Best Airline Credit Cards in India

An airline credit card helps you earn miles every time you book tickets using the card. You also earn a lot of complimentary benefits with an airline credit card. Airline credit cards are designed for frequent travellers, and come with discounts on hotels bookings, dining bills, and benefits at airport lounges.

Benefits of Airline Credit Cards

• Earn air miles: All airline-related transactions made using an airline credit card, allows you to earn air miles. These miles can be redeemed for buying domestic and international tickets.
• Bonus miles: You get bonus miles as a welcome gift or as a renewal benefit. Generally, a credit card issuer offers bonus miles within a few days of your card being issued. You can redeem these miles as airline tickets.
• Accelerated miles: With the accelerated miles programme offered by a few airline credit cards, you earn accelerated miles on a few transactions. However, ensure that you aware of the transactions that are eligible for the accelerated rewards.
• Airport lounge access: Most airline credit cards come with complimentary lounge visits. You get access to select airports in India and abroad. To make use of this benefit, you have to display your credit card at the reception of the lounge.
• Fuel surcharge waiver: Some airline credit cards offer a fuel surcharge waiver. This means, every time you use the credit card at petrol stations, you get a waiver on the fuel surcharge.

Features & Benefits of Airline Credit Cards

Axis Bank MY Wings Credit Card

Axis Bank My Wings Credit Card comes with a lot of features like airport lounge access, and cashback offers on bookings at IRCTC for bus tickets,domestic flights, and railway tickets.

Fee & Charges of Axis Bank MY Wings Credit Card:

• Joining Fee: Rs.1,200
• Annual Fee for 1st year: NIL
• Annual Fee from 2nd year: Rs.500

Features and Benefits of Axis Bank MY Wings Credit Card:

• You get up to 20% cashback on the bare fare of domestic flight bookings made through 18001200408.
• Get a discount of Rs.25 when you book tickets on www.irctc.com
• You get a fuel surcharge refund on your transaction at petrol stations. This is valid on transactions that range between Rs.400 and Rs.4,000.
• You get complimentary access to select domestic airport lounges.
• Get Rs.500 as cashback when you book domestic air tickets and get a cashback of Rs.1,500 on international flight bookings.
• Get Rs.1,000 as cashback when you book hotels in India, Nepal and Bhutan. The minimum value of your transaction should be Rs.7,000.
• Get Rs.1,500 as cashback when you book rooms at international hotels. The minimum value of your transaction should be Rs.7,000.
• Get a cashback of Rs.2,500 on your domestic holidays. Your transaction amount must be at least Rs.20,000.
• Get a cashback of Rs.3,000 on your international holidays. Your transaction amount must be at least Rs.20,000.

IndusInd InterMiles Voyage Amex Credit Card

The InterMiles Voyage Amex Credit Card allows you to earn InterMiles every time you swipe the card. You also get welcome and renewal benefits with the card.

Fee & Charges of InterMiles Voyage Amex Credit Card

• Joining Fee: Rs.2,000
• Annual Fee: Rs.2,000

Features and Benefits of InterMiles Voyage Amex Credit Card

• As a welcome gift, you get 2,000 InterMiles.
• You get 2X InterMiles on flight bookings, hotel bookings made via interbook.intermiles.com, and Amazon spends via intermiles.com
• Get 2.5X bonus InterMiles and also a discount of 5% on Etihad Airways tickets that you book on intermiles.com
• Get 1% waiver on your fuel surcharge across petrol stations in India. This is valid on transactions that range between Rs.400 and Rs.4,000.

IndusInd InterMiles Voyage Visa Credit Card

The InterMiles Voyage Visa Credit Card allows you to earn InterMiles every time you swipe the card. You also get welcome and renewal benefits with the card.

Features and Benefits of InterMiles Voyage Visa Credit Card

• As a welcome gift, 2,000 InterMiles will be credited to your InterMiles membership account.
• You get 2X InterMiles on flight bookings, hotel bookings made via interbook.intermiles.com, and Amazon spends via intermiles.com
• Get 2.5X bonus InterMiles and also a discount of 5% on Etihad Airways tickets that you book on intermiles.com
• You get a discount voucher of Rs.750 on flight tickets booked through www.intermiles.com
• You get a hotel discount voucher of Rs.1,500 on hotel rooms booked through interbook.intermiles.com

Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card

Fee & Charges of Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card

• Joining Fee: Rs.1,500
• Annual Fee: Rs.1,500

Features and Benefits of Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card

• You get 2 Club Vistara (CV) points for every Rs.200 you spend on the Axis Bank Vistara credit card.
• You get bonus CV points and up to 3 economy class tickets when you reach milestone spends.
• You get complimentary Club Vistara base membership.

Air India SBI Signature Credit Card

The Air India SBI Signature Credit Card allows you to earn reward points, and offers lost card liability, and complimentary Priority Pass Program membership.

Fee & Charges of SBI Air India Signature Credit Card

• Annual Fee: Rs.4,999
• Renewal Fee: Rs.4,999

Features and Benefits of SBI Air India Signature Credit Card:

• As a welcome gift, get 20,000 reward points when you pay the joining fee.
• You get complimentary Air India Frequent Flyer Program membership-Flying Returns.
• Get 4 reward points for every Rs.100 that you spend.
• You earn up to 1,00,000 bonus reward points annually.
• You can convert your reward points into Air India Miles: 1 reward point is 1 Air India Mile.
• Get up to 30 reward points for every Rs.100 that you spend on booking Air India tickets.
• You get access to more than 600 airport lounges with the complimentary Priority Pass Programme.

Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card

The Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card allows you to earn reward points, and offers lost card liability, and complimentary Priority Pass Program membership.

Fee & Charges of SBI Air India Platinum Credit Card

• Annual Fee: Rs.1,499
• Renewal Fee: Rs.1,499

Features and Benefits of SBI Air India Platinum Credit Card

• As a welcome gift, get 5,000 reward points when you pay the joining fee.
• You get complimentary Air India Frequent Flyer Program-Flying Returns.
• Get 2 reward points for every Rs.100 that you spend.
• You earn up to 15,000 bonus reward points annually.
• You can convert your reward points into Air India Miles: 1 reward point is 1 Air India Mile.
• Get up to 15 reward points for every Rs.100 that you spend on booking Air India tickets.
• You get access to more than 600 airport lounges with the complimentary Priority Pass Programme.
• Get a waiver on your fuel surcharge across petrol stations in India.

How to Apply for Airline Credit Cards Online?

You can apply for an airline credit card online via the bank’s official website or via the BankBazaar website.

Steps to Apply for Airline Credit Cards Online

Step 1: Visit the official website of the bank.

Step 2: Choose an airline credit card that matches your requirement.

Step 3: Click on ‘Apply’ and visit the online application page.

Step 4: On the application page, enter all the required information in the designated fields.

Step 5: Double check the entered information before submitting the application.

Step 6: On successful submission of the application, you will get an application reference number. You should record this for future references.

Step 7: Once the bank receives it, your application is reviewed and if your profile is eligible for the card, you will receive a call in 3-4 working days. The further application process will be informed to you over a phone call or through an e-mail.

Banks take 7-10 days to process a credit card application. If you have any queries meanwhile, you can use the application reference number to track your credit card application status online.

Steps to Apply for an Airline Credit Card Through BankBazaar

Step 1: Go to www.bankbazaar.com

Step 2: From the main menu, select ‘Credit Cards’

Step 3: The credit card page will display list of airline credit cards. You can choose one based on your travel needs.

Step 4: Beside the shortlisted card, you can find ‘Check Eligibility’ option. Click on the same and check your eligibility by providing the required details.

Step 5: If your profile is eligible for the chosen card, you will be taken to online application page, where you need to fill all the required details and click on ‘Submit’.

Step 6: On successful submission of the application, the screen will display an ‘Application ID’, which should be retained for all future queries.

You can track your application via the ‘Track Application’ feature on the BankBazaar website.

Eligibility Criteria for Airline Credit Cards

Each credit card issuer sets different eligibility criteria to apply for credit cards. Mentioned below are the basic eligibility requirements to apply for an airline credit card:

• You have to be an Indian citizen
• You should be salaried/self-employed professional/self-employed business-holder
• You should have a good credit history.
• You should be between 21 years and 60 years.

Documents Required to Apply for Airline Credit Cards

The required documents to apply for an airline credit card varies from one bank to another. A few documents required by many banks are mentioned below:

• Copy of identity proof such as Aadhaar card, passport, etc.
• Copy of PAN card
• Two months' salary slips or IT Returns
• Copy of address proof document such as Voter’s ID, Aadhaar card, driving licence, electricity bill, passport.
• 1 passport size photograph
• Duly signed application

Rewards Points on Airline Credit Cards

Unlike the reward points programme of a regular credit card, the reward points offered on airline credit cards will be accrued in the form of air miles. Each airline offers different air miles. For example, Air India offers Air India Miles. The accrued air miles can be redeemed for flight bookings, to transfer seats from economy class to business class, and a lot more.

Earning more air miles is also easy on airline credit cards as a few card issuers offer accelerated rewards on specific spends that can help you earn more air miles in less time.

FAQs on Best Airline Credit Cards in India

1. Is there any renewal fee I need to pay for SBI Air India Signature Credit Card?

   Yes, you have to pay a renewal fee of Rs.4,999 for the SBI Air India Signature Credit Card.

2. Do I get any membership with the SBI Air India Platinum Credit Card?

   Yes, you get complimentary Air India Frequent Flyer Program membership-Flying Returns with the SBI Air India Platinum Credit Card and the SBI Air India Signature Credit Card.

3. What is the welcome benefit of the InterMiles Voyage Amex Credit Card?

   As a welcome gift, you get 2,000 InterMiles with the InterMiles Voyage Amex Credit Card.

4. Can I convert the reward points that I earn on Air India SBI Signature Credit Card and Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card?

   Yes, you can convert your reward points you earn on the Air India SBI Signature Credit Card and Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card into Air India Miles: 1 reward point is 1 Air India Mile.

5. How do I redeem reward points on airline credit cards?

   The reward points on airline credit cards will accumulate in the form of air miles which can then be redeemed for flight bookings, upgrading of seats, etc.