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SBI Card ELITE
SBI • Visa

SBI Card ELITE

Premium lifestyle card with 5X rewards on dining, departmental stores and grocery spends, plus lounge and travel privileges.

Reviewed by CardWise Editorial Team
Last Verified: 2/13/2026
Editorial Independence: Our recommendations are driven by mathematical value, not issuer payouts. We may earn a commission if you apply through our links, but this does not affect our scoring or the cards we feature.
Annual Fee₹4999Waived on annual spends of ₹10L in the preceding year
Base Reward0.5%On all spends
Lounge Access1611 domestic • 5 intl
Est. Annual Savings₹-3,643Based on ₹4.8L annual spend

Fee waiver & value estimator

Adjust your spend to see fee waiver eligibility and capped rewards.

Annual fee
₹30,000 / mo
₹3,60,000 / year
Estimated rewards₹1,800

Assumes base reward rate only.

Annual fee₹4,999

Waived on annual spends of ₹10L in the preceding year

Net value₹3,199

Estimated cost after fees.

Fee waiver target: ₹10,00,000 annual spend.

Reward Rate Breakdown

Category-wise reward rates for this card

Dining
2.5%
Shopping
2.5%
Lifestyle
2.5%
Basedefault
0.5%
International
0.5%

Key Takeaways

Verified card-level notes, best use-cases, and watchouts.

Pros & Insights

  • SBI Card ELITE combines premium lifestyle benefits (movies, lounges, concierge) with milestone-driven reward acceleration.
  • The card can deliver strong value for high annual spenders through milestone bonuses and annual fee reversal path.
  • Its effective return is highly non-linear: low-spend users may under-realize value, while disciplined high-spend users can extract outsized benefit.

Best Utilization

  • Concentrate dining, grocery and departmental-store spends to optimize 5X reward categories.
  • Target milestone slabs deliberately across the year instead of spending uniformly without threshold planning.
  • Monetize bundled lifestyle benefits (movie quota, lounge access, concierge) regularly to offset annual fee drag.

Watchouts

  • High annual fee needs either spend waiver or consistent feature utilization to remain net positive.
  • Milestone misses near year-end can significantly reduce realized value versus expected value.
  • Treat this as a premium lifestyle card; for pure cashback optimization, specialized low-fee cards may beat it.

Truth Data Snapshot

Issuer-linked details for offers, redemption, lounges, and reliability status.

Expand

Offer Truth

  • Joining fee₹4,999
  • Annual fee₹4,999
  • Waiver threshold₹10,00,000
  • Cap typemonthly
  • Cap resetmonthly
  • Last verified2026-02-13

Redemption Truth

  • Cash value/point₹0.25
  • Travel value/point₹0.25
  • Transfer partners0
  • Min redemptionNot listed
  • Expiry policyNot listed
  • Last verified2026-02-13

Lounge Truth

  • NetworkVisa
  • Domestic count8
  • International count6
  • Quarterly limit2
  • Airport-terminal rows16
  • Policy check2026-02-13

Reliability + Outcomes

  • Verification statusverified
  • Freshness days0
  • Source conflicts0
  • Applied reports7
  • Approval reports4

Upgrade Path

These are objective same-bank step-up options from the current rewards and lounge model.

Step 1

PhonePe SBI Card SELECT BLACK

Annual fee: Free

Shared focus: Travel+26 more lounge visits in current datasetEstimated +₹6,295/yr value
View Details
Step 2

SBI Card MILES PRIME

Annual fee: ₹2999

Shared focus: Travel, Premium+14 more lounge visits in current datasetHigher top earn rate (4.0%)
View Details
Step 3

Club Vistara SBI Card PRIME

Annual fee: ₹2999

Shared focus: Travel, Premium+14 more lounge visits in current datasetHigher top earn rate (3.0%)
View Details

Lounge Eligibility Checklist

Mapped from issuer lounge dataset + card policy signals

Lounge Spend Tracker

Eligible this quarter: No

Track lounge eligibility for SBI Card ELITE using your current quarter spend.

₹0 spent₹2 target

Policy signal used: - Source file: SBI Card ELITE domestic lounge program PDF. - Complimentary access carries nominal INR 2 authorization at lounge terminal. - Source note references quarterly complimentary visit limits for ELITE card. Policy override notes: • SBI ELITE has broad lounge coverage but usage still follows current issuer and network rules. • Check current spend-linked criteria for domestic and international lounge access. • International lounge flow can depend on active pass/network enrollment. Verify latest spend criteria and guest access with issuer before travel.

Spend threshold

Check current spend-linked criteria for domestic and international lounge access.

Quarter / cycle rule

2 complimentary domestic lounge visits per quarter in India.

Guest access

Guest access policy is not explicitly listed in current data.

Priority Pass

International lounge flow can depend on active pass/network enrollment.

Lounge Locations

16 airport lounge rows
View lounge map and location list16 rows
Loading interactive lounge map...

Click a city marker to jump to its lounge list below.

Ahmedabad

2 lounges • 1 domestic • 1 international

2
TFS DomesticDomestic

AHM • Ahmedabad Airport • Terminal T1

TFS InternationalInternational

AHM • Ahmedabad Airport • Terminal T2

Bengaluru

1 lounges • 1 domestic • 0 international

1
TFS DomesticDomestic

BEN • Bengaluru Airport • Terminal T1

Chennai

3 lounges • 2 domestic • 1 international

3
TFS DomesticDomestic

CHE • Chennai Airport • Terminal T1

TFS DomesticDomestic

CHE • Chennai Airport • Terminal T4

TFS InternationalInternational

CHE • Chennai Airport • Terminal T2

Goa

1 lounges • 1 domestic • 0 international

1
TFS DomesticDomestic

GOA • Goa Airport • Terminal T1

Hyderabad

1 lounges • 1 domestic • 0 international

1
Encalm Hospitality DomesticDomestic

HYD • Hyderabad Airport • Terminal T1

Kolkata

2 lounges • 1 domestic • 1 international

2
TFS DomesticDomestic

KOL • Kolkata Airport • Terminal T1

TFS InternationalInternational

KOL • Kolkata Airport • Terminal T1

Mumbai

3 lounges • 2 domestic • 1 international

3
Oberoi Airport Services InternationalInternational

MUM • Mumbai Airport • Terminal T2

TFS DomesticDomestic

MUM • Mumbai Airport • Terminal T1C

TFS DomesticDomestic

MUM • Mumbai Airport • Terminal T2

New Delhi

3 lounges • 2 domestic • 1 international

3
Encalm Hospitality DomesticDomestic

NEW • New Delhi Airport • Terminal T1

Encalm Hospitality DomesticDomestic

NEW • New Delhi Airport • Terminal T3

Encalm Hospitality InternationalInternational

NEW • New Delhi Airport • Terminal T3

Redemption Optimizer

20,000
Estimated points20,000per year
→
Estimated redemption value₹5,000@ ₹0.25 / point

Typical voucher/cash-like path

Voucher / statement-style value

Illustration only. Final value depends on issuer program terms, partner ratios, and redemption availability at time of use.

Decision Data Enrichment

Reused from validated provider snapshots with freshness gates and quality filters.

Enriched decision data not available

This card does not have publishable enrichment records in the current high-confidence snapshot.

Key Benefits

  • 5X reward points on dining, departmental store and grocery spends (subject to monthly cap).
  • 2 reward points per ₹100 on other spends except fuel.
  • 2 complimentary domestic lounge visits per quarter in India.
  • 6 complimentary international lounge visits per calendar year (max 2 per quarter) via Priority Pass.
  • 1.99% forex markup with international spend reward accrual support.

Things to Consider

  • High annual fee requires high utilization for break-even.
  • Accelerated 5X category rewards are capped monthly under issuer reward capping policy.
  • Priority Pass complimentary visits are capped and excess visits are chargeable.

About SBI Card ELITE

SBI Card ELITE is a points card from SBI, best for travel & lounge access. It is tagged under premium, lifestyle, travel, rewards categories in our database.

PremiumLifestyleTravelRewards

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Frequently asked questions

Is SBI Card ELITE lifetime free?

It has an annual fee of ₹4999. Waived on annual spends of ₹10L in the preceding year

What rewards does SBI Card ELITE offer?

Premium lifestyle card with 5X rewards on dining, departmental stores and grocery spends, plus lounge and travel privileges.

Does SBI Card ELITE include lounge access?

SBI Card ELITE lists 16 lounge visits (11 domestic, 5 international).

Who should consider SBI Card ELITE?

Travel & lounge access

Where can I apply for SBI Card ELITE?

Check the issuer website for application availability.

Sources & Verification

  • Official Issuer Page:Direct Link
  • Last Verified: 2026-02-13
  • Data Method: Automated scraper + Manual audit

Key Terms

APR (Annual Percentage Rate)

The interest rate charged on unpaid dues if you don't pay your full bill by the due date.

Forex Markup

An additional fee charged for transactions made in foreign currency.

Lounge Access

Complimentary entry to airport lounges, often subject to spend milestones.

Milestone Benefits

Bonus rewards unlocked when you cross specific spending thresholds within a period.