Axis Atlas Vs AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card – Which One to Pick?

Axis Bank Atlas and American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card are generic (not co-branded) travel credit cards in the sub-premium segment. While Axis Bank has launched the Atlas Credit Card only recently, the American Express Platinum Credit Card has been in the market for a long time now. The membership fee of both cards is also the same- Rs. 5,000 per annum (the first-year membership fee of the AmEx Platinum Travel Card is waived if you apply through Card Insider).

As Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card and AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card offer similar benefits and features and also come with the same annual membership fees, it makes sense to compare the reward rate, features, and benefits of the two cards. In this article, we shall give a detailed pointwise comparison between the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card and the American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card.

Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card

Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card, as mentioned above, is a generic travel credit card recently launched by the bank. The card is best suited for frequent travelers- both domestic as well as international frequent flyers. Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card earns Reward Points as Edge Miles which are redeemable for travel spends (flight/hotel bookings) on the Axis Bank Travel Edge portal and can also be transferred to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs. Atlas Credit Card comes with an annual fee of Rs. 5,000 per annum and apart from earning Edge Miles, also offers a number of other travel benefits such as complimentary domestic/international airport lounge access, additional Miles on achieving stipulated spend milestones, etc. Some of the key features of Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card are as under-

• The card is offered in three tiers- Silver, Gold, and Platinum. By default, a cardmember is in the Silver Tier and is upgraded to Gold Tier on spending Rs. 7.5 lacs and Platinum Tier on the expenditure of 15 lacs in a year.
• You get 2,500 EDGE Miles as a welcome gift on making one successful transaction with the card within 30 days of card issuance.
• The card earns you 5 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 on travel spends and 2 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 on all other transactions.
• The three membership Tiers of the card differ in terms of the annual benefits, milestone benefits, and add-on benefits like airport lounge access, etc.

Axis Bank Atlas cardholders get annual renewal benefits as bonus Miles credited to the cardholder’s account as per the following table-

Membership Tier	No. of Edge Miles (credited annually)
Silver	N/A
Gold	2,500
Platinum	5,000

Cardholders are entitled to bonus Miles on achieving the stipulated spend milestones as per the table below-

Spend Milestone	No. of Edge Miles
₹3 Lakh	2,500
₹7.5 Lakh	Additional 2,500
₹15 Lakh	Additional 5,000

The Edge Miles earned on your Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card can be redeemed for booking flights/hotels on the bank’s Travel Edge portal or can be transferred as AirMiles to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs. Partner airlines for the transfer of Edge Miles include Air Vistara, Air Asia, Ethiopian Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. The transfer ratio of Edge Miles to partner airlines’ frequent flyer program is as under-

Partner Program	Conversion Ratio- Edge Miles: Partner Miles
Air Asia	1:2
Ethiopian Airlines	1:2
Air Vistara	1:1
Turkish Airlines	1:2

Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card also entitles you to complimentary domestic and international airport lounge access as per the table below. The number of lounge access allowed in a given year is different for different tiers of membership-

Membership Tier	No. of Domestic Airport Lounge Visits	No.of International Airport Lounge Visits
Silver	8	4
Gold	12	6
Platinum	18	12

You also get a discount of up to 20% at over 4,000 partner restaurants with Axis Bank’s Dining Delights program.

American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card

AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card, as the name suggests, is a travel-centric credit card by American Express. It is a mid-range travel credit card by American Express and comes with a membership fee of Rs. 5,000 per annum (the first year’s membership fee or joining fee is Rs. 3,500). The card offers a decent reward rate and a plethora of add-on travel benefits like Taj Gift vouchers on achieving the stipulated spend milestones, complimentary domestic airport lounge access, complimentary Priority Pass membership, and many more. Following are some of the salient features of the Platinum Travel Credit Card by American Express-

• 10,000 Membership Rewards Points as a welcome benefit, on spending a minimum of Rs. 5,000 within 60 days of card issuance.
• 15,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points worth up to Rs. 4,500 spending Rs. 1.9 lakh in a year.
• Additional 25,000 Membership Rewards Points worth up to Rs. 7,500 on the expenditure of Rs. 4 lakhs in a membership year.
• 8 complimentary domestic airport lounge access every year (max 2 per quarter) and complimentary membership of the Priority Pass lounge access program (no complimentary international airport lounge access).

Quick Comparision

Now that you are aware of the features and benefits of both cards, you may refer to the following table as a quick reference for comparison between Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card and AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card-

	Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card	American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card
Reward Rate	5 Edge Miles per Rs. 100 on travel spends. 2 Edge Miles per Rs. 100 on all other transactions.	2 Membership Reward Points per Rs. 100.
Reward Redemption	Edge Miles are redeemable for hotel/flight bookings via the Axis Bank Travel Edge portal (1 Edge Mile = Re. 1). The Edge Miles can also be transferred to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs (see above for Miles conversion ratio).	Membership Rewards Points are redeemable for shopping vouchers, credit card bill payment (under Cash + Point scheme), or can be transferred to partner flight/hotel loyalty programs.
Welcome/Renewal Benefits	2,500 Edge Miles	10,000 Membership Rewards Points as a welcome gift subject to a minimum expenditure of Rs. 5,000 in the first 2 months of card issuance.
Milestone Benefits	Silver Tier membership on annual expenditure of Rs. 3 lacs. Gold Tier membership on the annual expenditure of Rs. 7.5 lacs. Platinum tier membership on annual expenditure of Rs. 15 lacs.	15,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points on spending Rs. 1.9 lakh in a year. Additional 25,000 Membership Rewards Points on expenditure of Rs. 4 lakh in a year.
Additional Benefits	8 domestic and 4 international airport lounge access for Silver Tier members. 12 domestic and 6 international airport lounge access for Gold Tier members. 18 domestic and 12 international airport lounge access for Platinum Tier members.	8 complimentary domestic lounge access every year (max 2 per quarter) and complimentary Priority Pass Membership. Up to 20% discount on dining bills at partner restaurants.
Membership Fee	Rs. 5,000 per annum	Rs. 5,000 per annum second year onwards (joining fee of Rs. 3,500 for the first year)
Eligibility	Minimum monthly income of Rs. 9 lacs (salaried applicants) or Rs. 12 lacs per annum (self-employed applicants) The age of both salaried and self-employed applicants must be between 18 and 70 years.	Income of more than 6 lakh per annum for both salaried and self-employed applicants.

The Verdict

Both credit cards offer great value to frequent travelers, however, which card would be better suited for you depends upon your usage. If you want a credit card primarily for airline spends, Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card might be the right pick for you as you get Edge Miles on the Atlas card that is not only redeemable for flight/hotel bookings via Axis Bank’s Travel Edge portal but also are transferable as AirMiles to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs. On the other hand, if you are fond of lavish hotels and want a credit card that would help you with hotel bookings, the AmEx Platinum Travel Card might be the right pick for you as you get Taj stay vouchers on achieving the stipulated spend milestones.