“Many travel credit cards nowadays are co-branded with airlines or popular travel portals like Club Vistara, Air India, Ixigo, EaseMyTrip, etc. which offer accelerated travel benefits on co-branded spends. Whereas other travel cards like Axis Atlas offer good value-back through reward points that can be transferred to airlines and hotel loyalty programs. To choose the right credit card, you must take into consideration your own travel preferences and spending habits. For instance, if you are loyal to a certain airline, getting a credit card co-branded with that airline would be a better choice. However, if you mostly travel internationally, a card with a low forex mark-up fee or international hotel stay benefits would be a more suitable option. Generally, mid-range or premium travel cards would offer better value than entry-level options. However, the eligibility criteria for these cards would be stricter,” said Rohit Chhibbar, Head of Credit Cards Business, Paisabazaar.
Here are some of the top banks’ travel credit cards providing significant value-back on travel spends. Some of these cards are co-branded with popular travel portals or airlines while others offer general travel benefits. (All card information is sourced from the card provider website as of 16 May 2024. Source: Paisabazaar).
IDFC FIRST BankClub Vistara IDFC FIRST Credit Card
Annual Fee
Key Features
- 1 Vistara Premium Economy ticket & 1 One Class Upgrade voucher as joining bonus
- Complimentary Club Vistara Silver membership & 3 months EazyDiner Prime membership on joining
- 6 CV Points per Rs. 200 spent on monthly spends up to Rs. 1 lakh
- 4 CV Points per Rs. 200 spent after reaching Rs. 1 lakh monthly spends
- 10 CV Points per Rs. 200 spent on dining bills on your birthday
- 1 CV Point per Rs. 200 spent on utility, fuel, rent, insurance & wallet load
- 2,000 CV Points each on reaching Rs. 30,000 monthly spends in the 2nd, 3rd & 4th billing cycle
- 1 Premium Economy ticket voucher each on reaching Rs. 1.5 lakh, Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 4.5 lakh, Rs. 9 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh annual spends respectively
- Forex mark-fee of 2.99%
- 12 complimentary golf lessons (1 per month) & 4 rounds of green fees (max. 1 round in a month) per year
- 50% off on green fee beyond complimentary golf sessions
- 2 complimentary visits to domestic airport lounge & spa and 1 visit to international airport lounge per quarter on Rs. 20,000 monthly spends
- ‘Cancellation for any reason’ cover of up to Rs. 10,000 (max. 2 claims) on travel bookings.
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card
Annual Fee
Key Features
- 2,500 EDGE Miles on making the first transaction within 37 days from card issuance
- 5 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 spent on Travel EDGE, airline & hotel merchants on monthly spends of Rs. 2 lakh
- 2 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 spent on Travel EDGE, airline & hotel merchants on monthly spends beyond Rs. 2 lakh
- 2 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 on others spends
- 1 EDGE Mile = 2 Partner Points across all airlines & hotels; 2 EDGE Miles = 1 Marriott Bonvoy Point; 1 EDGE Mile = Rs. 1
- Up to 12 tier-based international airport lounge visits in a year
- Up to 18 tier-based domestic airport lounge visits every year
- Silver Tier on joining, Gold Tier on annual spends of Rs. 7.5 lakh and Platinum Tier on annual spends of Rs. 15 lakh
- Up to 10,000 bonus EDGE Miles in a year as milestone benefits
- Up to 5,000 bonus EDGE Miles, based on cardholder’s tier, on annual fee payment.
Axis Bank Vistara Infinite Credit Card*
Annual Fee
Key Features
- 1 Vistara Business class ticket voucher on joining fee payment and 1 voucher on every renewal fee payment
- Complimentary Club Vistara Gold membership for the first year
- 6 CV Points per Rs. 200 spent, redeemable for award flights and upgrades
- 1 business class ticket each on annual spends of Rs. 2.5 lakh, Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 7.5 lakh & Rs. 12 lakh respectively
- 2 domestic airport lounge access per quarter on reaching total spends of Rs. 50,000 in the previous 3 months
- 6 complimentary golf rounds in India
- Up to 15% off on Trident property bookings
- 40% off up to Rs. 1,000 at partner restaurants via EazyDiner
- Travel documents & baggage related insurance cover worth USD 300.
SBI Card
Air India SBI Signature Card
Annual Fee
Key Features
- Complimentary membership to Air India Frequent Flyer program called Flying Returns
- 20,000 bonus reward points on joining fee payment and 5,000 reward points on annual fee payment
- 30 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on Air India tickets booked via Air India app or website for self
- 10 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on Air India tickets booked via Air India app or website for others
- 10 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on Air India tickets booked via Air India booking offices or call centres & on Super Saver purchases
- Complimentary Priority Pass Membership
- 8 complimentary visits to domestic VISA lounges per year (2 per quarter)
- 4 reward points per Rs. 100 spent
- 1 Reward point = 1 Air India Air Mile
- 20,000, 30,000 and 50,000 bonus reward points on Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh & Rs. 20 lakh annual spends respectively.
HDFC Bank
Intermiles HDFC Bank Signature Credit Card
Annual Fee
Key Features
- Complimentary InterMiles Silver Membership
- Discount voucher of Rs. 750 on flight tickets booked via InterMiles website and Rs. 2,000 voucher for hotel bookings on fee payment
- 6 InterMiles per Rs. 150 spent on retail
- 12 InterMiles per Rs. 150 spent on flight/ hotel bookings via InterMiles website
- 3,000 InterMiles on spending Rs. 6,000 within 30 days of card set-up
- 3,000 InterMiles on card renewal every year, subject to spending Rs. 6,000 within 30 days of card anniversary date
- 5,000 InterMiles on Rs. 90,000 retail spends within the first 90 days
- Up to 10% off and 2.5X bonus InterMiles on Etihad Airways tickets booked via InterMiles website
- 16 complimentary visits to domestic Visa/MasterCard airport lounges per year (4 per quarter)
- Complimentary Priority Pass membership with 5 free visits to international lounges per year
- Up to 20% off on dining bills
- Renewal fee waived off on Rs. 3 lakh annual spends.
HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition Credit Card*
Annual Fee
Key Features
- Complimentary annual memberships of Club Marriott, Amazon Prime and Swiggy One on spending Rs. 1.5 lakh within 90 days of card issuance
- 10,000 bonus reward points on spending Rs. 4 lakh every calendar quarter
- 2X reward points on weekend dining spends
- 5 reward points per Rs. 150 spent on retail
- Up to 10X reward points on SmartBuy spends
- Unlimited access to domestic & international airport lounges
- 2% forex mark-up fee
- 6 complimentary golf games across the world per calendar quarter
- Up to 25% off on dining via Swiggy Dineout
- Renewal fee waived off on Rs. 8 lakh annual spends.
Standard Chartered India
Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip Credit Card
Annual Fee
Key Features
- 20% off, up to Rs. 5,000 per month, on domestic hotel bookings via EaseMyTrip
- 20% off, up to Rs. 10,000 per month, on international hotel bookings via EaseMyTrip
- 10% off, up to Rs. 1,000 per month, on EaseMyTrip domestic flights
- 10% off, up to Rs. 5,000 per month, on EaseMyTrip international flights
- Rs. 125 off on bus ticket booking worth Rs. 500 or more via EaseMyTrip
- 10 reward points per Rs. 100 spent at standalone hotels/airlines, except via travel aggregators
- 2 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on other retail purchases
- 1 Reward Point = Rs. 0.25
- Up to 4 complimentary domestic airport lounge visit per year (1 per quarter)
- 2 complimentary international airport lounge visits per year
- Annual fee waived off on annual spends of Rs. 50,000 or more.
AU Small Finance Bank
Ixigo AU Credit Card
Annual Fee
Key Features
- 1,000 reward points and Rs. 1,000 ixigo money vouchers on the 1st transaction within 30 days of card issuance
- 20 reward points per Rs. 200 spent on Ixigo train bookings
- 10% off of up to Rs. 1,000 each on Ixigo flight & hotel bookings once per month
- 10% off up to Rs. 300 on Ixigo bus bookings once per month
- 1 international and 16 domestic airport lounge access per year
- Zero forex mark-up fee
- 16 complimentary domestic railway lounge access per year
- Joining fee waived off on spending Rs. 1,000 within 30 days of card issuance
- Renewal fee waived off on Rs. 1 lakh annual spends
