Kotak Air Credit Card
The Kotak Air is the entry card in Kotak's Air travel range, sitting below the Air+ and Air+ Prime. Its currency is the Air Mile, worth a real ₹1 each when redeemed for flights or hotels on Kotak's Unbox portal (₹0.50 for instant vouchers). You earn 3 Air Miles per ₹100 on flights and hotels booked through Unbox — capped at 5,000 miles a statement cycle — and 1 Air Mile per ₹100 (≈1% at ₹1/mile) on everything else. The welcome benefit is 1,000 bonus Air Miles within 120 days, and another 1,000 on each renewal, so the miles offset the ₹999 fee if you use them for travel. Two fee points are worth knowing, because Kotak states them inconsistently. Its retail MITC and the card's Key Fact Statement both waive the ₹999 renewal at ₹2.5 lakh of retail spend in an anniversary year (rent, wallet, utility, education and transportation do not count toward that) — while the product page's own fee table says no waiver exists. And Kotak is currently advertising the card with no joining fee at all, on the product-page banner and its card listing, against the ₹999 the fee table still prints. Perks include up to 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (gated on ₹60,000 of spend in the previous quarter, max 2 per quarter) and a 1% fuel-surcharge waiver. Fuel, rent, wallet loads, utility and telecom bills, insurance, education, government and tax payments, EMI conversions, online gaming, cash advances and fund transfers earn no Air Miles at all, and the Key Fact Statement adds a 1% transaction fee on rent, on wallet loads above ₹10,000 a cycle, on fuel above ₹35,000, on online gaming above ₹10,000, on utility payments above ₹50,000 and on education paid through third-party apps. Miles expire in 3 years and 500 are needed to redeem.
Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹1,000 in vouchers, points or cashback on card activation
️ 3% on Travel
3 Air Miles per ₹100 on flights and hotels booked via Kotak Unbox (capped 5,000 miles/statement cycle)
️ 1% on Other
1 Air Mile per ₹100 on all other eligible spends; 1 Air Mile = ₹1 for flight/hotel bookings on Kotak Unbox
️ Airport Lounge Access
Up to 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (max 2 per quarter), subject to ₹60,000 of spend in the previous quarter
Annual Fee Waiver
Fee of ₹999 + 18% GST (₹1,179 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹2,50,000/year
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% waiver on fuel transactions, capped at ₹3,500/month
Milestone Bonus
~₹1,000 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | airline miles | 3% | ₹5,000 |
| Other | airline miles | 1% | — |
Fees & charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹1,179 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹1,179 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1%, cap ₹3,500 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹4,000/yr in total.
️ lounge access ~ ₹3,000 /yr
Up to 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (max 2 per quarter), subject to ₹60,000 of spend in the previous quarter
milestone bonus ~ ₹1,000 /yr
1,000 bonus Air Miles credited within 30 days of each annual fee payment, as a renewal benefit
fuel waiver
1% fuel-surcharge waiver on transactions of ₹500–₹5,000 (max ₹3,500 a year)
Should you get it?
Best for: Occasional travellers who book through Kotak Unbox, First-time travel-card holders wanting a low fee, People who want a mile actually worth ₹1
Mid tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
Strongest value if you spend heavily on Travel ( 3% back).
Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
✓ Pros
- Air Miles worth a real ₹1 each on Unbox flight/hotel redemptions
- 1,000 welcome + 1,000 renewal Air Miles offset the ₹999 fee when spent on travel
- Up to 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year
- 3 Air Miles per ₹100 on flights and hotels booked via Kotak Unbox
✕ Cons
- Base earn is a flat 1 Air Mile per ₹100 (~1%)
- Accelerated 3x earn caps at 5,000 miles a statement cycle and is locked to Kotak Unbox
- Lounge access requires ₹60,000 of spend in the previous quarter
- Air Miles are worth only ₹0.50 as instant vouchers, and expire in 3 years
- Ten spend categories earn no miles, and Kotak charges 1% on rent and on wallet, fuel, gaming, utility and app-paid education spends above its monthly thresholds
Eligibility & documents
Age
18 + years
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- PAN card
- Aadhaar / valid address proof
- Latest 3 months bank statement
- Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
🎁 Kotak Unbox: redeem Air Miles for flights and hotels at 1 Air Mile = ₹1 (up to 80% of booking value)
🎁 Instant vouchers: 1 Air Mile = ₹0.50
🎁 Partner transfers: Air India 3:1, Marriott Bonvoy 3:1, Accor/Qatar/BA/Cathay/United/Flying Blue 2:1 (min 1,000 Air Miles, capped 1,00,000/calendar year)
What your Kotak Air Miles are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Kotak Unbox flights & hotels BEST 1 Air Mile = ₹1 against flights & hotels on Kotak Unbox, up to 80% of the booking value
Instant vouchers Half the Unbox rate — a floor, not a route worth using
Airline / hotel transfer BEST Air India is the ONLY partner whose ratio moves by card, and it moves a lot: Solitaire 1:1, Air+ Prime 2:1, Kotak Air 3:1 — Solitaire is three times better than Kotak Air into the same programme. Everything else is flat across the family: Accor, Qatar, BA, Cathay, United and Flying Blue 2:1, Marriott 3:1. Etihad is Solitaire and Air+ Prime only; Aeroplan is Air+ Prime only. Because an Air Mile is already worth a fixed ₹1 on Kotak Unbox, transferring at 1:1 only wins if the partner award beats ₹1/mile — which in practice means premium-cabin redemptions, not economy.
✈ Transfer partners ✈ Air India Maharaja Club ( 3:1 ) 🏨 Accor ALL ( 2:1 ) ✈ Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios) ( 2:1 ) ✈ British Airways Executive Club (Avios) ( 2:1 ) ✈ Cathay Asia Miles ( 2:1 ) ✈ Air France-KLM Flying Blue ( 2:1 ) ✈ United MileagePlus ( 2:1 ) 🏨 Marriott Bonvoy ( 3:1 ) Value your balance: Kotak Air Miles 🏨 Accor ALL ( 2:1 ) ₹ 10,000 ✈ Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios) ( 2:1 ) ₹ 5,000 ✈ British Airways Executive Club (Avios) ( 2:1 ) ₹ 5,000 ✈ Cathay Asia Miles ( 2:1 ) ₹ 5,000 ✈ Air France-KLM Flying Blue ( 2:1 ) ₹ 5,000 ✈ United MileagePlus ( 2:1 ) ₹ 5,000 ✈ Air India Maharaja Club ( 3:1 ) ₹ 3,300 🏨 Marriott Bonvoy ( 3:1 ) ₹ 2,000 vs. typical redemption ₹ 10,000 Direct transfers from this card only, ranked by what a point is worth in the destination programme . Full calculator, every currency → The concern The best value is locked to Kotak's Unbox portal (1 Air Mile = ₹1 there, ₹0.50 as vouchers), the 3x accelerated earn caps at 5,000 miles a cycle, and lounge access is gated on ₹60,000 of prior-quarter spend.
The bottom line
The Kotak Air is an affordable starting point for travel rewards: Air Miles offer a solid ₹1-per-mile valuation on the Unbox platform, while the 1,000 welcome and renewal miles balance out the ₹999 annual fee when applied toward flight and hotel bookings. However, the general earn rate remains fixed at 1%, the 3X accelerator is capped at 5,000 miles monthly and restricted to Kotak Unbox, and domestic lounge privileges require ₹60,000 in prior-quarter spending. Frequent flyers with larger budgets may find better overall value in the [Kotak Air+ Prime](/cards/kotak-air-plus-prime), which offers a higher 2% base rate and broader travel perks.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Kotak Air Credit Card are taken from Kotak Mahindra Bank 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 5 Aug 2026 . Reviewed by Devchandra Sah . Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for Kotak Mahindra Bank . All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2026 · 1 changes · last change Feb 2026
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2026 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Launch Effective Feb 2026
Kotak Air launched — entry rung of the Air Miles travel family
Kotak introduced the Kotak Air, the entry card in its new Air travel range (below Air+ and Air+ Prime), built on the Air Mile currency worth a genuine ₹1 each on the Kotak Unbox travel portal. It carries a ₹999 joining / ₹999 annual fee — introduced with a limited-time joining-fee waiver — with 3 Air Miles per ₹100 on Unbox flights and hotels (capped 5,000 miles a cycle), 1 Air Mile per ₹100 on everything else, 1,000 welcome plus 1,000 renewal Air Miles, and up to 4 spend-gated domestic lounge visits a year. As a card born after the June-2025 revision, the current earn caps, exclusions and fees are its baseline, not a later change. One caveat on the date — Kotak publishes no launch date for this card, so February 2026 is reconstructed from trade coverage alone. A counter-signal points earlier — the card's own detailed terms and Air Miles transfer-ratio PDFs are hosted in Kotak's 2025 mailer folder — so treat the month as approximate rather than established.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Quick summary
Type Mid credit card
Reward rate 1%
Best for Occasional travellers who book through Kotak Unbox
Joining fee ₹999
Annual fee ₹999
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 5 Aug 2026
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