Which is the Best Credit Card from India for *A travellers?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 39
Which is the Best Credit Card from India for *A travellers?
Which among SBI signature or Citi Bank card is good for *A trevellers?
One question for comparison:
Suppose AI miles from SBI card are used to buy EVA AIR ticket via *A chart
VS.
CITI Bank card points to miles @ 0.5 for EVA AIR/SIN/Air India etc.
One question for comparison:
Suppose AI miles from SBI card are used to buy EVA AIR ticket via *A chart
VS.
CITI Bank card points to miles @ 0.5 for EVA AIR/SIN/Air India etc.
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,562
the sbi card is better for *a for the simple reason that you can earn *gold via spends & the earning ratio for spending on ai is amazing....much better than any card i have ever come across....
#3
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 42
With the change in the terms, to earn Gold, you have to make the spends on AI travel. That restricts the usage a lot since it means that you have to travel AI to get Gold. That you can do with the travel alone, why use this card? Also, the award miles required for AI award travel is very inflated, so that really reduces the value of the "enhanced" mileage earnings. So this card really does not make much sense any more unless one is traveling a lot on AI.
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
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With the change in the terms, to earn Gold, you have to make the spends on AI travel. That restricts the usage a lot since it means that you have to travel AI to get Gold. That you can do with the travel alone, why use this card? Also, the award miles required for AI award travel is very inflated, so that really reduces the value of the "enhanced" mileage earnings. So this card really does not make much sense any more unless one is traveling a lot on AI.
either way, for someone like me who travels on ai a lot, this card makes a lot of sense....the earnings on the card are amazing....
#6
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: KFEG, UK Gold
Posts: 159
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Spend based upgrades have been discontinued effective 20th Aug 2016. More details here - https://www.sbicard.com/sbi-card-en/...edBenefits.pdf
#8
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 14
I am trying to open an India bank account or get a local India card (Prepaid or Credit) so that I can make online purchases in India for services such as Swiggy, Supr Daily, etc. Many vendors do not accept my intl cards, so I am looking to get a local India card. Do you have any experience with this? Is there a bank or card that is available for foreign nationals? Any assistance would be appreciated.
#9
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
Posts: 3,244
Keyser/All,
I am trying to open an India bank account or get a local India card (Prepaid or Credit) so that I can make online purchases in India for services such as Swiggy, Supr Daily, etc. Many vendors do not accept my intl cards, so I am looking to get a local India card. Do you have any experience with this? Is there a bank or card that is available for foreign nationals? Any assistance would be appreciated.
I am trying to open an India bank account or get a local India card (Prepaid or Credit) so that I can make online purchases in India for services such as Swiggy, Supr Daily, etc. Many vendors do not accept my intl cards, so I am looking to get a local India card. Do you have any experience with this? Is there a bank or card that is available for foreign nationals? Any assistance would be appreciated.
Once you have a PAN and you're looking at collecting *A miles... your options are Citi Prestige, Citi Premier Miles and HDFC Diners Cards and Amex. Citi & Amex has a wider set of *A and non *A partners and different earning rates depending on the card variants. DC only credits to SQ but they have a some great accelerated rewards.
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
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Keyser/All,
I am trying to open an India bank account or get a local India card (Prepaid or Credit) so that I can make online purchases in India for services such as Swiggy, Supr Daily, etc. Many vendors do not accept my intl cards, so I am looking to get a local India card. Do you have any experience with this? Is there a bank or card that is available for foreign nationals? Any assistance would be appreciated.
I am trying to open an India bank account or get a local India card (Prepaid or Credit) so that I can make online purchases in India for services such as Swiggy, Supr Daily, etc. Many vendors do not accept my intl cards, so I am looking to get a local India card. Do you have any experience with this? Is there a bank or card that is available for foreign nationals? Any assistance would be appreciated.
#11
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 14
So I'm looking for some kind of a digital card I can use until I can get a bank acct setup.
Also, my CA has this included in our setup package: DBS (or) Kotak (or) Yes Bank Zero Balance Current Account, but I don't experience with any of these banks...and again, we're about 4-5 weeks out. Any thoughts?
#12
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
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I'm a Foreign National. Just started registration process for a business I'm starting in BPO market. That package contains a PAN application, but we're looking at 4-5 weeks for the process to complete.
So I'm looking for some kind of a digital card I can use until I can get a bank acct setup.
Also, my CA has this included in our setup package: DBS (or) Kotak (or) Yes Bank Zero Balance Current Account, but I don't experience with any of these banks...and again, we're about 4-5 weeks out. Any thoughts?
So I'm looking for some kind of a digital card I can use until I can get a bank acct setup.
Also, my CA has this included in our setup package: DBS (or) Kotak (or) Yes Bank Zero Balance Current Account, but I don't experience with any of these banks...and again, we're about 4-5 weeks out. Any thoughts?
I would prefer Kotak over DBS (because of wider presence etc.) and Yes Bank (because Yes was very recently was almost about to go under). But the same thing here - usually current accounts are generally meant for companies. You will need a savings bank account as an individual.
#13
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 47,979
Once you have a bank account you get a debit card which can be used pretty much anywhere in India. My HDFC account has a Rupay Debit card which I use as form of payment in digital transactions.
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
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I'm a Foreign National. Just started registration process for a business I'm starting in BPO market. That package contains a PAN application, but we're looking at 4-5 weeks for the process to complete.
So I'm looking for some kind of a digital card I can use until I can get a bank acct setup.
Also, my CA has this included in our setup package: DBS (or) Kotak (or) Yes Bank Zero Balance Current Account, but I don't experience with any of these banks...and again, we're about 4-5 weeks out. Any thoughts?
So I'm looking for some kind of a digital card I can use until I can get a bank acct setup.
Also, my CA has this included in our setup package: DBS (or) Kotak (or) Yes Bank Zero Balance Current Account, but I don't experience with any of these banks...and again, we're about 4-5 weeks out. Any thoughts?
From what you described it sounds like you're getting a company level tax number which is called a TAN (vs. PAN for individuals). Make sure you're getting a PAN as well.I would prefer Kotak over DBS (because of wider presence etc.) and Yes Bank (because Yes was very recently was almost about to go under). But the same thing here - usually current accounts are generally meant for companies. You will need a savings bank account as an individual.
it may be worthwhile checking if citibank is an option as well since they have some of the cards that meet the requirement you are looking for....
#15
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
Posts: 3,244
You won't get a regular digital card without a PAN/Aadhaar card.