Credit cards for travel in India offer a host of perks and advantages, so select one that meets both your spending habits and travel requirements.
The Axis Bank Vistara Signature Card is an ideal choice for travelers who prefer Vistara Airlines flights, with generous sign-up bonuses, never expiring Airmiles on purchases, and milestone rewards including complimentary premium economy tickets and lounge access.
SBI Air India Signature Credit Card
The SBI Air India Signature Credit Card was designed with frequent travelers in mind, offering them features and benefits tailored to their specific travel needs such as lounge access, free membership of Priority Pass program membership and accelerated mileage earning.
As part of its benefits package, this card also offers an impressive sign-up and renewal bonus: when paying the joining fee for your card you’ll earn 20,000 Air India miles and when renewing you can receive an upgrade voucher worth one upgrade voucher when paying renewal fee. In addition, select petrol stations across India offer this card without charging fuel surcharge – so that makes this an invaluable card option.
The card enables you to enjoy additional perks on all of your shopping and dining expenditures as well as utility bill payments, like earning reward points that you can redeem for gift cards from IndiGo, Shopper’s Stop and Taj stores. In addition, this credit card makes bill payment simple whether online, over the phone or with an EMI arrangement – saving interest significantly in doing so!
Axis Atlas Credit Card
The Axis Atlas Credit Card is an ultra-premium travel credit card designed to meet the needs of those who spend significant amounts on domestic and international air travel. With high reward rates, accelerated rewards and milestone spend benefits available; plus access to top airline transfer partners.
Unlike airline-specific cards, the Atlas Card provides flexible EDGE Miles redemption across ten airlines and three hotel loyalty programs, making it suitable for anyone without a particular favorite airline or alliance.
A credit card’s low joining fee and generous air miles earning potential make it a suitable option for frequent travelers, although its complex tier system may present challenges to those who fail to regularly meet milestone reward thresholds. Furthermore, its foreign exchange markup fee could add significantly to frequent travelers’ costs; moreover, there is no zero liability protection or insurance coverage offered with this card.
ICICI Bank Platinum Credit Card
ICICI Bank Platinum Credit Card is one of the best credit cards for travel in India, providing rewards such as free e-Vouchers and flight vouchers, 2 reward points for every rupee spent, as well as offering a waiver on HPCL petrol stations’ fuel surcharge fees of 1%.
ICICI Bank MakeMyTrip Travel Credit Card also provides exclusive travel benefits and rewards, such as earning up to 2,500 InterMiles on MakeMyTrip bookings and up to 20% discounts off Etihad economy class base fares. Furthermore, this card grants access to domestic and international airport lounges, as well as railway lounge visits.
But to take full advantage of these benefits, spending at least INR 35,000 per quarter is necessary for one lounge visit benefit from ICICI Bank cards – they now only allow access once every quarter compared to before!
SBI EaseMyTrip Credit Card
If you are an Indian traveller who frequently books domestic and international flights, this co-branded credit card may be the perfect solution for you. Offering discounts on EaseMyTrip bookings as well as reward points with every purchase, this co-branded card also comes equipped with numerous additional perks – including an air accident cover policy!
The card offers a tiered benefit program that rewards high spenders with bonus EDGE miles and complimentary lounge visits, in addition to charging a higher annual fee than its rivals, but with additional advantages including dynamic currency conversion facility which reduces foreign exchange mark-up fees on international transactions and complimentary airport lounge visits both within India and overseas every quarter, as well as 2 domestic lounge visits per year. BankBazaar is an official partner of several card issuers and provides an easy application process if interested.