Singapore Airlines and SBI Card have launched two co-branded credit cards in India. The two cards on offer are the KrisFlyer SBI Card and the KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex with a starting annual fee of Rs 2999. On both cards, you can earn welcome miles, airport lounge access, and bonus miles on meeting spend milestones. Although there are many credit cards that enable you to earn KrisFlyer miles, these are the first KrisFlyer co-branded cards in India. Here is a review of the base variant KrisFlyer SBI Card and how it compares with other travel cards.
Fees
| KrisFlyer SBI Card | |
|---|---|
| Joining Fee | Rs 2999+GST |
| Welcome Benefit | 3000 KrisFlyer miles on 1st transaction within 60 days |
| Annual Fee | Rs 2999+GST |
| Renewal Benefit | None |
| Payment Network | American Express, Mastercard |
The KrisFlyer SBI Card does not come with any welcome elite status on the KrisFlyer FFP. It is understandable though as any elite status would also give you equivalent status on Star Alliance.
Earning KrisFlyer Miles on KrisFlyer SBI Card
| Spend Category | Miles Earn Rate |
|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines Group Spends | 5 KrisFlyer Miles/Rs 200 ~2.5% |
| Other Retail Spends | 2 KrisFlyer Miles/Rs 200 ~1% |
| International Spends | 5 KrisFlyer Miles/Rs 200 ~2.5% |
| Property, Rental, Wallet and Fuel Spends | No Rewards |
The base miles earning rate is not great. We get just 1% KrisFlyer miles on domestic spends with the exclusion of property, rent, wallet & fuel spends. This is similar to what many cashback cards offer. So, one may as well not get into the hassle of earning miles at all.
The 2.5% earn rate for international spends looks lucrative but we have a high forex markup too at 3.5%. So, the net return will be still be negative.
Bonus KrisFlyer Miles & Tier Upgrade on Spends
- Get 3000 bonus KrisFlyer miles on spends of Rs 3 Lakh in a membership year ~1% earn rate
- Tier upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Silver membership on spending Rs 2.5 Lakh on Singapore Airlines
The milestone benefit takes the earn rate to 2% but only if you cross the milestone spends. Again, not that great as we are expecting a higher earn rate for the annual fee that this card comes with.
Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
- Domestic Airport Lounge Access: 1 visit/quarter
- International Airport Lounge Access: 1 visit/quarter with Priority Pass
Other Benefits & Charges
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% waiver on transactions of up to Rs 3000. Maximum fuel surcharge waiver of Rs 250 per statement cycle.
- Forex Markup: 3.5%+GST
Value of KrisFlyer Miles in Rupees
The difficult part of reviewing any miles focused card is getting an idea of the approximate return offered by it. For the KrisFlyer FFP, we value 1 KrisFlyer mile at Rs 1 for booking economy class tickets. If you go for business/first class bookings, you will get a higher value than Rs 1. Considering this value, the return offered for spends with the KrisFlyer SBI Card is 2% on domestic spends. Not great even for KrisFlyer program fans!
Negative Return on International Transactions with KrisFlyer SBI Card!
- Miles earn rate on international transactions: 2.5%
- Forex Markup: 3.5%+GST ~4.1%
- Net Return: -1.6%
Final Thoughts
If you are a frequent flyer on Singapore Airlines and are looking to accumulate KF miles, stay away from the KrisFlyer SBI Card. The miles earn rate is too low to put your spends on this card.
If you are looking to earn KF miles on spends, check out the Axis Atlas card. You can earn EDGE Miles on spends that you can transfer to Singapore Airlines. This will give you a much higher earn rate with a little higher annual fee at Rs 5000.
KrisFlyer SBI Card
