When traveling internationally, your regular credit cards may not be useful and you need to explore best credit cards for international travel. The reason is as follows. The one fee that you always have to pay when traveling outside India or transacting online in foreign currency is the currency conversion fee. Each transaction on an Indian credit card involving a non-INR currency is subject to a foreign currency markup fee. The fee can range up to 3.5% plus GST. With the forex markup, you could end up paying almost 104 USD for a 100 USD purchase! However, if we use the best credit card for international travel and spending that offers good rewards and reduced forex markups, we can save on this charge. In this post, we list the best credit cards for international travel and spending.
List of Best Credit Cards for International Travel & Spends
HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card
Infinia is not only the most rewarding credit card in India but also one of the best credit cards for international travel and spends. More so with the Global Value Program. The card offers a renewal benefit for the fee we pay, so consider this card first for international travel.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 12500+GST
- Network: Visa/Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 2%+GST ~2.36%
- Rewards: 3.3%
- Effective Return: 0.94%
- Tip: Enrol in the Global Value Program to get 1% extra cashback up to Rs 1000 per statement cycle. This boosts the return to 1.94% even on foreign transactions.
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited complimentary visits for primary and 2 add-on cards
HDFC Bank Diners Club Black
Both Diners Club Black and Metal Edition offer a low forex markup with regular rewards on foreign spends. We get the same effective return for international spends as on Infinia for the DCB. But the DCB will have acceptance issues in some of the countries. So, you would need to have a Visa and Mastercard option for backup.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 10000+GST
- Network: Diners Club
- Forex Markup Charges: 2%+GST ~2.36%
- Rewards: 3.3%
- Effective Return: 0.94%
- Tip: Enrol in the Global Value Program to get 1% extra cashback up to Rs 1000 per statement cycle. This boosts the return to 1.94% even on foreign transactions.
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited complimentary visits for both primary and 2 add-on cards
Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card
The annual charges are high for Reserve but this card offers many more benefits than also being one of the best credit cards for international travel and spends. Transfer EDGE reward points to air miles and you have a highly rewarding card here. The return rates below are with the 5:2 transfer ratio for EDGE Rewards. If you have Burgundy Private, the effective return will be more.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 50000+GST
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: 1.5%+GST ~1.77%
- Rewards: 30 EDGE RP/Rs 200
- Effective Return: 1.23% for GV redemption and 4.23% for airmiles transfer (Points Transfer provides maximum value for EDGE Rewards)
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited complimentary visits for both primary and add-on cards
Axis Bank Magnus Burgundy Credit Card
Magnus is suitable for foreign spends only if you have a Burgundy account and also use the EDGE RP for points transfer.
- Joining and Annual Fee: LTF for Burgundy
- Network: Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 2%+GST ~2.36%
- Rewards: 12 EDGE RP/Rs 200
- Effective Return: 2.44% for airmiles transfer
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited complimentary visits for the primary card and 8 visits for guests
Samsung Axis Bank Infinite Credit Card
Samsung Axis Bank Infinite credit card not only offers 10% on Samsung but is also another option in the best cards for international travel and spends.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 5000+GST
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: 3.5%+GST ~4.13%
- Rewards: 15 EDGE RP/Rs 100
- Effective Return: 1.87% for points transfer
- International Airport Lounge Access: 6 complimentary visits per year
American Express Platinum Charge Card
The Platinum Charge is again another card that offers great lifestyle benefits. Use this card for international transactions if you have it but don’t get the card only for foreign spends. American Express’s acceptability might be an issue in some countries.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 60000+GST
- Network: American Express
- Forex Markup Charges: 3.5%+GST ~4.13%
- Rewards: 7.5 MR points/Rs 100 (3X on international spends)
- Effective Return: 1.5% to 3.4% assuming 1 MR point value from 75p to Rs 1
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited complimentary visits for the primary card and 4 add-on cards
Citibank Prestige Credit Card
Citibank Prestige is another good card if you are into points transfer to air miles. Unless you are an existing Citi credit card holder, you cannot get the Prestige anymore.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 20000+GST
- Network: Visa/Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 3.5%+GST ~4.13%
- Rewards: 2 RP/Rs 100
- Effective Return: 1.9% to 3.9% assuming 1-mile value from 75p to Rs 1
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited complimentary visits for the primary and add-on cards
Yes Bank Reserv Credit Card
Yes Bank Reserv with it’s 3X rewards subscription plan is a good bet for international spends. The forex markup is low at 1.75%+GST and the rewards range with 3X plan will be 2.25% to 9%.
- Joining Fee: Rs 1999+GST
- Annual Fee: Rs 1999+GST
- Network: Visa, Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 1.75%+GST ~2.1%
- Rewards: 2.25% to 9% with 3X plan
- Effective Return: 0.15% to 6.9% when redeemed for flights
- International Airport Lounge Access: 6 complimentary visits/year
Yes Bank Marquee Credit Card
Yes Bank’s new super-premium credit card is getting attention for all the right reasons. It has got great rewards, good benefits and is also a good option for international spends.
- Joining Fee: Rs 9999+GST
- Annual Fee: Rs 1999+GST
- Network: Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 1%+GST ~1.18%
- Rewards: 1.25% to 4.5%
- Effective Return: 0.07% to 3.3% when redeemed for flights
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited visits
Club Vistara IndusInd Bank Explorer Credit Card
The IndusInd Vistara card might not look great in front of the Axis and SBI Vistara cards but it has one USP. It comes with zero foreign currency markup.
- Joining Fee: Rs 40000+GST
- Annual Fee: Rs 10000+GST
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: 0%
- Rewards: Up to 6 CV points/Rs 100
- Effective Return: 7% to 10% when redeemed for Vistara flights. This includes milestone benefits as well.
- International Airport Lounge Access: 4 complimentary visits/year
AU Bank Zenith+ Credit Card
AU Bank Zenith+ credit card is an excellent value for money proposition for its benefits. We get equivalent reward points in lieu of the annual fee along with a very low forex markup.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 4999+GST
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: 0.99%+GST ~1.17%
- Rewards: 2%
- Effective Return: 0.83%
- International Airport Lounge Access: 4 complimentary visits/quarter
Standard Chartered Ultimate Credit Card
The SC Ultimate gives a reward rate of 3.3% on international transactions as well but with a little higher markup fee. But, there is a cashback on this markup fee as well.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 5000+GST
- Network: Visa/Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 3.5%+GST ~4.13%
- Rewards: 3.3% plus cashback of 1.5% on forex markup charges
- Effective Return: 0.67%
- International Airport Lounge Access: 1 complimentary visit per month if the previous month’s spending is more than Rs 20000
Bank of Baroda Eterna Credit Card
The Eterna offers decent rewards on international transactions but has no international lounge access benefits. So, this card is good if you don’t need to use it for lounge access.
- Joining and Annual Fee: Rs 2499+GST
- Network: Visa/Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 2%+GST ~2.36%
- Rewards: 3.75%
- Effective Return: 1.4%
- International Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
RBL World Safari Credit Card
Zero forex markup charges are the USP for the RBL World Safari card but you miss out on rewards in exchange for that.
- Joining Fee: NIL
- Annual Fee: Rs 3000+GST
- Network: Mastercard
- Forex Markup Charges: 0%
- Rewards: No regular rewards. Only milestone rewards.
- Effective Return: 0%
- International Airport Lounge Access: 2 complimentary visits per year
IDFC First WOW! Credit Card
- Joining and Annual Fee: NIL (Lifetime Free)
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: 0%
- Rewards: 0.67%
- Effective Return: 0.67%
- International Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
OneCard Credit Card
We would not advise using OneCard for foreign transactions. But, it is still very popular with many customers. So, covering it here to show that it is not that much of a great option. 🙂
- Joining and Annual Fee: NIL (Lifetime Free)
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: 1%+GST ~1.18%
- Rewards: 0.1% to 1%
- Effective Return: -1.08% to -0.18%
- International Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
Scapia Federal Bank Credit Card
Scapia Federal Bank credit card is a must have entry-level credit card if all you need is zero forex markup on your international spends. It is also Lifetime Free.
- Joining and Annual Fee: NIL (Lifetime Free)
- Network: Visa
- Forex Markup Charges: Zero
- Rewards: NIL
- Effective Return: NIL
- International Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
25 thoughts on “17 Best Credit Cards for International Travel and Spends”
Does SBI CB card give 5% on the international transactions?
Yes, again based on MCC.
What about IDFC first wealth. 1.5% +gst. And approx 2.5% returns so effective rate of ~1%
2.5% is the highest return that is on 10X spends. If we hit that number, then yes it is a good option too. We will add it to this list too. Thanks!
Hi,
You missed AU Zenith Plus metal card. It has 1.17% forex charge but 2% reward points on international spends. Thus, an effective 0.83% reward rate along with other benefits like meet and greet, golf access and international lounge access. It’s fee is pretty basic at 5000 + GST which gets returned as RPs. Thus, we are paying only 900 for owning a metal card
Thanks Aniket. Indeed it is. This was covered in the Zenith+ review but was missing in this list.
The return % on IDFC WoW needs updation. You get 4X reward points per 150 rupees now as against 100 earlier. this makes the effective return at 0.67% instead of 1% …… (*1X = 1 Reward Point per ₹150 spent | 1 Reward point = ₹0.25)
Yes, new customers get that reward rate. Old customers continue to get 4X RP/Rs 100. It is now updated in the article.
Hello team!
Great info.
I see your comment on the OneCard. Yes, not a choice perhaps, in the international-travel line-up of cards.
But the target audience is different.
And it has its own USP.
A couple of great things :
with zero fees, it offers 1% on the top 2 of your categories each month. Their credit limits are generous.
Regards,
Prasad.
Yes Prasad, valid point 🙂
One card has only 1.18 markup then why isn’t it recommended?
I was looking for this information. Thank you so much. Really helps!
Kindly clarify on joining fee of rbl world safari as accoridng to website it says zero joining fee and 3000 annual fee
Joining fee is zero.
Hello, how about IDFC First Wow credit card, zero forex markup? Can you add it to list.
It is already there in the list. Check the second last card.
Pls put your review for yes preferred credit card. Forex charge and effective return both
What about Niyo Global cards..?
They were launched recently. Need to take a look.
Please look at Yes First Preferred/Exclusive. They have 0.99% + GST forex markup, one of the lowest in this category
Hi! Just came across this website, great stuff. If there a way to connect offline?
Hi! Just came across this website, great stuff. If there a way to connect offline?
Hi!
You missed our IndusInd Vistara. It has zero Forex markup charges and even Kotak white reserve it has 2% markup
Thank you, Imran. I have added the IndusInd Vistara card now. Kotak White Reserve needs high spends to get rewards that can offset the forex markup fee.