Finally, Axis Bank has officially announced that there will be significant changes in the rewards and benefits of the Axis Magnus credit card, effective from 1st September 2023.
Let's take a look at the changes:
Annual Fees:
Customers on-boarded from 1st September 2023 will now be changed Rs. 12,500 + GST annual fees.
Annual Fees Reversal Criteria:
Welcome Benefits:
Customers on-boarded from 1st September 2023 will now be able to choose any one voucher worth INR 12,500 from below options:
o Luxe giftcard
o The Postcard Hotels gift voucher
o Yatra gift voucher
Option to choose Tata CLiQ voucher will be discontinued
Annual Benefit:
The annual benefit of voucher worth INR 10,000 will be discontinued. So no annual benefit on Magnus V2.0
Main benefits of this credit card will be unchanged.
Reward System:
Milestone Benefit:
Monthly milestone benefits of 25,000 EDGE Reward Points on monthly spends of INR 1,00,000 will be discontinued from 1st September 2023.
Miles Transfer Program:
You can transfer EDGE Reward Points to any partners across airlines and hotels as per the revised transfer ratio of 5:2 (5 EDGE Reward Points = 2 Partner Point/Mile).
That means, 1 EDGE Point = 0.4 Miles
Total EDGE Reward Points that can be converted to Partner Points in a calendar year is capped to 5,00,000 EDGE Reward Points per customer ID.
For each of the airline/hotel transfer partners, customers can only link 1 partner program loyalty ID for each partner at a given point of time. If a customer wishes to link another ID, the primary/existing linked ID will then get delinked by default. For every individual partner program, the customer needs to wait for a period of 60 days after updating partner loyalty ID with Axis Bank Travel EDGE in order to update secondary/new partner loyalty ID.
Special 5:4 Transfer Rate Offer:
Axis has created a special time bound offering in which you can keep enjoying the existing Miles conversion ratio at 5:4. For this you have to open a Burgundy account, existing burgundy account holders can also join, but they have to maintain eligible NRV, more information about this program will be available after 1st September, 2023.
After this update, the credit card is looking decent, striking a good balance between rewards and charges, and presenting a more sustainable reward system. All I can say is that Axis Bank is closely monitoring public platforms and taking feedback seriously. When customers raised their voices against insurance premium payment exclusion from reward earning, the bank made necessary changes before releasing the devaluation notice.
However, the fee waiver condition for cards like Magnus seems a bit high. Even though this card can earn 7% rewards in airmiles on all eligible spends after completing a spending target of 1.5L in a month, some customers may fear receiving a notice for high spends. Nonetheless, this card remains one of the best credit cards available in India for earning airmiles. The normal reward rate of 2.4% is still appealing.
For individuals who spend less than 1L or so, the HDFC Bank Infinia credit card may make more sense for them, as it offers a higher reward rate of 3.33% on Infinia.
As with any credit card, it's essential for customers to evaluate their spending patterns and choose a card that aligns with their preferences and usage habits.
Official PDF copy URL: https://www.axisbank.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/credit-cards/mgtc.pdf (attached)
Let's take a look at the changes:
Annual Fees:
Customers on-boarded from 1st September 2023 will now be changed Rs. 12,500 + GST annual fees.
Annual Fees Reversal Criteria:
- Customers on-boarded from 1st September 2023, will receive fee waiver of INR 12,500 on spends of INR 25,00,000 in the preceding card anniversary year.
- For customers onboarded before 1st September 2023, annual fee waiver will be applicable on cumulative spends of INR 15,00,000 in preceding card anniversary year. However, for such customers, on card anniversary dates after 1st September 2024, fee waiver will be applicable on cumulative spends of INR 25,00,000 in preceding card anniversary year.
Welcome Benefits:
Customers on-boarded from 1st September 2023 will now be able to choose any one voucher worth INR 12,500 from below options:
o Luxe giftcard
o The Postcard Hotels gift voucher
o Yatra gift voucher
Option to choose Tata CLiQ voucher will be discontinued
Annual Benefit:
The annual benefit of voucher worth INR 10,000 will be discontinued. So no annual benefit on Magnus V2.0
Main benefits of this credit card will be unchanged.
Reward System:
From 1st September 2023, you can earn 12 EDGE Reward Points for every INR 200 on cumulative monthly spends up to INR 1,50,000. Further, earn 35 EDGE Reward Points for every INR 200 on cumulative monthly spends above INR 1,50,000.
Reward Rate:
Gift Vouchers:
Till 1.5L - 1.2%
After 1.5L - 3.5%
Miles:
Till 1.5L - 2.4%
After 1.5L - 7%
Earn 60 EDGE Reward Points for every INR 200 spent on Travel Edge portal, up to cumulative transactions of INR 2,00,000 per month. Earn 35 EDGE Reward Points per INR 200 spent above cumulative transactions of INR 2,00,000 per month.
Reward Rate:
Gift Vouchers:
Till 2L - 6%
After 2L - 3.5%
Miles:
Till 2L - 12%
After 2L - 7%
- Spends done on Government institutions, utilities, wallet, EMI will not earn any points.
- Spends threshold for annual fee waiver will exclude transactions done on below Government institutions and utilities.
Milestone Benefit:
Monthly milestone benefits of 25,000 EDGE Reward Points on monthly spends of INR 1,00,000 will be discontinued from 1st September 2023.
Miles Transfer Program:
You can transfer EDGE Reward Points to any partners across airlines and hotels as per the revised transfer ratio of 5:2 (5 EDGE Reward Points = 2 Partner Point/Mile).
That means, 1 EDGE Point = 0.4 Miles
Total EDGE Reward Points that can be converted to Partner Points in a calendar year is capped to 5,00,000 EDGE Reward Points per customer ID.
For each of the airline/hotel transfer partners, customers can only link 1 partner program loyalty ID for each partner at a given point of time. If a customer wishes to link another ID, the primary/existing linked ID will then get delinked by default. For every individual partner program, the customer needs to wait for a period of 60 days after updating partner loyalty ID with Axis Bank Travel EDGE in order to update secondary/new partner loyalty ID.
Special 5:4 Transfer Rate Offer:
Axis has created a special time bound offering in which you can keep enjoying the existing Miles conversion ratio at 5:4. For this you have to open a Burgundy account, existing burgundy account holders can also join, but they have to maintain eligible NRV, more information about this program will be available after 1st September, 2023.
After this update, the credit card is looking decent, striking a good balance between rewards and charges, and presenting a more sustainable reward system. All I can say is that Axis Bank is closely monitoring public platforms and taking feedback seriously. When customers raised their voices against insurance premium payment exclusion from reward earning, the bank made necessary changes before releasing the devaluation notice.
However, the fee waiver condition for cards like Magnus seems a bit high. Even though this card can earn 7% rewards in airmiles on all eligible spends after completing a spending target of 1.5L in a month, some customers may fear receiving a notice for high spends. Nonetheless, this card remains one of the best credit cards available in India for earning airmiles. The normal reward rate of 2.4% is still appealing.
For individuals who spend less than 1L or so, the HDFC Bank Infinia credit card may make more sense for them, as it offers a higher reward rate of 3.33% on Infinia.
As with any credit card, it's essential for customers to evaluate their spending patterns and choose a card that aligns with their preferences and usage habits.
Official PDF copy URL: https://www.axisbank.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/credit-cards/mgtc.pdf (attached)
