ixigo AU Credit Card Detailed Review – 2024

By | October 4, 2024

The travel portal ixigo has recently launched a co-brand credit card in partnership with AU Bank, known as the ixigo AU credit card. The ixigo AU credit card is designed keeping in mind, frequent travelers. So, should you take the ixigo AU credit card if you are one of them? Read to find out.

Ixigo AU Credit Card

ixigo AU credit card

Key Features and Benefits

Fees:

  • Currently lifetime free. Otherwise, 999+GST is an annual fee, waived off on annual spending of 1lk.

Joining Benefits

  • INR 1000 ixigo money voucher and 1000 reward points (equivalent to 500 ixigo money) on card activation and one successful transaction within 30 days.

Rewards and Benefits

  • Reward points:
    • Do note that reward points have different values. If converted into ixigo money, 1 RP = 50p. If opting for vouchers from the AU Rewardz portal, 1RP = 20p.
    • 10 RP on every 200 online spends. Thus, translating into a 2.5% or 1% reward rate.
    • 5 RP on every 200 offline spends. Thus, translating into a 1.25% or 0.5% reward rate
    • 20 RP on every 200 spent on ixigo train bookings. Translating into a 5% or 2% reward rate.
    • Exclusions: Insurance, Rent, Fuel, Wallet, Jewellery.
    • You can earn a maximum of 10,000 reward points per month
  • Other benefits
    • 10% discount on flight, hotel and bus booking through the ixigo website, once a month.
    • No payment gateway charges for train bookings, 2 times a month.
  • Lounge Access
    • 8 domestic lounge access to the primary credit card holder in a year.
    • 1 international lounge access via Priority Pass
    • 8 railway lounge access in a year. Add-on card holders are also eligible for complimentary railway lounge access.

Thoughts on the ixigo AU Credit Cards

Positives of the ixigo AU Credit Card

Highly rewarding if points are redeemed for ixigo money

The ixigo AU credit card can be highly rewarding if you convert the reward points into ixigo money. 1 RP = 0.5 ixigo money, thus translating into a reward rate of 1.25% for offline spending, 2.5% for online spending and 5% for train bookings via ixigo. Do keep in mind that ixigo money can only be used for flight bookings.

If redeemed for vouchers from the AU Rewardz portal, the reward rate reduces to 0.5% on offline spending, 1% on online spending and 2% on train bookings through ixigo. Here, the reward rates are not exciting enough but decent for a lifetime free credit card.

Zero forex surcharge with reward points even on forex spends

The ixigo AU credit card has zero forex surcharge for all forex spends. Further, it gives reward points on forex spending too. That’s like the icing on the cake where you save ~3.5%+ taxes on foreign spending, plus get up to 2.5% reward points too.

Available in the Rupay variant too

The ixigo AU credit card is available in the Rupay variant too. You get the same set of features in the Rupay variant too. I assume the ixigo AU credit card currently is the only Rupay variant credit card with 0 forex surcharge in the country. For, those who do a lot of UPI transactions this is one card you should consider.

To get the Rupay variant, select Rupay while applying for the card. Once you get the Visa variant, you cannot switch to the Rupay variant. So be clear, about which variant you want to opt for.

Generous lounge access

The ixigo AU credit card offers generous lounge access. It offers 8 domestic lounge access in a year to the primary cardholder. There are no monthly spending targets to get the free lounge visits. Further, you get 8 free railway lounge access every year as well. The railway lounge access is available to the add-on cardholder too.

Offers on the ixigo website

The ixigo AU credit card gives regular offers on the ixigo website. This includes 10% off on a flight, train and bus booking once a month and a payment gateway charge waiver for train bookings. Use the below-mentioned promo codes to get these offers.

ixigo AU credit card Offers

Negatives of the ixigo AU credit card

ixigo money has limited use and limited validity

Reward points converted to ixigo money can only be used for flight and hotel bookings. They cannot be used for bus bookings. Further, only 10 ixigo money equivalent to INR 10 can be used for train bookings.

ixigo AU credit card money balance

Further, the validity of the ixigo money is only 60 days. Thus, transfer your reward points only when you need to make a booking through ixigo.

ixigo AU credit card money validity

Capping of 10k points per month

You can earn a maximum of 10k reward points every month on the ixigo AU credit card. While the limit of 10k is quite generous and translates into around 2lk monthly spends for online spending, the mere thought that there is a capping doesn’t auger well in my mind. The bank could have kept a cap on accelerated points and not an overall cap.

Potential negative – Rupay variant acceptability abroad can be a challenge

If you are looking to use the ixigo AU credit card mostly for your Forex spending, I suggest you stick to the Visa variant. The reason is that the Rupay variant may have acceptability issues. The Rupay network partners with JCB and Discover for global acceptance, and these card networks have less acceptance than Visa/Mastercard. My personal experience with Diners Black credit cards in Singapore, Mauritius and Thailand has been bad about acceptance at merchant outlets. Do note that Diners also runs on the Discover platform globally.

Personal experience of using the ixigo AU credit card

I applied for the ixigo AU credit card from the ixigo website last month. The issuance and delivery were very quick, and the card was in my hand within 3-4 days of application. I intended to use the card primarily as a zero-forex credit card for my family vacation and it did its job well. Given that I had opted for the Visa variant, I had no problems anywhere. However, I did face problems using my Diners Black credit card and thus the caution against the Rupay variant.

Conclusion

The ixigo AU credit card is a solid credit card in its segment. Given its available lifetime free right now gives a decent reward rate and 0 forex with reward points, I suggest that you apply for this card for your upcoming foreign travels.

I also have the Federal Scapia credit card that offers 0 forex; however, it does not offer reward points on forex spends, thus decided to use the ixigo AU credit card this time around. Further, if you are looking to use this card as a UPI credit card, make sure you apply the Rupay variant.

Make sure you think beforehand as to which variant you want to apply, you cannot change the variant once you have the Visa one and vice versa.  I am sticking to Tata Neu credit card as my Rupay credit card and will use the ixigo AU credit card for forex spends.

Image Courtesy: www.ixigo.com
The article was published/updated on 22nd September 2024.

Disclaimer

In the interest of full disclosure, Credit Cardz may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the links in this post. However, opinions and views expressed here are of the author's alone and not those of the bank, credit card issuer, or anyone else and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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