It’s interesting that two big banks, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have credit cards with the same name: Privilege. But even though they share the same name, these two cards are quite different in what they offer. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card. It’s a mid-level card that used to come with a ₹1,500 annual fee. But now, Axis Bank is offering it as a Lifetime Free credit card for a limited time, making it a better deal than before. If you want a card with airport lounge access, reward points, and extra benefits on spending, this might be a good option to consider.
Fees
| Joining Fee | NIL for Priority customers |
| Welcome Benefit | 12500 EDGE RP ~₹2500 Value 6250 EDGE RP for Priority customers ~₹1250 Value |
| Annual Fee | |
| Renewal Benefit | 3000 EDGE Reward Points if fee is paid ~₹600 Value |
| Annual Fee Waiver |
Axis Bank has started excluding multiple categories like government services, utilities etc. from spends eligible to be included for annual fee waiver. This makes it a lot more difficult to get annual fee waiver.
Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card Rewards Structure
| Spend Category | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Retail Spends | 10 EDGE RP/₹200 ~1% return |
| Rent, Wallet, Fuel, Insurance, Govt. Services, Utilities, Fuel, Education, Gold/Jewellery | No Rewards |
- 10 EDGE Reward Points for every Rs 200 spend ~1% to 2% return
While the base reward rate is low, we have Axis Bank Grab Deals to get a higher return on spending. The portal offers up extra cashback or bonus EDGE RP depending on the partner.
Milestone Benefit
- Get 10,000 EDGE RP on spends of ₹2.5 Lakh in a card anniversary year
- Value: ₹2000 when redeemed for Amazon Pay or Flipkart GV
- Bonus Return: 0.8%
- Spends done on government services, utilities, gold/jewellery, rent, wallet, insurance, fuel and educational services will not be eligible for milestone benefit.
Rewards Redemption
The rewards can be redeemed from the Axis Bank EDGE Rewards Portal. Each EDGE RP is worth 20 paise for these redemption options. We have Amazon and Flipkart gift vouchers for redemption.
Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
- Domestic Airport Lounge Access: 8 visits/year
- International Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
Axis Bank Privilege credit card offers 8 complimentary airport lounge visits in India per calendar year. So, if you are an occasional domestic traveler this card can help you with lounge access. The list of participating lounges is limited to a few cities – Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The details are available over here.
Axis Bank Privilege 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 Benefits and Charges
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% waiver on transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 4000. Maximum fuel surcharge waiver of Rs 400 per statement cycle.
- Foreign Currency Transaction Markup: 3.5%+GST ~4.1%
- Finance Charges: 3.6% per month
Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card: Pros & Cons
Pros
- Decent welcome bonus
- Domestic airport lounge access (8/year)
- Good milestone benefit (₹2.5L spend → ₹2,000 reward)
- Access to Axis Grab Deals for bonus rewards
Cons
- Too many exclusions for fee waiver & milestone rewards
- No international lounge access
- High forex markup
- Multi-brand voucher redemption discontinued
Final Thoughts
If most of your credit card spending is on regular retail purchases—and not on excluded categories like rent, insurance, utilities, fuel, or government services—then the Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card can still offer moderate value, especially for those who travel within India occasionally. With 8 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits per year and a milestone benefit on ₹2.5 lakh annual spending, the card provides a decent mix of travel and reward benefits.
Previously, the ₹1,500 annual fee made the card a tough sell, especially after Axis Bank removed popular redemption options like multi-brand gift vouchers and added stricter rules for milestone and fee waiver eligibility. These changes reduced the overall appeal of the card.
However, the recent Lifetime Free (LTF) offer changes the equation. With no annual fees to worry about, the card becomes a much more attractive option for users who can take advantage of the rewards, lounge access, and Grab Deals platform—without worrying about recovering the fee value each year. While it may not be the best in its segment anymore, the LTF version makes it a solid pick for casual users who want useful perks at no ongoing cost.
For those looking for simple rewards or cashback, alternatives like SBI Cashback or Amazon Pay ICICI offer better value and fewer complications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card
14 thoughts on “Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card Now Lifetime Free – Is It a Good Deal?”
As we know in miles transfer we got maximum value,
So can I transfer the earned (for New Card 12500 EDGE Reward Points+Other Earnings) EDGE Reward Points to ACCOR?
Yes, we can. You can even get Magnus and take advantage of the 5:4 transfer ratio.
I have Axis My Zone Card Currently and have offered to Upgrade to Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card.
What is the transfer ratio in Privilege Credit Card in ACCOR transfer?
If you are looking for a transfer to Accor, get Magnus. The value you will get will easily compensate the fee.
When it says 5X using grab deals so is this as good as 5% cashback of Flipkart cc ? What will be the end value for edge : money
This is already mentioned in the article under Rewards section.
Hi – Can we also buy Big Basket or Amazon pay gift voucher for redeeming welcome benefit of 12500 Edge RP (5000 rs voucher) for axis privilege?
Only valid on the multi brand vouchers listed in the review
Can you please explain in depth about Multi-Brand Voucher.
If I only wish to redeem for Myntra only from Multi-Brand Voucher list does it allow also what will be the value 20ps or 40ps.
Yes, you can redeem entirely for Myntra. It will be 40 paise per EDGE RP.
can you please confirm as per axis bank website Multi brand vouchers are Milestone Benefit so to earn 40ps for edge rewards points one need to spend 2.5lacs.
This is not mentioned in the above review.
Any EDGE RP earned on the Privilege card can be redeemed for multi-brand vouchers as long as you have enough EDGE RP.
You mentioned that we can combine points we get from Magnus to get higher value vouchers – so, does it mean that we can also move the points obtained from privilege and transfer them to airline miles via magnus?
Yes, it shows up as one account when we go to points transfer.