ICICI Bank slashes airport lounge access benefits on 21 credit cards with effect from April 1

ICICI Bank credit cards airport lounge access: After HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank, SBI Card, ICICI Bank has modified its airport lounge access benefits and reward points rules on its 21 credit cards. The revised benefits will be applicable from the new fiscal, i.e. April 1, 2024.

As per a notification on the ICICI Bank website, credit cardholders will get one complimentary airport lounge access by spending Rs 35,000 in the preceding calendar quarter. That means the card spendings made in the January-March 2024 can be used in the April-June 2024 quarter.

According to the ICICI Bank website, “Starting Apr 01, 2024, you can enjoy One complimentary airport lounge access by spending Rs. 35,000 in the preceding calendar quarter. Spends made in the preceding calendar quarter will unlock access for the subsequent calendar quarter. To be eligible for complimentary lounge access in Apr-May-Jun, 2024 quarter, you need to spend a minimum of Rs.35,000 in the January-February-March 2024 quarter and similarly for following quarters.”

As per the present rules, cardholders of ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card or ICICI Bank Expressions Credit Card need to spend a minimum spend of Rs 5,000 or above in a quarter to be eligible for complimentary lounge access.

This updated criteria to avail complimentary domestic airport lounge access will be applicable for below cards:

ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card

ICICI Bank NRI Secured Coral Visa Credit Card

ICICI Bank Coral American Express Credit Card

ICICI Bank Secured Coral Credit Card

ICICI Bank Coral Contactless Credit Card

ICICI BANK NRI Coral Credit Card

ICICI Bank LEADTHENEW Coral Credit Card

ICICI Bank Coral Rupay Credit Card

ICICI Bank MasterCard Coral Credit Card

ICICI Bank Expressions Credit Card

MINE Credit Card By ICICI Bank Visa Card

MINE Credit card By ICICI Bank Mastercard

ICICI Bank HPCL SUPER SAVER Visa Credit Card

ICICI Bank HPCL SUPER SAVER Master Credit Card

MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Platinum Credit Card

ICICI Bank Manchester United Platinum Credit Card

Chennai Super Kings ICICI Bank Credit Card

SPEEDZ ICICI Bank Credit Card

ICICI Bank Parakram Select Credit Card

ICICI Bank Business Blue Advantage Card

ICICI Bank MakeMy Trip Mastercard Business Platinum Credit Card

Dynamic currency conversion fee

ICICI Bank also revised the dynamic currency conversion fee. Effective from February 1, a dynamic currency conversion (DCC) fee of 1 per cent plus taxes will be applicable on each international transaction carried out in Indian currency at an international location or transactions carried out in Indian currency with merchants located in India but registered in a foreign nation. These charges will apply to all ICICI Bank credit cards.

The ICICI Bank website stated: “DCC is the currency conversion service on real time basis. DCC allows you to make credit card payments in Indian Currency at International location or to merchants located in India but registered in a foreign nation. Although DCC simplifies the understanding of prices in Indian currency, it involves additional mark-ups / charges levied by merchants that maybe unfavourable for you.”

Other rewards on ICICI Credit cards

Rent payment and e-wallet loading transactions will stop earning reward points on February 1, 2024.

The Amazon Pay ICICI Bank credit card will not be affected by this modification.

Credit card transactions with Merchant Category Code (MCC) 6513, 7349 are covered under Rental Payments.

A Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-digit number assigned to a merchant/business by the merchant’s acquiring bank. These are defined by networks e.g. Visa, MasterCard.

Also read: Diminishing returns: Credit card providers are trimming benefits; here's what cardholders should do

Also read: ‘It is a burden, avoidable’: Ex-SBI chief Rajnish Kumar on credit card TCS for overseas travel