Best Credit cards for Travel

India

We take a look at the best credit cards with the sole purpose of traveling. We don’t give any points for perks like Golf rounds, and give greater emphasis to benefits like travel insurance. Please note that this is our individual view and is not affiliated to any one credit card on this list.

We look at various aspects like

• Annual Fee

• Joining bonus

• Yearly bonus

• Earn rate and

• Other Travel related benefits

Annual Fee and Joining Bonus

Nominally priced at ₹2,999 and provides 1 return domestic plane tickets on Vistara airlines, and 3000 Club Vistara points on minimum spend of ₹75,000 within 90 days.

Rewards program and earn rate

Earn 4 points per ₹200 spent directly on Club Vistara enabling faster rewards flights on Vistara. Finding international reward seats however are limited. On an average spend of ₹25,000 per month points earned at a rate of 4 points per ₹200, it is possible to earn 6000 Club Vistara points, and considering a conversion rate of 1 point = ₹1.43, this is equivalent to ₹8,580 to redeem on Vistara and partner airlines.

benefits

• 1 premium economy air ticket each on completion of spend of ₹1.5 lakhs, ₹3 lakhs, ₹4.5 lakhs and ₹8 lakhs

• 1 hotel e-voucher from Yatra worth ₹10,000 on completion of spend of ₹8 lakhs

• 2 domestic lounge visits per year for primary card holder

• Priority pass membership (US$ 99) - 4 visits per year for primary card holder

• 10% off on Hertz car rentals, 5% on RentarCars
  

insurance and safety

• Lost card upto ₹1,00,000

• Loss of baggage and damage upto ₹72,000 and ₹5000 respectively

• Baggage delay upto ₹7,500

• Air accident cover upto ₹1,00,00,000

• Loss of travel documents upto ₹12,500

• 6 flight cancellations upto ₹3,500

conclusion

Easily the best card if you are domestic traveller and love Vistara.

annual fee and joining bonus

Yet another airline tie up from SBI comes in at an annual fee of ₹5,999 with a joining bonus of 5000 Etihad Guest points and complimentary Etihad Guest Gold tier status. If you are a frequent traveller to the middle east, you will love the perks of the Etihad Gold Tier status.

The Gold Tier status provides

• Priority boarding

• Priority immigration and baggage

• Chauffeur service for Business and first class flights

• Access to Etihad and partner Business class lounges for primary card member and a guest

• Enhanced baggage allowances

• Gold Tier in Avis Car rentals

• 2 free economy plane tickets

• and get this… offers for premium Twitter

However, since Etihad decided to wing it and not be a partner of either the Star alliance or the One World Alliance, there are limited reciprocal benefits on any other airline.

rewards program and earn rate

Yet another SBI card which earns rewards directly on the airline’s reward program enabling faster redemptions and no transfer hassles. The Etihad SBI premier card earns 6 EYG points per ₹100 on etihad.com, 4 EYG points per ₹100 on international spend (beware of the 3.5% foreign currency transaction rate), and 2 points per ₹100 on everything else except fuel. A 1% fuel surcharge waiver is provided.

Since the points are earned directly on Etihad Guest rewards, a 1:1 transfer rate applies. On an average spend of ₹25,000 per month points earned at a rate of 2 points per ₹100, it is possible to earn 9000 EYG points, and considering a conversion rate of 1 point = ₹1.43, this is equivalent to ₹12,870 to redeem on Etihad and partner airlines.

benefits

• 3% and 10% discount on economy and business Etihad flight ticket bookings respectively

• 10% discount on travel miles redemption

• 1500 bonus EYG points on every spend on ₹1,50,000 spend per quarter

• Annual fee reversal on spend of ₹5,00,000 per year

• 2 domestic lounge visits per quarter for primary card holder

• Priority pass membership (US$ 99) - 4 visits per year

• 10% on Hertz and 35% on Avis car rentals

Insurance and safety

• Lost baggage claim of upto US$ 1000

• Air accident cover of upto ₹50,00,000

• Lost card and fraud liability free upto ₹1,00,000

conclusion

The only logical option if travelling frequently to the middle east on Etihad. However benefits are very restricted to Etihad who do not have a whole lot of partners. Gold tier status is a plus.

annual fee and joining bonus

Contrary to other cards in this comparison, the ICICI Sapphiro requires a joining fee of ₹6,500 which reduces to an annual fee of ₹3,500 from the second year. Shopping vouchers worth ₹10,000 from brands like ShoppersStop, EaseMyTrip, Ola, Swiggy and Croma are rewarded within 45 days of joining. The annual fee is waived off on completing a spend of ₹6,00,000 in the previous year. Upto 20,000 PAYBACK points are available as yearly bonuses.

rewards program and earn rate

ICICI prefers to go with PAYBACK as the rewards program with an earn rate of upto 6 points per ₹100 spent on international transactions and upto 3 points per ₹100 spent on domestic transactions apart from fuel. However, PAYBACK has a convoluted redemption mechanism with no direct airline redemption partners. Instead Cleartrip can be used to book flight tickets where 4 PAYBACK points are worth 1 ClearTrip point. On an average spend of ₹25,000 per month points earned at a rate of 3 points per ₹100, it is possible to earn 9000 PAYBACK points. Considering a yearly bonus of 20000 PAYBACK points, and considering a conversion rate of 4 PAYBACK points = 1 Cleartrip points, this is equivalent to ₹7,250 in spending on ClearTrip.

BENEFIts

• 4 domestic and 2 international lounge visits per year for the primary card member

• 2 spa visits at the airport per year for the primary card member

• Complimentary access to American Express lounges

insurance

• Lost Card and Fraud Liability upto ₹50,000

• Loss of Baggage and Baggage damage upto US$ 1200 and ₹25,000 respectively

• Baggage delay upto US$ 300

• Loss of travel documents upto US$ 500

• Air accident cover upto ₹3,00,00,000

conclusion

the ICICI Sapphiro is more of a cashback card masquerading as a travel card. Most benefits are for shopping vouchers, PAYBACK discounts etc. and don’t really add travel value.

ANNUAL Fee and joining bonus

The first card in our list where the annual fee for which makes your eyes water. At ₹20,000 a year, this card is definitely not cheap. We will delve in further to see if the fee is really worth it. As a welcome bonus CITI rewards you with 10,000 miles apart from a yearly bonus 2500 miles. This card also offers a Taj group of hotels voucher which is worth ₹10,000 halving your annual fee immediately.

rewards program and earn rate

CITI uses its own rewards program where the accrued miles don’t expire. The transfer rate is the best in the business, compared to any other card, anywhere in the world. 1 citi mile gives you 4 airmiles with all major airlines.

Which means the 10,000 points which you receive as a joining bonus, = 40,000 air miles = 40,000 * ₹1.43 (best redemption rate on award seats) = ₹57,200. That’s a round trip economy trip to Australia, free with money to spare.

The yearly reward of 2500 miles = 10,000 air miles = 10,000 * ₹1.43 (best redemption rate on award seats) = ₹14,300. That’s an economy round trip to any destination in India.

Coupled with the earn rate of 1 reward point per ₹100 spent or 2 reward point per ₹100 spent internationally, it’s quite possible to wipe out the annual fee completely even without considering the joining bonuses. On an average spend of ₹25,000 per month at an earn rate of 1 reward point per ₹100, it’s easy to rack up 3000 points = 12,000 air miles. Which on a good redemption rate = ₹17,160.

benefits

• 4th night free when booking a hotel stay for 4 consecutive nights

• 15% off on dining in chosen restaurants across the world

• Unlimited domestic and international lounge access with Priority Pass valued at US$429

• Hotel room upgrades at select hotels across the world

• Two annual airport meet and greet services to fast track immigration and security

insurance

• Lost card / Fraud protection upto ₹3,00,000

• Air accident cover upto ₹5,00,00,000

• Overseas medical insurance upto US$ 50,000

conclusion

Definite contender for Best card for frequent travellers. Insurance provided could be more comprehensive.

annual fees and joining bonus

Massively up-ping the eye-watering quotient, the annual fee for the AMEX Platinum charge card is ₹60,000. To ease the pain AMEX is giving away 1,00,000 reward points as a joining bonus. As a yearly benefit however comes a whole slew of benefits.

rewards program and earn rate

AMEX uses their own rewards program that doesn’t expire. Membership rewards can then be transferred at a rate of 2:1 to major airlines partners. The AMEX platinum earns 3 points per ₹100 internationally and 2.5 points per ₹100 for any domestic spend.

benefits

• Taj Innercircle Silver Tier

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status

• Hilton Honors Gold Status

• Radisson Rewards Gold Status

• Hertz Gold plus rewards

• Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade tier

• 50% off on all Taj Group of hotels

• 25% off on all Oberoi Group of hotels

• Unlimited access to Priority pass lounges for primary card member and 1 guest valued at US$ 429

• Unlimited access to AMEX Centurion and other AMEX lounges

• Unlimited access to domestic lounges

intrinsic benefits of above statuses

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Silver status based on Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade Tier

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold status if 3 flights are completed within 4 months of linking

• Access to Krisflyer lounges after Krisflyer Gold status

• Taj InnerCircle Gold Tier based on Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade Tier

• All hotel chains above provide free breakfast for primary status holder and guest

• All hotel chains above provide early check-in, late check-out

• All hotel chains above provide room upgrades if available

These benefits are analyzed further in the detailed AMEX Platinum review.

insurance

• Lost Card / Fraud liability nil upto any limit

• Air Accident cover upto ₹1,00,00,000

• Loss of baggage upto ₹50,000

• Loss of travel documents upto ₹50,000

• Delayed baggage upto ₹50,000

• Overseas medical insurance upto US$ 50,000

• Purchase protection upto ₹5,00,000

conclusion

The benefits and the comprehensiveness of the insurance provided makes the AMEX platinum card the clear winner, and is a real value for money card for the frequent flyer. The CITI Prestige comes a close second, but it loses out to the sheer volume of benefits on offer.

More in-depth analysis of the AMEX platinum here.