I am currently CV Plat fully earned via BIS. I know that program qualification/requalification requirements went up but that is not a concern given how much I fly. I will easily make Gold which is all that I require for my needs.

However my concern comes from the AI-Vistara merger where they say they will sunset the Vistara brand and it will be one single airline under the AI brand by March 2024. While there are no statements yet on their loyalty program Club Vistara, it only makes sense that it will be merged into the much inferior AI Flying Returns program. I am already *G and may not make sense for me to go the AI FR route.

Given the fact that status earned in 2023 may not even last a full year in 2024 does it make sense to even pursue CV Gold for next year?

Is there any clarity on CV elites will be treated post merger?

I doubt if AI or UK have finalized any plans on what to do with their Elite. I assume UK elite will get *G elite status of some kind through the merger but thats all conjecture and speculation right now.

I am guessing this a wait and watch game?

I've recently started flying domestically in India and mostly been AI or UK and I've been wondering how / where to credit them miles?

Based on current information - UK for domestic redemption. AI for international & *A. Depends on your goals...

For me personally, CV isnt that rewarding (no op-ups etc).. the Axis bank card gives CV Gold which is good enough for boarding early/business check-in etc.. so I'm actually going to try and fly AI as much as possible (credit to UA program) while first consuming / finishing my CV points in preparation for the merger.. Also i'm fortunate that most flying is on metro routes so AI has good presence from BLR..

I have a feeling that AI will launch a revived program once the merger takes place & there will be a lot of changes. Whether they will be good or bad remains to be seen.

On the other hand, I never found UK to have a good loyalty program to begin with & have never achieved more than gold with them.

They're already talking about revamping the AI FFP... it will happen in the next few months (I assume).

UK Gold/Plat is absurdly expensive now and not worth it. Get the Axis Vistara Card instead... profit from day 1.

Q on the complimentary ticket vouchers on the Axis Bank Infinite Vistara Card...Are these based on availability in a certain fare class? Or could I redeem for 5 J seats on a single flight?

And same Q on the one class upgrade vouchers...

And finally... how long does it take for the spend based vouchers to show up in my UK account?

Both book into the reward availability that Vistara shows online for mile redemptions. Definitely not more than two seats per flight for domestic.

I’m sure all UK FFP members received the below email today. They’ve said “don’t worry everything will stay the same”. So expect big changes soon. I’m currently UK Gold thanks to Axis Infinite. I wonder if that will now translate into AI Gold and what is the future of that card.

I am currently UK Silver thanks to Axis Signature. Was wondering if it would make sense to upgrade it to Axis Infinite and hope for AI/*G Gold.

It certainly is an interesting situation.

As long as you're able to afford the higher card fees and ok with the higher spend thresholds for free tickets... Infinite is certainly a better card irrespective of *G. However the risk (losing out on x number of free PE tickets) and value of *G for you is something that you'll have to figure out.

In my books it's a worthwhile risk.

UK Gold will very likely be matched to *G for the first year of the merger at the very least.

The issue with upgrading from Signature to Infinite though is the lower award / voucher / redemption seat availability just thanks to the smaller capacity. While Signature (PE vouchers) come with the issue of certain aircrafts not having a PE cabin e.g. BOM-MAA or RPR-DEL!
If all you want is award seats then IMO the base Platinum card with regular Econ vouchers is the best in terms of availability...

quick advise: I am flying on Vistara a ton these days.. however, I do not see the point of crediting miles on Vistara, as I get enough miles from Axis card to cover all my redemption travel needs.. crediting the revenue ticket miles seems like an over kill and kind of wasteful.. anyone has credited Domestic Vistara travel to other airlines ? which FFP would be best for Vistara domestic flight credit ?