The news desk · page 6 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 →
Amex India cuts Etihad Guest as an MR transfer partner
Membership Rewards transfers to Etihad Guest end 30 June 2026, 11:59 PM IST, as the global Amex-Etihad partnership winds down. Points already transferred are unaffected.
Aeroplan re-cut the partner column of its award chart
Air Canada's 2026-04 Flight Reward Chart raised the fixed 'all other partners' prices and left its own dynamic floors alone. Delhi–Singapore business goes 60,000 to 75,000 points, up 25%; India–Europe business got cheaper on short bands and dearer on long ones.
IDFC FIRST Ashva cuts travel multipliers — 33% less on hotels, 37% less on flights
IDFC FIRST Ashva's app-travel multipliers are cut to 40X hotels and 25X flights, resulting in a drop from ~16% to ~10.7% for hotels and ~10.7% to ~6.7% for flights in rewards value. Rewards are now capped at the credit limit.
Axis adds IndiGo BluChip to the EDGE transfer roster
Two months after gutting its partner list, Axis Bank adds IndiGo BluChip as a Group B transfer partner: EDGE Miles at 2:1 and EDGE Reward Points at 5:1, with intro ratios twice as good (1:2 and 5:2) until 17 August 2026.
IDFC FIRST Wealth app-travel bonus falls — 33% to 20%
IDFC FIRST Wealth's app-travel bonus drops from 33% to 20% on hotels and from 13% to 10% on flights, reducing earn rates from 38 to 25 RP per ₹100 on hotels and from 18 to 15 RP on flights. This change affects the card's earn rates, making it less rewarding for travel bookings.
IDFC FIRST Gaj caps rewards at credit limit — a 100% earn cut past limit
IDFC FIRST Bank's Gaj card now only earns reward points on spends up to the credit limit per billing cycle, capping potential earnings. This change affects cardholders who regularly spend beyond their credit limit and re-pay mid-cycle to earn more points.
IDFC FIRST ends lifetime points — 24-month expiry lands
IDFC FIRST's celebrated 'points never expire' promise is dead. Points earned from 18 June 2026 now carry a 24-month expiry across FIRST Wealth, FIRST Millennia, FIRST WOW! and the wider stack, with existing WOW! balances grandfathered only until July 2028.
IDFC FIRST Select cuts rewards — high spenders lose ~39%
IDFC FIRST Select's reward structure has changed, with 10X now limited to specific categories and a reduced app travel bonus, resulting in a roughly 39% drop in rewards for high spenders (~0.9% blended down to ~0.55%). The new structure pays 10X on dining, travel, international, and birthday spends, and 3X on everything else.
LIC IDFC FIRST Select cuts travel bonus — 40% off
The LIC IDFC FIRST Select card's app-travel bonus is cut to 20% on hotels and 8% on flights, a 40% reduction on both, with a cap of 8,000 points per month. This change reduces the redemption value from 10% to 6% on hotels and 5% to 3% on flights.
IDFC FIRST Mayura cuts travel multipliers — 33% less on hotels, 37% less on flights
IDFC FIRST Mayura's travel multipliers are cut to 40X hotels and 25X flights, resulting in a 33% decrease for hotels and a 37% decrease for flights, with rewards now capped at credit limit. This change reduces the effective return on hotel bookings from 20% to 13.3% and on flights from 13.3% to 8.3%
IndusInd bolts a 2% DCC fee across its card range
From 15 June 2026 IndusInd applies a 2% + GST Dynamic Currency Conversion fee across Legend, Nexxt, EazyDiner, Signature, Samman and the Tiger — the charge that hits when a foreign merchant bills you in rupees. Small, avoidable, and worth naming before it surprises you abroad.
IndusInd doubles DCC fee to 2% on mass shelf
IndusInd Bank doubles its DCC fee to 2% on most cards, while premium cards will have a 1% fee. This change will result in higher charges for cardholders who use their credit cards for international transactions.
YES Bank Reserv forex markup up 0.25% — 1.75% to 2%
The YES Bank Reserv's forex markup increases from 1.75% to 2% as of 15 June 2026, making it less competitive with other premium cards. This change applies to the Reserv, Reserv (NRI), Reserv (FD), and YES First Preferred family, with the 1% DCC markup remaining unchanged.
YES Bank raises forex on almost every card it sells — SELECT takes 75 basis points in one step
From 15 June 2026 YES Bank re-priced foreign spend across almost its entire shelf. SELECT and ACE went 2.75% to 3.50%, Elite+ and Essence 2.75% to 3.00%, RESERV and First Preferred 1.75% to 2.00%. Only the invite-only top of the range — Private at 0.50%, Marquee at 1% — was left alone.
YES's ₹100 redemption fee reaches Marquee and Reserv
YES Bank now charges a ₹100 redemption fee on all cards, including Marquee and Reserv, plus a ₹99 booking fee on YES Rewardz flights. This increases the cost of redemption by ₹100 per request.
China Southern returns to India — daily Guangzhou–Delhi
China Southern will operate a daily Guangzhou–Delhi nonstop from 21 September 2026, its first India flying in six years. This adds a redemption option for Sky Pearl miles, previously unavailable in India since 2020.
The three golden transfers still worth chasing in 2026
After a brutal year of cuts, these routes still turn Indian card points into premium-cabin seats.
IndusInd Tiger gets 1:1 Air India transfers — others lag
IndusInd Tiger points now move to Air India's Maharaja Club at 1:1 — on a lifetime-free card, that is ₹0.80 a point and the best door in the whole AU/YES/IndusInd batch. Every other card in the announcement lands on far worse rates.
Lufthansa Miles & More cuts award prices — 12% off
Lufthansa Miles & More introduces Business Light award tariffs, 12% cheaper than previous options, with trade-offs in flexibility and refundability. Mileage requirements have decreased, such as Frankfurt–Delhi business now costing 37,786 miles.
Hyatt's award chart grows two rungs and a 67% ceiling
World of Hyatt replaced off-peak/standard/peak with five redemption levels on 20 May 2026. The cheapest night in the programme fell from 3,500 points to 3,000; the most expensive rose from 45,000 to 75,000. The best hotel chart in the world got worse where it mattered.