The IndiGo Ka-Ching Credit Cards, issued by HDFC Bank and powered by MasterCard, was launched on February 27, 2020, in Delhi. These are invitation-only cards for now, and IndiGo will invite their customers for now to receive this card. The credit cards rely heavily on a new rewards programme launched by IndiGo called 6E Rewards. This programme won’t be usually available to customers of the airline but will only be available to the customers of the HDFC Bank co-branded cardholders, and any other bank that IndiGo may co-brand a card with in the future.  Here, we try and explain everything we know so far about the 6E Rewards Programme.

How to earn 6E Rewards?

6E Rewards are going to be the points earned by the member for any transactions undertaken by the member on the co-branded cards, not for consuming a flight on IndiGo and so on. These points will be useful to redeem any IndiGo flight ticket or any add-on, such as 6E Prime.

To earn 6E Rewards on bookings on the airline, members will have to book directly with IndiGo. IndiGo will credit the rewards once the flight has been completed. You won’t earn rewards for the following bookings:

1. group bookings;
2. bookings made under a corporate login;
3. reservations made under an agent login;
4. reservations made under a small and medium enterprise login; and
5. advance payments made to IndiGo according to (2) to (4), above.

The 6E Rewards/ XL credit card will also earn you rewards as per the following formula:

• 2.5%/5% 6E Rewards on the IndiGo website
• 2%/3% 6E Rewards on entertainment, dining and grocery (1% bonus capped at INR 50,000 spend per statement cycle in these categories for Rewards card and 2% bonus is capped at INR 75,000 spend per statement cycle in the Rewards XL card)
• 1%/2% 6E Rewards on all other transactions (No earnings of 6E Rewards on purchase of fuel and loading of prepaid payment instruments. Earnings of 6E Rewards on insurance transactions are subject to a cap of INR 2,50,000/1,25,000 spends in a billing cycle on Rewards/XL Rewards cards.)
• 5%/7% 6E Rewards on 6E Treats
• 6%/10% 6E Rewards on AVA (IndiGo Airport Merchandise Partner)
• 7%/10% 6E Rewards on Avis
• 10%/15% 6E Rewards on BeU Salon
• 6%/8% 6E Rewards on NetMeds

How to redeem 6E Rewards?

6E Rewards can be redeemed online for self and your nominees, but a service fee applies. You will also be able to redeem a ticket for the full amount paid by the rewards or by cash + rewards. However, if you want to buy an ancillary such as a meal or early boarding etc., you can only pay points or money, not a combination of the two. Each 6E Reward point is equal to INR 1.

To redeem a ticket on IndiGo, you will need to pay all the applicable taxes including airport departure tax, immigration fees, airport charges, customer user fees, surcharges, carrier charges, fees or other incidental fees or taxes. If you cancel a ticket, you only get the money portion back.

 6E Rewards Validity

All 6E Rewards are valid for redemption for 24 months from the date of accrual and subject to the co-branded card remaining valid for these two years.

How many Nominees?

IndiGo will allow up to 3 nominees at a time to use the rewards earned by a member. Any nominee needs to have a relationship with the member, as IndiGo may ask for documents as well from the member to prove the relationship. One can only change their nominees once during a membership year.

6E Rewards partners

The airline will also be launching a slew of partnerships to offer members the ability to earn more points for the use of the credit cards. Here are some partners.

• Dining will be powered by a new portal called 6E Treats, where you can pay your dining bills with your HDFC Bank co-brand credit cards and earn rewards. You get 5% rewards on the lower end card and 7% rewards on the XL credit card. The process is not straightforward, however. You pay IndiGo and IndiGo pays the restaurant via the 6E Treats website, not you pay the restaurant directly. Sort of like how the new Zomato Gold 40% discount works.
• IndiGo’s airport merchandise partner, AVA, will be offering 6% 6E Rewards on the Rewards Card and 10% 6E Rewards on the Rewards XL Card. You get your rewards within 30 days from the date of the transaction paid for with the co-branded card
• When you book an Avis Car online via avis.co.in, only for Indian rentals, enter your mobile number registered with Avis under the 6E Rewards Member section. Then complete your payment with a 6E Rewards Credit Card and get 7% – 10% Rewards for the spends on the Rewards/Rewards XL Card within 30 days.
• When you avail services with BeU, which is the salon partner for 6E Rewards, you get 10-15% 6E Rewards on the regular/XL card. You need to pay for your appointment on the salon’s app or website with the credit card for this.
• When you buy medicines from Net Meds, you get 6-8% 6E Rewards on the regular/XL card. You need to pay for your products on the app or website with the credit card for this.

Bottomline

While I don’t have a 6E Rewards account yet for a real-life redemption case, this looks like there is potential to earn 5% of every flight back as rewards. I do not agree with the view though that flights which are booked via the SME or Corporate portals should not get the benefits. Many times, 6ESME programme sells tickets at a higher price than regular flights, given they add in a meal by default and some other privileges. So, the rules need a little bit of loosening up, and IndiGo should hand over more of the rewards computation to HDFC Bank rather than keep it inhouse.

What do you think of 6E Rewards as a rewards programme?

www.goindigo.in

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