The news desk
Updates, decoded.
What changed and whether it matters — grounded in the numbers, not the press release. Subscribe via RSS →
249 of 249 tracker events have stories — the desk publishes hourly. Too fast? Pulse is the monthly rollup →
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.
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 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.
Axis Bank launches Atlas, its dedicated air-miles card
Axis Bank launched Atlas, a ₹5,000 mid-tier card built entirely around EDGE Miles, airline and hotel transfer partners, and a tiered status ladder — its first pure-travel miles card.
Axis Magnus adds its legendary 25k-point monthly milestone
Axis added a 25,000 bonus EDGE point milestone (~₹5,000 in value) for every ₹1 lakh of monthly spend on Magnus — worth up to ₹60,000 a year on top of base earn.
Air India returns to the Tata Group
The Tata Group formally takes back Air India after 69 years, ending the state-owned era and setting up a loyalty revival.
Vistara and Lufthansa launch reciprocal frequent-flyer deal
Vistara and Lufthansa upgraded their two-year-old codeshare into a full frequent-flyer partnership: Club Vistara and Miles & More members can now earn and redeem on each other's flights.
Marriott Bonvoy extends 2021 elite status a further 12 months
Marriott extended all 2021 elite status — Silver through Ambassador — through February 2023 and topped up elite-night credits by 50%. HDFC Marriott Bonvoy cardholders keep their tier without a single stay.
HDFC Infinia goes metal-only, fee waiver spend hurdle jumps 25%
HDFC launched the metal Infinia and killed the plastic variant. The fee is ₹12,500+GST, and the annual-fee waiver threshold rises 25%, from ₹8 lakh to ₹10 lakh of spend.