A Limitless Expanse on Club Vistara: Ultimate Guide to Earning and Burning CV Points

A joint venture between the TATA Group and Singapore Airlines, both of whom are stalwarts in their industry and known vividly for their customer-centric approach, it isn’t shocking that this aubergine and the gold-clad airline has quickly risen through the ranks amongst its contemporaries to be crowned as India’s favourite full-service carrier. If given a choice most frequent fliers would opt to hop on a Vistara aircraft for the sheer hospitality and warmth it offers at 30,000 feet apart from the other niceties of the airline.

Vistara commenced operations on 9 January 2015 and recently completed flying 50 million customers. As of April 2023, it has an 8.7% share of the domestic carrier market, making it the 2nd largest domestic airline, behind IndiGo. 

It operates both domestic and international flights, connecting various cities in India and select destinations abroad. The airline has its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and operates a fleet of modern and fuel-efficient aircraft, serving 34 destinations onboard the Airbus A320, A321neo, Boeing 787-9, and 737-800NG.

In India, after the demise of the celebrated Jet Airways – there is only one decently recognized Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) which happens to be Club Vistara.

Overview

The Club Vistara tiers and privileges are crafted to enhance your flying experience, enabling you to accumulate more points and unlock greater benefits as you progress. Each flight brings you nearer to a higher tier, granting you exclusive Vistara Priority Services such as priority check-in, boarding, and baggage handling. Additionally, you gain access to Vistara’s partner lounges, further enriching your journey. We explore each of these benefits and dive deep into the program.

Club Vistara

Here are some key features and benefits of the Club Vistara program:

Membership Tiers: Club Vistara has four membership tiers: Base, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each tier offers increasing benefits and privileges based on the member’s tier status.

Distance-based points accrual through flying, bonus points, priority services, lounge access, varying excess baggage allowance and many other benefits can be availed by members based on their membership tier.

Before we move to each tier and its benefits in detail, let us understand the currency of this FFP – CV Points & Tier Points.

CV Points & Tier Points

In Club Vistara, there are two types of points that members can earn: CV points and Tier Points. These points serve different purposes and contribute to different aspects of the membership program.

1. CV Points: CV points are the primary currency of Club Vistara. Members earn CV points based on the distance flown and the class of service. The higher the membership tier, the more CV points members can earn for each flight. CV points can be accumulated and redeemed for a variety of rewards, including free flights, upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals, and lifestyle products. The redemption options may vary based on availability and membership tier.
2. Tier Points: Tier Points are a separate type of points that determine a member’s tier status within Club Vistara. Tier Points are earned based on the distance flown and the class of service, just like CV points. However, Tier Points solely contribute to the member’s tier progression and do not have any direct redemption value. The number of Tier Points earned determines the member’s tier level (Base, Silver, Gold, or Platinum). Tier Points are reset annually, and members need to earn a certain number of Tier Points within a specified time period to maintain or upgrade their tier status.

The accumulation of Tier Points allows members to unlock additional benefits and privileges associated with higher tiers. These benefits may include priority services, lounge access, excess baggage allowance, upgrade privileges, and more. The higher the tier, the more valuable the benefits and the greater the recognition within the program.

It’s important to note that while both CV points and Tier Points are earned based on flight activity, they serve different purposes. CV points can be redeemed for rewards, while Tier Points determine a member’s tier status and associated benefits.

Tiers and Privileges

Club Vistara tiers and privileges are designed to offer you the opportunity to fly more, earn more points and do more with your membership. Every flight takes you closer to a higher tier and more privileges that include Vistara Priority Services (includes priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling), and access to Vistara’s lounge and partner lounges.

Below Table details the benefits entailed with each tier:

Benefits	Base	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Tier Points/CV Points per ₹100	8	9	10	11
Priority Connect	–	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guaranteed Reservation in Economy Class	–	–	Up to 48 hours Prior	Up to 24 hours Prior
Priority Waitlist Clearance			Yes	Yes
Complimentary Inflight Wi-Fi				Yes
Rescheduling Fee Waiver			Yes	Yes
Priority Airport Check-In		Premium Economy Counter	Premium Economy Counter	Business Class Counter
Priority Boarding			Yes	Yes
Priority Baggage handling			Yes	Yes
Increased Check-In Baggage allowance within and outside India (for sectors with weight restrictions)		+5Kg	+10Kg	+15Kg
One-Class Upgrade vouchers on Tier Renewal			Yes	Yes
Enhanced privileges when flying with Singapore Airlines			Yes	Yes
Access to Partner Lounges for members			Yes	Yes

Most of the sought-after benefits start kicking in with CV Gold status however there are some exclusive benefits reserved for the Platinum tier. Now that we have seen the privileges that come with each tier, let us understand how one can qualify for each of them.

Elite Tier Qualification

The criteria used to be liberal until Dec 2022, however, it has become significantly difficult to qualify for tiers effective 1st Jan 2023.

Tier	Min. Requirement for Tier Upgrade or Renewal in 12 Months
CV Silver	15,000 Tier Points and 4 Vistara Flights
CV Gold	25,000 Tier Points and 6 Vistara Flights
CV Platinum	35,000 Tier Points and 8 Vistara Flights

Earlier all of the “and” conditions used to be “or” and hence taking 20 or 30 or 40 flights in a year to achieve Silver, Gold, and Platinum was simpler and realistically possible as shorter flights too contributed to tier advancement in the same capacity as longer routes. However, one now needs to ensure a spend of 1.87L which be around 24-30 Mumbai-Delhi flights just to upgrade from CV Base to CV Silver.

Singapore Airlines Benefits

Club Vistara members earn CV Points with airline partners, such as Singapore Airlines. However, please keep in mind that unlike earning CV Points based on the fare value of the ticket on Vistara flights, members will earn CV Points on partner airlines based on the distance flown.

To earn CV Points on Singapore Airlines flights, your CV membership ID must be furnished at the time of booking or check-in.

Club Vistara Platinum and Gold members also enjoy additional benefits and privileges when traveling on Singapore Airlines:

Benefits	CV Gold	CV Platinum
Access to KrisFlyer Gold Lounge in Singapore (Terminal 2 & 3)	Self Only	Self Only
Increased Baggage Allowance	+20Kg	+20Kg
Priority Airport Check-in	Business Class Counter	Business Class Counter
Priority Boarding & Luggage	Yes	Yes

Earning CV Points

There are multiple ways to earn CV points if you are a member of the Club Vistara program which include flying the airline, and its partners, accruing points through co-branded cards or through referrals.

Flying on Vistara

As the above table enlists, you earn between 8 and 11 CV points for every 100 Rs spent depending on your Tier with Club Vistara. You just need to enter your CV ID at the time of booking or check-in. Your points will be credited automatically to your CV account within 7 days of the flight date and will be valid for 36 months from the date of your journey. If you have forgotten to quote your Club Vistara ID before flying, you can still claim CV Points & Tier Points for Vistara flights flown in the last 180 days via retro claim form by logging in to your account. You can also buy CV points by logging into your account.

Fly with partners

Club Vistara has done tie-ups with all the below partners where you can earn CV points whenever you spend with partners. Just quote your CV ID at relevant places to earn CV points.

Partner	Details
Accor Plus	Earn 4000 CV points on the purchase of Accor Plus membership
AVIS	Earn 16 CV points on every 100 Rs spent
AirportZo	Earn 3 CV points on every 100 Rs spent
Air Canada	Earn CV Points on Air Canada
Axis EDGE	Convert Axis Edge Points to CV Points
AU Bank	Transfer AU reward points to CV Points
Amex	Convert Amex Membership rewards to CV Points
BookAirportCab	Earn 4 CV points for every 100 Rs spent
Booking.com	Earn 2 CV points for every 100 Rs spent
Club CineBlitz	Earn up to 4,000 CV points
Curiohh	Earn 10 CV points for every 100 Rs spent
Club ITC	Transfer Club ITC green points to CV points
Fi	Transfer Fi coins to CV points
EazyDiner Prime	Earn up to 500 CV points with EazyDiner Prime
First Abu Dhabi Bank	Transfer FAB miles to CV points
HDFC Bank	Transfer HDFC rewards points to CV points
HSBC Bank	Transfer HSBC rewards points to CV points
IHCL	Earn 3 CV points for every 100 Rs spent
IndusInd Bank	Transfer IndusInd rewards points to CV points
Japan Airlines	Earn CV points on Japan Airlines
Lufthansa	Earn CV points on Lufthansa
Medibuddy	Earn up to 1000 CV points on Medibuddy
Singapore Airlines	Earn CV points on Singapore Airlines
SBI Bank	Earn CV points with Co-branded cards
Soneva	Earn 16 CV points for every 100 Rs spent
Sterling Resorts	Earn 8 CV points for every 100 Rs spent
The Postcard Hotel	Earn up to 60000 CV points in a year
United Airlines	Earn CV points on United Airlines
Visa2Fly	Earn CV points on Visa2Fly
Yes Bank	Convert Yes Bank reward points to CV points
Zoomcar	Earn 5 CV points for every 100 Rs spent

Earn CV points through Referral

Refer your friend or family member for the program and earn up to 1000 bonus CV Points! For each referred member, you will earn 200 bonus CV Points on completion of your friends’ first flight (successful referral), while your friend will earn 500 Welcome CV Points.

Redeeming CV Points

Now that we have understood the ways to earn CV points, let us get to the proof of the pudding —> Redemption!

You can redeem CV points for award flights, upgrades or with Vistara partner airlines. You can also add up to 8 nominees to your Club Vistara account for the redemption of flights for relatives or friends. Let us explore them one by one:

Award Flights on Vistara

You can simply log in to your account and click on redeem flights. Vistara follows a static award chart which can be found here. You can also check the miles requirement via the award calculator. It is important to note that Vistara releases limited seats per flight for award bookings. This is usually in the order of 2-3 for Business, 4 for Premium Economy and 6-8 for Economy. We recommend booking as early as possible for getting availability especially if eyeing a higher-class redemption. The sweet spot to redeem award flights on Vistara lies on sectors with limited connectivity as revenue booking rates are usually higher. Since the miles requirement is not dynamic, you can extract a value of > ₹1 if booked closer to the date of the journey provided availability can be found. Award tickets are available for Domestic & International sectors both, which can be referred to from the award chart linked above.

There is also a Cash + Points option when you are short of CV points for your award booking or upgrade. This too can be found in your Club Vistara account.

Using CV points for seat upgrades

You can use CV points for upgrading your seats from Economy to Premium Economy or from Premium Economy to Business Class and in some cases from Economy to Business as well. The requirement of miles for upgrades is calculated using the same award calculator tool on a seperate tab.

Award Flights with Vistara Partner Airlines

You can redeem CV Points with other airline partners such as Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and Lufthansa to travel across the world. The award chart for booking Vistara Partner airlines using CV points can be found here. For redeeming Partner Award Flight, CV members can get in touch with the Customer Service Center at +91 9289228888. Redemption requests for Award Flights on Partner Airlines may take up to 14 working days. Unless left with no other option, this is probably not the best use of your CV points as the points requirement is quite high.

Voucher Management

Vistara as of date provides two types of vouchers, both of which can be used for your travel or for nominees added to your account.

Award Ticket Voucher

This is usually awarded through partner products such as a welcome bonus or milestone bonus on the Axis, SBI, IDFC, and IndusInd co-branded cards. The benefits of these cards are covered in detail in the below sections. It can either be an economy, premium economy, or business class voucher. They have a maximum validity of 9 months, which is split as 6+3. These can be found under the on-demand voucher generation tab. Generate the voucher only when you want to use it as the validity period will begin post-generation.

If the voucher is “issued” by you on any date in the first 6 months after it has been added to your account, it must be used in the next 3 months. In case, the voucher is not “issued” by you in the first 6 months, it is auto-activated and must be consumed by the end of the 9th month. Travel must be booked for a date within the voucher’s validity.

Voucher bookings can be done either by yourself online or through customer care.

One Class Upgrade Voucher

Issued by virtue of attaining a tier status with Vistara either through flying or through partner products such as Gold Status through the Axis Bank Vistara Infinite Credit Card. You may use this to upgrade your travel class from economy to either premium economy or business where applicable and from premium economy to business. The requirement for all domestic sectors is 1 voucher for one class upgrade but can go up to 2, 4, or even 6 for international sectors. The requirements for no. of vouchers can be accessed through this tool. These vouchers can only be redeemed by calling customer care and must also be utilized for travel within the validity period. Only points and cash booking are eligible for being upgraded beforehand however in our experience is possible for voucher redemptions as well if done at the check-in counter at airports. You can also extend the validity of these vouchers for 3 months for a fee of ₹2500 + taxes.

Offers and Promotions

Below are the popular Credit Card / Bank transfer partners with Vistara and their conversion ratios:

Partner	Conversion
HDFC Bank	1:1 (Infinia and DCB) 2:1 (Regalia, Regalia Gold, DCP)
Axis Bank	5:4* for Edge Rewards (HNI cards) 5:1 for Edge Rewards (Regular cards) 1:2 for Edge Miles (Atlast Credit Card)
IndusInd Bank	2:1
American Express	3:1

Vistara comes up with promotions for the transfer of points through their partners from time to time, a very recent one allowed Club Vistara account holders to earn 30% bonus CV Points, up to 1,50,000 bonus CV Points per transfer partner, on a minimum transfer of 2000 CV Points. The offer was valid for all the eligible transactions made between March 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023.

Unless you have immediate travel plans, we recommend waiting for such offers as they repeat in an interval of 12-18 months.

Co-Branded Credit Cards

Currently, there are 4 banks that provide Vistara Co-Branded cards – Axis, IDFC, SBI, and IndusInd. We have compared the mid-segment offerings of these cards from each bank comprehensively at PointsDojo in our article, you can read more here to decide which card is suitable for your requirement. Let us take a cursory look at some of these.

Axis Vistara Credit Cards

Probably the most extensive coverage of Club Vistara is provided by Axis in the form of 3 different cards across all segments.

• Axis Vistara Card
• Axis Vistara Signature Card
• Axis Vistara Infinite Card

Below tables enlists the features and benefits of each card along with their fees:

Joining & Annual Fees

Fees	Axis Vistara	Axis Vistara Signature	Axis Vistara Infinite
Joining & Annual	₹1500+ Taxes	₹3000 + Taxes	₹10,000 + Taxes

Benefits & Privileges

Benefit	Axis Vistara	Axis Vistara Signature	Axis Vistara Infinite
Welcome Benefit	Complimentary Economy ticket and Club Vistara Membership	Complimentary Premium Economy Ticket and Complimentary Club Vistara Silver Membership	Complimentary Business Class ticket* and Complimentary Club Vistara Gold Membership
Points Benefit	Earn 2 Club Vistara Points for every ₹200 spent	Earn 4 Club Vistara Points for every ₹200 spent	Earn 6 Club Vistara Points for every ₹200 spent
Activation Benefit (First Year Only)	1000 Bonus CV Points	3000 Bonus CV Points	10,000 Bonus CV Points
Milestone Benefit	Up to 3 Economy Class tickets in a year	Up to 4 Premium Economy tickets in a year	Up to 4 Business Class tickets in a year

There are also other lifestyle benefits, golf benefits, lounge access, dining benefits, travel insurance, etc on these cards.

Axis also regularly runs offers of First Year Free conditional to a minimum spend in 3 months on these cards. Do keep an eye out for the same.

SBI Vistara Credit Cards

SBI offers 2 co-branded Club Vistara credit cards – detailed below: a) Club Vistara SBI Card b) Club Vistara SBI Card PRIME

Joining Fees & Benefits

Particular	Club Vistara SBI Card	Club Vistara SBI Card PRIME
Joining & Renewal Fee	₹1499 + Taxes	₹2999 + Taxes
Welcome Benefit	Complimentary Economy Class ticket	Complimentary Premium Economy ticket and Complimentary Club Vistara Silver membership
Points Benefit	Earn 3 Club Vistara Points for every ₹200 spent	Earn 4 Club Vistara Points for every ₹200 spent

There are also other lifestyle benefits, lounge access, dining benefits, travel insurance, etc on these cards.

IndusInd Bank Explorer Credit Card

IndusInd Bank offers a super premium Vistara Co-branded Credit card with a joining fee of ₹40,000 + taxes (renewal at ₹10,000 + taxes). Let us explore the benefits of the card.

Particular	IndusInd Explorer Credit Card
Joining & Renewal Fee	₹40,000 + Taxes (Joining) ₹10,000 + Taxes (Renewal)
Welcome Benefit	Complimentary Business Class Ticket. Complimentary Club Vistara Gold Tier membership. (First year only) 1 Oberoi Hotel & Resorts Gift Voucher Or Luxe Gift Card worth ₹25,000 Or Vouchagram Gift Vouchers worth ₹25,000
Points Benefit	8 CV Points for every ₹200 on Vistara. 6 CV Points for every ₹200 on Hotels/Airline/Travel spends. 1 CV Points for every ₹200 spent on Utility, Insurance, Government Payment, Fuel. 2 CV Points for every ₹200 spent on all other categories.

While the joining fee for the card is very high, it does get compensated with the welcome benefits. For most practical purposes it is difficult to recommend it unless you can’t get the Axis Bank Vistara Infinite Card for some reason. With Axis Bank now allowing holding up to 4 cards it further loses a possible use case. IndusInd is known to dole out this card at a lower price point of ₹10,000 + taxes with no gift vouchers, from time to time especially if you hold a banking relationship with them. However, even with the reduced fee, Club Vistara Gold membership is only applicable for the first year and doesn’t renew.

IDFC First Bank Club Vistara Credit Card

The latest entrant to the Vistara co-branded partnerships is IDFC First Bank’s Club Vistara Credit Card. It comes with unique offerings which we have discussed in a separate article. Some of the vital benefits are covered in brief below.

Particular	IDFC First Bank Club Vistara Credit Card
Joining & Renewal Fee	₹4999 + Taxes
Activation Benefit (First Year Only)	6K CV points (2K each month) for 30K spends each month for the first 3 Months
Welcome Benefit	Complimentary Premium Economy Class Ticket. Complimentary One Class Upgrade Voucher. Complimentary Club Vistara Silver Tier membership. (Renews every year)
Points Benefit	6 CV Points on every ₹200 spent up to ₹1 Lakh / Month 4 CV Points on every ₹200 spent above ₹1 Lakh / Month 1 CV Point on every ₹200 spent on Wallet, Rent, Fuel and Utility. 10 CV Points on every ₹200 spent on dining on birthday.

A common theme across all cards is a by complimentary Vistara tier membership – either Silver or Gold. The Gold membership in most cases compensates for all that you will pay, especially on the Axis Bank Vistara Infinite card. It provides you with upgrade vouchers, priority boarding, priority luggage, business class lounge access, and much more! All of these benefits are invaluable and one cannot put a price on it. More importantly, achieving Club Vistara Gold through Tier points has become an increasingly difficult task.

Customer Service

To reach out to customer service, you can either request a call-back by logging in to your account or reach out to them on the below details:

Email: custrelations@airvistara.com

Contact: +91 9289228888

Dedicated helpline for Club Vistara Platinum, Gold & Silver members: +91 8130088888

If you call from your registered mobile number to any of their customer card numbers, it will automatically pick up your CV status and route to priority connect if you are a CV Silver, Gold, or Platinum Member.

Conclusion

Club Vistara is probably the best loyalty program from an Indian domestic travel perspective. It is unfortunate that the Vistara brand is going to be discontinued. While it is unclear as to what the new FFP of the merged Air India entity will look like, you can continue to take full benefits of the currently celebrated Club Vistara Program. They have also recently launched freshly redesigned cards for their members which has been perceived as a ray of hope by Vistara loyalists that the program is still far from being shunted.

Whether it is enjoying the benefits of CV Gold Membership via Credit Cards or soaking in the business class experience through a CV points upgrade, Vistara gives you an opportunity to travel in style without high mileage requirements.

Redeem your accrued points for an aspirational business class flight, share it with your friends and family or if you are new, begin with enrolling yourself for the program and enjoy the benefits while they last.