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Offer Fulfilled! I would like to share my two-year experience with the Airtel Axis Bank credit card.

The offer has been fulfilled by the bank/company.

Dr.Anand456

TF Select
Finally, today I closed my 2-year-old Airtel Axis Bank credit card, and I am very happy with my decision. Today, I want to share some insights about this card that you won't find anywhere else.

1st Point: Many people think that getting an Airtel Axis Bank credit card is very difficult, but that’s not true. I got this card approved within just 30 seconds while talking to customer care on a call. You just need to be eligible for this card through the Airtel Thanks app. If you see the option to apply for this card there and you already have an Axis Bank card, you can directly call customer care and apply. If eligible, your card will be approved on the call itself. This was the case at least for the first few months after launch. You can try your luck too. When applying directly through the Airtel app, the application is often either rejected or incomplete. So, it’s always a good idea to confirm with customer care before applying. Now, you can also apply directly through the website and Axis Bank app. I was among the few selected customers who were offered this card first.

2nd Point:
This point is for those who say that you can't save much with this card. Over more than 2 years, I saved around ₹10,000 each year on average. This was through just two types of transactions: Airtel services payments and Swiggy orders.

3rd and Most Important Point: Bugs and Devaluation: This card is excellent, especially if you use Airtel services or frequently order food online. In such cases, no other card offers such good cashback. However, due to some bugs and recent devaluations, this card is not as great as it used to be. Still, it’s a good option for many people. The main problem is with cashback - no matter how hard you try, you don’t get the proper cashback every month. Sometimes you get 10% instead of 25%, or 1% instead of 10%. Sometimes the cashback is short by ₹20-100. Axis Bank has not been able to fix these bugs yet. The only way to get the proper cashback is to call customer care and complain. In my entire journey, I didn’t get proper cashback for 6 months. Recently, for the month of April, I only received half of the cashback. If you have or want to get this card, you should be aware of these issues.

Now, why did I close this card?
The first reason is that I already have three Axis Bank cards: Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card, Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card , and Samsung Infinite Credit Card, with a total credit limit of ₹1.32 lakh. I couldn’t properly utilize all the cards. I even tried to increase the limit, but Axis Bank didn’t approve it. Now, I want to get a core credit card from Axis Bank. Until now, I only had co-branded cards from Axis Bank. Lastly, I now have an SBI Cashback Credit Card and an HDFC Swiggy Credit Card, both of which are lifetime free, and 26 other credit cards. So, I don’t need this one anymore.This was my experience. Did you already know all these things? Please share your feedback to help new users. Thanks for reading.
 
Finally, today I closed my 2-year-old Airtel Axis Bank credit card, and I am very happy with my decision

I closed it in 11 months, just before renewal. Switched to Neo RuPay / Zomato. Increased Airtel prices brought indirect devaluation (in addition to direct devaluation).

Update: my usage pattern also changed since I obtained the card. I find more value elsewhere at the moment. Basically, YMMV.
 
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Not exactly correct. My first card from them was an Airtel card - n they gave me a limit of 3.5L which later increased to 4.2L (without asking). After many months, I took their Ace card recently. May not need any more from them (as of now - till 12/2024).
How is your Experience With Ace? And what is its use case for you?
 
I closed it in 11 months, just before renewal. Switched to Neo RuPay / Zomato. Increased Airtel prices brought indirect devaluation (in addition to direct devaluation).
Bro for Airtel you also get 10%cashback when compared with ace card which is having only 5% for non-airtel operators. Airtel credit card is best always
 

9% return if you utilize 10% and 13% return if you utilize both 25% + 10%.
 

9% return if you utilize 10% and 13% return if you utilize both 25% + 10%.
Didn't get you???
 
This card is very useful if you use Airtel services; otherwise, it may not be as beneficial. I have already mentioned this in my detailed review.

It's still useful even if you don't use Airtel services, provided you use platforms like BigBasket, Swiggy, or Zomato. You can still benefit from the card if you utilize it for utilities and grocery/food services.

The card offers three major benefits:
  1. Airtel services
  2. General utility payments
  3. BigBasket/Swiggy/Zomato
Any combination of two services can provide great value, >7%, even after fees (card benefits). There aren't many cards that offer such a high reward rate.

Cons (as you mentioned):
  • Inconsistent cashback crediting (though you can escalate issues and eventually get the cashback, it’s still an unnecessary hassle due to poor service).
However, when compared to other cards like Flipkart or SamInfinity, this one provides a higher net return percentage. SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy cards don't offer similar benefits for utilities or grocery, where this card provides up to 10%.

If you're considering card closure, I'd personally prefer Flipkart or SamInfinity over Airtel because those are redundant with SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy. But ultimately, it depends on your needs and preferences.

Still, as mentioned earlier, this card is not solely for Airtel services. Even without Airtel, you can get over 7% returns on ₹1.2L annual spends.
 
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It's still useful even if you don't use Airtel services, provided you use platforms like BigBasket, Swiggy, or Zomato. You can still benefit from the card if you utilize it for utilities and grocery/food services.

The card offers three major benefits:
  1. Airtel services
  2. General utility payments
  3. BigBasket/Swiggy/Zomato
Any combination of two services can provide great value, >7%, even after fees (card benefits). There aren't many cards that offer such a high reward rate.

Cons (as you mentioned):
  • Inconsistent cashback crediting (though you can escalate issues and eventually get the cashback, it’s still an unnecessary hassle due to poor service).
However, when compared to other cards like Flipkart or SamInfinity, this one provides a higher net return percentage. SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy cards don't offer similar benefits for utilities or grocery, where this card provides up to 10%.

If you're considering card closure, I'd personally prefer Flipkart or SamInfinity over Airtel because those are redundant with SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy. But ultimately, it depends on your needs and preferences.

Still, as mentioned earlier, this card is not solely for Airtel services. Even without Airtel, you can get over 7% returns on ₹1.2L annual spends.
Yes exactly. I have the same opinion. By the combination of utilities+Airtel product I can earn Rs 500 on an average per month. 2 months cashback can easily compensate the annual fee of 590. When compared with the ace card we need to do 5 times transaction than Airtel to get the cashback equally .
 
It's still useful even if you don't use Airtel services, provided you use platforms like BigBasket, Swiggy, or Zomato. You can still benefit from the card if you utilize it for utilities and grocery/food services.

The card offers three major benefits:
  1. Airtel services
  2. General utility payments
  3. BigBasket/Swiggy/Zomato
Any combination of two services can provide great value, >7%, even after fees (card benefits). There aren't many cards that offer such a high reward rate.

Cons (as you mentioned):
  • Inconsistent cashback crediting (though you can escalate issues and eventually get the cashback, it’s still an unnecessary hassle due to poor service).
However, when compared to other cards like Flipkart or SamInfinity, this one provides a higher net return percentage. SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy cards don't offer similar benefits for utilities or grocery, where this card provides up to 10%.

If you're considering card closure, I'd personally prefer Flipkart or SamInfinity over Airtel because those are redundant with SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy. But ultimately, it depends on your needs and preferences.

Still, as mentioned earlier, this card is not solely for Airtel services. Even without Airtel, you can get over 7% returns on ₹1.2L annual spends.
I didn’t have the option to close the Flipkart card because I had taken a loan against it, otherwise, I would have closed that one. The most important factor is the credit limit of a card, and in my case, it was very low. For me, it was essential to use an Axis Bank core card for some time to increase my credit limit. Another important point is that I had completely switched from Airtel to Jio, so at that time, closing the Airtel card seemed like the better option.

I never said the card wasn’t good; in fact, I explained it well. I mentioned who might find this card the best option and who might find it average. My biggest issue with Axis Bank is that you can only hold a maximum of three cards, and their co-branded cards are often better than the core ones. It ultimately depends on the user to decide which card is more important for them.

In the future, once my Axis Bank cards have a better credit limit and if I switch back to Airtel, I will likely get the Airtel card again. The card isn't bad; it just had a few bugs earlier, which have mostly been fixed now. It also depends on the individual how much they can save with this card. Personally, I have saved an average of ₹1,000 per month with this card, so I know its full potential.
 
In USA, Airtel is charging Rs 25/- for each outgoing SMS - If you do not have any IR pack activated. Incoming SMS is free. Outgoing n incoming calls are prohibitively expensive.

Jio is charging ONLY Rs 2/- for each outgoing SMS. No need of any IR pack. Incoming SMS is free. Jio's outgoing n incoming call rates are also very cheap. Just Rs 2/- per minute to/from any US/Indian number.

Jio wins handsdown here in USA market.
 
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