SBI Card MILES Review 2026: 1% on Travel, 16 Lounge Visits, the Travel Credit Catch & FAQs

SBI Card MILES is the entry rung of SBI's travel range: ₹1,499 a year, 1% on travel spends and 0.5% on everything else, paid in Travel Credits, plus 16 domestic lounge visits a year and an unusual mechanic that earns you more lounge visits the more you spend.

There is one thing to understand before anything else, and it determines whether this card is good or mediocre: a Travel Credit is worth ₹1 only if you transfer it to an airline or hotel partner. Redeem it any other way and it is worth half or a quarter of that.

SBI Card MILES Quick Overview

Eligibility Criteria

SBI Card publishes no age or income threshold. Approval rests on its own assessment of income, credit history and internal scoring. Indian residency and a valid PAN are required. Add-on cards are free.

The Travel Credit Spread — Read This First

SBI publishes three redemption rates for Travel Credits, and the gap between them is four to one:

Every percentage in this article assumes the partner-transfer rate, because that is the best channel SBI publishes. But it is worth being blunt: a cardholder who books flights through SBI Card's own travel portal earns half the advertised rate, and one who redeems for merchandise earns a quarter.

If you will not transfer to a partner programme, this card's real return is 0.5% on travel and 0.25% on everything else — which is worse than SimplySAVE at a third of the fee.

The ₹200 Denominator

The rates are stated per ₹200, not per ₹100:

2 Travel Credits per ₹200 on travel spends 1 Travel Credit per ₹200 on all other spends

That works out to 1% and 0.5% respectively at the transfer rate, but accrual rounds down to complete ₹200 blocks on every transaction. A ₹350 purchase earns on ₹200; ₹150 is lost. The rounding bites harder here than on a per-₹100 card, and it matters most on small, frequent purchases.

Reward Structure

There is a whole-card ceiling of 5,000 Travel Credits per calendar month — covering online and offline spends together, not per band. Past it, SBI states that spends "will not earn any Travel Credit" for that statement month, so the fallback is zero, not the base rate. At Re. 1 a Travel Credit that ceiling is worth ₹5,000 a month.

A transparency note on the travel category: SBI names "travel" as the accelerated category without publishing a list of merchant category codes for this card. The grouping covers airlines, railways, passenger transit, bus lines, cruise, travel agencies, car rental and lodging. Two of those — railways and passenger transit — are the least certain; if commuting is a major spend for you, check your first statement.

The Lounge Mechanic Is the Card's Best Feature

Two parts, and the second is unusual:

Base entitlement: 16 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year — four every quarter. That is generous at ₹1,499.

Earned visits: ONE additional domestic visit for every ₹1 lakh of spend, on top of the base, capped at 8 extra visits in a membership year.

So a cardholder spending ₹8 lakh a year accumulates 24 domestic lounge visits — sixteen base plus eight earned. There are few cards at any price that give a spender more domestic lounge access.

The international side is weaker than it looks. The card includes a complimentary Priority Pass membership worth US$99 — but zero complimentary international visits. The membership saves you the joining fee and nothing else; every international lounge visit is paid for. Treat this as a domestic-lounge card.

Welcome Benefit and Milestone

Welcome: 1,500 Travel Credits — ₹1,500 at the transfer rate — on spending ₹30,000 within 60 days of card issuance. That covers the fee in year one.

Milestone: 5,000 bonus Travel Credits at ₹5,00,000 of annual spend — ₹5,000 at the transfer rate.

Note the thresholds are the right way round on this card. The milestone sits at ₹5 lakh and the fee reversal at ₹6 lakh, so a cardholder pushing for the fee reversal collects the bonus Travel Credits on the way. Several other SBI cards set the milestone above the reversal threshold, which is the wrong way round for the cardholder.

Worked Example

Illustrative, at ₹50,000 a month — ₹6 lakh a year, which clears both thresholds:

Annual tally, assuming partner transfer:

Plus 22 domestic lounge visits (16 base + 6 earned on ₹6 lakh of spend), which is where most of the real value sits.

If you redeem through the SBI travel portal instead, halve the Travel Credit figures: ₹1,740 earned plus ₹2,500 milestone — ₹4,240 steady state. The lounge access is unaffected.

Where You Won't Earn

SBI states the exclusions in plain words: fuel, EMI, wallet upload, property rental, utilities and insurance. Cash advances are excluded too.

That list is wider than most SBI cards — utilities and insurance in particular are common recurring payments that earn nothing here.

The fuel surcharge waiver is the whole fuel benefit: 1% reversed on transactions between ₹500 and ₹3,000, capped at ₹100 per statement cycle.

SBI's range-wide transaction fees apply: ₹199 per rent payment, 1% on wallet loads above ₹1,000, 1% on utility payments once the cycle total passes ₹50,000, and 1% on education payments through third-party apps.

Fees and Charges

The 3.5% forex markup is worth flagging on a card branded around travel. SBI's reduced 1.99% applies only to ELITE and AURUM.

The MILES Family Compared

MILES actually gives the most domestic lounge visits of the three — 16 against 8 — which is counterintuitive and worth knowing. What you give up at the entry rung is the international access and half the earn rate.

Is SBI Card MILES Worth It?

Yes, if you fly domestically and will transfer Travel Credits to a partner. 16 lounge visits a year plus up to 8 earned, at ₹1,499 reversed from ₹6 lakh, is strong.

Yes, as a lounge card first and a rewards card second. The earn rate is modest; the lounge entitlement is the reason to hold it.

No, if you will redeem through SBI's travel portal or the catalogue. At ₹0.50 or ₹0.25 a credit, the card returns 0.5% or 0.25% on travel — worse than SimplySAVE at a third of the fee.

No, if you fly internationally. Zero complimentary international visits and a 3.5% forex markup. MILES PRIME or Miles Elite are the cards for that.

Consider PRIME instead if your spending is everyday rather than travel. SBI Card PRIME pays 2.5% uncapped on grocery, dining, movies and departmental stores for ₹2,999.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the annual fee of SBI Card MILES? ₹1,499 plus GST, on joining and renewal. The renewal fee is reversed if annual spend in the previous year reached ₹6,00,000.

What is a Travel Credit worth? ₹1 if transferred to an airline or hotel partner — SBI's best published channel. Used for travel bookings through SBI Card it is ₹0.50, and in the Shop & Smile catalogue ₹0.25. The transfer rate is what every percentage in this review assumes.

What is the reward rate? 2 Travel Credits per ₹200 on travel spends (1%) and 1 per ₹200 on everything else (0.5%), at the partner-transfer rate. Both are subject to a whole-card ceiling of 5,000 Travel Credits a calendar month, past which spends earn nothing for that statement month. Note the ₹200 denominator — accrual rounds down to complete blocks.

How many lounge visits does the card give? 16 complimentary domestic visits a year, four per quarter, plus one additional domestic visit for every ₹1 lakh of spend, capped at 8 extra a membership year. There are no complimentary international visits, despite the Priority Pass membership.

What does the Priority Pass membership give me? The membership itself, worth US$99 — but no complimentary visits. Every international lounge visit is charged.

What is excluded from rewards? Fuel, EMI, wallet uploads, property rental, utilities and insurance, plus cash advances. That is a wider exclusion list than most SBI cards.

Does the milestone come before or after the fee reversal? Before — the 5,000-credit milestone is at ₹5 lakh and the fee reversal at ₹6 lakh, so you collect the bonus on the way to the reversal.