Do you often book flights on domestic routes that Vistara operates on? Then, Vistara co-branded credit cards can be a quicker way to earn miles and free tickets. Axis and Vistara have three credit cards that offer complimentary tickets and CV points. The three variants come at different annual fee points and CV earn rates. Here is a review and comparison of the Axis Bank Vistara Platinum credit card.
Fees and Charges
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 1500 plus taxes
- Welcome and Renewal Benefit: 1 complimentary Economy ticket
- Activation Benefit: 1000 CV points for Rs 50000 spend in the first 90 days
- Renewal Fee Waiver: None
With soaring airfares, the price of the free economy ticket is definitely more than Rs 1500. The revenue price for that ticket would be between Rs 4000 to Rs 6000 depending on the route.
Rewards: Earn CV Points and Economy Tickets
- All Spends (except Wallet): 2 CV points/Rs 200 ~0.8% Return
- 1st Economy Ticket at Rs 1.25 Lakhs spend in a membership year
- 2nd Economy Ticket at Rs 2.5 Lakhs spend in a membership year
- 3rd Economy Ticket at Rs 6 Lakhs spend in a membership year
I have valued each CV point at 80 paise. In total, we get 6000 CV points and 3 Economy tickets for Rs 6 Lakhs spent.
Exclude Rewards Points Transaction
x Rent Payment
x Wallet load
Exclude Milestone Transaction
x Rent Payment
x Wallet load
Return on Spend
The price at which we can value the complimentary economy ticket depends on the route. I searched for two routes DEL-HYD and DEL-BOM and the cheapest economy tickets were priced at Rs 4801 and Rs 5536.
- Approximate Cost of Economy Ticket: Rs 5000
- Approximate Cost of Redemption for Taxes and Surcharges: Rs 1000
- Value of each complimentary economy ticket: Rs 4000
It is always possible to get a better value for the economy ticket. So we get CV points worth Rs 4800 and 3 Economy tickets worth Rs 12000, this is a return of Rs 16800 or 2.8%. Not bad for an entry-level airline card.
Get Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
We get 2 complimentary airport lounge visits per quarter to this list of lounges.
Final Thoughts
Vistara flies very limited routes in India. So, the Vistara co-branded cards make sense only if you reside in one of those cities. The 2.8% return on the card is ok but we can easily get cash-back credit cards that offer a similar return in cash. Some examples are Axis Bank Ace, Amazon Pay ICICI, and Flipkart Axis cards.
I would suggest exploring the higher variant Vistara co-branded cards to see if they are a better fit.
