Club Vistara: The Ultimate Guide for Indians

Editor’s note: Starting November 12, 2024, Club Vistara and Air India’s Flying Returns have merged into Air India Maharaja Club, offering travelers a unified loyalty experience and enhanced benefits across an expanded network.

Overview

Hello everyone! I am back again with the Ultimate Guide of the audience’s favourite Domestic Frequent Flyer Program, Club Vistara. To all those miles enthusiasts, who prefer to travel in domestic sectors, Club Vistara is the frequent flyer program, you use if it serves that route. Vistara, the brand which was created by two of the greatest, TATA Group and Singapore Airlines, serves as a full-service carrier for Domestic and International travel. Their fleet includes Airbus A320, A321neo, Boeing 737-800NG, and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in its fleet and run A320 and A321neo on domestic routes, 737-800NG, and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its international route. Vistara’s A321neo is the star of the show for domestic travel especially for its flatbed Business Class Seats.

With the current state of miles and points, it’s now really easy to experience it. From co-branded cards to point transfer partners, Vistara gives everyone a choice to experience its product.

Club Vistara Elite Tiers

Now let’s dive into the Frequent Flyer Program Vistara offers: Club Vistara. Let’s know the basics of Club Vistara and its tier benefits. Club Vistara has 4 tiers, let’s discuss the important benefits of the respective tiers:

CV Base

• You can earn 8 points per ₹100 spent
• You’ll be enrolled in promotional offers

CV Silver

You need to achieve 15,000 tier points and 4 flights to get to Silver Tier.

• You can earn 9 points per ₹100 spent
• You’ll be able to connect to the customer helpline on a priority
• You are entitled to Priority Waitlist Clearance. In the case of the same tier, the person who booked earlier will be entitled first
• You are entitled to a Priority Check-in through the Premium Economy counter
• You are entitled to an extra 5 kg check-in luggage allowance
• For flying Economy Lite you’re entitled to carry 1 extra piece of luggage for domestic sectors
• 1 One-Class Upgrade voucher on tier upgrade
• 1 One-Class Upgrade Voucher on tier renewal

CV Gold

You need to achieve 25,000 tier points and 6 flights to get to Gold Tier

• You can earn 10 points per ₹100 spent
• You’ll be able to connect to the customer helpline on a priority
• You are entitled to Priority Waitlist Clearance. In the case of the same tier, the person who booked earlier will be entitled first
• You are entitled to avail 1 complimentary rescheduling per flight booking at least 24 hours prior to departure within India. This is not available for Economy Light fare and booking should be made from the Vistara App or the Vistara website
• You can choose Preferred Seats except for Emergency seats on a complimentary basis
• You are entitled to a Priority Check-in through the Business Class counter
• You are entitled to get priority on your requested flight’s standby list
• Carry-on luggage allowance is up to 12 kg inclusive of standard cabin luggage allowance on domestic flights
• You are entitled to a Priority-Boarding
• You are entitled to a Priority-Baggage Handling
• You are entitled to an extra 10 kg check-in luggage allowance
• For flying Economy Lite you’re entitled to carry 1 extra piece of luggage for both domestic and international sectors
• Access to Partner Lounges
• 2 One-Class Upgrade vouchers on tier upgrade
• 3 One-Class Upgrade Voucher on tier renewal
• Enhanced privileges when flying with Singapore Airlines
• You get a guaranteed economy class seat until 48 hours of departure

CV Platinum

You need to achieve 35,000 tier points and 8 flights to get to Platinum Tier

• You can earn 11 points per ₹100 spent
• You’ll be able to connect to the customer helpline on a priority
• You are entitled to Priority Waitlist Clearance. In the case of the same tier, the person who booked earlier will be entitled first
• You are entitled to avail of 2 complimentary reschedule per flight booking at least 24 hours prior to departure within or outside India. This is not available for Economy Light fare and booking should be made from the Vistara App or Vistara website.
• You can choose Preferred Seats including Emergency seats on a complimentary basis
• You are entitled to a Priority Check-in through the Business Class counter
• You are entitled to get priority on your requested flight’s standby list
• Carry-on luggage allowance is up to 12 kg inclusive of standard cabin luggage allowance on domestic flights
• You are entitled to a Priority-Boarding
• You are entitled to a Priority-Baggage Handling
• You are entitled to an extra 15 kg check-in luggage allowance

Additional Perks

• For flying Economy Lite you’re entitled to carry 1 extra piece of luggage for both domestic and international sectors
• Access to Partner Lounges
• 3 One-Class Upgrade vouchers on tier upgrade
• 5 One-Class Upgrade Voucher on tier renewal
• Enhanced privileges when flying with Singapore Airlines
• You get a guaranteed economy class seat till 24hrs of departure
• You’re entitled to a 50 MB data voucher on international flights
• You’re entitled to FlyEarly, if you reach the airport early and there’s an early flight within 4 hours of the originally booked flight, you can on-board that without any additional charges
• You’re entitled to companion lounge access to the Partnered Lounges if you’re flying international sectors

For Club Vistara Gold and Platinum tiers, you can enjoy enhanced perks from Singapore Airlines if you’re flying with them. The perks are as below:

As you can see, Club Vistara offers great perks when you climb up the ladder in Elite Tiers. Elite Tiers used to be easier to climb earlier, just by flying a number of flights, but as now you need to complete revenue flights to earn Tier Points, it has become more challenging. Tier Points earning rate is the same as CV points earning according to which Elite Tier you belong. The chart is as below:

How to Earn Club Vistara Points

By Taking Revenue Flights

CV Points can be earned by taking revenue flights and the number of CV points you earn depends on the Elite Tier you belong to. You can earn as per the chart below:

Co-branded Cards

With co-branded cards, one can get perks like getting direct access to CV Gold, different classes of tickets, upgrade vouchers, etc.

Axis Bank

• Axis Vistara Infinite (earn 6 CV points per ₹200 spent)
• Axis Vistara Signature (earn 4 CV points per ₹200 spent)
• Axis Vistara (earn 2 CV points per ₹200 spent)
• Axis Vistara Forex Card (earn 3 CV points per USD 5 or equivalent spent)

IndusInd Bank

• IndusInd Bank Explorer (earn 2 CV points per ₹200 spent)

SBI Cards

• Club Vistara SBI Card Prime (earn 4 CV points per ₹200 spent)
• Club Vistara SBI Card (earn 3 CV points per ₹200 spent)

IDFC First Bank

• IDFC First Club Vistara (earn 6 CV points per ₹200 spent)

Transfer Partners

Credit Card Transfer Partners

Club Vistara Points can be transferred from different banking partners as per below:

• Axis Bank eDGE Rewards: At a 5:4 ratio for HNI Cards and a 10:1 ratio for other cards. 1:2 Ratio from Axis Atlas (minimum 300 RP)
• American Express Membership Rewards: At a 3:1 ratio (minimum 900 RP)
• HDFC Bank Reward Points: For Infinia, Diners Black, Diners ClubMiles at 1:1 ratio, and for Regalia, Diners Privilege, Corporate Platinum, Corporate World, Corporate Signature, Corporate Premium at 2:1 ratio (minimum 100 RP)
• Yes Bank Reward Points: For Yes Private at 4:1 (250 and then multiples of 2 thereafter), for other Yes Bank Cards at 10:1 (2000 and then multiples of 10 thereafter)
• IndusInd Bank Reward Points: Premium cards at 1:1, others at 2:1
• Club ITC: At 3:2 (minimum 500 RP)
• AU Bank Rewardz: At 4:1 (minimum 200 RP)
• FAB Miles Programme: At 1:1 (minimum 1000 RP)
• Standard Chartered 360° Rewards: 5:1 (minimum 100)
• HSBC Reward Programme: For Premier at 1:1, for others at 2:1
• Fi Coins: At 40:1 (minimum 200 RP)

Airline Partners

• Air Canada: You can earn CV points if you take Air Canada revenue flights within Canada or from Canada to the rest of the world. The total accrual points will stay between 25% to 125% as the chart suggests below

• Japan Airlines: You can earn CV points if you take Japan Airlines revenue domestic, international, and code-share flights. The total accrual points will stay between 30% to 150% as the charts suggest below:

• Lufthansa: You can earn CV points if you take Lufthansa revenue flights. The total accrual points will stay between 25% to 250% as the chart suggests below:

• Singapore Airlines: You can earn CV points if you take Singapore Airlines revenue flights. The total accrual points will stay between 70% to 150% as the chart suggests below:

• United Airlines: You can earn CV points if you take United Airlines revenue flights. The total accrual points will stay between 25% to 125% as the chart suggests below

Car Rentals

• Avis: You can earn 16 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• BookAirportCab: You can earn 5 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Urban Drive: You can earn 6 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Zoom Car: You can earn 5 CV Points for every ₹100 spent

Health and Wellness

• Shyft: For purchasing the Yoga & Nutrition program you can earn up to 2000 CV points
• MediBuddy: You can earn up to 1000 CV points for booking the packages of different medical tests

Stay Partners

• Booking.com: You can earn 2 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• IHCL: You can earn 3 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Luxury Escape: You can earn 5 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Onefinerate.com: You can earn 6 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• The Kingsbury: You can earn 600 CV Points for every night of stay
• The Postcard Hotel: You can earn 5000 CV Points for a minimum of 2 nights of booking, capped at 60000 CV points a year
• Soneva: You can earn 16 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Sterling: You can earn 8 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• The Grand Dragon, Ladakh: You can earn 20 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Voyaah: You can earn 6 CV Points for every ₹100 spent

Travel Services

• VISA2FLY: You can earn 5 CV Points for every ₹100 spent
• Airportzo: You can earn 3 CV Points for every ₹100 spent

How to Burn Club Vistara Points

As we can see there are quite a few numbers of ways we can actually earn points but what’s the fun in earning if we can’t burn the points properly? Let’s see where you can burn your points.

Vistara Award Flights

Of course, this is the best possible way to burn the points. You can get the flights in way less cost-effective way when you burn your points to book the flights, and you end up paying the tax only. You can redeem both domestic and international sectors.

Though award booking is great to have, one needs to remember that there’ll always be limited availability of Award Seats, for example, an A320 will have 2 Business Class award seats and generally 4 in Premium Economy and 6 Economy award seats. Typically at max A321neo will be offering 3 Business Class award seats. Oh, wait, sometimes you may observe 4 as well on A321neo and 8 Economy award seats.

You can check the Club Vistara points requirement for each class here. Alternatively, Vistara has an Award Calculator, where you can check the mileage requirements for your desired route.

Cancellation and Reschedule

The award flights booked using points can definitely be cancelled and rescheduled depending on the availability like any normal flights. As with any normal flight, it’ll also be coming with some charges, but here it’ll be with CV Points.

If you wish to cancel your booking, you need to give up 30% of the booking amount as CV Points. However, if you wish to reschedule, you need to give up 10% of the booking amount as CV Points.

Upgrade Awards

You can upgrade your ticket with CV Points for both domestic and international sectors. This falls under subject to availability. Though upgrading is a great option you can only upgrade your revenue flights or the award seats booked using CV points, not the award flights booked using vouchers. For the CV points requirement to upgrade, please refer here. Alternatively, you can also check with the Upgrade Awards option with the award calculator here.

Redeem with Partners

You can redeem CV points with partner airlines such as Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, and Lufthansa. There are two major downsides to it. The first is, that the value is terribly low, and the second is it takes 14 working days just to book the flight. So even after this if you want to go with this option, you need to call Vistara Customer Care at +91 9289228888 and book your flight. The award redemption chart of partner airlines can be checked here.

Cash + Points

Vistara does give the flexibility to book a flight using the cash + points option if you’re falling short of CV points. The value is relatively low here. It’d be wiser to purchase points and book rather than go with this option.

Expiry of Points

Club Vistara Points remain valid for 36 months from the date of acquisition, with the option to extend their validity by an additional 3 months through payment of a fee to Vistara. The extension is only possible when there are 3 months remaining before the points expire. Similar to many other frequent flyer programs, points cannot be earned, transferred, or used to prolong their validity. For Vistara, the expiration of points is determined based on their earning date.

Booking With Vouchers

With Vistara you can have 2 kinds of vouchers:

• Complimentary Ticket Voucher
• One-Class Upgrade Voucher.

The Complimentary Ticket Vouchers which are earned by using their co-branded credit cards, can be used to book the desired seat category that the voucher provides but you have to pay other charges such as taxes, surcharges and other levies as applicable on the ticket at the time of booking. These vouchers are only applicable on a non-stop domestic ticket and share the same award quota as for the seats booked using CV points.

With the One-Class Upgrade Voucher, you can upgrade to the next class category only if you booked a ticket using cash or CV points as per T&C. To upgrade award seats booked using vouchers, you need to pay in cash while checking in at the airport although some users have had luck even with their vouchers in this case. These vouchers are provided to you on your elite tier upgrade or renewal.

You can check all your vouchers by going to the “My Vouchers” section. For complimentary vouchers, go to “On-demand” vouchers and redeem them. If you get complimentary vouchers from Vistara for any compensation, you can redeem them from the “Redeem complimentary Voucher” section.

• A voucher is issued as soon as you complete a respective milestone with a Vistara co-branded credit card and then can be self-issued anytime within the next 6 months
• If you don’t self-issue it then it will automatically get issued after 6 months and will be valid for another 3 months
• Your travel date should be within those next 3 months only; if you still don’t use it, it will expire
• After expiry also the vouchers can be revived within 3 months of expiry for another 3 months by paying a nominal fee as per the class of travel
• So you have to travel using a voucher within 9 months if you don’t want to pay for its validity extension
• In case of any cancellations or no-shows, the Voucher will be deemed utilized and, in such cases, only the statutory taxes will be refunded

Bonus Tip

Though practically you can use a voucher in 9 months but don’t ever issue a voucher if you are not travelling within the next 3 months else you won’t be able to use it for your travel. For example, if you receive a voucher using your Axis Vistara Infinite Credit Card on 1st Jan 2023 and you intend to travel on 1st August 2023 and you issue the voucher of 1st Feb 2023 then you would have to use it with the travel date on or before 1st May 2023.

So for busy sectors like Delhi-Goa and Delhi-Mumbai always try to book award seats using CV Points else you won’t get any award seats 3 months before your travel date. Remember to book this by yourself else they will levy a service charge of ₹300 if you call customer care for this.

Bottomline

Vistara, a full-service carrier in India didn’t only excel in the Indian aviation industry but also introduced the best Frequent Flyer Program to reward its loyal flyers. They gave the option to travel with ultimate comfort and luxury. From their lie flat bed of the Business Class of A321neo to the delicious food served in Economy class, they took care of every kind of flyer. As the merger with Air India is going to happen very soon, and as promised by Air India we’ll be able to use the same benefits currently available, we can only expect this brand should exist separately.

Subhankar Dutta

Former Civil Servant | Entrepreneur | Credit Card Enthusiast | Travel The World | Learning & Growing Everyday | Gratitude is The Attitude