Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card

Airtel Axis Bank credit card is a must-have if you have Airtel connections in your home, be it prepaid, post-paid, broadband or DTH. It comes at a joining and annual fee of Rs 500+GST. The annual fee is waived on Rs 2 Lakh spend. The cashback that Airtel Axis Bank credit card offers for this annual fee is something that no other cashback credit card can match. We get 25% cashback on Airtel recharges and bill payments with Airtel Thanks app. Utility bill payments get us 10% cashback. We also have preferred partners where we can get 10% cashback on spends.

Fees

The fees and annual fee waiver are good enough for an entry-level credit card. Airtel Axis Bank credit card is an invite-only card and we can apply it only from the Airtel Thanks app.

Cashback

The 25% cashback on Airtel recharges/bills and 10% cashback on utility bills are sure to attract a lot of Airtel customers. The caps are good enough for a family of 2-3 people. The 1% cashback on other spending is also good as this card can be used for all kinds of spending. The cashback is redeemed as statement credit.

Below spends will not get any cashback on the Airtel Axis Bank credit card:

Education
Fuel
Wallets
Jewellery
Government Payments
Insurance
Rent
Utility Bill payments outside Airtel Thanks app

Complimentary Airport Lounge Access

Airport Lounge Access in India: 4 visits/year
Airport Lounge Access outside India: Not Available

Airtel Axis Bank credit card offers 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits in India per calendar year. So, if you are an occasional domestic traveller this card can help you with lounge access. The list of participating lounges is limited to a few cities – Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune. The details are available over here.

Airtel Axis Bank credit card has a minimum spends requirement to get complimentary airport lounge access. We now need spends of Rs 50,000 over a rolling period of last 3 calendar months to get complimentary airport lounge access. For example, if you need to access the airport lounge on 10th of March, then you should have spent Rs 50,000 in the period from 1st of December to 28th of February.

Other Key Benefits & Charges

Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waiver for transactions between Rs 400 to Rs 4000. Maximum waiver is capped at Rs 500/statement.
Foreign Currency Markup: 3.5%+GST ~4.1%
Interest Rates: 3.6% per month

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card vs Other Cashback Credit Cards

If you have multiple cashback credit cards and want to know which is the best one for your spends, refer to our handy chart below. It has cashback percentage comparisons across multiple cashback credit cards to find the best one for your spends.

Maximizing cashback on Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card

While Airtel Axis Bank credit card annual fee waiver at Rs 2 Lakh spend, it is better to not target it and instead just maximize the cashback in each of the categories.

Maximize cashback cap for utility spends by spending Rs 2500/statement cycle
Maximize cashback for Airtel spends by spending Rs 1000/statement cycle

This takes our total spends in a membership year year to Rs 42,000 on these categories. The overall reward rate comes to an amazing 14%. Even if we pay the annual fee from second year onwards, the net reward rate comes to 13% which is still pretty great.

Final Thoughts

Axis Bank has some good entry-level cashback credit cards like the Flipkart Axis and Ace. The Airtel Axis Bank credit card joins that list. This card is ideal for Airtel customers who prefer cashback over reward points and miles.

For some, this might even be a better cashback card than Ace depending on your spending. If you use Airtel services and have up to Rs 2500 worth of utility spends, this card gives you better cashback than Ace. Ace is better in one area, with 1.5% cashback for all spends.

Frequently Asked Questions