Catering to travellers who prefer train journeys, IRCTC offers co-branded credit cards in collaboration with four major issuers – SBI Card, HDFC Bank, RBL Bank, and Bank of Baroda. These cards offer savings on train bookings through accelerated value-back, while also rewarding you on everyday spends. So, if you frequently travel via trains, an IRCTC co-branded card could be a smart way to reduce your travel costs. On this page, we compare all five IRCTC co-branded cards to help you decide which one to pick.
Which card offers the highest value-back on train ticket bookings?
Instead of direct cashback or discount benefits, these cards offer reward points with a 1:1 redemption ratio redeemable across train bookings via IRCTC. However, an exception to this is the IRCTC BOB Card, which offers a low redemption value of Rs. 0.25 per reward with redemption limited to statement balance.
Here is the value-back you earn on train bookings via the IRCTC app and website:
| SBI Card | IRCTC RBL | IRCTC HDFC | IRCTC BOB | ||
| Platinum | Premier | ||||
| Value-back | Up to 10% | Up to 10% | 2.5% | 5% + Additional 5% cashback via SmartBuy | 10% |
| Breakdown of value-back | |||||
| Earning | 10 rewards per Rs. 100 | 10 rewards per Rs. 100 | 5 points per Rs. 200 | 5 points per Rs. 100 | 40 points per Rs. 200 |
| Per reward value | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 |
| Base rate | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.5% | 1% | 0.5% |
Beyond accelerated returns on IRCTC, some of these cards also offer incremental rewards on other everyday categories. This could be advantageous for individuals who prefer owning a single credit card with multi-category benefits, including often excluded ones like utility bills and FASTag payments.
| SBI Card Premier |
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| IRCTC RBL |
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| IRCTC BOB |
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Some points to note:
- The redemption against statement balance on BOB variant can be an advantage to consumers who have diverse spending preferences not limited to train bookings.
- While many cards now restrict reward earning on grocery transactions, the BOB IRCTC Card offers no such capping on departmental stores—good for consumers who prefer offline grocery shopping.
- The base rate on these cards is low, restricting the overall benefits on non-IRCTC spends. Among these, the HDFC IRCTC card offers the highest rate of 1%, which is on par with the return offered on accelerated categories by RBL and BOB variants.
- For IRCTC benefits, both SBI variants offer an equivalent return of 10% despite Premier being a superior variant at a higher fee of Rs. 1,500. Thus, users opting these cards only for IRCTC benefits, can derive a similar return at a low fee.
Railway Lounge Access Benefits
Complimentary railway lounge access benefits on your credit card can be a good add-on, highly beneficial in times of long waiting hours at the stations. The card offers lounge access benefits as follows:
- SBI Premier, IRCTC RBL, and IRCTC HDFC : 8 per year (2 per quarter)
- SBI Platinum and IRCTC BOB: 4 per year (1 per quarter)
Activation, Renewal and Milestone Benefits
Though the cards belong to the low annual fee group, they compensate for the first-year fee with complimentary activation benefits. All cards offer bonus reward points on activation, except HDFC IRCTC, which provides a gift voucher.
| SBI Premier | RBL & HDFC Cards | BOB IRCTC | SBI Platinum |
| Worth Rs. 1,500 on joining | Worth Rs. 500 on joining | Worth Rs. 125 on joining |
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Unlike other cards, BOB IRCTC and SBI Platinum offer a marginal difference in the value-back and the fee. However, SBI Platinum also offers renewal benefits every year, which no other card does.
Among these, SBI Premier and IRCTC HDFC allow milestone perks to add more to the value-back potential of high spenders.
- SBI Premier: Up to 2,500 points on travel spends of Rs. 50,000 and up to 5,000 points on travel spends of Rs. 1 Lakh
- HDFC: Gift voucher of Rs. 500 on quarterly spends of Rs. 30,000
Here, Premier offers a return of 5%, but since the spend calculation is limited to travel, this could be limiting for some consumers, especially those who own other travel cards. Comparatively, the HDFC variant offers a return of just 1.67% per year via milestone benefits, but the spends are not restricted.
Other Comparable Benefits
| SBI Card | IRCTC RBL | IRCTC HDFC | IRCTC BoB | ||
| Platinum | Premier | ||||
| Railway Surcharge Waiver (1%) | Yes | Yes | Yes (Up to Rs. 200) |
Yes (Up to Rs. 1,000) |
Yes |
| Fuel Surcharge Waiver (1%) |
Yes | Yes | – | Yes | Yes |
| Airline Surcharge Waiver | – | 1.8% | – | – | – |
| Annual Fee Waiver | – | Rs. 2 Lakh | – | Rs. 1.5 Lakh | – |
| Others | – | Fraud Liability Cover of Rs. 1 Lakh | Rs. 5,000 Cancellation Protection | – | – |
How to Choose the Right Card?
If you are a frequent domestic traveller, and prefer train journeys over flights, an IRCTC co-branded credit card can offer excellent value. The cards stand out due to their accelerated return on train ticket bookings – up to 10% value-back, which is great for a low annual fee. Additionally, many of these come with easily achievable annual fee waiver conditions, which makes them more accessible even for those who like owning multiple credit cards.
To choose the right card among these, consider the following:
1. Your preferred card issuer, if any (existing relationships lead to higher chances of approval)
2. Estimate the highest value-back potential based on capping and other conditions
3. Consider non-IRCTC benefits, especially if you want to own just one credit card
4. Identify your preferred spending category, like grocery or utility, to maximize benefits
5. Check if your existing credit cards offer general travel or railway benefits
