Ever since airline companies have slashed their rates, more and more people have started traveling by Air rather than train. Whereas many people travel within the country and even internationally for work purpose, some also travel for leisure trips. However, if you are a frequent traveler, you can take advantage of some special benefits that the airlines may wish to pass back to you. This is possible via Airline Credit Cards.
What is an Airline Credit Card? You may think that is the Airline Company going to provide you Credit Cards. Well, that’s not the case. Airline Credit Cards are basically Credit Cards which are made in collaboration with the Airline companies to offer you additional benefits of traveling through those airlines.
So what kind of benefits does one get by using an Airline Credit Card?
- You get an opportunity to earn extra miles which you can redeem to purchase more flight tickets
- You enjoy complimentary airport lounge access
- Gift coupons or vouchers
- Some cards also provide fuel surcharge waiver
- Priority boarding facility
- Free checked baggage
- Complimentary hotel stay or discounts
Let’s look at the best Airline Credit Cards in India for domestic as well as international travel:
- Jet Airways American Express Platinum Credit Card: As the name suggests, this card comes from a collaboration between American Express and Jet Airways.
The Joining Fee for this card is Rs. 5,000 and from the second year onwards, the Annual Fee is Rs. 10,000.
Following are some of the benefits of the card:
- 16 JP miles on every Rs. 150 spent for ticket booking and 8 JP miles on every Rs. 150 spent on any other transaction.
- You get 1 Free Ticket (domestic) on your first booking through the card plus 10,000 JP miles as welcome gift bonus.
- On renewal the next year, you get another 5,000 JP miles and 1 Free ticket (domestic one way)
- You also get cashbacks on fuel stations and Free stay at Oberoi Hotels which is their partner hotel.
- SBI Air India Platinum Credit Card: The SBI Air India Platinum card offers various lucrative benefits to its customers like reward points that can be redeemed to buy tickets, anytime anywhere cash facility, lost card liability, fuel surcharge waiver up to 2.5% and many more.
The Joining Fee and the Annual Fee for SBI Credit Cards is the same i.e. Rs. 1,499.
Other features are:
- On every Rs. 100 spent, you earn 10 Air India Miles if the spent if on flight tickets and 2 Air India Miles if it is for any other transaction.
- As a welcome gift, you get 5,000 Reward points and on renewal as well, you get 2000 reward points.
- Balance Transfer feature is also available wherein you can transfer the balance of any other Credit Card to this one and pay in easy EMIs.
- Citibank Premier Miles Credit Card: This is a very popular and beneficial card since it is not limited to any specific airline provider. You can use this card to book tickets of around 100 airlines both Domestic and International and also redeem your reward points or miles to purchase tickets.
The Annual Fee for this card is Rs. 3,000 however if you are a Citibank Priority customer, this fee will be waived off.
Additional Features are:
- 10 miles earned in lieu of every Rs. 100 spent on air ticket booking and 4 Miles earned in lieu of any other transaction.
- You get 10,000 miles as a welcome bonus on your first spend and 3,000 Miles when you renew the card.
- AXIS Bank My Wings Credit Card: This card again can be used with any airline provider and enjoy the benefits, moreover, it also provides great deals on Railway tickets and Car rentals as well.
The Joining Fee is Rs. 1,200, however there is no Annual Fee for the first year; second year onwards the Annual fee is Rs. 500.
Other features are:
- You get 2 Air tickets free (base fare only) and Rs. 10,000 worth Hotel vouchers free on joining.
- The card gives you 100 Reward points on your first transaction and thereafter 4 points in every Rs. 200 spent.
- You also get Fuel Surcharge waiver on all petrol stations across the country.
- American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card: This is one of the most sought after Credit Cards as it offers amazing benefits pertaining to travel with any airline provider.
The Joining Fee for this card is Rs. 3,500 and the Annual Fee is Rs. 5,000.
Other benefits are:
- This card offers 1 reward point on every Rs. 50 spent on any transaction except cash withdrawals, Utilities, Insurance and Fuel; and these reward points can be redeemed for air tickets as well.
- As a welcome gift, they provide you 5,000 Reward points that can be redeemed as Indigo vouchers worth of Rs. 4,000.
- Jet Privilege HDFC Bank World Credit Card: This is a global Credit Card that offers lucrative benefits for both Domestic and International travels with leading Airline providers across the globe.
Its Joining Fee is Rs. 2,500 and the Annual Fee is also Rs. 2,500.
Other benefits:
- A welcome gift of 10,000 JP miles and one way Free Jet Airways ticket is provided
- You get 18 JP miles on every Rs. 150 on tickets booked through Jet Airways and for rest of the transactions, you get 6 JP miles on every Rs. 150 spent.
- One unique feature that this card brings to you is access to Airport lounges across the world.
- HSBC MakeMyTrip Signature Card: This is a tie-up card between Make My Trip (MMT) and HSBC which offers special discounts and benefits while you are traveling with MMT.
The Annual Fee for this card is Rs. 500.
Other benefits:
- You are entitled to 10 reward points on every Rs. 100 spent using MMT website and in case of any other transactions, you get 4 reward points.
- You also enjoy a fuel surcharge waiver of 2.5%.
- Dining discounts of up to 20% across leading food outlets all over India.
- Yatra SBI Credit Card: This unique airline credit card offers travel as well as shopping benefits for its cardholders.
Its Joining Fee and Annual Fee is Rs. 499 (excluding taxes).
Other benefits:
- You get Yatra vouchers worth Rs. 8250 and many other travel and shopping vouchers as a joining bonus.
- Earn 6 reward points on every Rs. 100 spent on Yatra portal or any departmental store; remaining all other transactions get 1 reward point in lieu of every 100 spent.
- IndusInd Bank Jet Airways Voyage Visa Credit Card: This is a partnered card between IndusInd Bank & Jet Airways which gives exciting benefits to the customers booking tickets with the airline.
The Joining Fee and Annual Fee for this card is Rs. 2,000.
Other Benefits:
- You will earn 4 JP Miles on every Rs. 100 spent on flight bookings and 2 JP Miles for other purchases
- Customers also get free movie tickets and other discount vouchers basis their spend.
- Standard Chartered Emirates World Credit Card: Emirates has partnered with Standard Chartered bank for this wonderful card that comes with some lucrative benefits for travelers.
The Annual Fee is Rs. 3,000 per year.
Other benefits:
- You get 4,000 Miles as a welcome gift when you join and subsequently you also get another 4,000 miles free when you renew your card next year.
- You also get access to more than 30 airport lounges across the country with this card.
While in India, you can choose from these Best Airline Credit Cards for your domestic as well as International travels. You can look up the features of each of these and select the best one as per your requirement.
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