Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card vs Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card- Which One to Pick?
Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card is a popular travel credit card by Citibank in the sub-premium segment. While the Atlas Credit Card by Axis Bank is a newly launched travel credit card by Axis Bank in the same category. Both the credit cards earn Reward Points as Miles that are either transferable to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs or can be redeemed for travel spends and offer very similar features and benefits to the cardholders. While Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card comes with a membership fee of Rs. 3,000 per annum, the newly launched Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card comes with a membership fee of Rs. 5,000 per annum.
Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card
The premierMiles credit card by Citibank is one of the best generic (not co-branded) travel credit cards currently available in India. The card, as mentioned earlier, is offered in the sub-premium segment and comes with a membership fee of Rs. 3,000 per annum (plus GST). As it is a travel credit card, you earn Reward Points as (Citibank) Miles of the PremierMiles Credit Card. Apart from earning Miles, the card also offers a number of additional benefits such as complimentary domestic/international airport lounge access, complimentary insurance cover, dining benefits and many more. Some of the key features of Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card are as under-
- 10,000 Miles as a welcome gift on the expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 1,000 within 60 days of card issuance and 3,000 Miles as an annual benefit every year the card’s membership is renewed.
- 4 Miles per Rs. 100 spent with Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card.
- Accelerated 10 Miles per Rs. 100 spent with the card on airline transactions on the bank’s premeir Miles redemption portal
- The Miles earned are redeemable for AirMiles of partner airlines and Intermiles (1 Mile = 0.5 partner airline’s AirMile/InterMile), travel portals like MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Goibibo, PremierMiles and Indigo (1 Mile = Rs. 0.45), utility- Vodafone, BookMyShow and retail spends- ShoppersStop, Westside and Dining, fuel spends at Indian Oil outlets (1 Mile = Rs. 0.30) and other categories of spends (1 Mile = Rs. 0.20).
- 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits per quarter with Visa Signature variant and 6 complimentary domestic lounge visits per quarter with MasterCard variant.
- Discount of up to 20% on dining bills at select Citibank partner restaurants.
- Personal air accident cover worth up to Rs. 1 crore and lost card liability cover worth Rs. 10 lakh.
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card
Axis Bank has recently launched the Atlas credit card . It is a sub-premium travel credit card by Axis Bank. Being a travel-centric credit card, the card earns you Reward Points as Miles which can be redeemed either for booking flights/hotels on the bank’s travel edge portal or can also be transferred to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs. The Atlas Credit Card comes with an annual fee of Rs. 5,000 and offers a number of travel benefits. Some of the key features of Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card are as under-
- You get 5,000 Miles worth Rs. 5,000 as a welcome gift on making three successful transactions with the card within 60 days of card issuance.
- The card earns you 5 Miles per Rs. 100 on travel spends, 2 Miles per Rs. 100 on transactions made in foreign currencies and 1 Mile per Rs. 100 on all other categories spends with the card.
- Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card offers three tiers of membership- Silver, Gold and Platinum. By default, a cardholder is a Sliver Tier member, they are upgraded to Gold Tier on a minimum annual expenditure of Rs. 7.5 lacs and Platinum Tier on a minimum annual expenditure of Rs. 15 lacs.
- The there tiers of the card membership differ in terms of the renewal benefit, milestone benefits and other benefits like airport lounge access.
- Silver Tier members get 2,500 Edge Miles annually, Gold Tier members get 5,000 Edge Miles annually and Platinum tier members get 10,000 Edge Miles every year as annual renewal benefit.
- Cardmembers get the annual renewal benefit as per the following table-
| Spend Milestone | No. of Edge Miles |
| Rs. 3 lacs | 2,500 |
| Rs. 7.5 lacs | 5,000 |
| Rs. 15 lacs | 10,000 |
- The Edge Miles earned on the Atlas Credit Card can be redeemed for booking flight tickets and hotel reservations via Axis Bank’s Travel Edge portal (1 Mile = Re. 1) and can also be transferred as AirMiles to frequent flyer programs of partner airlines (Air Asia, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Vistara and Turkish Airlines). The transfer ratio of Miles to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs is as per the table below-
| Airline’s Name | Conversion Rate (Edge Miles:Partner Miles) |
| Air France – KLM | 1:2 |
| IHG | 1:2 |
| Marriot International | 2:1 |
| Etihad Airways | 1:2 |
| Air Asia | 1:2 |
| Ethiopian Airlines | 1:2 |
| Turkish Airlines, ITC Hotels | 1:2 |
- You also get complimentary domestic and international airport lounge access, complimentary airport concierge service and complimentary airport pickup and drop off service with the card. The table below illustrates the number of domestic/international airport lunge access you get with the different tiers of the card membership-
| Membership Tier | No. of Domestic Airport Lounge Visits | No.of International Airport Lounge Visits |
| Silver | 8 | 4 |
| Gold | 12 | 6 |
| Platinum | 18 | 12 |
- You also get a discount of up to 20% at over 4,000 partner restaurants with Axis Bank’s Dining Delights program.
Quick Comparison
Now that you have gone through the key features and annual fees of both the credit cards, we will give a pointwise comparison between Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card and Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card for quick reference-
| Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card | Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card | |
| Reward Rate | 4 Miles per Rs. 100 on regular spends.10 Miles per Rs. 100 on airline transactions. | 5 Edge Miles per Rs. 100 on travel spends.2 Edge Miles per Rs. 100 on foreign currency transactions.1 Edge Mile per Rs. 100 on all other transactions. |
| Reward Redemption | Miles are redeemable for partner airline’s AirMiles, on travel portals, for utility, fuel and retail purchases, and other spends categories with varying redemption rates.1 Mile = 0.5 AirMile of partner airlines, 1 Mile = Rs. 0.45 for travel-related categories (on travel portals), 1 Mile = Rs. 0.30 for utility and fuel and retail categories and 1 Mile = Rs. 0.20 for other categories. | Edge Miles are redeemable for hotel/flight bookings via Axis Bank Travel Edge portal (1 Edge Mile = Re. 1).The Edge Miles can also be transferred to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs (see above for Miles conversion ratio). |
| Welcome/Renewal Benefits | Welcome gift of 10,000 Miles on the expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 1,000 within 60 days of card issuance.3,000 Miles every year the card membership is renewed. | 5,000 Edge Miles worth Rs. 5,000 on making 3 successful transactions within 60 days of card issuance. |
| Membership Tier | N/A | Silver Tier membership by default.Gold Tier membership on annual expenditure of Rs. 7.5 lacs.Platinum tier membership on annual expenditure of Rs. 15 lacs. |
| Milestone Benefits | N/A | 2,500 Edge Miles, 5,000 Edge Mils and 10,000 Edge Miles on annual expenditure of Rs. 3 lacs, 7.5 lacs and 15 lacs respectively. |
| Additional Benefits | Personal air accident cover worth Rs 1 crore and lost card liability cover worth Rs. 10 lakh.8 complimentary domestic lounge access per quarter with the Visa variant and 6 complimentary domestic lounge access per quarter with the MasterCard variant.Up to 20% discount at partner restaurants. | 18 domestic and 12 international airport lounge access for Platinum Tier members.12 domestic and 6 international airport lounge access for Gold Tier members.8 domestic and 4 international airport lounge access for Silver Tier members. |
| Membership Fee | Rs. 3,000 per annum | Rs. 5,000 per annum |
| Eligibility | No income-based criteria are explicitly specified by the bank. | No income-based eligibility criteria specified by the bank. |
The Verdict
Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card primarily targets domestic travelers. The Miles of the PrimierMiles Credit Card are redeemable not only for partner airlines’ AirMiles, but also at travel portals like MakeMyTrip and Yatra. Moreover, Citibank Miles can also be redeemed for booking movie tickets and at some of the popular retail store chains like Shoppers Stop and Westside. While Citibank PremierMiles Card does offer plenty of domestic airport lounge access, you do not get any complimentary international airport lounge access with the PremierMiles Credit Card.
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card is suitable for both domestic as well as international frequent flyers. The card offers an attractive reward rate of up to 5% on travel spends. The card Miles earned on the Atlas Credit Card are redeemable for flight and hotel bookings via the Travel Edge portal and also transferable to frequent flyer programs of partner airlines including Air Vistara and international flyers like Air Asia, Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines. As for as additional travel benefits are concerned, Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card offers up to 18 domestic and 12 international airport lounge access (depending upon your membership tier).
Given all the features and benefits offered by Citibank PremierMiles and Axis Bank Atlas credit cards, we can safely conclude that the PremierMiles credit card is best suited for domestic travels, while the Atlas Credit Card is best suited for frequent international flyers. You should make the choice accordingly and choose the card based on your needs.
