Air India SBI Credit Cards Review: Good for Air India Loyalists, Low Benefits for Others

Air India has co-branded with SBI Card to offer credit cards in two variants- Air India SBI Card Platinum and Air India SBI Card Signature. Both the cards offer direct benefits to travelers who are loyal to Air India and also provide several other travel-centric privileges. While the benefits largely remain the same on both the cards, the only difference comes in terms of its extent, based on the annual fees you pay. 

Let’s have a look at the detailed review of Air India SBI Credit Cards

Complimentary Membership to Air India Flying Returns

With any of the two variants of Air India SBI Credit Cards, you will get a complimentary membership to Air India’s Frequent Flyer Membership- Flying Returns. If you are already an existing member of the program, your Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) number will be linked to the card. Otherwise, a new FFP number will be issued.

A membership to Flying Returns entitles you to the following privileges:

• FR Points earning on all Air India purchases
• Bonus FR Points earning based on the booking class
• Separate check-in counters at select airports in India
• FR Points can be redeemed for booking/upgrading Air India flight tickets or other partner flight tickets (T&C Apply)

What makes us wonder if this is actually a privilege is the fact that there is neither a membership fee nor strict eligibility criteria for becoming a Flying Returns member. Practically, anyone above the age of 12 can enroll for this program and, based on the miles travelled through Air India, the membership can get upgraded to Silver Edge, Golden Edge or Maharaja. Getting this membership through SBI Cards only saves you the trouble of creating a new FFP account and filling a lengthy enrollment form.

The More You Travel The More Rewards You Will Earn

On both Air India SBI Platinum and Signature Credit Card, you will earn generous rewards which can be utilized to save more on your travel expenses. You can earn rewards in the following manner:

Analysis: Air India SBI Signature Credit Card is clearly more generous in giving back to the users through rewards. If you can spend Rs. 20 Lakh in a year, you will have 1 Lakh Rewards in your account which can be converted to 1 Lakh Air India Air Miles. This would practically give you a free flight more than once. However, earnings on the Platinum variant are much lesser in comparison. A good thing about the rewards program is that you can use them to buy items from the rewards catalogue; the redemption is not limited to air mile conversion.

Priority Pass Membership with Air India SBI Signature Credit Card

With the Signature Card, you will get a complimentary membership to the Priority Pass Program but it does not entitle you to a free lounge visit. Only the $99 membership is free; you will have to pay $27 + GST on each visit to a partner lounge. In addition, you will get 8 complimentary visits in a year to domestic airport lounges under the VISA Lounge Access Program but only 2 visits can be availed in a quarter.

This privilege is not offered on Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card.

Are you a frequent traveller? Get Air India SBI Signature Credit Card for best travel offers

Fuel Surcharge Waiver

On both cards, you can avail 1% fuel surcharge waiver for transactions between Rs. 500 and Rs. 4,000. The maximum monthly cap on the waiver is kept at Rs. 250. For Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card with an annual fee of Rs. 1,499, this cap is justifiable but for the Signature Card, the waiver cap should have been higher.

Which Variant Should you Choose?

Platinum Variant:

The Air India SBI Platinum Card is a viable choice for customers who tend to travel via Air India frequently and are willing to own a credit card with good travel rewards. As compared to other travel credit cards, this card comes with a low annual fee of Rs. 1,499. It comes with a set of benefits that can offset the annual fee. On Air India bookings, the card offers a bonus rate of 6.75% (15 points per Rs. 100 where 1 Reward Point = 1 Airline Mile = Rs. 0.45), which is higher than many other travel cards. However, it has a less competitive general rewards rate as you get only 2 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on regular transactions. One of its drawbacks is that this card does not provide any accelerated reward earnings, no lounge access, etc. making it a pretty basic option.

Signature Variant:

In comparison to the Platinum variant of the SBI Air India card, the signature variant is definitely better. This card offers a competitive rewards rate of 13.5% i.e. 30 points per Rs. 100, where 1 point = 1 Air India Mile = Rs. 0.45, on all Air India bookings and 10 points per Rs. 100 on bookings made for others. Besides that, its general spending rewards rate is 1.8% (4 points per Rs. 100 spent) which makes it a considerable option. As far as promotional benefits are concerned, this card offers a great sign-up bonus which can easily make up for the Rs. 4,999 joining fee and annual fee. SBI Air India Signature credit card allows its users to earn additional rewards once they have surpassed the spending thresholds. You will also get 8 annual domestic airport lounge visits per year through their Visa program. Overall, this is a good option for high-spending customers who want to get the most out of their Air India travel bookings.

Are the Annual Fees on Both Cards Justified?

The answer to this question depends on how you plan to use the card, majorly because most of the benefits are linked to their rewards program. The more benefits you can avail of and the more bills you ring up on the card, the better it will be for you. Also, rewards benefits can be fully utilized when you use them to fly with Air India. So, the more loyal you are to the airline, the better benefits you will reap.

However, despite the many benefits of the Air India SBI Signature Credit Card, we believe that its fee is a little on the higher side.

Click here to see other fees and charges of Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card
Click here to see other fees and charges of Air India SBI Signature Credit Card

Drawbacks of Air India SBI Credit Cards

A big limitation on these cards is that all the benefits are linked only to Air India. So, if you are not sure whether you would like to stick to Air India for most of your trips, it is better to look for other travel credit cards.

Some more drawbacks of these cards are:

• There are no accelerated reward earnings on anything else apart from Air India transactions. Moreover, such transactions should be made on Air India’s website or mobile app.
• The Platinum variant offers no lounge access, whatsoever.
• Fuel surcharge waiver is only limited to Rs. 250 in a month.

Our Suggestion

As said above, this card is best suited to frequent travellers who prefer Air India over other airline brands. So, if you fall into this category, you must consider getting these credit cards. However, if you have no preference related to the airline brand you fly with, getting travel credit cards with comprehensive benefits would be better. Some such cards are American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card, MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Signature Credit Card, and YES FIRST Preferred Credit Card.

Bottom Line

Air India SBI Credit Cards give good value back to the users in the form of rewards (which can be converted into Air India Air Miles), memberships and more. However, that is all the benefit of this card. If you do wish to have an Air India Credit Card in your wallet, we would recommend the Platinum variant as it is less costly.