Creditkeeda
Vietnam Airlines has launched a fairly generous Lotusmiles redemption offer, with award tickets discounted by 50% across most of its network.
The promotion, called LotusDay, is valid for tickets issued between 20 August and 31 October 2026, for travel until 31 December 2026. The discount applies in both regular and peak periods, which makes it particularly useful for anyone looking at Vietnam over the year-end holidays.
For Indian travellers, the regular one-way Economy rate drops from 25,000 to 12,500 Lotusmiles, while Business Class falls from 60,000 to 30,000 miles.
India to Vietnam award rates
Vietnam Airlines prices Lotusmiles awards one-way. The current India-Vietnam award chart is:
Cabin | Season | Standard | LotusDay |
|---|---|---|---|
Economy | Regular | 25,000 | 12,500 |
Premium Economy | Regular | 40,000 | 20,000 |
Business | Regular | 60,000 | 30,000 |
Economy | Peak | 35,000 | 17,500 |
Premium Economy | Peak | 50,000 | 25,000 |
Business | Peak | 75,000 | 37,500 |
So, a regular-season return Economy ticket would cost 25,000 miles instead of 50,000, while Business Class would come down from 120,000 to 60,000 miles return.
The fact that peak-period awards are included is important. Many airline redemption promotions exclude Christmas, New Year or other high-demand dates. LotusDay does not. The normal peak pricing still applies first, but that price is then discounted by 50%.
Most Vietnam Airlines routes are included
All domestic Vietnam Airlines routes are eligible, along with most international routes.
The exceptions are flights between Vietnam and the UK, France, Germany, Australia and the US.
The ticket must be newly issued on a Vietnam Airlines-operated flight carrying a VN flight number. Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class are eligible, although Vietnam-Italy routes are limited to Economy and Premium Economy.
The promotion also works across Vietnam Airlines' award booking channels and cannot be combined with another mileage discount.
HDFC cardholders have the easiest route into Lotusmiles
For Indian cardholders, this promotion is most interesting if you have HDFC Reward Points.
HDFC Infinia and Diners Club Black cardholders can transfer Reward Points to Lotusmiles at 1:1, which means a regular-season Economy ticket effectively costs 12,500 HDFC points one-way.
Business Class comes to 30,000 HDFC points one-way.
That is attractive, but only if the cash fare on your date is high enough.
For example, if the ticket you want costs ₹20,000 in cash but the award requires 12,500 miles plus ₹5,000 in taxes and surcharges, your miles are actually saving ₹15,000.
That gives you a value of roughly:
₹15,000 ÷ 12,500 = ₹1.20 per point
That is the number worth looking at, rather than simply dividing the full ticket price by the miles required.
Vietnam Airlines requires taxes, fees and other applicable charges to be paid separately on award tickets.
Axis cardholders have a much weaker proposition
Lotusmiles is also a transfer partner for Axis Bank, but this is where the promotion starts looking less attractive.
The current transfer ratio is:
Axis Atlas: 2 EDGE Miles = 1 Lotusmile
Magnus for Burgundy: 5 EDGE Reward Points = 2 Lotusmiles
So that 12,500-mile Economy award would require 25,000 Atlas EDGE Miles.
A 30,000-mile Business Class award would require 60,000 Atlas EDGE Miles.
For Magnus for Burgundy, the same awards would cost 31,250 EDGE Reward Points in Economy and 75,000 points in Business Class.
More importantly, Lotusmiles sits in Axis Group A, where transfers are subject to the more restrictive annual partner cap.
That makes it difficult to get excited about using Axis points here. A headline rate of 12,500 Lotusmiles sounds cheap, but the underlying number of Axis points you need is much higher.
Unless you already have Lotusmiles sitting in your account, HDFC points are a considerably cleaner way of accessing this promotion.
Check Flying Blue before you transfer anything
There is another option worth checking before moving points to Lotusmiles: Air France-KLM Flying Blue.
Vietnam Airlines is part of SkyTeam, and Vietnam Airlines-operated flights can also be booked using Flying Blue miles.
Flying Blue does not use the same fixed award chart. Pricing varies by route and date, so there is no single India-Vietnam price that can be quoted as a rule.
That can work both ways.
On some dates, Flying Blue can ask for more miles than Lotusmiles. On others, Vietnam Airlines awards have appeared around the same level or even below the LotusDay price.
The comparison is particularly important in Business Class, where Flying Blue can occasionally price Vietnam Airlines awards in the low-to-mid 20,000-mile range rather than the 30,000 Lotusmiles required under LotusDay.
So before transferring HDFC points, it is worth running the same dates through both programmes.
And don't compare only the airline miles shown on screen.
Compare the credit-card points needed to generate those miles, as well as the taxes and surcharges charged by each programme.
That distinction matters even more for Axis cardholders, because a poor transfer ratio can make an apparently cheap Lotusmiles redemption expensive once you work backwards to the number of EDGE Miles required.
Is LotusDay a good deal?
For HDFC Infinia and Diners Club Black cardholders, it can be.
12,500 points for Economy or 30,000 for Business Class one-way between India and Vietnam is a good price when cash fares are high, particularly during the December travel period.
The peak-season discount is arguably the best part of the promotion. Even at peak pricing, Economy comes down to 17,500 miles and Business Class to 37,500 miles.
For Axis cardholders, the economics are much less compelling because of the weaker transfer ratios and Group A limits.
And regardless of which card you hold, Flying Blue deserves a quick check before transferring points.
The sensible order is simple: find the flight you want, check the cash fare, search both Lotusmiles and Flying Blue, compare the total points and cash required, and only then transfer.
Airline transfers are generally one-way, so there is little benefit in moving points speculatively.
The key deadline is 31 October 2026. Travel can continue until 31 December, but the discounted LotusDay award must be issued by the end of October.
Join Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles
If you are not already a Lotusmiles member, you can join Vietnam Airlines' frequent flyer programme before booking.
When registering, enter referral code 9061851268 to receive the applicable bonus miles.
Referral code: 9061851268
Join Lotusmiles: https://lotus-miles.com/deeplink/invitefriend
Bonus miles are subject to the current Lotusmiles referral terms and eligibility conditions.
Sources
Vietnam Airlines / Lotusmiles – LotusDay 50% award promotion:
https://enews.vietnamairlines.com/vn/en/2026/08/lotusday-enjoy-up-to-60-off-miles-for-award-tickets/Flying Blue – Vietnam Airlines partner page:
https://www.flyingblue.com/en/earn/partners/airline-vietnam-airlinesVietnam Airlines / Lotusmiles:
https://www.vietnamairlines.com/