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ICICI Sapphiro and SBI Card Elite both are all-rounder credit cards designed to offer benefits across multiple categories including reward points, travel, dining, entertainment and more. As their annual fees are slightly on the higher side, it becomes extremely important to compare their features and find out which card would suit your needs better. Here is a detailed comparison.

ICICI Sapphiro Vs. SBI Card Elite: Key Highlights
  ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card SBI Card Elite
Best Suited For Shopping and Travel Travel, Rewards and Entertainment
Welcome Benefit Shopping and travel vouchers worth Rs. 9,000+ Rs. 5,000 e-gift voucher from select partner brands
Base Reward Rate 2 reward points per Rs. 100 for domestic spends 2 reward points per Rs. 100 across all spends except fuel
Annual Fee Rs. 3,500 Rs. 4,999
Lounge Access 4 complimentary visits to domestic airport lounges per quarter* and 2 international lounge visits per year 2 complimentary domestic lounge visits per quarter and 6 international lounge visits per year

*T&C Apply

Welcome Benefit
Reward Points
Travel Benefits
Movie Benefit
Other Features
ICICI Sapphiro Vs. SBI Card Elite: Comparison Summary
How to choose between ICICI Sapphiro and SBI Card Elite?

Welcome Benefit

Both ICICI Sapphiro and SBI Card Elite offer welcome benefits in the form of gift vouchers. SBI Card Elite offers Rs. 5,000 e-gift voucher from any of these brands- Yatra, Hush Puppies/Bata, Aditya Birla Fashion, Pantaloons or Shoppers Stop. ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card, on the other hand, gives multiple gift vouchers as welcome benefit, as shown below:

  • Tata CLiQ- Rs. 3,000
  • EaseMyTrip- Rs. 4,000 (4 vouchers worth Rs. 1,000 each)
  • Uber- Rs. 1,000 (4 vouchers worth Rs. 250 each)
  • Croma- Rs. 1,000
  • Zomato Pro Membership- Rs. 800 (This offer may have expired as Zomato has discontinued it Pro and Pro Plus membership program)
Which card offers better welcome benefits?

When comparing the welcome benefits with the joining fee charged, ICICI Sapphiro offers better value. It charges Rs. 6,500 as joining fee and gives welcome vouchers worth Rs. 9,000+ in return. However, it should not be the deciding factor between the two cards.

Reward Points

Both cards have similar reward earning potential but offer extra reward points on different categories. ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card offers 2 reward points per Rs. 100 on domestic spends and 4 reward points for international spends.

SBI Card Elite offers 2 reward points per Rs. 100 spent across all categories except fuel. The card lets its users earn 5-times more rewards on departmental store, groceries and dining.

Users can also earn bonus reward points as milestone benefit, as shown below:

ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card

  • Get 4,000 bonus reward points on spending Rs. 4 Lakh in a year
  • Get 2,000 bonus reward points on every Rs. 1 Lakh spent thereafter

SBI Card Elite

  • Earn 10,000 bonus reward points on spending Rs. 3 Lakh and Rs. 4 Lakh in a year
  • Earn 15,000 additional reward points on spending Rs. 5 Lakh and Rs. 8 Lakh in a year
Which of these cards offer better reward value?

While the base reward rate of both cards is the same, SBI Card Elite offers better overall value. It gives 5X rewards on very practical categories like groceries and dining. Moreover, if you are a high-spender, the SBI Credit Card will again work better for you as you can earn up to 12,500 bonus points on spending Rs. 8 Lakh in a year. On reaching the same spending milestone with ICICI Sapphiro, you will only be able to earn 8,000 bonus rewards.

Travel Benefits

On credit cards, travel benefits may be offered in many forms, the most common being complimentary airport lounge access and complimentary memberships to airline’s frequent flyer programs. Here is how these two cards offer travel benefits-

Lounge Access

The table below shows the details of complimentary lounge access offered on both these cards:

ICICI Sapphiro SBI Card Elite
Complimentary Membership Dreamfolks Pass Priority Pass
Domestic Lounge Access 4 complimentary visits per quarter 2 complimentary visits per quarter
International Lounge Access 2 complimentary lounge visits outside India and 2 spa sessions at selected airports within India 2 complimentary lounge visits per calendar year

 

Other Travel Privileges

In addition to complimentary lounge access, SBI Card Elite also provides the following travel benefits:

  • Complimentary Club Vistara Silver Membership with 1 free upgrade voucher
  • Earn 9 Club Vistara Points per Rs. 100 spent on Vistara Flights
  • Complimentary Trident Privilege Red Tier Membership with 1,000 welcome points, 1,500 points on first stay and additional 1,000 hotel credit on extended night stay
  • Preferential foreign exchange mark-up fee of 1.99%
Which credit card offers better travel benefits?

As seen above, ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card does not offer any travel benefit other than free lounge access. On the other hand, SBI Card Elite comes with multiple travel privileges focusing on lounge access, airlines, hotels and saving on international transactions with a low foreign exchange markup fee. SBI Card Elite comes out as a clear winner in travel category.

Want to save on your travel expenses? Explore the Best Travel Credit Cards in India.

Movie Benefit

With ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card, you get movie benefits with BookMyShow wherein on booking one movie ticket, you can get up to Rs. 500 off on the second ticket. This offer can be availed twice per month giving you savings of up to Rs. 1,000 per month.

With SBI Card Elite, you can save up to Rs. 6,000 per year. You can book 2 movie tickets per month on BookMyShow and get up to Rs. 250 off per ticker. However, this offer is valid only once per month and for 2 tickets only.

Which card offers better savings on movies?

The savings offered on both cards are the same for a particular booking. However, ICICI Sapphiro allows its users to avail this offer twice a month, which makes its benefit double what SBI Card Elite offers. This is why ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card is better In terms of movies and entertainment benefits.

Other Features

In addition to the above features and benefits, here are some other privileges you can enjoy with these credit cards:

SBI Card Elite

With Mastercard Variant

  • 4 rounds of golf with complimentary green fees
  • 50% off on golf games with 1 complimentary golf lesson per month
  • 15% discount on best available room rates and up to 15% discount on F&B at Lalit Hotels

With Visa Variant

  • 10% savings on Hertz Car Rental
  • 35% on Avis Car Rental
  • Exclusive benefits across 900 luxury hotels across the world

ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card

  • Exclusive concierge service
  • Air accident insurance cover of up to Rs. 3 Crore
  • Credit shield cover of up to Rs. 1 Lakh
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver at any petrol pump
  • Dining benefits under ICICI Bank’s Culinary Treats Program

ICICI Sapphiro Vs. SBI Card Elite: Comparison Summary

The table below shows a summary of the above comparison:

COMPARATIVE RATING ON DIFFERENT CATEGORIES
ICICI Sapphiro SBI Card Elite
Welcome Benefit ★★★★ (4/5) ★★★ (3.5/5)
Reward Points ★★★ (3/5) ★★★★ (4/5)
Travel Benefit ★★★ (3/5) ★★★★ (4/5)
Movie Benefit ★★★★ (4/5) ★★★ (3/5)
Other Features ★★★ (3/5) ★★★ (3/5)

How to choose between ICICI Sapphiro and SBI Card Elite?

As seen above, both cards offer good value across multiple categories. However, if you look at a single category, say reward points, both the cards would fare differently and this is where the decision stands. For example, if you are looking for a card that lets you earn generous reward points on your regular spends while offering some savings on movies every month, SBI Card Elite would clearly be a better choice.

Choose ICICI Sapphiro Credit Card if:

  • You are ready to pay an annual fee of Rs. 3,500
  • You mostly travel within India and would like to get free lounge access
  • You would like to save a significant amount on your movie spends
  • You will be able to spend Rs. 6 Lakh in order to get the annual fee waived off

Choose SBI Card Elite if:

  • You are ready to bear the considerably high annual fee of Rs. 4,999
  • You are looking for good features across shopping, travel and entertainment categories
  • You are a high-spender putting most big-ticket purchases on credit cards
  • You travel quite often and wish to save on lounge access as well as airlines and hotels
  • You will be able to spend Rs. 10 Lakh in a year to get the annual fee waived off

The choice between the two cards depends on the type of purchases you wish to make. Carefully read the benefits offered on each card and decide as per your spending preferences.

Can't decide? Search for the best cards in the two most popular categories.

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