The news desk · page 3 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 →
HSBC zeroes the forex mark-up on every card it sells — for 32 days
From 15 August to 15 September 2026 HSBC India charges no foreign-currency mark-up on Premier, Taj, Live+, TravelOne and Platinum. Worth ₹990 per ₹1,00,000 on the two cards this desk carries, ₹3,500 on the three it doesn't — and the one HSBC card built for foreign spend is the one left out.
Amex guts Platinum Travel's milestone ladder and gates its lounges
From 10 September the ₹1.9 lakh milestone disappears and the ₹7 lakh rung loses 22,500 points for a bigger Taj voucher; from 1 October, lounge access needs ₹1 lakh of spend in the previous quarter.
Maximize MaxCoins jumps to ₹1.08 with Accor transfer — best exit up 69% from ₹0.64
Maximize MaxCoins' best redemption value jumps to ₹1.08 with 2:1 transfer to Accor Live Limitless.
Sign in once, and the desk answers for your wallet
Your card list now follows you between devices, /me computes your position in eight sections, and the alerts checkbox finally mails you — only for cards you actually hold. Plus the parts we owe you: we logged everyone out on purpose, here is exactly what we store, and deleting an account now deletes it.
Akasa Air launches Elevate, its first frequent-flyer programme
Four years to the day after its first flight, Akasa Air shipped a loyalty programme: four tiers, 8 to 14 Elevate Points per ₹100 by tier plus 4 bonus points for booking direct, and retroactive credit for flights since 1 April 2026. The redemption value is unpublished, so there is nothing to price yet.
HDFC caps Regalia Gold miles transfers — 50,000 points/month
HDFC Bank caps Regalia Gold miles transfers at 50,000 points a month. The change affects transfers made through the Smartbuy portal, but earn rates and redemption values remain unchanged. Cardholders must now plan their miles transfers in advance to work around the new cap.
MaxCoins re-prices to ₹1.08 — Accor at 2:1
MaxCoins now transfer to Accor at a 2:1 ratio, re-pricing the coin to ₹1.08, making it the best exit for this currency. This is ahead of the old Maharaja-door mark of ₹0.64 and the ₹1 gift-card face.
MaxCoins now worth ₹1.08 — a 68.8% boost
MaxCoins' value has increased to ₹1.08 per point, a 68.8% rise, due to the surfacing of its full transfer catalogue with Accor at 2:1. The new valuation represents a significant improvement in the currency's value.
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Gold now ₹10,000
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium holders now need to spend ₹10,000 on etihad.com within 6 months to get Etihad Guest Gold status, which offers lounge access and extra benefits. This change affects cardholders who didn't intend to book with Etihad.
Thai postpones the Royal Orchid Plus rewrite — indefinitely
New Royal Orchid Plus qualification criteria were due on 5 August 2026. They didn't arrive. THAI says the timeline was rescheduled 'to allow additional time for further refinement' and names no new date. Your miles and the Indian routes in are untouched.
SBI drops Etihad Guest from the MILES transfer table
SBI Card's own MILES rewards T&C now lists 17 airline partners instead of 18, and Etihad Guest is the row that went. With the two Etihad Guest SBI co-brands already retired, India's largest issuer has no door into Etihad Guest left.
Flipkart SuperCoins into Maharaja Club now read 2:1
Air India's own Flipkart partner page publishes 2 SuperCoins = 1 Maharaja Point, minimum 20 then increments of 5 — against the 5:2 the launch coverage carried. At Maharaja's ₹0.80 house value that is ₹0.40 a SuperCoin on its way into an award seat.
Hyatt doubles dining points — 10:1
World of Hyatt doubles base points for dining to 10 points per US$1 across India and Southwest Asia from 1 Aug to 30 Sep 2026 — ₹15 per US$1 at our house value, capped at 30,000 points. It matters here because no Indian credit card transfers directly to World of Hyatt.
Narita finally gets airside Priority Pass doors — 4 dining venues, 2 airside
Narita International Airport gets four new Priority Pass dining venues, including two airside options, each offering a JPY3,400 set menu per visit. This expansion provides Indian Priority Pass cardholders with more utility after security clearance.
Miles&Go now worth ₹0.80 — a 20.0% haircut
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go is now valued at ₹0.80 per point, a 20.0% decrease from ₹1.00, after TAP repriced its Star Alliance chart on 4 May 2026 — every India cell up roughly 25% — and then replaced its own-metal table with a set of from-floors on 28 July.
DBS discontinues SuperCard — ₹1,499 SuperX issued
DBS Bank India discontinues the Bajaj Finserv DBS SuperCard with effect from 1 August 2026, replacing it with the DBS SuperX Credit Card at ₹1,499 annual fee or the DBS SuperX Plus Credit Card at ₹2,999 annual fee. Cardholders are issued the new card via email and SMS communication.
Kotak halves dynamic currency conversion on Dream Different, 3.5% to 2%
The one clause in Kotak's 31 July 2026 cardholder-agreement revision that goes the reader's way: the Dream Different's dynamic currency conversion fee drops from 3.5% to 2% on 1 September 2026. It will change almost nobody's bill, and here is why.
Kotak's Dream Different joining fee goes ₹250 → ₹424 and the waiver disappears
Kotak's Revised Cardholder Agreement, dated 31 July 2026, prices the Dream Different door at ₹424 from 1 September 2026 and retires the ₹18,000-credit-limit waiver that made the card free to get. A ₹170 cancellation fee inside 90 days lands the same day.
IDFC FIRST quietly exits OneCard's partner-bank roster
OneCard's partner-bank list shrank from seven banks to six in the last week of July: IDFC Bank is gone, and IDFC FIRST is now pointing its OneCard holders at FIRST Wealth. Everyone else's issuer routing is untouched.
ICICI Times Black eligibility now ₹2L/month — 21+
ICICI Bank's Times Black credit card eligibility criteria is now published as 21+, ₹2L/month salaried or ₹24L/yr self-employed. The ₹5L mobility wallet now offers transfers via Thumby Aviation and WeWork day passes.