Travel cards reward flights and hotels with air miles or points, cut your foreign-currency costs and give you airport lounge access. We ranked them for a frequent traveller who spends about ₹25,000 a month on travel and ₹10,000 abroad.
How we rank: estimated yearly value for a "frequent traveller" spending ₹67,000 a month, after reward caps, annual fee (with GST) and forex costs. Rank cards with your own spends →
| Fee waiver | Lounge | Best for | Compare | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal HDFC Bank · Diners Club |
₹10,000 | ₹8,00,000 spend | Up to 3.33% | 2% | Unlimited domestic and international lounge access | High spenders who can use Diners Club acceptance | |
American Express Platinum Travel American Express · American Express |
₹5,000 | None | Up to 1% | 3.5% | 2 domestic visits a quarter after eligible spend in the previous quarter (₹1 lakh from Q4 2026) | Spenders who will reach the ₹4–7 lakh milestones | |
Scapia Federal Bank Federal Bank · Visa |
Free | – | Up to 4% | 0% | Domestic lounge access with ₹20,000 monthly spend | International travellers who want zero forex markup | |
Axis Bank Atlas Axis Bank · Visa |
₹5,000 | None | Up to 5% | 3.5% | Domestic and international visits based on tier | Travellers who transfer miles to airline partners | |
HDFC Bank Regalia Gold HDFC Bank · Visa / Mastercard |
₹2,500 | ₹4,00,000 spend | Up to 1.25% | 2% | 12 domestic + 6 international visits a year; domestic access needs ₹60,000 quarterly spend | Mid-level travellers who want lounge access | |
HDFC Bank Infinia Metal HDFC Bank · Visa |
₹12,500 | ₹10,00,000 spend | Up to 3.33% | 2% | Unlimited domestic and international lounge access | Very high spenders who want India’s top reward rate | |
IDFC FIRST Wealth IDFC FIRST Bank · Visa |
Free | – | Up to 0.38% | 0% | Domestic and international lounge access with ₹20,000 monthly spend | High spenders who want premium perks without a fee | |
IDFC FIRST Select IDFC FIRST Bank · Visa |
Free | – | Up to 0.38% | 0% | 1 domestic visit a quarter with ₹20,000 monthly spend, plus railway lounges | Salaried professionals who want a free card with zero forex | |
IRCTC SBI Card Premier SBI Card · Visa / Mastercard |
₹1,499 | ₹2,00,000 spend | Up to 2.4% | 3.5% | Railway lounge access (up to 8 visits a year) | Frequent AC train travellers who book on IRCTC | |
Axis Bank Magnus Axis Bank · Visa |
₹12,500 | ₹25,00,000 spend | Up to 2.4% | 2% | Unlimited domestic and international (Priority Pass) lounge access | Very high spenders who transfer points to airline partners | |
ICICI Bank Sapphiro ICICI Bank · Visa / Mastercard / Amex |
₹3,500 | ₹6,00,000 spend | Up to 1% | 3.5% | 4 domestic visits a year (needs ₹75,000 spend in the previous quarter) + 2 international | ICICI customers who want lounge access and milestone points |
If you mostly want to avoid foreign-currency charges, zero-forex cards like Scapia Federal Bank and (since September 2026) every IDFC FIRST card are hard to beat. For premium perks and lounge access worldwide, cards like HDFC Infinia or Diners Club Black Metal lead, but they have high fees and eligibility requirements.
Forex markup is a fee of about 1.5–3.5% that banks charge on transactions in a foreign currency, plus 18% GST on that fee.