Best Travel Credit Cards in India for 2019

There are a number of travel-centric benefits that banks offer on their credit cards. Some common benefits are:

Airport Lounge Access- Travel credit cards allow the user to access domestic and international lounges. Priority Pass is a common lounge access program, the membership to which costs US $99. However, travel credit cards may offer complimentary membership to this program. Visa and Mastercard have their own lounge access programs and the same can be availed by the user for free up to a certain limit which is decided in advance.

Accelerated Rewards on Travel- Based on the type of card, the bank offers accelerated rewards on a particular category. On travel credit cards, you can earn extra rewards when you book air tickets or make a holiday booking using the card. These points may later be used for gifts, merchandise or for more travel benefits.

Air Mile Earnings- Instead of reward points, travel-centric credit cards may offer air miles. These miles can be used to book air tickets on the dedicated travel website of the bank. Some cards allow you to transfer their air miles to select frequent flyer programs while others may also let you convert your reward points into air miles of the given airline partner.

Co-branded Benefits- A number of banks have launched travel credit cards in association with airlines or a travel website. For example, SBI has launched cards in collaboration with Air India and ICICI Bank offers cards co-branded with MakeMyTrip. Such cards are very beneficial for those who are loyal to a particular airline brand.

Also Read: Best Co-branded Credit Cards in India

Travel Voucher- This is also a very common benefit that you can avail on a travel-centric credit card. The issuer will offer travel vouchers from an airline or a travel website on joining or on reaching a spending milestone.

With so many options available in the market these days, it can be confusing to find the right credit card. Here we will talk about a few things that will help you choose the perfect travel credit card.

The first step towards finding the right credit card is to understand your spending habits. It is easier to find a card that suits your lifestyle better when you know exactly what you are looking for.

You need to ask yourself the following questions-

• Do I need a co-branded credit card or one with general benefits?
• Do I want to earn air miles?
• On which category do I spend the most?
• Would a free lounge access be beneficial for me?
• Do I need travel insurance along with other perks?

Based on your answer to the above questions, you can shortlist a few cards and then proceed.

Choose a card with lounge access if you are a frequent flyer

If you need to travel frequently for business, a free lounge access will be very beneficial. Go for a card that offers access to international or domestic lounges as per your need. The number of visits will, however, be limited. So, after you exhaust all the free visits, you will have to pay for the same. But if your card issuer has enrolled you to a lounge access program such as Priority Pass, the same is likely to continue.

Also Read: Top 5 Credit Cards for Airport Lounge Access

Choose cards with extra rewards on travel if you want flexibility of usage

For those who wish to travel more, a card with accelerated rewards on travel will help. These cards also come with shopping, dining and other benefits which make the overall card experience better. Even if you do not use the card for travel often, you can still capitalize on other benefits. And when you use it for travel, it will reward you better.

Choose co-branded travel cards if you are loyal to a brand

Banks also offer credit cards in association with airlines like Air India and British Airways or travel websites like Yatra, MakeMyTrip, etc. You should choose these cards only if you are loyal to the said brand and book tickets or holidays quite often. Benefits may come in the form of free tickets on joining or reaching a spending milestone, flat discount with the brand, complimentary travel vouchers or extra rewards.

When you have shortlisted two or more travel credit cards, you should compare them on the following parameters to narrow down your search and choose one perfect card.

• Annual Fee

The first point of comparison should be the annual fee. You may get excellent travel benefits on a card but you must know whether these benefits make up for the cost of maintaining the card. Common benefits such as air miles and domestic lounge access for an exorbitant annual fee would not be a good bet. Choose a card that charges a reasonable fee for the services you can avail.

• Rewards/Air Miles

A lot of users do not pay attention to the rewards on their credit cards. However, they also add to the benefits of owning a travel credit card. You must compare the rates at which you can earn rewards or air miles on the card. Also, read about the ways in which you can redeem the accumulated reward points. Choose the card that offers better rewards.

• Sign-up Bonus

When a card is issued to you, the bank offers a sign-up bonus, commonly known as the welcome gift. In case of travel credit cards, this benefit may come in the form of travel vouchers, bonus air miles, flight tickets, etc. When you have narrowed down the searches as per annual fee and rewards, you should look for the sign-up bonus next. See if the joining fee of the card is equally compensated by the welcome bonus. Such benefits can also be availed on reaching certain spending milestones or on card renewal.

• Lounge Access

Travel credit cards usually offer access to international and domestic airport lounges. The number of visits, however, differs from one card to another. You must compare the international/domestic lounge visits that the cards offer. As mentioned earlier, lounge visits are helpful only if you are a frequent flyer. For someone who travels only once or twice a year, such benefits would not make much of a difference.

• Other Benefits

When comparing travel credit cards, you should not just look for travel-centric privileges but also other benefits that the card would offer. For example, look for benefits related to shopping, movies, dining, golf, etc. Most of the travel cards would be from the premium category so you should also check whether concierge service can be availed on these cards.

While travel credit cards come with multiple benefits, you should make proper use of it in order to make the most of the rewards. Here are a few do’s and don’ts:

Do’s

• Understand the travel benefits on your card and plan your travels around it
• Register for the lounge access program as soon as you get the card in order to avoid any last minute hassle
• Maximize your air mile earnings by putting the highest earning purchases on the said card
• If you plan on getting a new credit card for a big travel, look for sign-up bonus and welcome gifts that help in making this trip easier for you
• Redeem the accumulated rewards for travel expenses
• Keep checking the expiry date of your travel rewards so that they don’t get lapsed

Don’ts

• Ignore the rewards/air mile program on the card
• Use the card for cash withdrawal in a foreign country as it would incur finance charges from the day of withdrawal along with foreign exchange mark-up fee
• Keep your bills overdue as it will lead to high interest charges which will nullify the value of the benefits that you could avail
• Make big-ticket non-travel expenses on the card as when you need it for travel purposes you may not have enough credit limit available.
• Use the rewards for non-travel vouchers or merchandise from the card issuer’s catalogue

Suggested Read: A Complete Guide to Travelling Abroad with Your Credit Card