Axis Atlas Atlas devaluation starting 20th December

[_ayush]

• Interest charges will be revised to 3.75% per month.
• The auto debit reversal or cheque return fee will be 2% of the payment amount, with a minimum fee of INR 500 and no maximum cap on the fee
• The fee for cash payments at branches will be revised to INR 175
• The current late payment fee structure continues to apply. An additional INR 100 charge will be levied if the 'Minimum Amount Due (MAD)' is not paid for two consecutive cycles and will apply until the MAD is cleared
• Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) markup will be revised to 1.5%
• Rent transactions will incur a 1% transaction fee with the cap of INR 1,500 removed
• INR 99 per redemption transaction on all redemptions
• INR 199 per redemption transaction for conversion/transfer of EDGE miles to other partner loyalty programs (e.g. Accor, Kris Flyer, United, Flying Returns, Club Vistara etc)
• A transaction fee of 1% will be applicable on education payments made via third-party apps. However, payments and transactions made directly through education institutional websites or their POS machines will not incur this fees
• Cumulative spends exceeding INR 10,000 on wallet loads, INR 50,000 on fuel, INR 25,000 on utilities, and INR 10,000 on online skill-based gaming platforms within a statement period will attract a 1% transaction fee

 

[jar89]

Infinia also charges convenience fees on flight redemption. Every redemption costs you around 500.

There are no charges for DCB and Infinia for redeeming points. It is there only for Regalia Gold and below.

 

[sgoyal9]

I applied for the card only yesterday. Today it got devalued. 🤭

 

[AnB]

Another round of devaluation on Axis atlas.
Key Points to consider:

1. Finance/Interest Charges raised from 3.6% to 3.75%
2. Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) markup fee raised from 1% to 1.5%
3. A reward redemption fee of Rs. 99 will be levied for each redemption transaction of EDGE REWARD points or EDGE Miles on the EDGE portal.
4. A fee of Rs. 199 will be levied for each instance of conversion/transfer of EDGEREWARD points or EDGE Miles to other miles partner loyalty programs.

Refer to https://axbk.in/AXISMR/XZzWqQdrS2H for more details.

What do you guys think about specifically points 4 (fee on points transfer)

 

[AnB]

There is no good alternative for atlas even after this devaluation if you are looking to spend on hotels. (would like to be corrected if there is 😉)

 

[sourpai]

yes but how is it different from redemption fees?

Thats because every portal, even direct airline booking portals charge you convenience fees now a days. So it is a common thing, not specific to smartbuy

 

[Indrajeet100]

My application was in process. Now it seems better to just leave it. As it is too complicated with even perfectly normal expenses excluded even for milestone. Strange is Axis, now saying charges for spending on so and so. When you don't even count these spends for either rewards or milestone, who is anyways spending on these from your card!! And I can see it is matter of time they would exclude even education spend, which I was targeting to move to Atlas. They have lost trust already and whatever left they are hellbent on losing it before this year ends.

 

[_ayush]

Thats because every portal, even direct airline booking portals charge you convenience fees now a days. So it is a common thing, not specific to smartbuy

If you check Skyscanner, smartbuy prices are usually higher. Best case they are same. Smartbuy charges convenience fees on top of that fare.

 

[sourpai]

If you check Skyscanner, smartbuy prices are usually higher. Best case they are same. Smartbuy charges convenience fees on top of that fare.

In my experience (and I have booked many flights till now), Smartbuy prices are not higher. Infact I have sometimes found lower prices on smartbuy since it shows prices from all 4 portals together. Skyscanner sometimes shows lower prices from some random portals apart from big 4-5, which I am not sure if anyone even books from. Always check the prices and compare on the last step before the payment

 

[_ayush]

Infact I have sometimes found lower prices on smartbuy since it shows prices from all 4 portals together.

What do you think skyscanner does?

It does show some random sites sometimes but I am talking about the same sites. eg - the price from cleartrip on smartbuy is higher compared to cleartrip through skyscanner. Best case both listing prices are same. The difference in listing is that Skyscanner shows final price meanwhile Smartbuy adds convinience fees on top of the listed price.

Talking about random sites, people do book from them. They are usually bulk buyers. If you buy from them, you will get the ticket after some time as they group several passengers in a single PNR thus offering higher discount (not sure how they get it).

 

[_ayush]

I am not justifying the move to add miles transfer fees from Axis. Just wanted to clarify that almost every other banks has this. Thats why they have their own rewards redemption portal. Otherwise they would have partnered with any aggregator and offered credits for that.

 

[sourpai]

What do you think skyscanner does?

It does show some random sites sometimes but I am talking about the same sites. eg - the price from cleartrip on smartbuy is higher compared to cleartrip through skyscanner. Best case both listing prices are same. The difference in listing is that Skyscanner shows final price meanwhile Smartbuy adds convinience fees on top of the listed price.

Talking about random sites, people do book from them. They are usually bulk buyers. If you buy from them, you will get the ticket after some time as they group several passengers in a single PNR thus offering higher discount (not sure how they get it).

Skyscanner only appears cheaper on main page. Next time when you do booking, please let us know what happens when you go till last page before final payment. For example, check below. And if you happen to have experience booking from portals like happyfares, bugeticket etc. do share reviews

 

[_ayush]

Skyscanner only appears cheaper on main page. Next time when you do booking, please let us know what happens when you go till last page before final payment. For example, check below. And if you happen to have experience booking from portals like happyfares, bugeticket etc. do share reviews

View attachment 75269

I see similar price for the same flight on smartbuy too for cleartrip, etc

A friend of mine booked from happyfares. He got the ticket in 5-6 hrs iirc. The pnr had bookings for a lot of people other than him. These sites do bulk booking and somehow get cheaper prices for that. Haven't tried it personally yet.

 

[rogerthat]

I don't really get the people complaining about the charged for education payments. You will not be charged if you are paying through the school website. Why do you insist on paying through thrid party apps? It's much more straightforward and rewarding to pay directly via the school/college website.

 

[JimCarrey]

I don't really get the people complaining about the charged for education payments.

Some rotate money via the education payment mode on apps like cred etc.. banks are only punishing these users.. Rewarding genuine education usages.

 

[borg]

I don't really get the people complaining about the charged for education payments. You will not be charged if you are paying through the school website. Why do you insist on paying through thrid party apps? It's much more straightforward and rewarding to pay directly via the school/college website.

some schools dont have this option, they ask to use bank portals like federalbank efee.

 

[navam]

I mean, theek hai, could have been much worse. Just thankful limits are untouched
Anyway end of year is coming so people would hopefully be transferring points since the limits reset every calendar year. Toh now they should do it before 20th dec

 

[mayankcse10]

some schools dont have this option, they ask to use bank portals like federalbank efee.

If I am not wrong, these portals count as direct payments. I pay school fees through HDFC's SmartHub and there are no extra charges.