Best Travel Credit Cards in India 2026: Eight Cards Worked Out in Rupees

Eight travel cards and the one number that decides each

Grouped by yearly fee, each with the one figure which is most deciding for a traveller.

No annual fee

• Scapia Federal Credit Card: zero forex markup, plus 20% back in Scapia Coins on travel booked in the Scapia app, which at 5 coins to ₹1 is about ₹4 per ₹100. Everyday spends on the Visa card earn 10%, about ₹2 per ₹100. Fees are nil in the November 2024 MITC; the April 2026 version could not be read when we checked, so see the current one before applying.
• IDFC FIRST Select: lifetime free, and every IDFC FIRST card has zero forex markup since 9 September 2026. Flights and hotels under travel merchant codes earn 10 points per ₹200, which is 1.25% at 25 paise a point. But foreign spends earn no points from 26 October 2026, and the bank ask for ₹12 lakh of yearly income.

Under ₹1,000 a year

• Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip: ₹350 plus GST, reversed after ₹50,000 of spends in previous year. The deciding number: 10 points per ₹100 on bookings made straight with an airline or hotel, 2.5% at 25 paise a point. Bookings on EaseMyTrip itself earn just 2 points, which is little bit odd for a co-brand; there the value is the monthly discount codes, such as 10% off domestic flights up to ₹1,000.
• MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank: ₹999 plus GST, waived from the second year if you spent ₹3 lakh in the year before. 6% as myCash on MakeMyTrip hotels and 3% on flights, holidays, cabs and buses there, uncapped. Forex markup is 0.99% until 9 November 2026 and nil from 10 November, but from that day spends abroad outside MakeMyTrip stops earning myCash.

₹3,000 to ₹5,000 a year

• Axis Bank Horizon: ₹3,000 plus GST with no spend waiver. 5 EDGE Miles per ₹100 with airlines and on Axis Travel EDGE, 2 on most else, and Axis values a Mile at ₹1 on Travel EDGE, so flights earn 5%. The lounge spend test is waived for this card. Weak point: 3.5% forex markup.
• HSBC TravelOne: ₹4,999, fully reversed above ₹8 lakh of yearly spend. 4 points per ₹100 on flights, travel aggregators and foreign currency spends, and points move 1:1 to Air India Maharaja Club, Flying Blue, British Airways and others. HSBC does not publish a rupee value, so the worth depends of how you use the miles.
• SBI Card Miles Elite: ₹4,999 plus taxes, reversed only at ₹15 lakh. 6 Travel Credits per ₹200 on travel; SBI Card values a credit at ₹1 when moved 1:1 to partners such as Air India Flying Returns, but ₹0.50 on its own travel bookings. Forex markup 1.99%.
• AU Zenith+: ₹4,999, waived at ₹8 lakh. 2 points per ₹100 on travel, dining and international spends at ₹1 a point, 1% on the rest. Markup of 0.99% goes to 0% from 1 December 2026 as per AU's MITC. The 16 domestic and 16 international lounge visits with no spend condition is the biggest count at this fee, but AU wants ₹2.5 lakh a month of income.

One traveller, eight cards, one year

Take a person who spend ₹50,000 a month on the card: ₹8,000 on flights, ₹4,000 on hotels, ₹6,000 in foreign currency (a ₹72,000 holiday abroad, spread over 12 months) and ₹32,000 on everyday shopping and groceries. That is ₹6 lakh a year. Travel is booked where each card pays best: the Scapia app, MakeMyTrip, Travel EDGE hotels on Axis, an aggregator for HSBC hotels, and direct with the airline or hotel otherwise.

• Scapia Federal: 20% of the ₹12,000 of flights and hotels is 2,400 coins, ₹480. 10% of ₹32,000 is 3,200 coins, ₹640. We count no coins on the foreign spend because Scapia's exclusion list name forex transactions, but it costs nothing either. ₹1,120 a month, ₹13,440 a year, no fee.
• Axis Horizon: ₹12,000 at 5 Miles per ₹100 is 600 Miles; ₹32,000 and the ₹6,000 abroad at 2 per ₹100 add 640 and 120. 1,360 Miles a month is ₹1,360 on Travel EDGE, ₹16,320 a year. Markup at 3.5% of ₹6,000 is ₹210 a month, ₹2,520 a year; take that and the ₹3,000 fee away and ₹10,800 is left.
• MakeMyTrip ICICI: 6% of ₹4,000 is ₹240, and 3% of ₹8,000 is another ₹240. 1% of ₹32,000 is ₹320. From 10 November 2026 the foreign spend earn no myCash but carries no markup. ₹800 a month, ₹9,600 a year, and ₹6 lakh clears the ₹3 lakh waiver, so no fee from year two.
• Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip: ₹12,000 at 10 points per ₹100 is 1,200 points, ₹300. ₹32,000 plus ₹6,000, so ₹38,000, at 2 per ₹100 is 760 points, ₹190. ₹490 a month is ₹5,880 a year. The 3.5% markup eats ₹2,520 of it and the fee are reversed, leaving ₹3,360.
• IDFC FIRST Select: ₹12,000 at 10 points per ₹200 is 600 points, ₹150. ₹32,000 at 3 per ₹200 is 480 points, ₹120. Nothing on the foreign spend, nothing lost to markup. ₹270 a month, ₹3,240 a year.
• AU Zenith+: ₹18,000 of travel and foreign spends at 2 points per ₹100 is 360 points, and ₹32,000 at 1 per ₹100 is 320. ₹680 a month is ₹8,160 a year; less the ₹4,999 fee that leaves ₹3,161 once markup is 0% from 1 December. At today's 0.99%, the ₹6,000 cost ₹59.40 a month, ₹712.80 a year, which would leave ₹2,448.20.
• SBI Miles Elite: ₹12,000 at 6 credits per ₹200 is 360, and ₹38,000 at 2 per ₹200 is 380. 740 a month comes to 8,880 a year. That is ₹4,440 at ₹0.50 on SBI Card's travel bookings, or ₹8,880 at the ₹1 SBI gives an airline transfer. Markup at 1.99% of ₹6,000 is ₹119.40 a month, ₹1,432.80 a year, and the ₹4,999 fee stays. So a loss of ₹1,991.80 at ₹0.50, or ₹2,448.20 ahead at ₹1.
• HSBC TravelOne: ₹8,000 of flights, ₹4,000 of aggregator hotels and ₹6,000 abroad, together ₹18,000 at 4 points per ₹100, make 720 points; ₹32,000 at 2 per ₹100 makes 640. That is 1,360 points a month and 16,320 a year. Against ₹2,520 of markup and the ₹4,999 fee, each point have to be worth about 46 paise just to break even (₹4,999 plus ₹2,520 is ₹7,519, divided by 16,320 points).

Fees and markups are before 18% GST. Welcome gifts are left out as they come once, and lounge visits because their worth is depending on whether you would ever pay for one.

At ₹6 lakh a year, ₹4,999 is a costly price for a card; it only start making sense near its waiver or milestone (₹8 lakh on Zenith+ and TravelOne, ₹12 lakh for 20,000 bonus credits on Miles Elite) or with real value from miles.

Where travel cards quietly take value back

• Paying in rupees abroad. When a foreign shop or a website registered outside India charges you in rupees, a dynamic currency conversion fee can apply. Axis raised it on Horizon to 3.5% from 21 August 2026 (it was 1.5%), and ICICI moved most of its cards to 3.5% from 15 January 2026, with MakeMyTrip ICICI at nil from 10 November 2026. Choose the local currency every time, it is cheaper almost always.
• Agents and OTAs earn the base rate. Horizon gives 2 Miles per ₹100 on travel agents and online travel agencies, and the Standard Chartered card 2 points on EaseMyTrip itself.
• No rewards abroad, even with zero markup. From 26 October 2026 most IDFC FIRST cards, FIRST Select included, earn no points on foreign spends (a few, such as Ashva, Mayura and the IndiGo card, keep them). MakeMyTrip ICICI stops myCash on foreign spends outside MakeMyTrip from 10 November 2026. The saving is the markup only.
• Lounge spend tests. MakeMyTrip ICICI needs ₹75,000 of spend in the previous quarter for its domestic lounge visits since 1 July 2026. Scapia needs ₹20,000 in a billing cycle, and its own pages discuss about this differently: one says Visa and RuPay spends add up, other says they cannot be combined. Our lounge card guide lists who tightened what and when.
• Points that live in one place. Scapia Coins work only in the Scapia app, myCash only on MakeMyTrip, and the ₹1 value of an EDGE Mile only on Axis Travel EDGE. Redemption fees add up too: ₹99 per Axis redemption and ₹199 per partner transfer, ₹99 plus GST on IDFC FIRST and AU.
• Expiry. Scapia Coins last 36 months but go if the card sits unused for 365 days; myCash earned from 10 November 2026 and SBI Travel Credits last 24 months.
• Insurance that is gone. SBI Card stopped the ₹1 crore air accident cover on Miles Elite from 15 July 2025, even though its card page still mention it.

Which travel card suits which traveller

• Two or three domestic trips a year, modest income: Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip for direct airline bookings at ₹350, or MakeMyTrip ICICI if you already book everything on MakeMyTrip. ICICI's salaried floor of ₹20,000 a month is in the reach of many first jobbers.
• A holiday abroad each year, fine with one app: Scapia Federal; everyday spends quietly builds coins for the next trip.
• ₹12 lakh income and want a free card for abroad: IDFC FIRST Select, purely for zero markup.
• Fly often and book with the airline: Axis Bank Horizon. The 5% on flights and the lounge visits without a spend test does most of the work; keep a zero-markup card for spends abroad.
• Collect airline miles: HSBC TravelOne or SBI Miles Elite, but only if you spend close to ₹8 lakh to ₹15 lakh a year or can get well over 46 paise from a mile. Below that the fee eats more than you earn back, very much loss is there.
• High income and spends abroad regularly: AU Zenith+, once its markup reach 0% on 1 December 2026, if you meet the ₹2.5 lakh a month income line.
• Loyal to one airline or hotel group: look at the IndiGo IDFC FIRST card, the Emirates Skywards ICICI Sapphiro, the IndusInd Avios Visa Infinite or the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank card. None of these banks publish a rupee value for the miles, so they are not in our maths; our guide to travel, airline and hotel cards explain how to value them.

Travel once a year or less? A plain cashback card will likely earn more. For close calls see HSBC TravelOne vs Axis Horizon and MakeMyTrip ICICI vs Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip.

Eligibility and applying for a travel card

RBI sets no minimum age or income for a card; its 2025 Directions ask each bank to judge your own financial means and the limits you already hold. So the floors below are the banks' own, and approval stay with the bank.

• MakeMyTrip ICICI: over 21, ₹20,000 a month if salaried or ₹2,40,000 a year if self-employed.
• HSBC TravelOne: ₹6 lakh a year salaried or ₹12 lakh self-employed, and you must live in one of the cities HSBC list.
• IDFC FIRST Select: at least 21, with ₹12 lakh of yearly income.
• AU Zenith+: ₹2.5 lakh a month of net income; salaried 21 to 60, self-employed 25 to 65.
• Axis Bank Horizon: 18 to 70; no card income figure, though Axis's general criteria mention ₹15,000 a month.
• Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip: 18 to 65 with a stable monthly income, no figure given, and you must live in a city where the bank source cards.
• SBI Card Miles Elite: no minimum income is published; minimum age 21, and SBI Card gives the maximum as 60 in one place and 70 in another.
• Scapia Federal: the main applicant's age and income rules were not on any Federal Bank or Scapia page we could read.

Under the same RBI rules the bank must give you one-page Key Fact Statement with the application and, if it says no, the specific reasons in writing. More on this is on our eligibility criteria page.