The news desk · page 13 of 20
Updates, decoded.
What changed and whether it matters — grounded in the numbers, not the press release. Subscribe via RSS →
372 of 376 tracker events have stories — the desk publishes hourly. Too fast? Pulse is the monthly rollup →
HDFC launches Regalia Gold, a new super-premium travel card
HDFC announced Regalia Gold on March 23, 2023, slotting it above the ageing Regalia with global lounge access, airmiles-focused milestone benefits, and complimentary Club Vistara Silver and MakeMyTrip Black Elite tiers. It gives upgrade-seeking Regalia holders a rung below Infinia and Diners Black Metal.
HDFC Infinia excludes rent and govt spends, caps redemptions
From January 1, 2023, HDFC Infinia stopped earning Reward Points on rent, property-management and government-service transactions, and capped SmartBuy flight/hotel redemptions at 150,000 points a month with a separate 50,000-point cap on Tanishq vouchers. The base 5-points-per-₹150 earn rate survived.
Marriott Bonvoy goes fully dynamic, kills award price ceilings
From January 1, 2023, Marriott Bonvoy hotels no longer had to keep award prices within their old category bands — nightly rates now float wherever the demand-based algorithm sets them. For HDFC Marriott Bonvoy cardholders redeeming points or free-night certificates, the price ceiling is gone.
Emirates Skywards quietly hikes award miles by up to 20%
Emirates raised first and business class award pricing by up to 20% with no announcement, landing the hike in the middle of the Christmas booking rush. Fuel surcharges on the same award tickets kept climbing too.
BA Avios long-haul redemptions jump up to 92% outside UK/US
British Airways repriced long-haul Avios redemptions for members booking outside the UK and US, with hikes typically running 45-60% and peaking at 92%. Indian members redeeming out of Delhi or Mumbai take the full hit.
Tata Group announces Air India-Vistara merger
Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines announced that Vistara will be folded into Air India, targeting a single merged carrier by March 2024, with SIA investing ₹2,059 crore for a stake in the combined airline. Club Vistara and Flying Returns are now on a collision course.
Flipkart Axis Bank Super Elite launches — ₹500 fee
The Flipkart Axis Bank Super Elite credit card launches with a ₹500 fee, offering 16 SuperCoins per ₹100 on Flipkart for Plus members and 2 per ₹100 elsewhere. The card has no lounge access, with travel benefits focused on Flipkart Flights and Cleartrip discounts.
ICICI Bank launches invite-only Emeralde Private Metal card
ICICI launched the invite-only Emeralde Private Metal with 3% uncapped value-back, unlimited lounge and golf access, and a bundled Taj Epicure membership. It is ICICI's first real contender in India's super-premium travel-card fight.
RuPay credit cards go live on UPI
RBI-enabled RuPay credit-card-on-UPI launches, letting credit cards pay at millions of UPI QR merchants for the first time.
RBI lifts American Express's 15-month new-customer ban
The RBI certified American Express's data-localisation compliance and lifted the ban on onboarding new customers that had been in place since May 2021. After 15 months, Amex India can issue cards to new applicants again.
KrisFlyer kills the cheap Singapore stopover trick
Singapore Airlines ended KrisFlyer's paid stopover option — previously as cheap as $100 for an extended stay in Singapore — and capped free stopovers at 30 days. The change lands a month after the program's broader award-chart hike.
KrisFlyer hikes Saver award chart ~10% across the board
Singapore Airlines raised every KrisFlyer Saver award by roughly 10%, on its own metal and on partners, with Australia routes hit harder — some Australia–Europe business awards jumped from 232,000 to 261,000 miles.
Kotak White Reserve offers 2% back — no earn rate
Kotak White Reserve has no per-swipe points, offering 2% back at ₹10 lakh spend milestone, scaling to ₹2.5 lakh of value at ₹1 crore. This card provides unlimited lounge visits for primary and add-on cards.
Axis Voyage earns 7% on SpiceJet — ₹750/2,000
The Axis Voyage and Voyage Black cards earn up to 18/28 SpiceClub points per ₹200 on SpiceJet, valued at 7% with ₹0.50 per point. The Voyage Black card comes with a ₹4,000 flight voucher and 8 domestic lounge visits for ₹2,000, while the Voyage card offers a ₹1,500 voucher for ₹750.
Axis Bank agrees to buy Citi India's consumer banking arm
Axis Bank signed a ₹12,325 crore deal to acquire Citi India's roughly 2.5 million credit cards plus its retail banking and wealth business, ending the limbo since Citi announced its India exit.
Marriott Bonvoy scraps award charts for dynamic pricing
Marriott dropped its fixed off-peak/standard/peak award charts and moved to revenue-linked dynamic pricing, keeping min/max peak and off-peak bands only through the end of 2022.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club ditches Qmiles, adopts Avios
Qatar Airways scrapped its closed-loop Qmiles currency and converted every member's balance 1:1 into Avios, making balances transferable across British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Qatar.
IHG One Rewards overhauls tiers, doubles Gold night requirement
IHG relaunched its program as IHG One Rewards with a new Silver tier and Spire rebranded as Diamond — but Gold now needs 20 nights or 40,000 points, double the old 10 nights/10,000 points.
IndusInd Pinnacle cash redemption cut 25% — ₹0.25 less
IndusInd Bank cuts Pinnacle's cash redemption from ₹1 to ₹0.75, reducing online return to 1.875%. This 25% cut slashes the card's cashback value overnight.
OneCard adds 1% fee on third-party app loads — a 1% toll
OneCard now charges a 1% fee on rent or wallet loads via third-party apps like Paytm and Cred, and caps the fuel surcharge waiver at ₹400/month. This adds a new cost for cardholders who use these services.