for the users to understand.

To read in detail about the changes related to Axis Atlas Credit Card, click here.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

IndianOil Axis Credit Card mostly remains as rewarding post the above mentioned changes as it was before. The savings of up to Rs. 250 as welcome bonus would still be the same, just the form of value-back has been changed from direct cashback to EDGE reward points. But the annual fee waiver condition would be a major change for the cardholders. Up until now you could avoid paying the card renewal fee on reaching the annual spends of just Rs. 50,000 in the previous year, but now this spend-based condition has increased by 6 times the original amount to Rs. 3.5 lakh annual spends which might make it difficult for the users to avail this benefit.

The value range of the eligible spends for accelerated rewards rate as well as fuel surcharge waiver has also been narrowed which might have a slight impact on the total rewards accrual. However, the exclusion of spending categories, like gold, jewellery, insurance, etc. from the spends eligible for rewards would significantly decrease the rewards earning if you routinely made those transactions using your IndianOil Axis card.

To read in detail about the changes related to IndianOil Axis Bank Credit Card, click here.

*In case of a newly issued card, the minimum spend criteria is waived for the month of issuance followed by the next 3 months.

How will these changes impact credit cardholders?

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card is designed for those who frequently use the Airtel Thanks app and prefer to make bill payments and recharges through it. With this recent update, frequent Airtel users will not notice much difference. Only the maximum earning cap has been reduced by Rs. 50.

However, previously you could earn 1% cashback on utility payments made through any platform, but now that feature has been removed. This means you will not get cashback if you make utility bill payments from anywhere other than the Airtel Thanks app. While the removal of cashback on utility bills may seem like a setback, the card is still designed for Airtel users, so those who mostly recharge through the Airtel Thanks app will not be significantly affected. Additionally, previously users could access lounge benefits without achieving any minimum threshold, but now they need to spend Rs. 50,000 in a quarter to avail this benefit.

If we analyse all these changes, there is a difference in the overall value of this card, but nothing significant. If you are within the Airtel ecosystem, this card can still be a good option for you. However, if you use other apps like Google Pay for utility bill payments and want to earn cashback there too, you can consider Axis Ace Card, which offers up to 5% cashback on your utility payments.

To read in detail about the changes related to Airtel Axis Credit Card, click here.