In-depth review
Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card
The entry point into ICICI's Emirates co-brand range. It earns a flat 1 Skywards Mile per ₹100 (~1%), carries complimentary Skywards Blue membership with no welcome miles, and gives one spend-gated domestic lounge visit a quarter but no international lounge. Cheap to hold, but thin — serious Emirates flyers should look at the Emirates Sapphiro or Emeralde instead.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
1% on Other
1 Emirates Skywards Mile per ₹100 (~1% at the ₹1/mile airline baseline) on all eligible spends; miles credit to your Emirates Skywards account
Airport Lounge Access
1 domestic airport lounge visit per quarter, unlocked by spending ₹75,000 in the previous calendar quarter (no international lounge access)
24x7 Concierge
Up to 10% off Emirates flight bookings on emirates.com or the Emirates App using the card
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% waiver on fuel transactions, capped at ₹500/month
Movie Ticket Benefit
25% off up to ₹100 on BookMyShow and INOX, twice a month, gated behind ₹25,000 of quarterly spend (from 15 Jan 2026)
Hotel Membership
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Blue Tier membership, auto-renewed on annual-fee payment
✈️ TRAVEL BENEFITS
Lounge access, miles, forex rates and travel perks at a glance.
AIRPORT LOUNGE ACCESS
4 visits/yr
Domestic lounges
₹2,000
Estimated annual value
3.5%
Forex markup
- Domestic airport lounge access (4 domestic visits/yr, worth ~₹2,000)
🎬 ENTERTAINMENT BENEFITS
Movies, OTT subscriptions and entertainment perks.
- 25% off up to ₹100 on BookMyShow and INOX, twice a month, gated behind ₹25,000 of quarterly spend (from 15 Jan 2026)
👑 PREMIUM LIFESTYLE BENEFITS
Concierge, golf, hotel membership and high-value perks for premium cardholders.
- 24x7 lifestyle and travel concierge
- Complimentary Emirates Skywards Blue Tier membership, auto-renewed on annual-fee payment
It suits occasional Emirates flyers who want to collect Skywards Miles cheaply and value the Skywards Blue membership for its own sake. Anyone who flies Emirates more seriously should look at the Emirates Sapphiro, and everyone else at a general-purpose ICICI card with a better earn rate.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026. Rates assume 1 pt = ₹1.00. How we value points →
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | airline miles | 1%1 pts/₹100 × ₹1.00 | — |
Other: 1 Emirates Skywards Mile per ₹100 (~1% at the ₹1/mile airline baseline) on all eligible spends; miles credit to your Emirates Skywards account
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Rent · Cash Advances · Wallet Loads · Government & Tax · Education · Utility Bills · Insurance
These spends earn no rewards at all — not a reduced rate, and not the base rate. They are also normally left out of any milestone or fee-waiver calculation.
Fees & charges
The numbers that matter beyond rewards — verify on the issuer site before applying. Fees below are shown inclusive of 18% GST, as of 11 Oct 2026.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹1,180 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹1,180 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1%, cap ₹500 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹7,800/yr in total.
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Blue Tier membership, auto-renewed on annual-fee payment
1 domestic airport lounge visit per quarter, unlocked by spending ₹75,000 in the previous calendar quarter (no international lounge access)
Up to 10% off Emirates flight bookings on emirates.com or the Emirates App using the card
25% off up to ₹100 on BookMyShow and INOX, twice a month, gated behind ₹25,000 of quarterly spend (from 15 Jan 2026)
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions of ₹400–₹4,000 at any fuel outlet
Should you get it?
- Best for: Occasional Emirates flyers
- Mid tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on everyday spends (1% back).
- Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Cheapest way into Emirates Skywards Miles
- Complimentary Skywards Blue Tier membership
- Up to 10% off Emirates flights
✕ Cons
- Thin 1% flat earn, no welcome miles and no fee waiver
- Only Skywards Blue status and one spend-gated domestic lounge visit a quarter
- The Sapphiro and Emeralde carry the benefits that make the co-brand worth holding
Eligibility & documents
This is the figure for salaried applicants. Where ICICI Bank sets a separate one for the self-employed, its own eligibility page gives it.
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.
- 🎁Redeem Skywards Miles for Emirates flights, upgrades and partner awards via your Emirates Skywards account
What your Emirates Skywards Miles are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
₹1 per Skywards Mile, the house baseline for a full-service airline currency
The economics are thin — a 1% flat earn, no welcome miles and no fee waiver — with value only for someone who flies Emirates and actually uses Skywards Blue status.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still apply for the Emirates Rubyx?
What does the card earn?
Does it include lounge access?
What else should I consider?
How has the Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card changed over time?
Has the Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card been devalued recently?
When did the Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card's fees last change?
How did the Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card change in 2026?
The bottom line
The weakest of the Emirates trio — a flat 1 mile per ₹100 (~1%), no welcome miles, only Skywards Blue status and a single spend-gated domestic lounge visit a quarter. The ₹1,000 fee is low, but so is the return; frequent Emirates flyers should look at the Sapphiro or Emeralde instead.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 1 earn rule, the spends listed as earning nothing and 5 recorded perks.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card are taken from ICICI Bank's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page. Last updated 11 Oct 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 ICICI 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.
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Guides and reviews related to this card.
Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card
The entry point into ICICI's Emirates co-brand range. It earns a flat 1 Skywards Mile per ₹100 (~1%), carries complimentary Skywards Blue membership with no welcome miles, and gives one spend-gated domestic lounge visit a quarter but no international lounge. Cheap to hold, but thin — serious Emirates flyers should look at the Emirates Sapphiro or Emeralde instead.
Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card
The middle tier of ICICI's Emirates co-brand, sitting between the entry Rubyx and the super-premium Emeralde. It earns a flat 1.5 Emirates Skywards Miles per ₹100 straight to your Emirates account — roughly 1.5% at the ₹1/mile airline baseline, cut from 2 miles on 15 January 2026 — and welcomes you with 5,000 miles plus complimentary Skywards Silver status. A sensible pick for the regular Emirates flyer; a niche buy for everyone else, with no fee waiver on the ₹5,000 fee.
Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card
ICICI's super-premium Emirates co-brand earns Emirates Skywards Miles straight into your Emirates account — a flat 2 miles per ₹100 (roughly 2% at the ₹1/mile airline baseline). It welcomes you with 10,000 miles and Skywards Silver status, adds unlimited domestic and international lounges and up to 10% off Emirates fares, and repeats the 10,000 miles on each renewal. There is no fee waiver on the ₹10,000 fee. The maths works only if you actually fly Emirates and redeem in premium cabins.
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 2022 · last change Mar 2026
2026
- ▼ FeeObserved 19 Feb 2026 · Effective 1 Mar 2026
Minimum Amount Due rebuilt as a two-branch formula
5% of the outstanding amount, plus instalments, the over-limit amount, fee GST and any unpaid previous MAD→100% of GST, EMI principal and interest, fees, the over-limit amount and unpaid MAD, plus 5% of retail spends, cash advances and the finance charge — the finance charge taken in full whenever that 5% falls short of it
From the 1 March 2026 statement onwards ICICI stopped deriving the Minimum Amount Due from a single 5%-of-outstanding line and began building it component by component: GST, EMI principal and interest, fees and charges, the over-limit amount and any unpaid previous MAD are all taken at 100%, and 5% is applied to retail spends, cash advances and the finance charge. Where 5% of those three comes to less than the finance charge alone, the whole finance charge is added instead and only retail and cash are taken at 5%. ICICI illustrates both branches itself — a minimum of ₹11,210 on a ₹37,830 total due, and ₹21,620 on a ₹1,15,810 total due where finance charges dominate. Paying the statement in full is unaffected; the minimum rises only for people carrying a balance or taking cash.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ BenefitObserved 22 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
BookMyShow movie benefit becomes spend-gated
Complimentary 25% off (up to ₹100), twice a month→Requires ₹25,000 spend in the previous quarter
From 15 Jan 2026, Rubyx's BookMyShow movie discount — 25% off up to ₹100 on a minimum of two tickets, twice a month — is unlocked only if the cardholder spent at least ₹25,000 in the preceding calendar quarter. The Emirates co-brand cards were gated in their own 15 Jan 2026 revision, ahead of the wider ICICI portfolio's 1 Apr 2026 date, moving the last of the card's low-threshold perks from unconditional to spend-gated.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ RewardObserved 17 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
Insurance, utility, government and education spends stripped of miles
Miles earned on insurance, utility, government and education spends→Those categories earn no Skywards Miles
As part of ICICI's January 2026 portfolio devaluation, from 15 Jan 2026 the Emirates cards stopped awarding Skywards Miles on insurance, utility, government and education payments. Rubyx's headline rate stayed at 1 Mile per ₹100 on other eligible retail spends — unlike Sapphiro (cut from 2 to 1.5) and Emeralde (2.5 to 2) — so for Rubyx the change is a category carve-out rather than a rate cut. ICICI's own Most Important Terms and Conditions set it out plainly: "1 Skyward Mile per ₹100 spent on all eligible retail spends", then "No Miles will be accrued on Insurance, Utility, Government & Education payments", and confirm every other feature of the card was left unchanged.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeObserved 17 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
New wallet-load, gaming and DCC transaction fees
No fee on wallet loads, gaming spends or dynamic currency conversion→1% on wallet loads ≥₹5,000; 2% on gaming; tier-based DCC fee
The same 15 Jan 2026 round added transaction fees that hit every ICICI card, Rubyx included: a 1% fee on third-party wallet loads (Paytm, Amazon Pay, MobiKwik and similar) of ₹5,000 or more, a 2% fee on gaming and fantasy-sports platforms, and a tier-based dynamic-currency-conversion (DCC) fee on foreign-currency transactions billed in rupees. These are pure cost additions, independent of the card's reward structure.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
2024
- ▼ LoungeObserved 11 Oct 2024 · Effective 15 Nov 2024
Airport lounge access gated behind ₹75,000/quarter spend
₹35,000/quarter spend (₹5,000 earlier)→₹75,000/quarter spend
ICICI's system-wide November 2024 restructure applied to the Emirates co-brand cards too, more than doubling the spend needed to unlock Rubyx's single complimentary domestic airport lounge visit — from ₹35,000 in the previous quarter (itself raised from ₹5,000 in April 2024) to ₹75,000. For a card whose earn is a thin 1 mile per ₹100, the perk moved well out of reach of its typical holder. There is no international lounge access to fall back on.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
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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Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/cards/icici-emirates-rubyx#value-timeline">Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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