IndiGo Airlines is India’s largest domestic airline, holding a market share of more than 60%. For many Indians, flying on IndiGo Airlines on domestic routes is the first choice. If you are an IndiGo loyalist, what if you could take your next flight for free? Yes, it is possible with the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE.
In this article, we will explore the features and benefits of the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE, its fees, and whether you should take this card.
Features and benefits
The features and benefits of the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE include the following.
Welcome and renewal benefits
The card comes with a welcome benefit of 5,000 IndiGo BluChips and one 6E Eats Voucher. The welcome benefits are provided within 15 days after payment of the annual fees and after doing the first transaction within 60 days of card issuance. The cardholder gets four 6E Prime Passes on spending Rs. 1 lakh within 90 days of card issuance.
The card provides renewal benefits of 5,000 IndiGo BluChips and one 6E Eats Voucher on payment of the annual renewal fee.
Reward points on spends
The IndiGo SBI Card ELITE has the following rewards structure:
- 7 IndiGo BluChips on every Rs. 100 spent on the IndiGo App and website
- 3 IndiGo BluChips on every Rs. 100 spent on hotel/lodging and travel
- 2 IndiGo BluChips on every Rs. 100 spent on all other spends, except for exclusions
Milestone benefits
The cardholder gets bonus IndiGo BluChips on achieving spend-based milestones as follows:
- 6,000 IndiGo BluChips on spending Rs. 3 lakhs in a card anniversary year
- 6,000 IndiGo BluChips on spending Rs. 6 lakhs in a card anniversary year
- 6,000 IndiGo BluChips on spending Rs. 9 lakhs in a card anniversary year
- 6,000 IndiGo BluChips on spending Rs. 12 lakhs in a card anniversary year
Thus, a cardholder can earn up to 24,000 IndiGo BluChips by spending up to Rs. 12 lakhs in a card anniversary year.
Lounge benefits
A cardholder can enjoy 8 complimentary domestic airport lounge access per year (2 per quarter). The cardholder must spend ₹1 lakh in the previous calendar quarter to qualify for complimentary domestic airport lounge access in the current calendar quarter.
For example, the cardholder must spend Rs. 1 lakh between 1st April to 30th June calendar quarter to be eligible for complimentary airport lounge access in the 1st July to 30th September calendar quarter.
A cardholder can enjoy 6 complimentary international airport lounge access in a year through Priority Pass. The cardholder can avail of a maximum of 2 complimentary visits in a quarter. The cardholder can place a request for a Priority Pass through the SBI Card website or by calling the helpline. The Priority Pass will be delivered within 10 days of receiving the request to the cardholder’s billing address.
Insurance
The cardholder is covered for up to 4 flight cancellations per year, each up to Rs. 3,000 per ticket.
Fuel surcharge waiver
The 1% fuel surcharge is waived at all petrol pumps across India. The waiver applies to fuel transactions between Rs. 500 to Rs. 4,000. The maximum waiver is Rs. 400 per statement cycle.
Excluded categories
The spends on the following categories is excluded from earning BluChips:
- Utilities
- E-wallet loading
- Government transactions
- Rent payments
- Fuel transactions
- Gaming
- Insurance
- Crossell etc.
The above list is not exhaustive. For the entire list, visit the SBI Card website.
Redemption of BluChips
The BluChips earned on spends from the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE are automatically credited to the cardholder’s IndiGo BluChip account within 7 working days of every statement cycle. They will be available for usage after they are transferred to the cardholder’s IndiGo BluChip account on every statement cycle.
The cardholder can use the BlupChips to book IndiGo flights. On the flight booking page, select the ‘Pay with Points’ option. Depending on the route and cabin class chosen, the IndiGo App/webpage will show the number of BluChips required for booking the flight. The cardholder can redeem the required number of BluChips and enjoy the free flight.
The cardholder can use the IndiGo BluChips to book flights for self or nominees. The IndiGo Bluchips do not expire as long as there is an earn or redemption transaction within a span of 2 years.
Fees
The joining and annual renewal fee for the card is Rs. 4,999 + GST. We have already discussed the joining and annual renewal benefits on the card in the earlier section.
Should you take this credit card?
If you take IndiGo flights regularly, the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE allows you to earn IndiGo BluChips on all your regular spends, except for exclusions. You have an opportunity to earn accelerated BluChips on IndiGo bookings and other travel spends. You also earn IndiGo BluChips at the base reward rate for other spends. When you achieve specific spend-based milestones, you earn bonus IndiGo BluChips.
You can use all the accumulated BluChips to book free IndiGo flights for yourself, and your family members or others (nominees). Before boarding your flight, you can relax in the domestic or international airport lounge using the complimentary access.
Thus, if you are a loyal IndiGo flyer, you can consider taking the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE. It will help you unlock a few free IndiGo flights every year, saving you out-of-pocket expenses for these flights.
Before deciding to take the IndiGo SBI Card ELITE or any other credit card, ensure its usage for need-based spends only. Additionally, you must pay the entire monthly bill before or by the due date. If you carry forward any outstanding amount to the next billing cycle, you will incur hefty interest charges in the form of 3.5% per month or 42% per annum. With such high charges, any amount of reward points will make little sense.
Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached on LinkedIn.
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