Axis Launches Atlas Credit Card like Pros

The sub-premium travel category Axis Atlas Credit Card is best suited for frequent travelers abroad. Atlas Credit Card is a generic travel card, in contrast to the majority of Axis Bank’s credit cards in the travel category (not a co-branded travel credit card). You can use your Edge Miles to book flights and hotels through the bank’s Travel Edge website or exchange them for Air Miles of partner airlines when you make purchases with the card.

For an annual cost of Rs. 5,000 (plus GST), the Atlas Card offers a variety of travel perks, such as free access to local and international airport lounges, a higher reward rate on currency exchange transactions, and a free airport concierge service.

Launch of the Atlas Credit Card by Axis Bank

Axis Bank has introduced a brand-new Air miles-based premium travel credit card. Axis Bank now offers Atlas, an Air miles-focused credit card, in the same way, that Citi Bank offers Premier Miles and HDFC Bank offers Club Miles.

You must be familiar with the card’s tier system and edge miles before we can discuss its benefits.

Tiered Benefits System

The card features a unique structure with different tiers (silver, gold, and plat) dependent on purchases. The perks improve as you move up the tiers, much like a program on a card.

Similar to how “milestones” typically give additional “rewards,” the “tier” structure here gives further “benefits.”

There are three tiers, and a new cardholder will be boarded into the silver tier.

• Silver Tier: New Card
  
  
• Gold Tier: 7.5L Spend
  
  
• Platinum tier – 15L spent

By Edge Miles

Another phrase you should be familiar with is “edge miles,” which is the name of the rewards earned on the Atlas credit card. This is in addition to the tiered system.

• One rupee is equal to one Edge Mile (which may be redeemed for lodging or travel).

• 1 edge mile equals 2 air miles

You may view Edge miles on the Edge Rewards Portal as well, where you may have seen the recent change to the “miles balance” section.

Benefits Axis Atlas Credit Card

• Membership fee: 5000 INR + GST
  
  
• A warm welcome: 5000 edge miles
  
  
• Renewal cost: 5000 INR plus GST
  
  
• Silver, gold, and platinum renewal benefits: 2500, 5000, and 10,000 edge miles, respectively (plat)
  
  
• Redemption: 1:1 on the travel edge portal for hotels, flights, and experiences (or) 1:2 from edge miles to transfer partners
  
  
• Rewards: 1/100 INR on any spend, 5/100 INR on airlines and the travel edge portal
  
  
• Airline Transfer Partners: Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Asia, and Vistara
  
  
• Benefits of milestone spending: $2500 ($3L), $5,000 ($7.5L), and $10,000 (15L spend)
  
  
• Lounge access (domestic): 8, 12, and 18 depending on the tier, shared with other guests.
  
  
• Lounge access (international): 4, 6, 12 depending on the tier; available to all visitors.
  
  
• Airport valet parking: two for gold, four for platinum
  
  
• Two airport transfers for platinum members
  
  
• For plat tier only, forex tons offer 2X incentives.

It’s excellent to have the lounge access restrictions openly disclosed among guests.

Axis Atlas Credit Card Product Specifics

• Axis Bank Edge Miles are earned in place of Reward Points.

• 5,000 Edge Miles, which are worth Rs. 5,000, when you sign up for the card.

• 5 Edge Miles for every Rs. 100 spent on travel using the card.

• For every Rs. 100 spent on foreign transactions, earn 2 Edge Miles.

• One Edge Mile for every Rs. 100 spent with the card on other categories.

• The card comes in three membership tiers: silver, gold, and platinum.

• Bonus Edge Miles when using the card to reach certain expenditure thresholds.

• Free airport concierge service

 • Free access to domestic and international airport lounges.

Rewards and Advantages of Axis Atlas Credit Card

Welcome Benefits – 5,000 Edge Miles in welcome bonuses are earned after three transactions within 60 days of the card’s activation.

Movie & Dining – Up to 20% off movie tickets and dining at a participating restaurant through the Dining Delights program of Axis Bank.

Rewards Rate – Rewards Rate for every Rs. 100 spent on travel, 2 Edge Miles are earned, and 1 Edge Mile is earned for every Rs. 100 spent on foreign exchange.

Reward Redemption – Rewards Redemption Edge Miles are transferable to partner airlines’ frequent flier program to be redeemed for hotel and airfare reservations.

Travel – Access to the airport lounge is free, and there is a free airport concierge service.

Golf – N/A

Access to Domestic Lounge – 8 each year for Silver Tier, 12 each year for Gold Tier, and 18 each year for Platinum Tier

Access to a global lounge – 4 annually for Silver Tier, 6 annually for Gold Tier, and 12 annually for Platinum Tier

Insurance Benefits – N/A

Zero Liability Protection – N/A

Charges & Fees -Rs. 5,000 in joining fees (plus applicable taxes)

Renewal Fee – Fee for renewal: Rs. 5,000 (plus applicable taxes)

Spend based Waiver – N/A

Fee for Redeeming Reward – Zero

Foreign Exchange Surcharge – 3.5% of the deal’s total value

Interest Rates – 3.6% per month (or 52.86% annually) in interest rates

Surcharge for Fuel – 1% of the fuel levy for transactions between Rs. 400 and Rs. 4,000 is waived (capped at Rs. 400 pm)

Cash Advance Charge – 2.5% of the withdrawal amount is the cash advance charge (subject to min charge of Rs. 500)

No Additional Card Fee – Nil

Yearly benefit – Once the yearly card renewal cost is paid, you begin receiving Bonus Edge Miles on your Atlas Credit Card. For each tier of card membership, a variable number of Bonus Miles are awarded as an annual reward. Upon paying the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card renewal fees, 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 Bonus Edge Miles are applied to the Silver, Gold, and Platinum Tier Membership, respectively.

Milestone Advantages – The bank has established a certain spending limit for each tier. Spend the required amount to reach that milestone, and you will be credited with Bonus Edge Miles appropriate to your tier. When you use your Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card and meet the spending requirements, you receive Bonus Edge Miles. The milestone spend amount for Silver Tier Membership is Rs. 3 lacs, and Bonus Edge Miles is Rs. 2,500; for Gold Tier Membership, it is Rs. 7.5 lacs and Bonus Edge Miles are Rs. 5,000. The milestone spend requirement for Platinum Tier Membership is Rs. 15 lacs, and 10,000 Bonus Edge Miles will be credited.

Travel Advantage – You receive free airport concierge service as well as access to domestic and international airport lounges.

Access to the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card Lounge – For card members in various levels of membership, the lounge access benefit varies. The free domestic and international airport lounge visit privilege that you receive with your Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card.

Concierge Services at Airports – Members of the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card’s Gold and Platinum tiers are entitled to free concierge service once a year. Members of the Silver tier are not eligible for this service.

Airport Pickup Service – Airport Pickup Service Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card Platinum cardholders are entitled to two free airport pickups per year. Gold and Silver Tier members are not eligible for the airport pickup service bonus.

Dining Advantages – If you use your Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card to pay for your meal, you may take advantage of up to a 20% discount at more than 4,000 participating restaurants through the Dining Delights Program of Axis Bank.

Rewards Redeeming – The Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card offers two ways to redeem Edge Miles: through the Axis Bank Travel Edge Portal when purchasing airline tickets or hotel rooms.

• Transfer the Edge Miles on the card to the frequent flier program of affiliated airlines. The following table shows how much Edge Miles is worth when redeemed for Miles from various partner airlines’ frequent flier programs.

Waiver of Fuel Surcharge – Receive a 1% discount off the fee that is applied to fuel purchases between Rs. 400 and Rs. 4,000. A monthly waiver cap of Rs. 400 can be earned.

Fees & Charges for the Axis Bank Atlas Card – The following are the most significant fees associated with the Atlas credit card that applicants should take into account:

• The renewal and application fees for the card are Rs. 5,000 plus taxes.

• The card’s finance charges are 3.6% each month.

• The Axis Bank Atlas Card’s foreign exchange markup cost is 3.5% of the entire transaction value.

• A cash advance fee of 2.5% of the amount (minimum Rs. 500) is applied to any cash withdrawal made using an Atlas Card.

Necessary Documents Required

The following paperwork must be submitted with an application for the Axis Bank Atlas credit card:

• A duplicate PAN card.

• A passport-size photograph.

• Identification documents such as a passport, driver’s license, Aadhar card, voter ID, etc.

• Address verification, such as utility bills, a passport, an Aadhar card, etc.

• Current bank statements, pay stubs, or an ITR is acceptable forms of proof of income.

Welcome Advantages

5,000 EDGE Miles are offered as a welcome bonus with the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card after three transactions within 60 days of card activation. When compared to the introductory incentives provided by credit cards like the Air India SBI Signature and Citi PremierMiles, 5,000 EDGE Miles can be thought of as a respectable welcome bonus, but not particularly outstanding. While Citi Premiermiles offers 10,000 miles for making the first payment of more than Rs. 1,000 within 60 days of card activation, Air India SBI Signature offers 20,000 reward points as a welcome bonus.

Milestone Advantages

Depending on the amount spent, the card delivers milestone advantages for each tier (silver, gold, and platinum). The maximum number of EDGE Miles that a cardholder may get as a milestone benefit is 10,000, and only platinum members are eligible. The maximum number of EDGE Miles that the other two members, gold and silver, can get as milestone incentives is 5,000 and 2,500, respectively. Given the extremely large spending restriction associated, these milestone benefits don’t seem to be all that advantageous. For instance, a platinum member must spend a minimum of Rs. 15,00,000 each year to earn 10,000 EDGE Miles.

Reward Advantages

Users of the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card receive exclusive incentive perks. Cardholders can earn 5X Miles for every Rs. 100 spent on airline reservations made through MCC: 3000-3299 and on the Axis Bank Travel EDGE Portal. All other purchases, excluding those made through the Axis Bank Travel EDGE Portal and airline reservations, are eligible to earn 1x EDGE Miles. The nicest thing about earned EDGE Miles is that thanks to Axis Bank’s Miles transfer service, they may also be converted to partner miles. Even better than Citi Premiermiles, a well-known travel credit card, where 4 miles are equal to 2 Air miles, Axis Bank offers the value of 1 EDGE Mile as 2 partner miles.

The Atlas credit card benefits from this characteristic, which also provides it an advantage over other credit cards in the same category.

Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card Restrictions

The Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card has the following restrictions:

• There are no additional benefits in other categories, such as shopping and entertainment

• Concierge services are only available to Gold and Platinum members

• There is no requirement for the annual fee waiver

• Platinum members only receive 2 complimentary airport pick-up services.

How Do I Get an Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card?

If you want to apply for the Atlas credit card in person, you may do so by going to an Axis Bank location in your city and filling out the necessary paperwork. Alternatively, you can apply for the card online by using the instructions below:

• Go to the official Axis Bank website.

• Select “Cards” from the list of products under “Explore.”

• Click on “Credit Cards” now.

•To apply now, locate the “Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card” and click it.

Final observations

Overall, an excellent device at this price provided you play the mile’s game. Even if not, it’s a good card for routine hotel/flight redemptions. Additionally, it has a ton of features that you would typically only see on a card with a 10K or 50K price.

The actual strength of this card will become apparent once it has more transfer “partners,” as that is its key USP.

In addition to regular rewards, it would be AMAZING if the tier advantage came with a higher gain rate, such as 50% more for gold and 100% more for plat.

You now have a lot of options with the debut of Atlas because Axis Magnus is so rewarding with the new bonuses!

While Atlas is excellent, I hope Axis develops a new super premium air-miles product, perhaps one that offers airport services and has 4x fee, 4x benefits, and 1:4 transfer partners, similar to Citi Prestige. India urgently needs that, as Citi Prestige could go at any moment.

Bottom-Line

If you frequently travel abroad, the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card would be a wise choice for you. In addition to offering complimentary access to international airport lounges and an accelerated reward rate on foreign exchange transactions, the card also allows you to transfer the Edge Miles you earn there to the frequent flyer programs of partner airlines. The card may be a decent substitute for the Axis Bank Miles & More Credit Card, a different travel credit card from the bank that is appropriate for overseas travelers.

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