A few months ago, Axis Bank significantly changed Axis Magnus and Axis reserve cards. These charges were negative for the cardholders. However, such changes may have benefited another Axis Bank Credit Card. It is Axis Atlas Credit Card. It best fits into a miles and a true travel card. And has some great benefits. Let’s discover how good Axis Atlas Credit Card is.
Changes are coming to Axis Atlas Credit Card effective 20th April 2024. This review is yet to be updated for those changes. However, you can see what changes are coming here.
Axis Atlas Credit Card Overview
Here is a complete overview of the Axis Atlas Credit Card:
| Type | Travel Credit Card (Tier Based) |
| Joining Fees/Annual Fees | INR 5000 Plus Taxes |
| Welcome Benefits | 5000 Edge Miles |
| Renewal Fees | INR 5000 Plus Taxes |
| Reversal of Annual Fees | Not Applicable |
| Renewal Benefits | Tier Based: Silver: 2500 Edge Miles Gold: 5000 Edge Miles Platinum: 10000 Edge Miles |
| Forex Markup Charges | 3.5% Plus Taxes |
| Default Reward Rate | Airlines, Hotel & Travel Edge Sends: 5% Other Spends: 2% |
| Maximize Reward Earn By | Spending on Travelling |
| Redemption Maximization | Transfer Points to Partners |
| Stand Out Feature | 2x Miles Conversion Three Tier Benefits |
Tier System of Axis Atlas Credit Card
Before we provide further details, you must know about the Tier System of Atlas Credit card. Presently, there are three Tiers of Axis Atlas Credit Card. Based on the spending milestones, you are upgraded, downgraded or updated for the tier. Since there are tiers, you will most likely make the most of this card when you reach the highest tier.
Three Tier of Axis Atlas Credit Card is:
- Silver Tier
- Gold Tier
- Platinum Tier
Silver Tier will be mapped to your account whenever you apply for this credit card. To be upgraded to Gold Tier, you must spend INR 7.5 Lac in the card anniversary year. And, to be upgraded to Platinum Tier, you must spend INR 15 Lac cumulatively in the card anniversary year.
How Does Tier Change Work?
Axis Atlas’s lowest tier is Silver tier and remains so unless you spend INR 7.5 Lac in the card anniversary year. Once you spend INR 15 Lac in the card anniversary year, you will be upgraded to Platinum. These tiers are valid for two years unless you reach a higher tier.
Now, let’s move to more details.
Fees and Welcome/Renewal Benefits
An Axis Atlas Credit Card has Annual Fees of INR 5000+ taxes. This fee is not waived and will be charged every year. But you will receive 5000 Edge miles as a welcome benefit on the first spending transaction if the transaction is made within 30 days of card set-up. From 2nd year Onward, you will earn Edge miles based on your achieved tier. You will receive renewal benefits for the Silver Tier if you don’t achieve any tier.
Here are the Tier wise Renewal/Annual Benefits:
- Silver Tier: 2500 Miles.
- Gold Tier: 5000 Miles.
- Platinum Tier: 10000 Miles.
Welcome benefits are credited within 60 days from the date of card set-up and after completion of three transactions.
Edge Miles Earning on Axis Atlas Credit Card
Earning Edge miles on an Axis Atlas Credit Card is simple. If you like booking directly with hotels & airlines or using Travel Edge, you will earn 5 Edge miles for every INR 100, and other spending earn 2 Edge miles for every INR 100.
The following transactions don’t earn any edge miles:
- Wallet Recharge
- Insurance Spending of more than INR 5000
- Fuel Transactions with Fuel Surcharge Wavier
- Rent Transactions of more than INR 50K in a month.
Edge Miles on Travel Spends
You will earn 5 Edge miles on direct spending at Airlines, Hotels or Travel Edge. Spend anything on third-party websites like MakeMyTrip. You will receive the usual 2 Edge miles per INR 100 spent since spends are captured based on merchant code, and MakeMyTrip merchant code isn’t eligible.
Below Merchant codes are eligible for earning five edges miles:
- Airlines MCC: 3000- 3350 and 4511 (Airlines)
- Hotels MCC: 3501-3838 and 7011 (Hotels)
- Axis Bank TRAVEL EDGE Portal MID: VERNMAKRUPCYB21
Milestone Benefits on Axis Atlas Credit Card
Axis Bank knows milestone benefits can induce cardholders to spend more. So, they have introduced Milestone Benefits on the Axis Atlas Credit Card.
| Milestone (INR) | Benefit (Edge Miles) |
| 3,00,000 | 2,500 |
| 7,50,000 | 5,000 |
| 15,00,000 | 10,000 |
These milestones match with tier requirements for Gold & Platinum. That works as a notification that you have achieved a tier.
How much Edge Miles can you earn in a year?
You can earn at least 57,500 Edge miles if you are Platinum, and your spending excludes travel spending. That is great. Even 27,500 Edge miles on Spending of 7,50,000 is great.
| Tier | Spending (INR) | Annual Benefit (Edge Miles) | Milestone Benefit (Edge Miles) | Base Edge Miles | Total Edge Miles Earned |
| Silver | 3,00,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 | 6,000 | 11,000 |
| Gold | 7,50,000 | 5,000 | 7,500 | 15,000 | 27,500 |
| Platinum | 15,00,000 | 10,000 | 17,500 | 30,000 | 57,500 |
When transferred to other airlines or hotels except for Marriott, these miles will be doubled.
Base Reward Rate
As 1 Edge mile is equal to INR 1, the reward rate will be great. Here is how much reward rate you get based on 1 INR value:
| Tier | Spending (INR) | Total Edge Miles Earned | Reward Rate % |
| Silver | 3,00,000 | 11,000 | 3.67% |
| Gold | 7,50,000 | 27,500 | 3.67% |
| Platinum | 15,00,000 | 57,500 | 3.83% |
But I’m more interested in transferring Edge miles to Transfer Partners.
Transferring Edge Miles
The incredible thing about Axis Edge miles is that 1 Edge mile will be converted into 2 Points or Miles of transfer partner, except for Marriott. A conversion ratio of 1 Marriott Bonvoy Points for 2 Edge miles applies for Marriott. If you can earn a value of INR 1 from transferred miles, the reward rate will double.
| Partner | Program Name | Conversion Ratio | Credited In (Days) |
| Air Canada | Aeroplan | 1:2 | 1 |
| Air Asia | AirAsia rewards | 1:2 | 10 |
| Air India | Flying Returns | 1:2 | 5 |
| Accor | ALL | 1:2 | 5 |
| Air France-KLM | Flying Blue | 1:2 | 1 |
| Air Vistara | Club Vistara | 1:2 | 10 |
| Etihad Airways | Etihad Guest | 1:2 | 1 |
| Ethiopian Airlines | ShebaMiles | 1:2 | 10 |
| Japan Airlines | JAL | 1:2 | 14 |
| IHG Resorts and Hotels | IHG One Rewards | 1:2 | 1 |
| ITC | Club ITC | 1:2 | 10 |
| Marriott International | Marriott Bonvoy | 2:1 | 10 |
| Qantas | Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:2 | 1 |
| Qatar Airways | Privilege Club | 1:2 | 1 |
| Singapore Airlines | KrisFlyer | 1:2 | 10 |
| Spicejet | Spiceclub | 1:2 | 10 |
| Thai Airways | Royal Orchid Plus | 1:2 | 1 |
| Turkish Airlines | Miles & Smiles | 1:2 | 10 |
| United Airlines | United Mileage Plus | 1:2 | 1 |
| Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | Wyndham Rewards | 1:2 | 1 |
Last year, Atlas Card also had a Miles Transfer offer on transferring miles to Turkish Airlines. Presently, ITC is running a promotion with which you can earn 10% additional green points on transfer or 20K green points, that is, 10K edge miles. This promotion is valid till 15th Jan 2024.
Pro Tip: Use Club ITC for Transferring to Marriott
Transfer your Edge miles to Club ITC and then to your Marriott Bonvoy account to get a 1:3 conversion ratio instead of direct transfer with a conversion ratio of 2:1. That means you can get 90000 Marriott Bonvoy Points for your 30000 Edge miles instead of 15000 Marriott Bonvoy on direct transfer. However, ITC has put a quarterly cap of 15K Green Points conversion to Marriott.
Domestic & International Lounge Access
No Travel credit card is complete without decent lounge access. Axis Atlas is excellent for lounge access. Since you can take a guest, this will reduce the number of balance lounge visits available. Also, the number of visits is good and has no quarterly limit. Another great feature is that you can generate a QR from your Axis Bank mobile app and use that QR code to get lounge access. So you don’t have to carry your card every time for lounge access.
It doesn’t end there. As your tier is upgraded, you get more lounge access. I have not seen even one single card which gives this benefit.
| Tier | Domestic | International |
| Silver | 8 | 4 |
| Gold | 12 | 6 |
| Platinum | 18 | 12 |
Complimentary Concierge Services
You can use Complimentary Concierge Services at Airports. But it is only available from the Gold Tier or above.
| Tier | No. of Visits |
| Silver | 0 |
| Gold | 2 |
| Platinum | 4 |
This card doesn’t disappoint even here.
Airport Pickup Service
Here is another fantastic benefit of the Axis Atlas Credit Card. You don’t need a hefty Annual Fee credit card to enjoy Airport Pickup Service. You can get 2 Airport Pickup Services in a Luxury Car if you have reached the Platinum Tier.
Axis Atlas Credit Card vs Axis Magnus Credit Card
Axis has three HNI Credit Cards. It was worthwhile to compare Axis Magnus with Axis Atlas until July. Now, Axis Atlas stands tall and front in the line after Magnus Changes. While getting into Axis Atlas credit card details, I found it better at a few places than the Axis Magnus Credit Card. So, I decided to add a brief comparison between Axis Atlas Credit Card and Axis Magnus Credit Card, but it will purely be based on points and their conversion.
Meanwhile, the Axis Atlas has milestone benefits, and Axis Magnus has milestone spending-related accelerated benefits. The Axis Atlas Milestone benefit is small, but it makes a big difference due to their conversion of points.
Comparison
For Example, if you spend INR 7.5 Lac in a year and not more than INR 1.5 Lac in any month or on travel, you will earn 45000 converted miles on Axis Atlas against 36000 converted points on Axis Magnus. If you spend INR 15 Lac in a year with one month exceeding INR 2 Lac, you get 115000 Converted miles vs 38300 converted points. Even a Burgundy Account holder with Axis Magnus will get 76600 converted points.
Below are Table Summaries of converted miles and points:
| Spending (In INR) | Converted Axis Atlas Edge Miles | Axis Magnus Points [Converted] | Axis Magnus With Burgandy [Converted] |
| 7,50,000 | 55,000 | 18,000 | 36,000 |
| 15,00,000 | 1,15,000 | 36,000 | 72,000 |
| 7,50,000 (All Travel Spend) | 1,00,000 | 90,000 [Travel Edge Based] | 1,80,000 [Travel Edge Based] |
| 15,00,00 (All Travel Spend) | 2,05,000 | 1,80,000 [Travel Edge Based] | 3,60,000 [Travel Edge Based] |
Axis Atlas is a clear winner. It will be challenging to beat the Axis Atlas Credit card until you can get Magnus with Burgandy and some accelerated earnings. Also, 5 Edge miles on direct travel spent with Airlines or Hotels is an excellent benefit that Elite holders will love since you also get elite credits.
Apply For Axis Atlas Credit Card
Bottomline
Axis Atlas Credit Card is undeniably a great card. Since it has an excellent conversion on the transfer of miles. Also, the miles earned on direct travel spends are perfect. It can work well on a standalone basis if spending doesn’t exceed INR 1 Lac in any month. After changes of Axis Magnus, it does hold an edge over other cards. Even the Lounge Visit benefit and Airport Pickup are great. This card is an underdog which will rise and shine.
