Why are Airport Lounge Benefits getting Devalued on Credit Cards?

Recently, we have seen that many of the banks have devalued their airport lounge benefits in one way or another. Some have either reduce the number of lounges or have introduced certain milestones in order to access the lounge benefits.

[@Faraz-cse]

HDFC should have kept max 10k per quarter for lounge access instead of 1 lakh. A lakh is way too much.

[@CardAcademy]

Agreed.

[@mdasp7641]

Yes. Fully agree

[@KAlpha09]

They issued way too many cards than they can handle.

[@ankurgupta5441]

They know that, isiliye threshold hi itna upar rakh Diya ki koi achieve hi nakar paye. Na spend karenge na Lounge jayenge. Banks being Banks.

[@tsjoshi]

I have seen most of the people just keep trying all the cards they have with random pins because they came to lounge thinking that they would have some cards which will have lounge access. This creates a long queue.

[@barun9665]

This is actually very needed. Experience in lounge is getting worse now

[@CardAcademy]

We hope experience improves.

[@barun9665]

@@CardAcademy yes ICICI cards now make sense.

[@danka1815]

The waiting line in such lounges irritated a lot in my last visit to delhi , its better bank selects only premier people.

[@AIMTraveler]

Logo ko koi facility mil jaye to vo abuse krna start kr dete hai ! Sirf khud ka he fayda dekhna galat hai ab logo ke sath esa he hoga. Card use krte nhi or free lounge chahiye !

[@Faraz-cse]

In short - banks ab loot nahi pa raha pahle ki tarah as because people are more aware thanks to cheap internet.

[@sharpsollution8693]

Bcoz now people are looting bank by using lounge access. 😂

[@SourabhSharma-kq6ed]

i am frequent traveller (Delhi Mumbai) and i was forced to take Amex Plat - just to get the amex centurion lounge, as normal lounges took 20 mins just to enter. I am happy - that only people who pay (via card spends) are eligible are now getting filtered.

[@pappu182]

which airport u r referring for centurion lounge ? Delhi?

[@SourabhSharma-kq6ed]

@@pappu182 Centurion lounges at both Delhi and Mumbai. they are mostly 50% full - no queue to get in. you should try them - they are better than other lounges.

[@Faraz-cse]

All because of people are porting their existing visa/master card into rupay variant for UPI payment, but rupay cards usually don't have great rewards and less tie ups which puts the cost on bank which was shared between network (visa) and banks. Also due to high utilisation of free services, lounges are occupied completely. They should rather offer 70% discount from the card so that those who are willing to pay a little can enjoy service, or something like HDFC that if customers spends this much in quarter to get lounge access.

[@rushiashtikar]

This is a much needed change. Lounge experience was getting worse and worse everyday. Cards should not give free lounge access, instead they should give heavy discounts on it.

[@mickie634]

But yrr, they should have given 2 per quarter as complimentary.. PPL don't travel that much in quarter imo

[@roninr8199]

In Chennai airport even though lounge was empty they were making people wait on line..it looked so cheap as if people are given free food .I wanted to make a video of it and give complaint since was running out of time just ignored.

[@navdeepmishra3639]

Banks know better than you.

[@roninr8199]

Yesterday used travel club lounge in Chennai and luckily there was no queue also food was great.quality definitely improved.

[@prasenjitmaity8891]

Thank god changes are coming, travelling in India has been a nightmare where everyone is flocked in the lounge, sometimes its a better experience to pay for a coffee and find a quiet place. We pay a premium fee (£600+) to get unlimited lounge access, but in India seems like everyone can get access to Lounge. its crazy. Let’s make the experience better.

[@CardAcademy]

Agreed.

[@ankurgupta5441]

Banks know that, isiliye threshold hi itna upar rakh Diya ki koi achieve hi nakar paye. Na spend karenge na Lounge jayenge. Banks being Banks. Kya socha tha Bank Khush hoga Sabaasi dega.

[@atulseye]

Lounges have become like second class railway station. It's good if some more restrictions come in. At least some exclusivity will come

[@CardAcademy]

Agreed.

[@KAlpha09]

Much needed nerf. Banks used lounge as a pawn to push credit card adoption. Collectively they sold millions under the guise of LTF cards and it backfired quickly.

[@RaghuSingh-lu7fj]

Thanda bahut ho chuka hai madam ji garam kapde pehniye athwa apna dhyaan rakhiye.

[@vishwajeetdas599]

Is business regelia first also include in devaluation????

[@MrAshayKadam]

Thank you for a detailed consolidated video covering updates related to airport lounge access on all major cards... People having multiple credit cards were really waiting for such video... Good job... Keep it up... 👍🏻

[@VishalGupta__21]

You mentioned no international lounge access at Indian airports for axis bank credit card ? Kindly elaborate.

[@CardAcademy]

On Axis Bank cards there is no complimentary visits at the International terminals of Indian airports.

[@Jvishw2]

​@@CardAcademyyou are right, about 1 month ago I was traveling to Uzbekistan and they refused my axis ace credit card at terminal 3 lounge but niyo Debit card is best that was accepted

[@varunlalwani7297]

This strategy of 4 cards will give you return of more than 20%. 1) Lifestyle benefits - ICICI emerald private/HDFC Infinia. 2) Travel Rewards - Axis Atlas 3) UPI transactions - HDFC TATA Neu infinite 4) Flight Benefits - SBI Vistara

[@JK-fp1ou]

Lag rha hai ki winter season aa Gaya hai

[@sachinsaxena7145]

Very good initiative by HDFC 😊😊. Lounge was getting like vegetable market!!!

[@binary_dragon_]

Which card is above regalia gold from HDFC? Dinner club black and then infinia?

[@sohail.melwani]

I have Business Regalia LTF, does the change affect this card too?

[@seshubabusc]

Recently faced this issue with the HDFC Regalia card..1 week back, Bangalore Terminal 2 lounge is not allowing Regalia card members they are allowing Regalia Gold.

[@BeHappy-wb5ki]

Usase achha paisa de k lounge access kar lo

[@roninr8199]

27usd hai aur maximum log jo Aamir bhi hai use nahi karenge

[@RudreshPramanik-f7v]

This is welcome move, the lounges become too crowded, many premium-paid card holders even cannot get in to. What they could have done is to have multiple lounge, one for ordinary cards, and one for premium cards. Not all airport has premium lounges in India, so they need to expand the infrastructure.

[@RUDDRA.]

Mam i have hdfc diners clubmiles life time free card but now this card has been discontinued by bank...i want to know what will happen at the time of renewal?

[@himanshuverma3218]

i didnt recieved any mail about discontinuation of lounge access from icici bank i have coral rupay, visa, amex version of it

[@manojb4257]

Is this spend criteria applied for Business Regalia too? as i havn't received any communication from bank regarding curtailing of lounge access...

[@ktiwari007]

Hi as per your knowledge may I know which card has maximum lounge access and having best benefits for travelling

[@CardAcademy]

In LTF, Scapia is a very good card for domestic lounge access. Overall though, Infinia and DCB are the best.

[@MuraliBasa]

AMEX

[@Garg2406]

There is one more thing, earlier Milestone reward of ₹1000 in form of gv was given in millennia but now due to this we have to opt between gv and lounge access.

[@ashrafmohammed4112]

Add on credit card se cibil generate ho jayega kya???

[@mickie634]

Diners black and scapia are best for lounge access. Dcb especially has good lounge coverage 😊

[@prashantagrawal8503]

Very useful information

[@arkabiswas5425]

I have Regalia Gold Credit Card 😂 Thank you HDFC 😅

[@adilshaikh4292]

I love you ❤

[@roninr8199]

This is strange since for millenium debit card it says spend 5k per quarter to avail lounge from Jan 2024

[@CardAcademy]

Agreed really strange.

[@mohammedjaweedkhan1835]

So nice dress ❤

[@amgtrading77]

I'm fist😂

[@sarojajmera2975]

Deep explain thanks mem

[@CardAcademy]

Most welcome 😊

[@1SunnySharma]

Should improve lounge experience instead of devaluation

[@ShashwatKumar]

If lounge experience is not already good, why people are spending hours standing in queues.

[@mickie634]

​@@ShashwatKumarbro it's like free haina, toh kya fark padtha h 😅

[@roninr8199]

​@@ShashwatKumarna he is expecting one entire terminal for lounge 😂😂😂

[@mishrajii239]

Right...in comparison to the growing population going at an airport , if we see, lounges are very very very very very less in numbers..either discontinue or remove lounges or have guts to run it normally...I have visited some lounges in delhi and I can say that they are worth 500rs mostly(that too for the food only)...not 1900.

[@ShashwatKumar]

@@mishrajii239 who in todays world pay for lounges? you're getting is free for whatever worth it is.

[@hairstuff371]

Personal level shame on hdfc for not being in any sale of diwali sale sending very personal level shame on them

[@ShashwatKumar]

LTF DCB ke bare me kya prediction hai apki. Iske unlimited lounges me kuchh change hoga?

[@CardAcademy]

They may add a spend based rider.

[@roninr8199]

I already pay a fee of 12k with DCB.its nonsense if they bring spend based lounge access..biggest reason for infinia metal and DCB metal is Bank gave ltf cards during lockdown to many regalia holders and now Bank is stuck with those customers.before COVID it was 60 lakha for infinia and 30 lakhs for DCB and I really Miss that 33% points

[@CardAcademy]

They would never do the same with paid version.

[@ShashwatKumar]

@@CardAcademy Then it will piss off high NRV customers who got this card LTF.

[@RudreshPramanik-f7v]

Moving forward, super premium LTF cards won't exist, it will be always spend based. It is just not sustainable for banks. see axis magnus devaluation.

[@jyotiranjanmekap2406]

The long que is due to the huge advertisement in youtube by youtubers and insta. Useless devaluation... Most of the people should get this since the banks are charging 54% of annual int rate which was previously around 35% . Free lounge nahin milega to log lounge main jayenge hi nahin aur card lenge bhi nahin aur ye bank walon ko CC ke through lutna bhi band hojaega... The emi int charge has also increased to 16/18% .

[@aroranitin]

Nothing in this world are Free. Banks should have done this lot earlier. Only Premium Card Holders should be given Lounge Benifits who have decent spending on credit cards

[@disolaterx]

i got regalia gold LTF

[@DeepakRaj-zw6jj]

How???

[@disolaterx]

@@DeepakRaj-zw6jj idk about how part hdfc gave it 😂

[@DeepakRaj-zw6jj]

@@disolaterx They are not ready to give it to me. I've Regalia LTF..

[@ShashwatKumar]

crores ki salary hogi bhai ki

[@disolaterx]

@@ShashwatKumar kaash bhai 🥲tumhre mu me ghee shakar

[@odiaguyreacts]

It's unfortunate. Lounge access via credit card used to be a great thing especially if you are traveling with family. And most of India doesn't earn in crores, so lounge access for the middle and upper middle class via LTF credit card used to feel like a great privilege to have. That's gone now. Once again we are back to Airport KFC and Dosa Swamy for food.

[@rohitanand14]

That's true, but lounges are expensive, someone (bank) was paying for it and they can't forever.

[@odiaguyreacts]

​@@rohitanand14 @rohitanand14 I do not agree. If they start a service and disrupt it only because they cannot afford it anymore, it shows poor planning , forecast at an R&D level. Overall, it is quite a bummer for a middle class individual. I don't earn in spades hence no more lounging for me😢.

[@rohitanand14]

@@odiaguyreacts it happens all the time. There is not a law that facility can be never withdrawn. Consider the period you managed to enjoy it was a bonus, I hope you grow to qualify for superior cards soon.