The online travel portal Ixigo and AU Bank have announced the launch of a co-branded travel credit card. The Ixigo AU Bank credit card comes with a joining and annual fee of Rs 999+GST. The annual fee is waived on spends of Rs 1 Lakh. With the Ixigo AU card, you get 10% off on flights and hotel bookings from Ixigo, along with lounge access at domestic and international airports and railway stations. Another USP of this card is the zero forex markup on international transactions.
Fees
| Joining Fee | Rs 999+GST ~Rs 1179 |
| Joining Fee Waiver | On spends of Rs 1000 within 30 days |
| Welcome Benefit | 1000 reward points and Rs 1000 Ixigo Money ~Rs 1200 Value |
| Annual Fee | Rs 999+GST ~Rs 1179 |
| Annual Fee Waiver | On spends of Rs 1 Lakh |
Keeping the fee at Rs 999 is a good move. It makes sure there is active usage of the card for getting the rewards and benefits. But, let us see if the rewards and benefits are in line with the fee.
Benefits on Ixigo
| Type | Benefit | Cap | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flights | 10% off | Rs 1000 | IXIGOCCFLY |
| Hotels | 10% off | Rs 1000 | IXIGOCCSTAY |
| Bus | 10% off | Rs 300 | IXIGOCCBUS |
| Trains | Zero PG charges | NA | NA |
- The offer for flights, hotels and buses is valid once per calendar month
- The offer for zero payment charges on trains is valid twice per calendar month
Capping the usage of discount to once per month is good enough for personal spends. But, we would not consider this a key differentiating benefit. The simple reason is other travel portals like MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip etc. also run similar offers with many credit card issuers. So, you can always get LTF credit cards to avail these benefits and in some cases for more than once per month.
Ixigo AU Credit Card Rewards
| Spend Category | Rewards | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Ixigo Train Bookings | 20 RP/Rs 200 | 2% |
| Online Spends | 10 RP/Rs 200 | 1% |
| Offline Spends | 5 RP/Rs 200 | 0.5% |
| Fuel, Rent, Insurance, Jewellery, Wallet | No Rewards | Zero |
This is where the Ixigo AU credit card loses out a little. For a Rs 999 annual fee card, the rewards should be a little better. It should have been at least 1% on offline spends and 2% on online spends.
Rewards Redemption
The reward points can be redeemed on the AU Rewardz portal. Each reward point for Ixigo AU credit card is worth Rs 20 paise.
- 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
This is one of the good benefits of the Ixigo AU credit card. It offers 8 complimentary visits each to domestic airport lounges and railway lounges. The domestic airport and railway lounge access is also available to add on cards.
- Domestic Airport Lounge Access: 8 complimentary visits/year
- International Airport Lounge Access: 1 complimentary visits/year
- Railway Lounge Access: 8 complimentary visits/year
Zero Forex Markup
It is good to see more entry-level credit cards coming up with the zero forex markup feature. The Ixigo AU credit card joins this league with zero forex markup. International transactions are not excluded from rewards, so they will continue to get 0.5% to 1% rewards based on online/offline transactions.
Other Key Benefits and Charges
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% surcharge waiver for fuel transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 5000
- Reward Redemption Charges: Rs 99+GST
Final Thoughts
The Ixigo AU credit card is a pretty good offering in its current form. While, the rewards are somewhat on the lower side, it is still worth taking it for the Ixigo platform benefits, zero forex markup and lounge access.
AU Bank only issues one credit card per customer. So, if you already have some other variant like Zenith+ you cannot get this one. Hopefully this changes in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ixigo AU Credit Card
4 thoughts on “Ixigo AU Credit Card”
How do we apply for add on cards? Can’t seem to find this.
You can get them only offline in the branches as of now.
Which all countries does Ixigo AU Credit Card does not work in?
No such restrictions