Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card Guide (2026)

Fees, EDGE earn rates and all 24 transfer partners, plus what a point is really worth after the 2026 devaluation and who should still get this card.

Where you earn, and where you don’t

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Key takeaways

• Twenty-four transfer partners, nineteen of them at the better 5 points : 2 miles rate. That roster is the reason to hold this card.
• The ₹12,500 fee waives only at ₹25 lakh of annual spend, a bar Axis raised from ₹15 lakh in September 2023. Most holders will pay it.
• Your first year is effectively free. The welcome voucher is worth ₹12,500, which is exactly the joining fee.
• Transfers are capped at 5,00,000 EDGE points per Customer ID per year. For heavy Travel EDGE spenders that cap, not the earn rate, is the real ceiling.
• Unlimited international lounge access for the primary cardholder. Domestic access needs ₹50,000 spent in the previous three months.

Axis Magnus credit card fees and charges

The Axis Magnus credit card has a joining fee of ₹12,500 plus GST and an annual fee of ₹12,500 plus GST, waived if you spend ₹25 lakh in the preceding year.

That waiver number deserves a second look. ₹25 lakh a year works out to just over ₹2 lakh a month, every month. Most people who hold this card will pay the fee. Plan on paying it, and judge the card on whether the benefits clear ₹12,500 of real value, not on whether you might scrape past the waiver.

The good news is that the welcome voucher covers the first year on its own. New cardholders pick one voucher worth ₹12,500 from Luxe, The Postcard Hotels or Yatra. Year one is effectively free. Year two is where the maths starts mattering.

Charge	What you pay
Joining fee	₹12,500 + GST
Annual fee	₹12,500 + GST
Annual fee waiver	Spend ₹25 lakh in the preceding year
Welcome benefit	₹12,500 voucher from Luxe, Postcard Hotels or Yatra
Foreign currency markup	2%
Cash withdrawal fee	Nil, but interest applies from day one
Fuel surcharge waiver	1% on transactions of ₹400 to ₹4,000, capped at ₹400 a month

A note on that cash withdrawal line, because it reads better than it is. No withdrawal fee is genuinely unusual. But finance charges start the moment the cash leaves the ATM, with no interest-free period. Free fee, expensive money.

The 2% forex markup is the quietly useful one. Most Indian cards sit at 3.5%. On ₹5 lakh of overseas spend in a year, that difference is ₹7,500, more than half the annual fee, recovered without earning a single point.

How you earn EDGE points on Axis Magnus

Axis Magnus earns 12 EDGE points per ₹200 on regular spends, 35 points per ₹200 on monthly retail spend above ₹1.5 lakh, and 60 points per ₹200 on bookings made through the Travel EDGE portal.

Where you spend	What you earn	Equivalent
Regular eligible spends	12 EDGE points per ₹200	6 points per ₹100
Monthly retail above ₹1.5 lakh	35 EDGE points per ₹200	17.5 points per ₹100
Travel EDGE portal	60 EDGE points per ₹200	30 points per ₹100

Travel EDGE is the headline. 60 points per ₹200 is five times the base rate. The cap sits at ₹2 lakh of Travel EDGE spend a month, which most people never come close to. But book that same flight on MakeMyTrip instead and you’re back down to 12 per ₹200. Same flight, same money, a fifth of the points.

The ₹1.5 lakh threshold trips people up constantly. It isn’t a switch that lifts your whole month to 35. Only what you spend above ₹1.5 lakh earns at the higher rate. So: spend ₹2 lakh, and your first ₹1.5 lakh earns at 12 while the last ₹50,000 earns at 35. Nearly everyone assumes it works the other way round.

When the points actually arrive

Base points land in roughly 15 days. Accelerated points take around 45. If you booked a big Travel EDGE trip and the points haven’t shown up, you are probably not missing them. You are waiting.

What earns you nothing

This list is longer than most premium cards, and it’s worth reading properly before you plan around the card.

• Wallet reloads and wallet payments
• EMI conversions
• Fuel
• Insurance premiums
• Gold and jewellery
• Utilities
• Government payments
• Cash withdrawals
• Anything refunded, reversed or cancelled

Utilities and insurance being excluded matters more than people expect. Those are exactly the large, predictable payments that would otherwise push you past the ₹1.5 lakh monthly threshold.

What your EDGE points are actually worth

EDGE points are worth roughly ₹0.20 to ₹0.25 each through the Axis catalogue, and 2x to 4x more when transferred to an airline or hotel partner.

This is the part that decides whether Magnus is a good card or an expensive one, and it has almost nothing to do with the earn rate.

Here’s the arithmetic. Say you book ₹1,50,000 of travel through Travel EDGE in a month. At 60 points per ₹200, that’s 45,000 EDGE points.

Redeem through the catalogue at ₹0.22 a point and you get about ₹9,900 in vouchers. Convenient. Fine. Nothing to complain about.

Transfer those same 45,000 points at the standard 5:2 ratio and you get 18,000 partner miles. On the right route, such as a one-way business class seat to Southeast Asia, 18,000 miles can be worth ₹40,000 or more in cash fares.

Same spend. Same points. 4x the value.

You can run the same maths on your own spend with our reward points calculator.

We say this a lot and we’ll say it again here: cashback and vouchers feel like the safe choice, and they are the most expensive thing you can do with a transferable point. The entire reason to pay ₹12,500 for this card is the transfer partner list. If you’re going to redeem for vouchers, a 2% cashback card will serve you better and cost you nothing.

Axis Magnus transfer partners

Axis Magnus transfers to 24 airline and hotel partners, 19 at 5 EDGE points to 2 partner miles and 5 at 5 to 1, with an annual cap of 5,00,000 points per Customer ID.

That roster is the widest available on an Indian credit card at this fee, and it’s the single strongest argument for holding Magnus.

Airlines at 5:2 (the good rate)

Airline	Programme
Singapore Airlines	KrisFlyer
Air France-KLM	Flying Blue
United Airlines	MileagePlus
Air Canada	Aeroplan
Etihad Airways	Etihad Guest
Turkish Airlines	Miles&Smiles
Japan Airlines	JAL Mileage Bank
Thai Airways	Royal Orchid Plus
Qantas Airways	Qantas Frequent Flyer
Ethiopian Airlines	ShebaMiles
Air India	Maharaja Club
AirAsia	AirAsia Rewards
SpiceJet	SpiceClub

Hotels at 5:2

Hotel group	Programme
IHG Hotels & Resorts	IHG One Rewards
ITC Hotels	Club ITC
Wyndham Hotels	Wyndham Rewards
Radisson Hotels	Radisson Rewards
The Postcard Hotel	Sunshine Club
Orchid Hotels	Orchid Rewards

Airlines at 5:1 (check before you move)

Airline	Programme
British Airways	Executive Club (Avios)
Qatar Airways	Privilege Club
IndiGo	BlueChip
Finnair	Finnair Plus
Vietnam Airlines	Lotusmiles

Five partners give you half the miles for the same points. British Airways and Qatar are genuinely useful programmes, so this isn’t a reason to avoid them. Just know you’re paying double before you hit transfer.

The cap most people find out about too late

Transfers are limited to 5,00,000 EDGE points per Customer ID per year, split as up to 1,00,000 points to Group A partners and up to 4,00,000 to Group B.

If you’re spending enough to max out Travel EDGE every month, that cap, not the earn rate, is what limits your returns. Worth knowing in January rather than November.

Axis Magnus credit card benefits

The main Axis Magnus benefits are unlimited international lounge access for the primary cardholder, 24 airline and hotel transfer partners, a 5x earn rate on Travel EDGE bookings, and a 2% foreign currency markup.

Beyond the points, there’s a reasonable spread of travel and lifestyle extras:

• Dining Delights: discounts at over 4,000 restaurants across India
• Credit shield: cover up to ₹5 lakh
• Purchase protection: up to ₹2 lakh on eligible purchases
• Baggage and document protection: up to USD 500 for lost or delayed baggage and lost personal documents

Insurance benefits on premium cards are usually worth less than the headline numbers suggest, and these come with the usual exclusions and claim conditions. Treat them as a backstop, not a reason to apply.

Axis Magnus lounge access

Axis Magnus gives the primary cardholder unlimited complimentary international lounge visits through Priority Pass, plus 4 complimentary international guest visits a year. Domestic lounge access is unlimited at select Indian airports, but requires ₹50,000 of eligible spend in the previous three months.

Unlimited international access is rare and it is the benefit most Magnus holders actually use. If you fly abroad three or four times a year with a companion, the guest visits alone are worth a few thousand rupees.

One detail for new cardholders: the ₹50,000 domestic spend requirement is waived for your first three months. After that it’s assessed on a rolling previous-three-month basis, so a quiet quarter can cost you domestic access in the next one.

What changed in the 2026 devaluation

Axis has reduced the value of this card three times since 2023: in September 2023, April 2024, and most recently on 28 August 2026. The fee waiver threshold went from ₹15 lakh to ₹25 lakh, the forex markup rose from 1.5% to 2%, and the exclusions list grew.

Everything on this page already reflects the current rules. If you want the full story on what each round took away, and whether the card still earns its fee afterwards, we’ve written that up separately: Axis Magnus devaluation 2026: what changed and what it costs you.

Axis Magnus credit card eligibility

Axis Magnus requires a minimum annual income of ₹24 lakh and is available to salaried and self-employed applicants aged 18 to 70.

Requirement	Criterion
Minimum age	18 years
Maximum age	70 years
Minimum annual income	₹24 lakh
Employment type	Salaried or self-employed
Credit score	No published minimum, subject to Axis Bank’s assessment

Axis doesn’t publish a credit score cut-off for Magnus, but on a card at this income bracket, approval tends to go to applicants with a clean repayment history and limited existing obligations.

Should you get it?

Magnus works if you spend more than ₹1.5 lakh a month, book travel through Travel EDGE, and actually transfer your points to airline partners. Tick those three and the fee is comfortably covered.

It works badly if any one of them is missing. Spend less than ₹1.5 lakh and you never see the better rate. Book travel elsewhere and you lose the 5x. Redeem through the catalogue and you give away three quarters of the card’s value, at which point you’re paying ₹12,500 a year for lounge access you could get cheaper.

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Card terms change often. This page reflects Axis Bank’s published terms as of 7 October 2026, including the revision effective 28 August 2026. Confirm current terms with Axis Bank before applying.

PointsFly may earn a commission if you apply for this card through the link on this page. It does not change what we write, the figures above, or what the card costs you.