YES triples lounge gate to ₹1 lakh

YES Bank has increased the quarterly spend required for domestic lounge access on its Marquee and Reserv cards to ₹1 lakh. Previously, cardholders needed to spend ₹35,000 per quarter to unlock this benefit. The new requirement is nearly three times the old amount. The increased spend requirement applies to Marquee and Reserv cardholders, who will now need to spend ₹1 lakh per quarter to maintain domestic lounge access. In contrast, First Preferred, Business, Elite+, Select, and BYOC cardholders will need to spend ₹75,000 or ₹50,000 per quarter, depending on their card type. Our take: keeping domestic lounge access on a Marquee or Reserv now costs ₹4 lakh a year of spend, against ₹1.4 lakh before. Below that line the benefit is simply gone — and a Marquee held for its lounge access becomes an annual fee you pay in order not to use it. Either the spend is real or the card isn’t; there is no third option here.