Indian Railways is the mode of transport used by majority of us and connects to far more places than the airports ever will. Even if many take a flight to go to a major city, chances are we then take a train for a remote city/village. We always tend to focus on how to save on the air ticket. But how to save on the train tickets. Here is one card that helps you. In this post, we review the IRCTC SBI Card Premier and its features/benefits.
Fees and Charges
| Joining/Renewal Fee | Rs 1499 plus taxes |
| Welcome Benefit | 1500 reward points |
| Renewal Fee Waiver | Rs 2 Lakhs annual spend |
Rewards
- IRCTC Train AC Bookings: 10% reward points
- IRCTC Flight Bookings: 5% reward points
- IRCTC E-Catering Purchases: 5% reward points
- Dining Spends: 2.4% reward points
- All other spends (except fuel): 0.8% reward points
- 1 RP = Rs 1
- Reward points will be accumulated in IRCTC loyalty account
For rewards, the cardholder has to be one of the passengers on the booked ticket.
Milestone Rewards
- 2500 RP on Rs 50000 annual travel spends (5% value)
- 5000 RP on Rs 1L annual travel spends (5% value)
This is a total of 7.5% return on Rs 1 Lakh travel spends. So, one can double dip with 10% rewards on AC travel. But, do note that all milestone rewards are only for travel spends.
Complimentary Railway Lounge Access
We get 2 complimentary railway lounge access per quarter using the IRCTC SBI Card Premier. The cities where this is available are Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Ahmedabad, Kolkata(Sealdah). The benefits in the lounge include:
- Two hours of lounge stay
- A/C sitting arrangements
- 1 Buffet Meal – Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner as per the time of visit
- Unlimited tea and coffee
- Free Wi-Fi
- Newspapers and Magazines
Other Benefits
- Save 1% transaction charges on IRCTC railway ticket bookings
- Save 1.8% transaction charges on IRCTC air ticket bookings
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs 500 to Rs 4000 (Max Rs 250/statement cycle)
My View
This is another lucrative card after the IRCTC SBI Platinum card for someone who regularly travels in trains. 10% value back on AC tickets and an additional 7.5% return on milestone spending is a great deal.
One thing I would like to see a change in is the complimentary railway lounge access. We seldom travel alone. SBI Card needs to be added complimentary access for guests or add-on cardholders. The other addition could be a little more benefits on non-AC ticket bookings. 0.8% for an IRCTC co-branded card is a bit less as per me.
The second change should be on the Rs 2 Lakh annual fee waiver. It can be Rs 1.5 Lakhs to make it easy. Milestone rewards end at Rs 1 Lakh spend. So the Rs 2 Lakh annual spend would not be possible with travel bookings alone for someone!
If you are looking for other cards that offer good benefits on IRCTC train bookings, then do have a look at HDFC Bank credit cards. They offer 5% cashback or up to 3X reward points with Smartbuy.
