10 best travel credit cards, Know Features & Benefits before apply

If you are a travel hound, frequently flying for business or pleasure, it helps to increase your savings. While discounts and strategic planning help cut costs, a good way of doing so is to get a travel credit card. With reward points, loyalty programs, travel memberships, stay vouchers, welcome perks and loads of benefits ranging from travel insurance to complimentary airport lounge access, these cards provide good value for money.

Types of travel cards

Travel credit cards are of two types, co-branded and generic. The former are launched by card issuers in collaboration with airlines, travel portals, railways, etc, and the benefits or rewards are linked to spending through this partner. On the other hand, generic travel cards provide additional benefits or accelerated rewards on travel-related spends, be it flight bookings or hotel stays.


How to pick the right card

Since there is a plethora of travel cards in the market, it is difficult and confusing to pick the right one. To do so, you must consider yours and your family’s specific travel requirements.

Start by considering the frequency of your travel, be it for pleasure or business, and if it is multiple times a year, look for a card that offers more number of airport lounge access options, domestic or international.

If you are travelling within the country, look for cards that tie up with domestic airlines like Air India, Vistara or IndiGo, so that you can avail of concierge services. If you indulge in domestic travel via trains, pick an IRCTC-linked travel card.

Similarly, if you are partial to a specific booking portal like Yatra or MakeMyTrip, opt for the cards that partner with these service providers. If, however, you do not mind using any airline, hotel or booking portal, go for generic cards that are not linked to any specific partner.

If you travel abroad more frequently, look for cards that have Star Alliance partners and provide greater access to airport lounges in foreign cities. Also, if you travel more frequently to the Middle East and prefer Etihad or Emirates, pick the card that partners with these airlines.

Another point to consider if you travel abroad frequently is the foreign currency mark-up fee, which is usually around 3.5% of the foreign currency transaction amount. However, some cards charge a lower amount of less than 2%, so you could consider such options.

Also important to consider is the number of reward points that accrue to you for your spends and if complimentary travel-related insurance is offered. For your ease, we have listed here 10 travel credit cards, both co-branded and generic, along with their features and benefits. These are cards that offer maximum value for money.

Though some have higher annual fee, they offer more number of reward points, lounge visits per year, high insurance cover or lower foreign currency mark-up. There are cards focusing on domestic and foreign travel, and others that combine a lot of benefits at nominal fee. So, pick the one that suits your requirements the most.

BEST CO-BRANDED CARDS

AIR INDIA SBI SIGNATURE CARD

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 4,999
• INTEREST RATE: 3.5%
• INSURANCE: Rs 1 lakh complimentary lost card liability cover

REWARD POINTS

• Up to 30 reward points for Rs 100 spent on Air India tickets booked through airindia.com, Airindia mobile app.
• 30 reward points on booking for self & 10 on booking for others.
• 10 reward points for Rs 100 spent for AI tickets booked via AI booking offices, call centers & on super saver tickets.
• 4 reward points for every Rs 100 spent.

BENEFITS

• Welcome gift of 20,000 reward points.
• Anniversary gift of 5,000 reward points every year.
• Up to 1 lakh bonus reward points annually.
• 8 complimentary visits a year to domestic Visa lounges. Foreign luxury lounge access to 600+ airports with complimentary Priority Pass Program.
• Complimentary membership of Air India Frequent Flyer program.

INTERMILES HDFC BANK DINERS CLUB

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 5,000
• INTEREST RATE: 1.99%
• INSURANCE: Rs 2 crore air accident cover; Rs 50 lakh emergency overseas hospitalisation; up to Rs 55,000 baggage delay; up to Rs 9 lakh credit liability cover.

REWARD POINTS

• 8 InterMiles on every Rs 150 on retail spends.
• 16 InterMiles on Rs 150 spent on flights booked on flights.intermiles.com.
• 16 InterMiles on Rs 150 spent on hotels booked on Interbook.intermiles.com.

BENEFITS

• Welcome benefits include Inter-Miles Gold membership, up to 25,000 bonus InterMiles, Rs 2,000 flight & Rs 3,000 hotel discount vouchers for the first year.
• 10% & 5% discount on Etihad Airways business & economy class tickets, respectively, and 2.5X bonus InterMiles for EA tickets booked on flights.intermiles.com.
• Unlimited golf games at leading courses across India and select courses across the world.
• Unlimited airport lounge access to 1,000+ lounges in India and across the world.

KOTAK INDIGO KACHING 6E REWARDS XL CREDIT CARD

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 2,500
• INTEREST RATE: 3.5%
• INSURANCE: NA

REWARD POINTS

• 6E rewards can be earned on every Rs 100 spent.
• 6% rewards on IndiGo spends.
• 3% rewards on merchant spends including dining, entertainment, grocery.
• 2% rewards on all other category spends, excluding wallets.

BENEFITS

• Welcome gift of free air ticket worth Rs 3,000.
• Rs 150 discounted convenience fee on IndiGo.
• 8 domestic airport lounge visits.
• 12 golf lessons.
• Free 6E Prime add-ons worth Rs 899.
• Rs 250 Budweiser voucher.
• Accor dining voucher worth Rs 1,000 & Accor stay voucher with 30% off.

MAKEMYTRIP ICICI BANK SIGNATURE CREDIT CARD

• JOINING FEE: Rs 2,500 (NO ANNUAL FEE)
• INTEREST RATE: 3.5%
• INSURANCE: NA

REWARD POINTS

• Rs 1.25 for Rs 200 domestic spends outside MMT.
• Rs 1.5 for Rs 200 foreign spends outside MMT.
• Rs 2 for Rs 200 spends on flight bookings on MMT.
• Rs 4 for Rs 200 spent on hotel/ holiday bookings on MMT.

BENEFITS

• Welcome bonus of Rs 1,500 My Cash, MMT holiday voucher worth Rs 2,500, and complimentary MMBLACK exclusive membership.
• MMT Cabs flat discounts.
• 10-day Airtel international roaming pack up to Rs 3,999.
• International and domestic airport lounge access.
• Domestic rail lounge access.
• Extended 1.5 years validity on joining Benefit My Cash.

AXIS BANK MILES & MORE WORLD CARD

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 3,500
• INTEREST RATE: 3.6%
• INSURANCE: Rs 2.5 crore air accident cover; Rs 1 lakh Credit Shield; $500 each for baggage loss and delay

REWARD POINTS

• 4 award miles for every Rs 200 spent.

BENEFITS

• Welcome bonus of 5,000 award miles, annual bonus of 3,000 award miles. No expiry of miles.
• 4 complimentary visits to select airport lounges a quarter and 2 Priority Pass lounge visits a year.
• Redeem miles by booking flights with Star Alliance and Miles & More airline partners, on upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals, shopping.
• 24/7 dedicated concierge desk.
• At least 15% off on partner restaurants.

IRCTC SBI CARD PREMIER

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 1,499
• INTEREST RATE: 3.5%
• INSURANCE: Rs 10 lakh rail accident cover; Rs 50 lakh air accident cover; Rs 1 lakh fraud liability cover.

REWARD POINTS

• 3 reward points per Rs 125 spent on dining and standing instructions on utility spends.
• 1 reward point per Rs 125 spent on other non-fuel retail purchases.

BENEFITS

• 2,500 reward points on annual travel spends of Rs 50,000.
• 5,000 reward points on annual travel spends of Rs 1 lakh.
• Reversal of annual fee on spends of Rs 2 lakh.
• 1% transaction charge waiver on rail ticket booking on irctc.co.in.
• 1.8% transaction charge waiver on fl ight booking on air.irctc.co.in.
• 8 complimentary railway lounge visits in a year for participating lounges in India.

BEST GENERIC CARDS

CITI PREMIERMILES CARD

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 3,000
• INTEREST RATE: 3.75%
• INSURANCE: Up to Rs 1 crore air accident insurance and Rs 10 lakh lost card liability insurance.

REWARD POINTS

• 10 miles for every Rs 100 spent on all airline transactions, and booking fl ight tickets and hotel stays at premiermiles.co.in. Redeem miles across 100+ airlines & hotel partners.
• Transfer miles to 14 hotel & airline partners in 2:1 ratio.
• 4 miles for every Rs 100 on all other spends.

BENEFITS

• Welcome gift of 10,000 miles on spend of Rs 1,000 or more within 60 days of card issuance.
• 3,000 miles on card renewal every year.
• Miles never expire as there is no deadline.
• Complimentary access to select airport lounges across India.
• Up to 20% savings across participating restaurants.

HDFC BANK REGALIA CARD

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 2,500
• INTEREST RATE: 3.6%
• INSURANCE: Rs 1 crore accidental air death cover; up to Rs 15 lakh emergency overseas hospitalisation; up to Rs 9 lakh lost card liability cover.

REWARD POINTS

• 4 reward points for every Rs 150 spent.

BENEFITS

• 12 complimentary airport lounge visits within India and 6 outside India.
• Bonus 10,000 reward points on Rs 5 lakh spends and 5,000 reward points on Rs 8 lakh spends in an anniversary year.
• Exclusive 24/7 concierge services.
• Renewal fee waived on spending more than Rs 3 lakh in previous year.

SBI CARD ELITE

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 5,000
• INTEREST RATE: 3.5%
• INSURANCE: NA

REWARD POINTS

• 5X reward points on dining, departmental stores and grocery spends.
• 2 reward points per Rs 100 on all other spends, except fuel.
• 2 reward points on every Rs 100 spent on international transactions.

BENEFITS

• Welcome e-gift voucher worth Rs 5,000.
• Complimentary membership to the Priority Pass Program.
• 6 complimentary airport lounge visits per calendar year, outside India. Access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide.
• 2 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits every quarter in India.
• Club Vistara Silver membership. 9 CV points for `100 spent on Vistara flights.
• Trident Privilege Red Tier membership and 1,000 welcome points on registration.
• 1,500 bonus points on fi rst stay & another
• Rs 1,000 hotel credit on extended night stay.
• Foreign currency mark-up of 1.99% on international usage.

YES FIRST PREFERRED CREDIT CARD

• ANNUAL/JOINING FEE: Rs 999
• INTEREST RATE: 3.5%
• INSURANCE: Rs 1 crore cover for air accidents; Rs 25 lakh for emergency overseas hospitalisation; Credit Shield for accidental death of cardholder.

REWARD POINTS

• Accelerated reward points on select transactions on YESCART.
• 8 reward points for Rs 200 spent on all categories except select categories.
• 4 reward points for every Rs 200 on select categories.
• 10 reward points equal 1 InterMile/ 1 Club Vistara point.

BENEFITS

• 20,000 bonus reward points on spends of Rs 7.5 lakh or more in each anniversary year.
• 2 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits in India per quarter.
• 4 complimentary airport lounge visits per calendar year.
• 4 complimentary rounds of green fees per calendar year at select golf courses in India.
• Preferential foreign currency markup of 1.75% only.
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver.

Source: Card-issuer websites. Annual/joining fees do not include taxes. Interest rate is per month. All benefits are not included