There are only a handful of credit cards out there which are focused on travel benefits and are worth considering. Axis Atlas credit card is one of those. This card has an interesting concept of membership tier and the rewards you earn on the spends are boosted as you climb up the tier. Also, the rewards can be earned in regular or accelerated mode.
Let’s understand the way this card works in a simple manner and try to find out whether this card should be part of your arsenal or not.
Overview
Axis Atlas credit card is aimed at those who are frequent travellers and enhance their travel experience even further. The rewards you earn through this card are not in the form of EDGE Miles rather usual EDGE Rewards which is the norm with the Axis Bank credit cards. Other than travel benefits, there are other perks as well that we will see in the benefits section later.
| Type | Premium Rewards Credit Card for Travel |
| Reward Rate | 2% – 10% |
| Best for | Hotel & Airline Spends |
Design
The card has an image of the globe on its front to emphasize its travel focused features and target demographic. It comes in black color and has a neat design. It is issued on the Visa Signature network.
Fees & Charges
Joining & Renewal Fees
| Joining Fee | Rs. 5000 + 18% GST |
| Joining Fee Waiver | N/A |
| Joining Benefit | 5000 EDGE Miles upon 1st transaction within 30 days from card setup date |
| Renewal Fee | Rs. 5000 + 18% GST |
| Renewal Benefit | 2500 EDGE Miles (Silver tier); 5000 EDGE miles (Gold tier); 10000 EDGE miles (Platinum tier) |
| Renewal Fee Waiver | N/A |
The EDGE Miles as part of joining benefit are credited to EDGE Miles account within 7 days from the date of transaction.
There are no fee waiver options for this card on joining & renewal fee but the benefit that comes with it easily make up for the fee that you pay. To give you a sense of how much value you are getting here is an example – For 5K EDGE Miles, you can get a value of Rs. 10000 in terms of ITC hotel stay (fooding & lodging). That means you get almost double the value of joining fee.
Note: There are more options other than ITC with a good conversion rate and we’ll explore them later below.
For renewal benefit, depending on which tier you are at on the date of renewal, the benefit will vary. We will get into the details of how the tier system works in Benefits section later. Miles are credited within 60 days upon successful payment of the annual fee.
Other Charges
Supplementary Card
There is no fee for applying for a supplementary card and you can get upto 4 supplementary cards.
Forex Payments
3.50% of the transaction value + 18% GST (which adds up to 4.13%). Use this card on foreign trips only for direct Hotel & Airline spends (check Benefits section) as that way you will be in net gain of ~5%.
Fuel Purchases
There is no reward on fuel purchases but you do get 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all petrol pumps in India as long as transactions are between Rs. 400 – Rs. 4000, exclusive of GST and other charges.
Ex. If you purchase fuel of Rs. 2000 then 1% surcharge of Rs. 20 is first applied and then waived off but the 18% GST of Rs. 3.6 is levied.
There is a capping of Rs. 400 per statement cycle for surcharge waiver per credit card account which is more than enough.
Rent Payments
No reward points on rent payments plus a charge of 1% of the transaction value + GST capped at Rs. 1500 per transaction is levied. Also, all the portals for rent payments take their own convenience fee which means use of this card for rent payments is not a good idea.
EMI Fees
For EMI transactions, a one-time processing fee of 1.5% or Rs. 250 whichever is higher is charged on the date of conversion.
Benefits
Before talking about what the reward rate is and how rewards are reaped, we need to understand two key differences between Atlas card and other Axis credit cards – Membership tier & Loyalty Currency (EdgeMiles)
Membership Tier
There are three membership tiers on this card – Silver, Gold and Platinum. It’s a unique system in the credit card industry but is similar to many airline and hotel loyalty programs where higher tier comes with higher benefits. The only actual difference though is the EDGE Miles given as renewal benefit + Airport benefits.
Silver is the default tier that you get as soon as you acquire the card. Depending on your spends in a previous card anniversary year, the membership tier gets upgraded or downgraded at start of the next anniversary year.
| Tier (Start of Anniversary year) | Spends in current Anniversary year | Renewal Benefit (EdgeMiles) | Tier (Next Anniversary year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | <7.5 lakh | 2500 | Silver |
| Silver | >7.5 lakh & <15 lakh | 5000 | Gold |
| Silver/Gold | >15 lakh | 10000 | Platinum |
| Platinum/Gold | <7.5 lakh | 2500 | Silver |
| Platinum/Gold | >7.5 lakh & <15 lakh | 5000 | Gold |
| Platinum | >15 lakh | 10000 | Platinum |
Loyalty Currency
With Atlas credit card loyalty program the reward is earned in the form of EDGE Mile instead of the EDGE Rewards which is the loyalty currency in case of other Axis credit cards like Axis Privilege credit card.
The credited EDGE Miles can be viewed under EDGE Miles Section (Atlas Dashboard > ATLAS MILES) of the Axis Bank Mobile App. Miles can be redeemed (1 EDGE Mile = Rs. 1) for booking flights, hotels & experiences OR transferred into partner miles under Axis Bank’s Miles transfer program (1 EDGE Mile = 2 partner miles).
Now that we have understood these two aspects, let’s talk about the reward rate.
Reward Points
For all the tiers, EDGE Miles earned based on spends is the same. Any EDGE Miles earned reflects in the EDGE Miles account within 12 days from the date of eligible transaction.
The good thing is there is no capping on the EDGE Miles earned either via Easy Ear or Accelerated Earn. You don’t get accelerated reward points for spending on Graddeals and GiftEdge and for insurance spends too there is a spend capping.
| SPEND TYPE | EDGE MILES | REWARD RATE (REDEMPTION ON EDGE REWARDS PORTAL) | REWARD RATE (POINTS TRANSFER) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Earn: Regular Spends (except Fuel, Insurance (amount > Rs. 5000), Wallet loads) | 2 per Rs. 100 | 2% | ~4% |
| Accelerated Earn: 1. Spends on Travel Edge Portal 2. Direct Airlines & Hotel spends | 5 per Rs. 100 | 5% | ~10% |
Note: Direct airline spends refer to purchases made at airline owned websites, at airline counters, airline helpline numbers. Direct hotel spends refer to purchases made at hotel owned websites and at hotel counters. Spends on MMT, Yatra, Cleartrip etc. are counted as regular spends.
Milestone Benefits
Milestone benefits are credited within 60 days upon successful payment of the annual fee. Only one milestone benefit will come into effect (based on spend) at end of year and not all the three. Wallet & Rental spends aren’t considered for milestone benefits.
If you spend 15 lakh a year (10 lakh on regular spends and 5 lakh on travel) you will earn 20000 (regular spend) + 25000 (accelerated spend) + 10000 (milestone) + 10000 (renewal) = 65000 Miles which translates to ~4.5% reward rate (1 Mile = Rs. 1). If we consider airline transfer partner option, one can even go as high as 10% reward rate.
| SPEND REQUIREMENT | MILESTONE BENEFIT |
|---|---|
| 3 Lakhs | 2500 EDGE Miles |
| 7.5 Lakhs | 5000 EDGE Miles |
| 15 Lakhs | 10000 EDGE Miles |
Redemption
Now that we know the way this card earns rewards, we ought to look at how one can use the rewards. Like explained earlier, you can either redeem the Miles or transfer them to various travel partners (check the names here). The transfer partner list is undoubtedly the best in the country at the moment and is on par with what Amex offers if not better.
The transfer ratio is 1 EDGE Mile = 2 Partner Points except for Marriott Bonvoy (2 EDGE Miles = 1 Marriott Bonvoy Point).
For Partner Transfer follow below steps-
- Log onto Travel Edge portal and click on Points/Miles Transfer
- Select an airline/hotel partner to transfer the miles (ensure to link membership ID for transfer)
Using the Miles for partner transfer is definitely more lucrative option but if for some reason you don’t want to do that and do direct redemption then you can do so for making hotel/flight/experience bookings by logging into Axis Bank Mobile app & clicking on “Book Now” in EDGE Miles dashboard OR using the Travel Edge portal.
Travel Benefits
Since it is a travel focused card, you can rest assured that the benefits are going to be profuse. Fine print is available here.
Airport Lounge Access
| MEMBERSHIP TIER | DOMESTIC VISITS | INTERNATIONAL VISITS |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | 8 | 4 |
| Gold | 12 | 6 |
| Platinum | 18 | 12 |
The Above visits covers both Primary cardholder and their guests, if any. List of eligible domestic airport lounges can be checked on DreamFolks who manage their Lounge program. For International lounge visit one needs to go through few extra steps as described below-
- Go to Axis Bank app > ATLAS MILES section under Atlas credit card > Benefits > Domestic/International lounge section
- Click on View More and then a page appears showing benefit details and Terms & Conditions
- Click on Book Now button and a new page opens which shows My Current Benefits
- Click on Browse under respective lounge. Now a drop down list of lounges appears
- Select your desired lounge. Please make sure to check the airport name (Domestic/International) and terminal
- Now click on Access Now and after selecting relevant options, click on Proceed
- Generate QR Code at in Benefits section of your Axis Bank Mobile App.
- Show generated QR Code (valid for 48 hours) at lounge helpdesk for access.
Airport Concierge Service
Axis Atlas card even comes with concierge service as part of which one can get assistance to have smooth and hassle-free airport transfer. The service includes assistance across airport processes, such as check-in, security check, and immigration processes, and porter services.
| MEMBERSHIP TIER | LIMITS |
|---|---|
| Silver | N/A |
| Gold | 2 |
| Platinum | 4 |
This service is also managed by DreamFolks and can be booked under Benefits section of Axis Bank app. For assistance, one can reach out to bookings@dreamfolks.in.
Airport Transfer Service
Just for Platinum tier members, Axis Atlas card offers complimentary Airport pick-up service which means you can get a car with a chauffeur 🙂 to pick-up from airport and get to your hotel/home etc.
| MEMBERSHIP TIER | LIMITS |
|---|---|
| Silver | N/A |
| Gold | N/A |
| Platinum | 2 |
You need to book this service 48 hours in advance and the Driver + Car details are sent approx. 2 hours
before the pickup time via email. This service is also managed by DreamFolks and can be booked under Benefits section of Axis Bank app. For assistance, one can reach out to bookings@dreamfolks.in.
Dining Benefits
There are no special dining benefits just for this card but as part of Axis Dining Delight you can get upto 25% off upto Rs. 800 at restaurants by using EazyDiner to pay the bill.
- Offer: 25% off upto Rs. 800
- Min. Transaction: Rs. 2500
- Usage limit: Once a month per customer on EazyDiner
More details on Axis Bank Dining Delight program are available here.
Best way to use this card
- Use Travel Edge portal for travel bookings to get accelerated Edge Miles
- Utilize the lounge access option for self and guests.
- For direct international hotel spends get net gain (~5.8%) on forex hotel spends.
How to apply
With Axis you can hold up a maximum of three cards. You can apply either on Axis bank website or at your nearest Axis bank branch. Axis Bank has improved their turnaround time for processing new card applications so you should be able to get the card approved within a week from the date of application.
Verdict
Axis Atlas Credit Card is a full blown travel credit card which covers all the bases and gives more than decent rewards too. And If you spends in 7 digits (>10 lakh) with a lot of travel related expenses, the value this card delivers is just mouth-watering. But if you are not into travel that much and need a credit card which can give travel rewards as good as Atlas without the need to spend in 7 digits then look no further than Amex Platinum Travel credit card which has an ongoing offer of first year free for a limited time.
What are your thoughts about the Axis Atlas Credit Card? Feel free to share your views in the comment section below.
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