In the September 2023 version of Axis Bank devaluations, the bank had mauled the big boy of their line-up, the Axis Reserve Credit Card. However, in the all-hands meeting of the credit card team or looking back on the massive outflow of points from this card, the cost we must all bear is in the response from Axis Bank. As I notified you earlier, Axis Bank has notified everyone about how they will devalue the card effective April 20, 2024.

Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card to be devalued on April 20, 2024

For those not in the loop, Axis Reserve is a credit card Axis Bank launched with the intention of focusing on golf benefits since their other cards do not have golf benefits. However, some people were taken in because it offered 50K ER for card issuance and renewal and limousine transfers against the 50K INR ++ fee, apart from 2X points on foreign spending. However, it is all set to change.

The first significant change on the Axis Reserve Credit Card happened in September 2023. Effective September 1, 2023, Axis Bank linked the 5:4 conversion to a Burgundy Account with INR 3 Crore balances and fee waivers came in after INR 35 Lakh spending. The card stopped awarding points and any government and utility spending waivers.

Now, six months in, Axis Bank has announced significant, across-the-board changes to this card, which change the nature of this lifestyle credit card from a well-structured credit card to a Terms and Conditions apply credit card, effective April 20, 2024. Now, where have I used that before? Oh, at the Atlas devaluation writeup.

1. Category Exclusions for Rewards Earning

   • In addition to the current category exclusions of utilities and government institutions, spending on gold/ jewellery,  insurance, wallet and fuel will be excluded from EDGE Rewards earnings.

2. Category Exclusions for Annual Fee Waiver

   • As of April 20, 2024, in addition to any current category exclusions, the spending threshold for the Annual Fee Waiver will exclude transactions on Gold/Jewellery, Insurance, and Fuel, apart from Wallet, EMIs, Government Institutions and Utilities merchants already discontinued.

3. Airport Transfers to be discontinued

   • Under the current card construct, members would get 4 Luxury Car transfers to/from the Airport per calendar year. As of April 20, 2024, these are going away altogether as a card benefit. So, if you have any, make it a point to at least book them by April 19, 2024, even if you don’t use them by then.

4. Renewal Benefit of 50,000 EDGE Rewards to be discontinued

   • Axis Bank used to grant 50,000 EDGE Rewards every year on card renewals. However, as of April 20, 2024, these will be removed.

Axis Bank to cap EDGE Rewards Conversions on April 20, 2024

Another significant change to the Axis Reserve Credit Card is the changes to the EDGE Rewards programme, which follow the changes made in 2023.

Axis Bank will create a two-tier list of partners in a change of events. While they’ve not openly said it, I can tell you that, out of experience, the grouping has been done based on how much money Axis Bank would have to shell out per point if converted. The groupings are as under:

• Group A
  • Accor Hotels (Accor Live Limitless)
  • Air Canada (Aeroplan)
  • Ethiopian Airlines
  • Etihad (Etihad Guest)
  • Japan Airlines (JAL Mileage Bank)
  • Marriott International (Marriott Bonvoy)
  • Qatar Airways
  • Singapore Airlines (Krisflyer)
  • Turkish Airlines (Miles & Smiles)
  • Thai Airways (Royal Orchid Plus)
  • United Airlines (MileagePlus)
  • Wyndham Hotels (Wyndham Rewards)
• Group B
  • Air France-KLM (Flying Blue)
  • Air India (Flying Returns)
  • Air Asia
  • ITC Green Points
  • IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG One Rewards)
  • Qantas Airways (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
  • SpiceJet
  • Vistara (TATA SIA Airlines Ltd)

The key change regarding EDGE Rewards is that from now on, there will be a sub-division of the cap of up to 5,00,000 EDGE Rewards, which can be converted into airmiles or hotel points per annum (calendar year). You can only transfer a maximum of 100,000 EDGE Rewards per annum into Group A transfer partners and 400,000 EDGE Rewards per annum into Group B transfer partners. By doing this, Axis Bank is hemming the flow of points to the significant international carriers effective April 20, 2024.

While 100,000 points to Category A will still mean 40K points in the other programme, more is needed if you plan to travel with the family.

This brings the Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card back to its former position as a Golf Lifestyle Card. It will offer 50 rounds of Gold free per financial year, which will be its only utility. Also, the 8 Meet & Assist Services per annum stay. Many other benefits stay, but the miles-related benefits are gone.

Bottomline

This is a massive blow to a high-end lifestyle card from Axis Bank. The mileage transfer and earning aspects are being stripped off bit by bit, and the folks are too focused on cutting their losses as a bank. There is still much left to show for a card with an INR 50,000++ annual fee. However, the miles-related aspects have been chopped off, which is only to be fair, was the place where the card was bleeding.

The new features go live on April 20, 2024, so if you want to use the existing benefits, use your card features/points by April 19, 2024.

What do you think of the changes and devaluations to Axis Bank’s Reserve Credit Card? I’d be happy to hear your thoughts in the comments section and a rating between 1 and 5 on the impact to you (1 being least impacted and 5 being heavily impacted). 

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