AU Zenith+ Credit Card: For International Travel & Luxury Hotel Membership

You can earn up to 2X rewards on your travel spends as per the below details:

• 2 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on travel, dining, and international spends
• 1 reward point per Rs. 100 on retail spends across all merchant categories
• 1 Reward Point = Re. 1

Note: No reward points will be offered on cash, EMI & fuel transactions.

The base reward rate of 1% is too low for a premium credit card, especially when consumers have low-fee options like Cashback SBI Card offering 5% flat value-back across all transactions. Considering accelerated rate of 2% on travel and international spends, cards like Axis Atlas and Air India SBI Signature still outshine Zenith+, offering value-back of 5% and 4% respectively. When it comes to mile conversion, AU Zenith+ only allows transfer of reward points into CV Points (Vistara) whereas Axis Atlas provides 20+ options to transfer miles. The only advantage here is that the redemption value of reward points is Rs. 1, which might give this card a slight edge over all-rounder cards with high earning rate but low redemption value.

To help readers take a comparative look, below is the table showing value-back offered by Zenith+, SBI Card ELITE and Standard Chartered Ultimate.

Rewards Comparison: AU Zenith+ Vs. SBI Elite Vs. Standard Chartered Ultimate

AU Zenith+, SBI Elite and Standard Chartered Ultimate credit cards allow you to earn rewards on your expenses. Let’s understand with an example how much you can save with these cards in a month as per the below transactions:

The calculation for the above illustration is done based on the following assumptions:

• Reward redemption value of Zenith+ and Standard Chartered Ultimate Credit Card is 1 RP = Re. 1
• Reward redemption value of SBI Elite Credit Card is 1 RP = Re. 0.25

Explore Further: Best Credit Cards for Reward Points | Check Eligibility for Top Cards

The card not only offers complimentary lounge access but also offers other premium travel benefits like low forex markup fee, VIP airport services, insurance coverage and much more. Here are the travel benefits of AU Zenith+ Credit Card:

Complimentary Lounge Access

• 16 complimentary international airport lounge access every year using Priority Pass, max. 4 visits per quarter
• 16 complimentary domestic airport lounge access every year

When it comes to lounge access, the card offers complimentary lounge access along with Priority Pass Membership. Cardholders can enjoy up to 16 complimentary international and domestic lounge visits annually. While other premium cards in this fee range like SBI Elite or Standard Chartered Ultimate also offer access to international as well as domestic lounges, but none of these match to the higher frequency offered by this card.

Other Travel Benefits

• Low forex markup fee of 0.99%
• End-to-end airport VIP check-in with 4 complimentary services per year (Max. 1 per calendar quarter)

At an annual fee of Rs. 4,999, the Zenith+ Card offers 16 international and 16 domestic lounge visits along with 4 complimentary VIP services at airports. While other premium cards in this fee range like SBI Elite or Standard Chartered Ultimate also offer access to international as well as domestic lounges, none of these matches the number of free visits offered by this card. These benefits, along with a remarkably low forex mark-up fee of 0.99%, make this card can be a good option for international travellers.

Explore Further: Best Travel Credit Cards in India | Check Eligibility for Top Cards

• 1,000 reward points on minimum retail spends of Rs. 75,000 in a statement cycle
• Complimentary Taj Epicure membership on minimum net retail spends of Rs. 12 Lakh in a year

On total spends of Rs. 1 Lakh per month, cardholders can get benefits worth Rs. 49,000 in the form of 12,000 reward points on spends of Rs. 12,00,000 (calculated at the base rate of 1%), 12,000 bonus reward points and Taj Epicure Membership worth Rs. 25,000. This milestone may be easy to reach for someone who puts most expenses on credit cards. However, if you already have multiple cards giving you substantial benefit across different categories, putting all expenses on Zenith+ to avail benefits worth Rs. 49,000 may not be a wise move.

Welcome Benefits: Luxury brand vouchers or reward points worth Rs. 5,000 on the card activation.

Golf Benefits: 8 complimentary golf games or lessons annually, max. 2 rounds/ lessons per quarter.

Movie Tickets: 16 complimentary buy-one-get-one movie or event tickets from BookMyShow. You can avail up to 4 BOGO tickets every calendar quarter with max. discount of Rs. 500 per ticket.

Renewal Benefits: 5,000 bonus reward points on paying annual or renewal membership fee.

Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waiver on fuel (Up to Rs. 1,000 per statement cycle) transactions done across all fuel stations in the country.

Beyond its primary categories, the card also offers free movie tickets worth Rs. 8,000, golf lessons or games, luxury brand vouchers or rewards worth Rs. 5,000, bonus rewards worth Rs. 5,000 as renewal benefit and fuel benefits worth Rs. 1,000, surpassing the card’s annual fee of Rs. 4,999.

*Taj Epicure Membership is offered on spending Rs. 12 Lakh in a year.

Here’s a detailed example to help you understand how much you can save via AU Zenith+ Credit Card. Suppose you have spent Rs. 1 Lakh in a month (Rs. 12 Lakh in a year) as per the following details:

Considering the average spending of Rs. 1 Lakh in a month, the cardholder will be able to earn 1,580 points in a month, summing up to 18,960 points in a year worth Rs. 18,960.

Along with this, the cardholder will also earn additional benefits, including milestone benefits, free movie tickets and bonus rewards as per the following details:

Overall, on spending Rs. 12 Lakh in a year, the cardholder will save Rs. 55,960. In addition to this, the cardholder will also be rewarded with a complimentary Taj Epicure Membership worth Rs. 25,000.

*Applicable within 60 days of card set up.

Overall, AU Zenith+ Credit Card is a decent card to earn rewards and travel benefits like complimentary international and domestic lounge access, low forex markup fee of 0.99% and airport VIP services.

Complimentary Taj Epicure Membership worth Rs. 25,000 is also a great addition to this card if you can easily spend Rs. 1 Lakh in a year and prefer to stay at Taj while travelling.

Apart from the travel category, this card justifies its annual fee by providing additional benefits like free movie tickets worth Rs. 8,000, bonus rewards at the time of joining or renewal and fuel benefits worth Rs. 1,000.