Axis Bank NEO
Downgrade18% off a hotel every month, on a card that earns a tenth of a percent.
a year at ₹40,000 a month, after the fee
ChangesSkip the arithmetic — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
What it's worth to you, after the fee
Welcome: 100% cashback up to ₹300 on the first utility bill payment within 30 days of issuance — an activation benefit, not a points bonus
Priced on the everyday mix — 30% groceries · 10% utilities · 20% travel · 6% fuel · 34% everything else — with this card's published category rules applied: it earns nothing on utilities and fuel here, so that spend is dropped, not paid at the headline, and stops pacing milestones and the waiver. Plus milestones, minus the fee. No accelerator credit — the ranking model on /compare adds ~20% of spend at the card's best accelerator, so its ₹ for this card reads higher.
How these numbers are computed — and why the rankings show a bigger one →
Spend tiers, milestones and fee waivers included, at our house ₹/point. Portal and category multipliers can push higher — run your exact number →
Pays for itself at ₹25,000 a month
At ₹25,000 a month — ₹3,00,000 a year — on the everyday mix this card returns ₹300 gross (earn ₹300) against its ₹250 fee = ₹0 net — the first rung at or above ₹0. The ladder runs in ₹1,000 steps to ₹1,00,000 a month and ₹10,000 steps to ₹5,00,000; figures are rounded to the hundred, and the accelerator is never credited.
2 notes on the card itself: how it is issued · why it ranks #190
Why #190 Ranked last of the Axis entry shelf on earn, and it deserves to be — one EDGE REWARD Point per ₹200, redeemed at ₹0.20, is a tenth of a percent. It is on the board at all for the Cleartrip tie-up it shares with My Zone: 18% off a hotel booking, capped at ₹4,000, every month. That is a bigger travel benefit than most ₹5,000 cards hand a reader, and it comes without a lounge or a usable currency behind it.
NEO redeems EDGE REWARD Points at ₹0.20, half the ₹0.40 house value — the rate Axis's own value charts print for every card in this bucket, and the rate its NEO chart implies when it prices a year of EDGE at ₹120. Transferring is four times worse: NEO sits in Axis's "All Eligible Debit/Other Credit Cards" column at 20 points to one partner mile. The earn rate above already has the ₹0.20 baked in.
Best real exit: Accor Live Limitless (ALL) at ₹0.21/pt (10:1 transfer).
The take
NEO is a ₹250 card that pays essentially nothing and is still worth a reader's attention, which is an unusual combination and worth explaining rather than scoring. The earn is the worst on the Axis shelf: one EDGE REWARD Point per ₹200, redeemed at ₹0.20, which is 0.1% — you would need ₹2,50,000 of spend to earn back the fee. Transferring those points is four times worse again, because NEO sits in Axis's "All Eligible Debit/Other Credit Cards" bucket at 20 points for a single partner mile, ₹0.05 a point, below the currency's own floor. Do not hold this card to earn. Hold it, if at all, for the same Cleartrip tie-up My Zone carries and almost nobody mentions: flat 7% off domestic and international flight bookings capped at ₹2,000, and flat 18% off hotel bookings capped at ₹4,000, each once per use per month with code CTAXISNEO, running to 30 November 2027 on Axis's own offer terms. One hotel booking pays the fee sixteen times over. Around it sits a stack of small monthly coupons — ₹120 off Zomato twice a month, 5% off Paytm utility payments up to ₹150, 10% off Blinkit up to ₹250, 10% off BookMyShow up to ₹100 — which Axis adds up to about ₹9,000 a year and which only pay if you actually remember the codes. From 1 November 2026 the BookMyShow one stops being automatic: Axis's own NEO revision notice puts a ₹25,000 previous-three-months spend gate on it, which on a card most people hold for the Cleartrip coupon is a threshold few holders will clear. There is no lounge access on this card, and there is no fuel-surcharge waiver either: the Key Fact Sheet names NEO in the short list of Axis cards where the refund does not apply. The fee shape is the last thing to know. Axis charges ₹250 to join, waives the first year's annual fee, then charges ₹250 a year with no spend waiver at all — and sells the card as "Lifetime Free for select channels", so what you are quoted depends on where you applied.
Your renewal — keep, downgrade or cancel
Here is the fee, the spend that clears it, and everything that has moved under this card since you last decided.
Keep, downgrade or cancel
₹250/yr at stake · 5 spend bands
The charge ₹250/yr
Break-even ₹25,000 a month — ₹3,00,000 a year — is where this card's value crosses its fee.
At your spend
₹0 a year, net of the fee, at ₹3,00,000 of annual spend
₹300 a year, net of the fee, at ₹6,00,000 of annual spend
₹800 a year, net of the fee, at ₹12,00,000 of annual spend
₹2,800 a year, net of the fee, at ₹36,00,000 of annual spend
₹4,800 a year, net of the fee, at ₹60,00,000 of annual spend
Everyday earn plus milestones, minus the fee — the same model as the value panel above, so the two cannot disagree. run your exact spend →
Your copy of this card
You hold this card.
Kept on this device, in your browser. It is never sent to us, never synced, and nothing else on the site reads it yet.
The downgrade
Axis Bank publishes no document naming a card you can step down to, so we name none — an invented product change is a phone call you would waste. That leaves keep or cancel, and the numbers above are the whole of it.
What has changed under this card
- 1 Nov 2026 NEO's BookMyShow discount grows a ₹25,000 spend gate not yet in force · this card
- 23 Sep 2026 Axis EDGE brings Accor back, drops ITC, and adds Cathay, Miles & More and Hilton issuer-wide
- 15 Sep 2026 Wyndham splits its three flat free-night tiers into four a program these points reach
- 8 Sep 2026 Flying Blue splits award tickets into Light / Standard / Flex — a 25% rise for the same product a program these points reach
We price what is in force today — a change that has not happened yet is not in these numbers. the full archive for this card →
If you call to cancel
What the bank offers to keep you is the one fact this desk cannot compute. We are collecting those reports — dated, and only in aggregate — before publishing any: an offer one reader was made is not one you are owed. Called about this card? Tell us what they offered →
The desk publishes subscribable .ics feeds for the dates it knows — offer deadlines, devaluations, expiry audits. Your renewal date is not one of them: only your statement knows it.
What's good
- Flat 18% off Cleartrip hotel bookings, capped ₹4,000, once per use per month — code CTAXISNEO
- Flat 7% off Cleartrip domestic and international flights, capped ₹2,000, once per use per month
- ₹120 off Zomato twice a month on orders over ₹499, with code AXISNEO
- 10% off Blinkit up to ₹250, and 10% off BookMyShow up to ₹100 a month (the BookMyShow leg is spend-gated from 1 Nov 2026)
- 5% off utility bills, recharges and DTH through Paytm, up to ₹150 a month
- 100% cashback up to ₹300 on the first utility bill payment within 30 days
Watch out
- 1 EDGE REWARD Point per ₹200, redeemed at ₹0.20 — a 0.1% card, the thinnest earn on the Axis shelf
- Transfers run 20 EDGE REWARD Points to 1 partner mile, ₹0.05 a point, below the currency's own floor. Redeem, never transfer
- No lounge access — NEO is on neither Set A nor Set B of Axis's lounge programme
- No fuel-surcharge waiver: the Key Fact Sheet names NEO among the cards where the refund does not apply
- No spend-based fee waiver at all — ₹250 to join and ₹250 every year from the second
- Forex 3.5% plus a dynamic-currency-conversion markup that went 1.5% → 3.5% on 28 Aug 2026 — 'pay in rupees' abroad is no longer cheaper
- From 1 Nov 2026 the 10% BookMyShow discount needs ₹25,000 of settled spend in the previous 3 months (new cards exempt for the issuance month plus 3)
- Since 28 Aug 2026 gift-card purchases earn nothing and sit in their own spend category, and Bridge Fees, Road Fees and Tolls earn nothing either
- The Cleartrip discount is a dated offer, not a permanent feature: Axis's own terms run it to 30 November 2027
- The Myntra ₹150 coupon expired 31 March 2026 and the Dining Delights programme 30 July 2026 — both are still printed on the page
What these points actually fly
You hold this — the numbers below are your own points.
These points feed 25 programmes that publish an award chart. Cheapest verified seat per cabin, priced in YOUR points with this card's own ratio already applied:
- Bengaluru → Colombo Economy 65,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points via Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) at 10:1 the play
- Chennai → Colombo Business 140,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points via Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) at 10:1 the play
- Mumbai → Delhi First 500,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points via Air Canada Aeroplan at 20:1 the play
What earns, what doesn't
11 sourced rules · 8 pay zero
Effective 20 Jun 2025 Axis stopped identifying NEO's excluded spend by 4-digit MCC and started identifying it by CATEGORY, and published the list in one sentence: "Excluded spend categories for reward earn / spend based fee waiver: Transactions made on Utility & Telecom, Education Services, Rent, Wallet, Government spends, Insurance, Fuel, Cash advances and Repayments." The standalone MCC-exclusions sheet repeats the same seven categories. Eight of the thirteen categories we track earn NOTHING on this card, and the base rate on what remains is 1 EDGE REWARD Point per ₹200 — about 0.1% at the ₹0.20 a NEO point redeems for. The card's value is its coupon book, not its points.
- Rent & property management · excluded Zero points; plus a 1% fee on every rent transaction
- Wallet loads · excluded Zero points; plus a 1% fee once wallet loads pass ₹10,000 in a statement cycle
- Fuel · excluded Zero points, a 1% transaction surcharge, and a further 1% fee once fuel spend passes ₹50,000 in a statement cycle
- Utilities (electricity/water/gas) · excluded Zero points. Also a 1% fee once utility spend passes ₹25,000 in a statement cycle — you pay to spend, and earn nothing for it.
Where the miles go
29 programs · 27 live
Ratios read card points : partner miles — 2:1 means 2 points become 1 mile. Never the other way round.
every Axis Bank route, side by side → · the Axis EDGE Reward Points hub →
Lounge access
0 of 793 tracked doors
No lounge access. This card opens exactly 0 of 793 tracked lounge doors — board with the crowd, or find a card that doesn't →
Can you get it?
the route in — no cutoffs published
The cutoffs and the actual route in — not the "apply now" button, the door that opens.
Direct application — no invite list, no banking relationship required.
Open by direct application, and Axis's fee shape here is genuinely two-sided. The product page's own table prints "Joining Fee ₹250 / Lifetime Free for select* channels" and "Annual Fee (Second year onwards) 1st Year: Nil, 2nd Year onwards: ₹250 / Lifetime Free for select* channels", while the 12-August-2026 Key Fact Sheet lists NEO in its Retail Cards table at ₹250 joining and ₹250 annual with the Annual Fee Waiver cell empty. So the paid path is ₹250 in and ₹250 a year from the second with no spend threshold to chase, and a lifetime-free NEO exists but only through channels Axis does not name — a bundled or salary-account offer can legitimately quote you ₹0. We carry the paid numbers because they are the ones a reader applying from the public page will be charged. Axis publishes no income floor.
Axis Bank publishes no income or age cutoffs for this card. Blank means blank — we don't invent numbers to fill a grid.
per the official Axis Bank MITC — figures marked (community) aren't in the PDF; the issuer won't say · filter the board by what you can get →
The fine print
3 of 7 MITC rows published
What the MITC actually says — the rates, fees and cutoffs the brochure skips.
Joining ₹250 with the first year's annual fee NIL and ₹250 a year from the second, and NO spend-based waiver — the 12-Aug-2026 Key Fact Sheet leaves the waiver cell empty. The page also sells the card as "Lifetime Free for select* channels" without naming the channels, so a bundled or salary-account offer can legitimately quote ₹0; we carry the paid path. Earns 1 EDGE REWARD Point per ₹200, and NEO redeems EDGE at ₹0.20 rather than the ₹0.40 house value, which makes it a 0.1% card. On the Travel EDGE grid it sits in no named column, so it takes "All Eligible Debit/Other Credit Cards" at 20 points per partner mile (10:1 to AirAsia, ITC and SpiceJet) — ₹0.05 a point, below the currency's own ₹0.20 floor, so transferring is a mistake even though NEO IS on the official eligible-cards list. NO LOUNGE ACCESS: the card is on neither Set A nor Set B of Axis's lounge programme. NO FUEL-SURCHARGE WAIVER either — the Key Fact Sheet names NEO among the cards where the refund does not apply. The travel benefit is Cleartrip: flat 7% off domestic and international flights capped ₹2,000 and flat 18% off hotels capped ₹4,000, each once per use per month with code CTAXISNEO, running 11 May 2026 to 30 Nov 2027 on Axis's own offer terms. Monthly coupons around it: ₹120 off Zomato twice a month over ₹499, 5% off Paytm utility payments up to ₹150, 10% off Blinkit up to ₹250 over ₹750, 10% off BookMyShow up to ₹100 — a discount, not the District buy-one-get-one, so the 1-Nov-2026 spend gate on that benefit does not reach this card. Activation benefit 100% cashback up to ₹300 on the first utility bill payment within 30 days. Two benefits still printed on the page have already lapsed: the Myntra ₹150 coupon (31 Mar 2026) and Dining Delights (30 Jul 2026). Card network not published; Axis's own eligible-cards list carries both a Neo Mastercard and a Neo Visa row.
per the official Axis Bank MITC · reviewed 10 Jul 2026
What's changed for this card
8 dated changes · 1 not yet in force
Devaluations and buffs that touch this card directly, its issuer, or the points and programs it earns and transfers to. Every one is dated here; the tracker carries each one's before → after and the write-up.
- 15 Nov 2026The Reserve's memberships stop renewing unless you say yesClub ITC Culinaire, Accorplus, handcrafted Club Marriott Asia Pacific, EazyDiner Prime and Priority Pass renewed automatically each year for as long as the card was open → From 15 Nov 2026 complimentary memberships linked to the card renew only with the cardholder's explicit consent — Axis says renewal and consent details will be shared closer to each renewal date. The same notice flips Priority Pass off at Indian domestic lounges from 28 Aug 2026 (present the Reserve card itself) and adds a ₹1,300 late-payment slab above ₹50,000 outstanding
The Reserve's whole defence of a ₹50,000 fee is the membership stack — Club ITC Culinaire with its free third night, Accorplus, handcrafted Club Marriott Asia Pacific, EazyDiner Prime, and the unlimited Priority Pass. Axis's own Reserve revision notice says that from 15 November none of them renew unless you actively consent. Framed as a choice, it works as breakage: the failure mode of an opt-in is silence, and a cardholder who misses the renewal email keeps paying ₹50,000 for a card whose benefits have quietly lapsed. Reserve is on the same list as Select, Magnus, Magnus for Burgundy, Burgundy Private, Olympus and both Miles & More cards, so this is the whole Axis premium book learning the same trick. Two other things ride the notice: from 28 August the Priority Pass card stops opening Indian domestic lounges — you present the Reserve itself against Axis's own eligible-lounge list, and post-immigration lounges at Indian international terminals still count as international — and a fifth late-payment slab of ₹1,300 appears above ₹50,000 outstanding. Notably, the Reserve notice carries no dynamic-currency-conversion line at all while the bank-wide grid goes 1.5% → 3.5%, and the card's 1.5% foreign transaction fee is untouched.
- 1 Nov 2026Privilege's movie buy-one-get-one becomes a spend gate
- 1 Nov 2026IndiGo Axis Premium's movie BOGO grows a ₹25,000 spend gate
- 1 Nov 2026The movie-BOGO spend gate reaches My Zone too — ₹25,000 in the previous 3 months
- 1 Nov 2026NEO's BookMyShow discount grows a ₹25,000 spend gate
- 1 Oct 2026SELECT's ₹3L milestone stops counting the spends it never rewarded
- 23 Sept 2026Axis EDGE brings Accor back, drops ITC, and adds Cathay, Miles & More and HiltonAccor and Marriott off the grid since 2 April 2026; Club ITC live; no Cathay, Miles & More or Hilton → Accor live at the punished rates; ITC removed; Cathay, Hilton and Miles & More live; Marriott still gone
Axis's own Travel EDGE terms, re-read 25 September 2026, already show the grid that went live on 23 September. Accor ALL is back, and not at the old Atlas 1:2: EDGE Miles convert at 2:1 (Olympus 1:2) and EDGE Rewards at 5:1, with Magnus for Burgundy at 5:2 and only Burgundy Private still at 5:4. Club ITC is off the table. Three partners are new. Cathay Asia Miles sits on that same punished grid. Hilton Honors is the ordinary one: EDGE Miles 1:2, EDGE Rewards 5:2, Burgundy 5:4. Lufthansa Miles & More is the exception on Atlas, which converts 1:1 there while every other standard airline on that card is 1:2; the EDGE Rewards side of Miles & More is the ordinary 5:2. Marriott stays removed. Qatar Privilege Club was already back. Flying Blue, Air India and Qantas moved into Group A, which is the capped group. The Axis Rewards credit card's Amex network is advertised as joining-fee and annual-fee nil for a limited period; there is no separate Amex variant on this board, so that offer is not modelled as a fee change.
- 15 Sept 2026Wyndham splits its three flat free-night tiers into four
Every Axis Bank change we've dated → 38 events since 2019, 25 of them nerfs — worst year 2026.
Verified against Axis Bank's own documents on · the net-annual-value engine, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 6 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Axis Bank NEO product page — the Cleartrip 7%/18% discounts, the monthly coupon stack, the 1-point-per-₹200 earn rate and the fee table
- official Revision of NEO Credit Card Terms and Conditions — DCC 1.5% → 3.5% from 28 Aug 2026, and a ₹25,000 previous-3-months spend gate on the 10% BookMyShow discount from 1 Nov 2026
- official Cleartrip offer terms for My Zone and NEO — the discount is a dated offer running 11 May 2026 to 30 November 2027
- official Axis Bank Key Fact Sheet, last updated 12 Aug 2026 — NEO joining ₹250, annual ₹250, no waiver, and no fuel-surcharge refund
- official Axis Bank Domestic Airport Lounge Access Program — NEO appears on neither Set A nor Set B, so there is no complimentary lounge access
- official Axis Travel EDGE transfer grid — NEO is in no named column, so it transfers at 20 EDGE REWARD Points per partner mile