AU Bank Zenith+ Credit Card

AU Bank has launched another premium offering above the existing Zenith card – AU Bank Zenith Plus credit card. AU Bank Zenith Plus credit card comes with a joining and annual fee of Rs 4999+GST. We get Rs 5000 worth of luxury gift vouchers in lieu of the joining fee. The card offers a reward rate of 1% to 2% with lifestyle benefits like airport lounge access, golf games and airport meet & greet. Read on for a detailed review of the new AU Bank Zenith+ credit card.

Fees

Interestingly even though it is named Zenith+, the fee is lower than that of Zenith. For now, AU Bank is not offering LTF Zenith+ for government/MCC employees. But, we are not expecting it to be offered LTF as it has got pretty good benefits.

Rewards

All Spends: 1 RP/Rs 100 ~1% Return
Travel and Dining Spends: 2 RPs/Rs 100 ~2% Return
International Spends: 2 RPs/Rs 100 ~2% Return
Excluded spends for rewards: Fuel and EMI transactions

For a premium card, the return is rather low. But the AU Bank Zenith+ credit card offers some good benefits. Zenith+ also has a low forex markup of 0.99% for international transactions. So, we get a positive return on international transactions net of forex fee.

AU Bank Zenith+ Credit Card Milestone Rewards

1000 RPs on spending Rs 75,000 in a statement month ~1.3% return
Complimentary Epicure Membership on Rs 12 Lakhs retail spends in a card anniversary year

Monthly milestone rewards are difficult to achieve. It would have been good if there was a yearly milestone benefit.

Rewards Redemption

The reward points can be redeemed on the AU Rewardz portal. Each RP is worth Rs 1.

Vouchers: Many options including Amazon Pay gift vouchers
Merchandise: Not recommended as we get a better value in other options
Mobile/DTH Recharge
Flight/Hotel/Bus booking
Movies

Complimentary Airport and Railway Lounge Access

Airport Lounges within India: 4 complimentary visits/quarter directly on the Visa card to this list of lounges. Access is valid for both primary and add-on cardholders.
Airport Lounges outside India: 4 complimentary visits/quarter with Priority Pass. Access is valid for both primary and add-on cardholders.

Complimentary Airport Meet and Greet

If you have got used to the complimentary airport meet and greet offered by Axis Magnus, the Zenith+ credit card offers it too. We get 1 complimentary meet and greet service per quarter. This is only valid for the primary cardholder. If there are accompanying guests, there is an extra charge for them. So, this would be useful only if you are travelling alone.

Other Benefits and Charges

Movie Tickets: 16 complimentary BOGO movie tickets per year (Max 4 per calendar quarter and cap of Rs 500 per ticket)
Golf: 8 complimentary golf lessons or games per year (Max 2 per calendar quarter)
Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% up to Rs 1000 per statement cycle
Forex Markup: 0.99%+GST ~1.17%

Final Thoughts

The AU Bank Zenith+ is a pretty good offering for a fee of Rs 4999+GST. Considering the joining and renewal benefit of 5000 RPs, the effective fee we pay for the card is around Rs 900. For this Rs 900, we get multiple benefits like airport lounge access, meet & greet, movie tickets and even golf games. All these benefits are complimentary.

Including the benefits, the AU Bank Zenith+ credit card is indeed a better offering than Zenith. We would recommend going for the upgrade from Zenith to Zenith+ if you get it.