Best Travel Credit Cards in India (Nov 2019) – Review and Comparison

Credit cards have become part of life today. They are easy to get and multiple offers make them lucrative. However with too many options available in market, it becomes difficult to choose which credit cards one should own.

In this article, I have compared the top 16 travel credit cards on different parameters. Based on that, I have listed the Best Travel credit cards in India as on Nov 2019. These offer maximum value for money in terms of free tickets/lounge access etc. In the end, I have recommended Top 4 Credit Cards for Domestic Travel and Best 7 Indian Credit Cards for International Travel.

Assumptions

1. This article is written only on cards whose fees is up to 5000/- per annum. Will write separate article for higher fees cards.
2. Banks use their own basis for points calculation. Some calculate on basis of per 100 rupees spent, some on per 150 rupees spent etc. For convenience and ease of comparison, i have changed the basis to points per 600 rupees for all credit cards.
3. This article is written assuming that 4 people of a family will be travelling together and the cards should give benefits including lounge visits to all of them.
4. I have rated travel cards on following parameters: Benefits they offer, Reward , Redemption value, # of free lounge access

So without wasting much time, let us review the various cards in market.

Note – You can also read the Final Recommendation at end of article if you are in a hurry and do not want to read the entire article 🙂

American Express Platinum Travel Card

Snapshot

Should you take it?

• Inspite of not getting waiver on annual fees, this is still a MUST have card. Value of vouchers you receive is significantly higher than what you pay.
• Since this is not accepted in small retail stores, get this card only if you do more of Online / Mall shopping or if your expenses are more on High class hotels/restaurant.

Click here to apply for Amex card to get special joining benefit of 2000 Membership Rewards Points on spending INR 5,000 in the first 90 days of Card membership + Zero annual fees for the first year (valid till 30 Jan 2020)

HDFC Bank

Snapshot

Should you take it?

• Between Diners Club Miles/Premium and Regalia card, it is better to take Regalia as it is accepted everywhere and benefits are almost similar to Diners.
• Biggest advantage on HDFC is the 10x reward point. For a spend of 600 rupees via SmartBuy, you will earn 160 points (worth 80 rupees) instead of 16 points (worth 8 rupees). Hence I will rate thes as one of the best Travel Credit Cards in India and will recommend everyone to take one of these HDFC cards.

Planning a foreign trip? Remember to read my article on Things to do before International Travel before embarking on your trip

Citibank / Yes bank / Kotak Card

Snapshot

Should you take it?

• Among these three cards, my preference will be Yes Bank card as renewal is free even if I do not achieve 7.5 Lakh milestone it is currently being offered as lifetime free card .
• Between Citi and Kotak. I will suggest Citi if your annual spend is < 8 Lakh because Citi offers higher reward points and no expiry of points. However, if your annual spend is > 8 Lakh, then choose Kotak as it gives bonus worth 13.5K.

Axis Bank

Snapshot

Should you take it?

• I do not find much value in Select card as they just offer membership (with some discount) on Club Marriott. Not free night. And there is no waiver on renewal.
• Privilege is good as it gives joining vouchers. But not sure what are the renewal benefits
• Vistara cards give flight tickets but since they fly only to limited destinations, this card is not suited for everyone.
• If I have to choose 1 among these, I will pick Vistara card. Low fees and low slab to achieve free tickets can help in making this a free card. Take this if Vistara airline operates in/near your city.

SBI / RBL Bank

Snapshot

Should you take it?

• Both cards of SBI are similar. Both give you vouchers equal to joining fees in 1st year. But no voucher is given on renewals. Prime gives you additional Pizza Hut vouchers and more points on Big basket and movies/birthdays. Elite gives you free movie tickets and golf lessons. It is your personal choice on which to get.
• Both RBL Icon and SBI Elite offer same advantages. Between them, choose SBI Elite as it also offers international lounge access and higher value of milestone benefits on crossing 8 Lakh limit.
• If you are not having any other card and can achieve 8 Lakhs annual spend, take Elite card. Else take Prime card.

ICICI Bank / Standard Chartered

Snapshot

Should you take it?

• If you love movies and have an Inox near you, then definitely take one of the two ICICI cards.
• Between Coral and Rubyx, I will prefer Coral due to lower fees and similar benefits.
• Benefits offered by Standard Chartered Ultimate is not much. However, if you frequently travel abroad, it is a good to have card due to 1 international lounge per month, low markup fees and high redemption ratio.

Planning a foriegn trip? Remember to read my article on Things to do before International Travel before embarking on your trip

Not Considered

Following banks/cards are not part of this list due to unfavorable criteria:

1. IndusInd => Did not find any good card within 5K fees.
2. Kotak => Their Privy League Signature card is good. But is only for Privy League Banking Relationship customers.
3. Stan Charted => Their Priority Visa Infinite is good. But is only reserved for Priority Banking customers.
4. HSBC => Their Premier card is good. But is only reserved for Premier banking customers.
5. HDFC Diners Club Black => One of the best credit cards in market. But is not accepted everywhere and the eligibility of monthly salary > 1.75 Lakh makes it hard to get and has resulted in it being removed from the comparison.
6. ICICI Sapphire => Though its renewal fees is 3.5K, high joining fees of 6.5K has resulted in this card being out of the list.

Final Recommendation on Best Travel Credit Cards in India

So while all the above listed cards are Best 16 Travel Credit Cards in India (Nov 2019), it is difficult for everyone to own all of these. Hence, we have recommended the following cards based on the cost vs benefits they give.

For Only Domestic Travel

• Take Amex Platinum Travel Card, HDFC Regalia, ICICI Coral, SBI/Axis Vistara and Yes Bank Preferred
• You get – 13 domestic airport lounge per quarter, 10 international lounge per year, 4 movie per month, golf lessons, minimum 1 Vistara ticket, 14k of Spicejet ticket and 10k of Taj stay
• Cost of getting these – 1^st year = 8,000/- / Renewal year = 9,500/-
• Minimum Annual spend required for benefits – 4 L (Amex) and remaining on any other card
• Recommended Annual spending pattern to achieve maximum value –
  • 4 Lakh on Amex to get flight and Taj vouchers
  • 1.25 Lakh on Axis Vistara to get 2 flight tickets (1 on joining/renewal and 2nd on 1.25 Lakh limit). Using these and Amex vouchers, you can enjoy a free vacation 🙂
  • Remaining on HDFC Regalia (especially when purchasing stuff from Amazon/Flipkart etc). Assumption is that we will pay renewal fees
  • Nothing on ICICI Coral except when there is good cashback offers going on. Assumption is that we are OK to pay renewal fees of 500/- on this card

For International travel

• Add SBI Prime and Diners Club Miles to list of cards mentioned in Domestic list
• Extra benefits you will get – Vistara upgrade, 20 international lounge access per year, International lounge access for 4 people per trip (via Regalia, Diners Club Miles, SBI Prime and Yes Bank Preferred), golf sessions
• Minimum Annual spend required for benefits – 4 L (Amex) and remaining on any other card
• Cost of getting these benefits on minimum annual spend – 1^st year = 12,000/- / Renewal year = 13,500/-
• Recommended Annual spending pattern to achieve maximum value –
  • 4 Lakh on Amex to get flight & Taj vouchers
  • 1.25 Lakh on Axis Vistara to get 2 flight tickets (1 on joining/renewal and 2nd on 1.25 Lakh limit). Using these and Amex vouchers, you can enjoy a free domestic vacation 🙂
  • 1 Lakh on Diners Club MIles card to get renewal fee waiver
  • Remaining on HDFC Regalia (especially when purchasing stuff from Amazon/Flipkart etc)
  • Nothing on ICICI Coral and Yes Bank Preferred except when there is good cashback offers going on. Assumption is that we are OK to pay renewal fees of 500/- for these cards
• Cost of getting these benefits on recommended annual spend – 1^st year = 13,500/- / Renewal year = 15,000/-

Related article – Read my detailed article on all the Free credit cards you should have to maximize your savings

You may also be interested in my amazing article on how you can get your next IPhone / International holiday completely free.

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