Axis Bank has very many premium and super premium credit cards and also the Atlas Credit Card which serves as a starter for those exploring the world of airmiles.

Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card is one of a kind, quite unique the way it works but at the same time looks complicated for most. That said, here’s a simple guide to help you understand it better and use it effectively, if you choose to apply for one.

Overview

Table Of Content

• Eligibility
• Fees
• Rewards
• Milestone Benefits
• Membership Tiers
• Rewards Redemption
• Other Key Benefits and Charges
• Dining Benefits
• Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
• Pros and Cons
• Final Thoughts

Eligibility

Fees

Rewards

Excluded spends for milestone benefit along with respective MCCs:

• Wallet: 6540
• Rent: 6513
• Gold/ Jewellery: 5094, 5944
• Insurance: 6300, 6381, 5960, 6012, 6051
• Government Institutions: 9222, 9311, 9399, 9402
• Utilities: 4814, 4816, 4899, 4900
• Fuel: 5541, 5542, 5983

Milestone Benefits

Assuming you’re able to do “regular” spends of 15 Lakhs, you’ll get 40,000 Edge Miles (30K+10K) that can be easily valued at 80,000 INR (like with ITC) or even ~1,44,000 INR (Accor & airline sweet spots), with an amazing reward rate.

Do note that the excluded MCC’s for earning regular Edge Miles are applicable for Milestone benefit as well.

Membership Tiers

Rewards Redemption

There are multiple options to redeem edge miles, broadly divined into two, as below:

• Redeem on Travel Edge portal: 1:1 (for flights/hotels)
• Transfer Edge miles to airline/hotel partners

While redeeming on travel edge portal is the super simple option with a static value, we don’t get great value there.

Instead, one can transfer the points to airlines and hotels and get pretty good value. Here’s a quick look at the transfer ratio.

The transfer ratio is 1:2 across all airlines & hotels, except for Marriott Bonvoy which is at 2:1.

So it’s not wise to transfer these points to Marriott from Atlas Credit Card.

If you’re into Marriott, you can however transfer your points to ITC and then to Marriott (2 ITC points = 3 MB points), but this is limited to 10K points per quarter or so.

Other Key Benefits and Charges

• Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% Waiver for Fuel Transactions Between ₹400 and ₹4,000 (Capped at ₹400 Per Statement Cycle)
• Foreign Currency Markup: 3.5% + GST ~4.1%
• Interest Rates: 3.75% Per Month (55.55% Annually)

Dining Benefits

You can avail of discounts of up to 25% up to ₹800 at partner restaurants via EazyDiner. Offer valid twice per month on a minimum order value of ₹2500.

Complimentary Airport Lounge Access

So, as you see above, the good news about the Atlas Card is that we can avail of complimentary lounge access for both the primary cardholder and guests, just like the Axis Reserve Credit Card.

However, note that sometimes you might be charged for the guests (glitch). If that happens, just email them requesting the reversal, just in case the charges are not auto reversed, as confirmed by Axis customer support.

Pros and Cons

Final Thoughts

Overall, Axis Bank’s Atlas Credit Card is a wonderful card at this fee range and has the ability to earn miles that can give a return on spend as good as ~7% (like Accor), which is in par with India’s long-standing best travel credit card: Amex Platinum Travel.

Axis Atlas Credit Card

Overall Rating