Credit Cards That Will Help You Travel Around

Do you love travelling and can never satisfy your wanderlust? For those who love to always be on the move, a credit card that has excellent rewards points for reimbursing your travel needs is a must-have. Travel credit cards have benefits that can be redeemed to get airline miles, travel vouchers, hotel bookings, or even getting special access or privileges at airport lounges, diners club, among others. These are the best credit card for millennials. 

For you to make the most of your wanderlust, here is a list of the best travel credit card India to help you use your spending to accumulate impressive travel points:

American Express Platinum Travel Review

American Express or Amex credit cards are known for providing great cashback and platinum points, which can be redeemed for travel vouchers, e-gift cards, and other benefits in the case of the American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card.  

Features: 

• Get travel vouchers worth Rs. 6,360 after spending Rs. 1.90 lakhs in one year.
• Spend above 4 lakhs in one year, and you can get travel vouchers worth Rs. 9,440 in addition to a Taj Experience Gift Card that’s worth Rs. 10,000 and can be used at Taj, SeliQtions, and Vivanta Hotels.
• Four complimentary visits per year to airport lounges across India.
• Complimentary priority pass of US $99 annual membership fee waived off.

Annual Fees: 

• First Year – Rs. 3,500 plus taxes
• Second Year onwards – Rs. 5,000 plus taxes

SBI Elite Credit Card

The SBI elite credit card is fantastic for its offers and also includes a bunch of offers from online shopping portals. The card is excellent for using points on online bookings and travel bookings, while you get a welcome gift worth Rs. 5,000 in the first year, which includes a gift voucher that can be used at Yatra, Hush Puppies, Bata, Pantaloons, Marks & Spencer, or Shoppers Stop.  

Features: 

• Nine Vistara points for every Rs. 100 spent on Vistara flight bookings.
• Get two free movie tickets worth Rs. 500 credited to your account each month.
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver.
• Milestone benefits of 10,000 bonus reward points being added if you spend between Rs. 3-4 lakh in one year; 15,000 bonus reward points if you spend above Rs. 5-8 lakh.

Annual Fees: Rs.4,999 plus Taxes

Citi Premier Miles Credit Card

Specifically designed for those who love to travel, Citi Premier Miles Credit Card boasts of features like redeem miles via SMS against any purchase as well as a welcome gift that is worth 10,000 miles, which are instantly credited to your account. 

Benefits 

• Get 10,000 miles added on your first spend of Rs. 1,000 as part of the welcome gift, while you get 3000 miles on every renewal from the subsequent year.
• Four miles for every Rs. 100 spent.
• Rs. 10 Lakhs lost card liability cover included with your credit card.
• 15% off on dining at all participating restaurants.
• Air accident cover of up to Rs 1 crore.
• Option to redeem miles at Make My Trip, Yatra, Bookmyshow, IndianOil, Amazon, Flipkart, Goibibo, and Indigo for domestic and international flights.

Annual Fees: Rs. 3000 (first-year fee waiver for Citi priority account holders)

YES FIRST Preferred Credit Card

Yes First is an ideal credit card for frequent travellers and those who love shopping. The card can offer dedicated concierge service, multiple redemption options, and you can get eight reward points per Rs. 100 on the amount spent at domestic airlines, travel agencies, and tour operators.

Features 

• The card entitles you to get complimentary Priority Pass Membership.
• Convert your points into JP miles at a 4:1  ratio.
• Access to three domestic lounges as per the Mastercard Lounge Access program.

Annual Fees: NIL

InterMiles ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Cards

For frequent flyers, this ICICI credit card is excellent to gain air miles and access airport lounges with other lifestyle privileges.

Features: 

• 10,000 InterMiles welcome bonus.
• 5,000 InterMiles added on every renewal.
• 2.5X Bonus points for Etihad Airway tickets.
• 2X InterMiles on Hotel & Flight Bookings.
• Additionally, you get discount vouchers for hotel bookings, flight vouchers, and Etihad Discounts via Intermiles.

Annual Fees: Rs. 5,000 plus taxes

Standard Chartered Platinum Credit Card

The Standard Chartered Platinum Credit Card is the ideal option for those who love to travel and indulge in shopping and dining. The card has exclusive deals with Yatra and provides a host of benefits at a low annual fee compared to other cards.

Features:

• Avail 10% cashback on travel bookings that are made on Yatra.com. Additionally, you get 4X points whenever you spend on Yatra.com, and 2X on all other purchases (except fuel).
• Get up to 10% off on hotel and holiday bookings.
• No cap on the number of cashback transactions or total cashback availed.
• Complimentary lounge access.

Annual Fees: Rs. 499 plus taxes

InterMiles HDFC Bank World Card

Co-branded with several travel companies, InterMiles HDFC Bank World credit card is a great option to consider as you can use the points for Jet Airways miles and other travel benefits. 

Features 

• Welcome gift of 8000 bonus Intermiles, 3000 InterMiles on a spend of Rs. 6000 in the first 30 days.
• Get up to 12 Intermiles on every Jet Airways ticket booked.
• Get six JP Intermiles on every Rs 150 spent.
• Exclusive access to lounges through Priority Pass and the MasterCard Lounge Program.
• Get extended validity of JP Miles for five years.

Annual Fees: Rs. 2,500 + Applicable Taxes. Fees are waived off it Rs. 3+ lakh is spent within 12 months of renewal.

American Express Jet Airways Platinum Credit Card

Although with huge renewal fees, the American Express Jet Airways Platinum Credit Card provides some fantastic benefits to frequent travellers that make it enticing to this target group.

Features

• Eight InterMiles on every Rs. 150 that is spent except for Fuel, Insurance, Utilities, and Cash Transactions.
• 16 InterMiles for every Rs. 150 paid on booking flights on www.intermiles.com.
• Platinum benefits like dedicated 24×7 concierge service, card loss liability, and supplementary cards.
• 20% discount on American Express Select Dining Programme restaurants.

Annual Fees: First Year Fee charged is Rs. 5,000 plus applicable taxes. From the second year, the renewal fee is Rs. 10,000 plus applicable taxes.

Kotak Royale Signature Credit Card

For those who travel locally, Kotak Royale Signature Credit Card is an excellent option for it provides excellent benefits if you spend on travel agencies, tour operators, and dining. 

Features: 

• 4X reward points per Rs. 150 spend on Airlines, hotels, restaurants, travel agencies & tour operators and package tour operators spend.
• 10,000 bonus reward points on spend Rs. 4,00,000 earn 30,000 points on spending Rs. 8,00,000 (not extra of 10,000 bonus).
• 2X rewards on all other spends. 
• Rs. 500 of railway surcharge waiver on www.irctc.co.in.

Annual Fees: Rs. 999 (waived off if cardholder spends Rs. 1+ lakh in the year).

SBI IRCTC Credit Card

Not all travel happens by flights, most of India still travels by trains. And if you frequently book train tickets, this specific credit card by SBI is ideal for the local traveller.

Features

• 10% valueback as Reward points on ticket bookings through irctc.co.in for AC1, AC2, AC3 and AC CC.
• Get 1 Reward Point for every Rs. 125 spent (not including fuel spends).
• 350 bonus reward points on transactions of Rs. 500 made within 45 days of card issue.

Annual Fees: First Year- Rs. 500; Renewal Fees- Rs. 300.

Conclusion

Travel credit cards come with a host of benefits for using your points and discounts to make your trips all the better. But having multiple credit cards can be problematic, especially if you have to manage late fees and make monthly payments. To beat this hindrance, you can use CRED for credit card bill payments for all your credit cards in a few simple steps. What’s more, you get additional CRED points and offers that can be used in the app to get great discounts, vouchers and cashback.