Airport Lounge Access Gets Harder To Unlock For Indian Credit Card Users

Airport lounge access has long been one of the most valued perks of holding a premium credit card in India. But over the past year, banks have been steadily pulling back on how easily cardholders can use this benefit.

The shift is now more visible than ever, with multiple lenders introducing spend-based conditions that require cardholders to cross a quarterly expenditure threshold before they can walk into a lounge.

HDFC Bank Regalia Gold

Starting July 1, 2026, HDFC Bank Regalia Gold credit card users must meet a new quarterly spending threshold to retain complimentary domestic airport lounge access. To access lounges between July and September, a customer must spend Rs 60,000 between April and June 2026. Lounge eligibility will reset every quarter based on spending in the immediately preceding quarter.

Regalia Gold cardholders will get three domestic lounge visits per quarter, only if they spend at least Rs 60,000 in the previous quarter. The six international lounge visits per year via Priority Pass remain unchanged with no spend requirement.

HDFC Diners Club Privilege users face similar spend-based conditions, while HDFC BizPower users are now limited to two visits per quarter.

A Wider Industry Shift

HDFC Bank is not alone. Several card issuers, including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India (SBI), have already introduced similar spending conditions on select cards.

SBI Card introduced a revised domestic lounge access programme from January 2026 that separates participating lounges into Set A and Set B, depending on the type of SBI credit card held.

Axis Bank removed lounge access from its Airtel co-branded card from April 2026, with other cards shifting to spend-based models. Most eligible Axis Bank credit card users need to have at least Rs 50,000 worth of transactions in the last three calendar months to access domestic lounges for free.

RuPay And Mastercard Platinum Users Lose Access

The changes have gone further for debit card users. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) revised guidelines, RuPay Platinum debit cardholders no longer receive complimentary access to airport lounges, both domestic and international, and railway lounges starting April 1, 2026.

Several banks, including Punjab National Bank and HDFC Bank, confirmed this discontinuation. Punjab and Sind Bank also announced that complimentary lounge access on its Platinum debit cards has been discontinued from the same date.

In a separate move, Punjab National Bank informed customers that complimentary airport lounge access on its Mastercard Platinum debit cards has also been discontinued from June 1, 2026.

The DreamFolks Factor

The backend infrastructure for lounge access also underwent a major change. DreamFolks, once India's largest lounge access aggregator, discontinued its domestic lounge services from September 16, 2025. Banks moved to direct operator contracts with lounge companies such as Encalm, Travel Food Services and Adani Lounges.

What Cardholders Can Do

Walk-in rates at Indian airport lounges now range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,500 per visit. Cardholders who do not meet the new spending thresholds will need to pay these rates or consider upgrading to higher-tier cards. It is advisable to double-check lounge visit balances in the relevant bank app and verify that the lounge is covered under the card's network before visiting.