SBI Miles – the first non co-branded travel credit card from SBI Card – is here, just in time as vacation plans for summer of 2024 start to get formulated. Available in 3 variants, Miles, Miles Prime, and Miles Elite, the card allow users to earn accelerated rewards on travel spends and transfer points to multiple airline and hotel partners in 1:1 ratio.
Note: These cards are not available on Paisabazaar.com. The content on this page is for information only. To express interest in these cards, please visit SBI Card’s website..
So, how does the card fare, especially with cards like Axis Atlas and IDFC FIRST Club Vistara offering consumers top travel benefits? Here’s a detailed review, telling you the good, bad and ugly about SBI Card Miles.
SBI Card Miles- Key Highlights |
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| SBI Card Miles | SBI Card Miles Prime | SBI Card Miles Elite |
| Annual Fee: Rs. 1,499 | Annual Fee: Rs. 2,999 | Annual Fee: Rs. 4,999 |
| Welcome benefit of 1,500 Travel Credits | Welcome benefit of 3,000 Travel Credits | Welcome benefit of 5,000 Travel Credits |
| 2X rewards on travel spends | 2X rewards on travel spends | 3X rewards on travel spends |
| Up to 12 domestic lounge visits annually* | Up to 20 domestic lounge visits annually* | Up to 23 domestic lounge visits annually* |
| Complimentary Priority Pass Membership | 4 international lounge visits in a year | 6 international lounge visits in a year |
| Forex markup fee of 3% | Forex markup fee of 2.5% | Forex markup fee of 1.99% |
| Overall Rating: ★★★ | Overall Rating: ★★★ | Overall Rating: ★★★ |
*Subject to achieving spending milestone.
Video: Quick Review of SBI Card Miles
Note: Details mentioned in the video have been sourced from the issuer’s website as of May 2024. For updated information, refer to this page.
First, the good parts….
A number of banks lately have added spend-based eligibility condition on their lounge access benefit. SBI Card, thankfully, has not put any such condition for either of the Miles variants for the 4 to 8 complimentary visits in a year. The cards also provide additional lounge visits as milestone benefit for every Rs 1 lakh spent, benefitting frequent travellers and high-spenders. The base variant does not offer international lounge visit but then most cards in this fee range do not provide this feature.
| SBI Card Miles | SBI Card Miles Prime | SBI Card Miles Elite | |
| Domestic Lounge Access | 4 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits every year (Max. 2 visits per quarter) | 8 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits every year (Max. 2 visits per quarter) | 8 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits every year (Max. 2 visits per quarter) |
| Additional domestic lounge visit with every spend of Rs. 1 Lakh, capped at 8 in a year | Additional domestic lounge visit with every spend of Rs. 1 Lakh, capped at 12 in a year | Additional domestic lounge visit with every spend of Rs. 1 Lakh, capped at 15 in a year | |
| International Lounge Access | Complimentary Priority Pass Membership worth $99 that allows access to 1,000+ lounges worldwide | Complimentary Priority Pass Membership | Complimentary Priority Pass Membership |
| 4 complimentary international airport lounge visits every year (Max. 2 visits per quarter) | 6 complimentary international airport lounge visits every year (Max. 2 visits per quarter) |
In terms of additional lounge access benefits, the spend milestone may be easier to achieve for SBI Miles, compared to Axis Atlas. Atlas also has a tier-based benefits program wherein users get tier-upgrade and additional lounge visits on reaching spend milestones of Rs. 7.5 Lakh and Rs. 15 Lakh. These milestones may not be easily attainable by everyone. Comparatively, SBI Card Miles offers additional lounge benefits on every spend of Rs. 1 Lakh, which should benefit even moderate spenders.
1:1 Point-to-Mile Conversion Ratio
The best feature of SBI Miles has to be the conversion of Travel Credits into Air Miles or Hotel Loyalty Points at a generous 1:1 ratio. So, if you have accumulated 50,000 Travel Credits, you can earn 50,000 Air Miles/Hotel Loyalty Points against them.
However, the redemption ratio varies from partner to partner. Here is the list of Miles Transfer partners along with the redemption ratio:
| Airline/ Hotel Partners | Conversion Ratio |
| Air Arabia, Ethiopian Airlines, Japan Airlines, Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines), Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Qatar Airways | 2:1 |
| Air Asia, Air Canada, Air France-KLM, Air India, Club Vistara, Etihad Airways, Spice Jet, Thai Airways, Qantas Airways | 1:1 |
| Accor, ITC Hotels, | 2:1 |
| IHG® Hotels & Resorts, Orchid Hotels, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | 1:1 |
| Shangri-La Group | 6:1 |
Note: No maximum capping on redemption, the minimum Travel Credits that can be redeemed are 2,000.
Cardholders can redeem the Travel Credits for travel bookings at a value of 1 Travel Credit = Re. 0.50 or to shop through Shop & Smile Product Catalogue at a value of 1 Travel Credit = Re. 0.25.
On travel spends, cardholders can get a value-back of 1% on the base variant, 2% on Prime and 3% on Elite. The base rate, however, stands quite low for all 3 variants.
Let’s understand this with an example. If you spend Rs. 1 Lakh in a month – Rs. 50,000 on Travel and Rs. 50,000 on other categories, this is the number of Travel Credits you will earn across the 3 variants:
- SBI Card Miles: 500 Travel Credits on Travel Spends and 250 on other spends
- SBI Card Miles Prime: 1,000 Travel Credits on Travel Spends and 500 on other spends
- SBI Card Miles Elite: 1500 Travel Credits on Travel Spends and 500 on other spends
You will earn a total of 750, 1,500 and 2,000 Travel Credits on Base, Prime and Elite respectively.
The disappointing bits…
The core feature that makes any travel card truly valuable is its rewards program. And here is where all three variants of the Miles card are a bit disappointing. Those who travel occasionally can actually avail higher savings with a general rewards or cashback credit card than with the Miles cards. Those who generally book flights or hotels online could get 5% flat cashback with Cashback SBI Card, better than the savings offered on any variant of SBI Card Miles.
The Elite variant, despite charging a high annual fee of Rs. 4,999, fails to match up to the benefits offered by other airline and travel cards in the market. A reward rate of 3% on travel spends is too low for travel-focused card. In the same fee range, Axis Atlas (which we feel still stands as the best airline agnostic credit card in India) offers 5% value back with a higher redemption ratio across a wider array of airlines and hotel partners.
| SBI Card Miles Elite | Axis Atlas | |
| Annual Fee (in Rs.) | 4,999 | 5,000 |
| Rewards on Travel | 6 per Rs. 200 |
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| Point-to-Mile Conversion Ratio | 6:1 to 1:1 | 1:1 to 1:2 |
| Annual Bonus | 20,000 bonus Travel Credits on annual spends of Rs. 12 Lakh |
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| Welcome Bonus | 5,000 Travel Credits on spends of Rs. 1 Lakh within 60 days of card issuance | 5,000 EDGE Miles on first transaction within 30 days |
If you spend Rs. 1 Lakh in a month – Rs. 50,000 on Travel and Rs. 50,000 on other categories on Axis Atlas, you will earn 2,500 EDGE Miles on Travel spends and 1,000 EDGE Miles across other categories, giving you a total of 3,500 EDGE Miles. This is much higher than even Miles’ premium variant Elite.
Axis Atlas has a dedicated portal for EDGE Miles Transfer, where you can transfer EDGE Miles to Partner Points. Here, 1 EDGE Mile = 2 Partner Points for most partners. You can also use accumulated EDGE Miles to book flights, hotels and experiences through Axis Bank’s Travel EDGE Platform, where 1 EDGE Mile = Re. 1.
The redemption process is almost the same for SBI Card Miles as well. However, all 3 variants of SBI Card Miles offer half the redemption value offered by Axis Atlas. On making travel bookings via SBI Card’s reward redemption portal, you get Rs. 0.50 for each Travel Credit and for Miles Transfer, 1 Travel Credit = 1 Partner Loyalty Point/Mile. Moreover, on SBI Card Miles, the 1:1 redemption ratio is only on 9 Airlines and 4 Hotels. For most other partners, the ratio is 2:1 or even lower.
| SBI Miles Elite | Axis Atlas |
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If you are looking for a travel card with airline agnostic benefits, Axis Atlas maybe a better choice, especially considering both Atlas and Miles Elite charge a similar annual fee and are designed for frequent travellers of a similar segment.
If you prefer to fly with a particular airline like Vistara, you can also consider Club Vistara IDFC FIRST credit card or Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card. For those looking for more of an all-rounder card with travel benefits, HDFC Regalia Gold or SBI Elite may be better alternatives.
Cards Similar to SBI Card Miles
Axis Atlas Credit Card
Joining fee: ₹5000
Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹5000
2.5X EDGE Miles on Travel spends
Up to 12 international lounge access every year
Product Details
- 2,500 bonus EDGE Miles as welcome benefit
- Up to 5 EDGE Miles per Rs. 100 spent on travel
- Redeem EDGE Miles at value of 1 EDGE Mile = 2 Partner Points
- Milestone benefits of up to 5,000 EDGE Miles
- Up to 18 complimentary domestic lounge visits in a year
HDFC Regalia Gold Credit Card
Joining fee: ₹2500
Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹2500
5X reward points on Nykaa, Myntra, Marks & Spencer and Reliance Digital
4 reward points per Rs. 150 across all retail spends
Product Details
- Complimentary Swiggy One & MMT Black Elite Memberships
- Gift voucher worth Rs. 2,500 on the payment of joining fee
- 6 complimentary international lounge visits & 12 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits per year
- Marks & Spencer, Reliance Digital, Myntra or Marriott vouchers worth Rs. 1,500 on Rs. 1.5 Lakh quarterly spends
- Flight vouchers worth Rs. 5,000 on annual spends of Rs. 5 Lakh
SBI Elite Credit Card
Joining fee: ₹4999
Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹4999
5X reward points on dining, grocery and departmental store spends
Complimentary Priority Pass membership
Product Details
- 2 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on other categories
- Up to 50,000 bonus reward points as milestone benefits
- 6 complimentary international lounge access in a year; 1.99% forex mark-up fee
- Up to 8 complimentary domestic lounge access per year, 2 per quarter
- Free movie tickets worth Rs. 6,000 in a year
Other Features on SBI Card Miles
| Feature | SBI Card Miles | SBI Card Miles Prime | SBI Card Miles Elite |
| Welcome Benefit | 1,500 Travel Credits on spends of Rs. 30,000 within 60 days of card issuance | 3,000 Travel Credits on spends of Rs. 60,000 within 60 days of card issuance | 5,000 Travel Credits on spends of Rs. 1 Lakh within 60 days of card issuance |
| Milestone Benefit | 5,000 bonus Travel Credits on annual spends of Rs. 5 Lakh | 10,000 bonus Travel Credits on annual spends of Rs. 8 Lakh | 20,000 bonus Travel Credits on annual spends of Rs. 12 Lakh |
| Annual Fee Reversal | Annual spends of Rs. 6 Lakh | Annual spends of Rs. 10 Lakh | Annual spends of Rs. 15 Lakh |
| Insurance Benefits | NA |
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| Fuel Surcharge Waiver | 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel spends, up to Rs. 250 in a statement cycle | 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel spends, up to Rs. 500 in a statement cycle | |
| Forex Markup Fee | 3.0% | 2.5% | 1.99% |
SBI Card Miles: Fees & Charges
| Type of Fee/ Charge | SBI Card Miles | SBI Card Miles Prime | SBI Card Miles Elite |
| Joining/ Annual Fee (in Rs.) | 1,499 | 2,999 | 4,999 |
| Finance Charges | 3.50% p.m. (42% p.a.) | ||
| Late Payment Charges | For Statement Balance
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