How to redeem credit card points in India, programme by programme

How does redeeming credit card points work?

You log in to your bank's rewards portal or app, pick an option, and the bank deducts points at the rate set for that option. The same point can be worth different amounts depending on what you redeem it for, and many banks charge a fee per request.

The usual options are flights and hotels on the bank's travel portal, a product or voucher catalogue, credit against your card statement, and transfers to airline or hotel programmes. Not every programme offers all of them. The RBI's card directions require banks to show details of reward benefits on their website and give the cardholder a copy, so your card's own document is where to confirm a rate.

What are the redemption charges, minimums and expiry on each programme?

Most programmes we read charge Rs 99 to Rs 100 per request, usually plus GST, with waivers on some premium cards. Points usually last 2 to 3 years. HDFC allows cashback only on the cards its MITC lists, so check yours is named.

Read at source on 31 October 2026. "Not stated" means the document we read does not give it. Add GST where the bank's document says so. HDFC, Axis and DBS apply GST to all fees, and DBS and the HDFC illustrations put it at 18%. Your own card's terms override this summary.

What can I redeem points for, and how do transfers work?

You can usually redeem for travel on the bank's portal, products, vouchers, statement credit or partner miles. A transfer moves points into an airline or hotel programme at a fixed ratio, and both options and ratios differ by programme and often by card. Treat a redemption as final: ICICI and Kotak say orders cannot be cancelled once placed, and HSBC says an accepted transfer cannot be cancelled or reversed.

HSBC's rewards terms give a full ratio table, HDFC and Axis publish ratios by card, and several banks do not publish a ratio in the documents we read. Link your frequent flyer or hotel membership first, as HSBC and Axis both instruct. On Axis, a new partner ID cannot be swapped again for 60 days, according to its 2023 Magnus revision notice.

Axis's Atlas terms still name Vistara in their group list, so they may lag the current partner list. Check Travel EDGE before you move points.

Which airlines and hotels can each card transfer to?

It varies card by card, so find yours below. These partner lists come from the catalogue. Not every row was checked against the linked bank document, whether or not it is marked Not confirmed, so check your bank's transfer page before relying on one.

HSBC's rewards terms list 15 airlines and 5 hotel groups for the Visa Platinum and RuPay Platinum cards. The row for the Visa Platinum in the table below shows fewer; HSBC's terms govern.

56 of 562 open cards, from 11 banks. 506 open cards have no figure here because we did not find one. Rows marked Not confirmed are figures we could not check against the issuer document, so check with the bank.

How much is one point worth?

There is no single value, because banks set a separate rate for each use. On the HDFC Regalia Gold, one point is Rs 0.65 in the Exclusive Gold Catalogue, Rs 0.50 on SmartBuy flights and hotels, up to Rs 0.35 on products and vouchers, and Rs 0.15 against the statement balance.

Other banks publish their own rates. HDFC Infinia lists Re 1 on flights and hotels, up to Rs 0.50 on products and vouchers, and up to Rs 0.30 against the statement. Axis's page for the Rewards card puts one EDGE REWARD Point at Rs 0.20, and its Atlas page says each EDGE Mile is worth Re 1. IDFC First's Millennia page says Rs 0.25. Canara Bank's MITC also says Rs 0.25.

Kotak's table for select products, effective 1 June 2025, sets cashback at 7 paise to 70 paise depending on the card. Cards not on that list follow the older table in the same document. HDFC's Regalia Gold page still shows Rs 0.20 for statement balance in one block. Its MITC sets 15 paise from 1 November 2025, so we use that.

These are bank rates, not a market value. A flight or catalogue price on a bank portal may differ from elsewhere, and the documents do not guarantee it matches. A transfer has no rupee rate at all, because the bank states only a ratio.

What would 40,000 points come to after fees?

On an HDFC Regalia Gold, 40,000 points come to Rs 5,941 as statement credit, or about Rs 19,883 off a SmartBuy flight, after fees and GST. The gap comes from the rate per point. It is not a reason on its own to pick one, because the flight value only counts if you were buying that flight at that price.

An example. Statement credit: 40,000 x Rs 0.15 = Rs 6,000. The cashback fee is Rs 50 plus 18% GST of Rs 9, so Rs 59. You get Rs 5,941. A flight on SmartBuy: 40,000 x Rs 0.50 = Rs 20,000 off the fare. HDFC's MITC words its Rs 99 fee for catalogue requests and does not say whether a SmartBuy booking counts, so we deduct it as the cautious case: Rs 99 plus Rs 17.82 GST is Rs 116.82. That leaves Rs 19,883.18.

The flight route has one more condition. On Regalia Gold, points can cover up to 70% of a travel booking, so Rs 20,000 of points needs a booking of at least Rs 28,572, with the remaining Rs 8,572 paid on the card. Paying that on time matters: a late fee can cost more than the redemption fee. HDFC's MITC sets 50% on cards outside its 70% list.

Statement credit also does not stand in for your bill. HDFC's MITC says cashback credits are not treated as payment for the last statement and are adjusted against the next statement balance.

Are there limits on how many points I can redeem at once?

Yes, several banks cap redemptions. HDFC Regalia Gold caps statement balance redemption, SmartBuy flights and hotels, and miles transfers at 50,000 points a month each, while SBI Card caps statement credit at 60,000 points a month from 1 April 2026, except on Air India SBI Signature and the PhonePe SBI cards. Axis's documents disagree on whether Atlas transfers are capped, so ask Axis before a large transfer.

HDFC Infinia allows 1.5 lakh points a month across flights, hotels and airmiles, and 50,000 against the statement. Yes Bank limits points to 70% of a flight or hotel invoice, up to 1,00,000 points a month on most cards and more on Reserv, Marquee and YES Private. Outside YES Private and YES Private Prime, its table limits statement credit, merchandise and vouchers to 50% of points.

Axis's Atlas terms cap transfers at 1,50,000 EDGE Miles a calendar year per customer ID: 30,000 to Group A partners and 1,20,000 to Group B. Their stated dates run only to 2025, and Axis's Miles Transfer page gives the maximum as your available balance and mentions no cap. If you hold a large balance, limits like these decide how many months it takes to use.

What happens to my points if I close the card or stop using it?

Assume you lose them unless your bank says otherwise, and redeem first. ICICI, Kotak, Yes Bank and HSBC all say unredeemed points lapse or are cancelled on closure, HDFC gives 30 days, and Axis's MITC gives two different timings. Not using the card or falling behind can also cost you: HDFC nullifies points after more than 365 days without use, and can cancel or suspend them on a card in arrears.

Axis's MITC says in one clause that unused rewards are forfeited immediately on cancellation, and in another that from 1 October 2025 it forfeits unredeemed EDGE points and miles 30 days after closure, or if the minimum due stays unpaid for more than 90 days. Do not rely on the 30 days. ICICI keeps points alive if another card on the same account is still active. HSBC says points must be redeemed before closure and will not be reinstated. HDFC's MITC gives closed cards 30 days to redeem, for products or vouchers only through a manual form, and does not allow cashback. See how to close a credit card for the rest of that process.

Other rules worth checking before you redeem: Kotak requires the account to be in good standing, says only the primary cardholder can redeem, and does not let you combine points across cards. HSBC forfeits points on blocked or delinquent cards. You can see your own cards' fees and expiry on My Cards.