Best Credit Cards for Luxury Spends in India

Luxury credit cards are the type of cards that come with world-class benefits across various categories and are generally targeted at high-income individuals. These can be extremely rewarding and offer immense value, but they come with a high annual fee and one needs to have a really good credit score to get approved for them. Also, a lot of premium cards used for luxury spends are invite-only cards i.e. you cannot apply for these cards, instead, the bank sends you an invite after which you can choose to avail of this card. These offer excellent benefits such as airport lounge access, premium services while traveling, multiple reward offers, and various dining and entertainment benefits. Since premium credit cards come with a high annual fee, it is best to weigh your potential rewards against the annual fee to ensure that you get the maximum benefit out of them.

Almost all the major credit card issuers offer one or more super-premium credit cards with incredibly great benefits across different categories. In this article, we have listed some of the top credit cards for luxury spends along with their detailed features and benefits:

HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card Metal Edition

Being offered by the most popular credit card issuer in the country, the Infinia credit card is one of the best luxury credit cards in the market. Talking about its annual fee, it comes with a joining and annual fee of Rs. 12,500 plus applicable taxes. This card is a great option for people who want are frequent travelers and want to get rewarding experiences every time they travel. The card also comes with a complimentary Club Marriott membership for the first year, which offers you a 20% discount on dining out and stays across the Asia-Pacific region. Another significant feature of this card is that it offers unlimited complimentary lounge access, not only to primary cardholders, but also to the supplementary users of the card.

This card is a reward-point-based credit card that offers 5 reward points on every Rs. 150 spent. Other exciting bonuses include complimentary stays and weekend buffets at select ITC hotels. The Infinia Metal Credit Card provides you with global personal concierge services, which you can access 24X7 and some of the services include international gift delivery, private dining assistance, itinerary planning, reservation assistance, and golf booking. This card also offers the lowest markup fee, which is 2% on all foreign currency transactions.

HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Card

The HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Card is another super-premium card that offers amazing rewards and benefits across several categories. It comes with an annual fee of Rs. 10,000, which is waived off if the cardholder has spent Rs. 5 lakhs or more in the preceding year. With this card, you get complimentary annual memberships of Amazon Prime, Zomato Pro, MakeMyTrip Black, Club Marriott, Forbes, and Times Prime. You also get exclusive vouchers for Ola Cabs, BookMyShow, and TataCliq on spending a minimum of Rs. 80,000 every month. The Diners Club Black card also offers accelerated reward points on spends via SmartBuy and 2X reward points on weekend dining and other spends, you earn 5 reward points for every Rs. 150 spent.

For people who want to spend lavishly on their health and wellness, it offers exclusive discounts at leading salons, gyms, and spas. Other benefits of this card include unlimited airport lounge access for primary and add-on cardmembers, a 1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations across India, and a 50-day interest-free period from the date of card issuance.

American Express Platinum Credit Card

The American Express Platinum Credit Card is another super-premium card offered by one of the major credit card issuers in the country. It comes with exclusive privileges across different categories, including travel, and a lot more. With a joining/annual fee of Rs. 60,000, the card welcomes its customers with 1,00,000 bonus membership points. Once you get the American Express Platinum card, you can make your shopping, travel, and all other experiences rewarding by earning membership rewards.

Talking about the travel benefits offered by the card, the cardholders get unlimited complimentary domestic lounge visits and access to almost all the participating international airport lounges worldwide. Other than this, they get a discount of 25% at various popular hotel brands, including Taj Hotels, SeleQtions, Vivanta hotels, etc. Other than this, the AmEx Platinum Credit Cardholders get many more other privileges, including late checkout, complimentary room upgrades, etc. This card can be considered a great choice for people who are ready to pay a high annual fee to get luxury benefits.

SBI Aurum Credit Card

SBI Aurum Credit Card is a super-premium credit card that comes with an annual fee of Rs. 10,000. It is an invitation-only card and has a special website where eligible members can log in and see information related to ongoing offers. It comes with exclusively curated privileges and is best suited for rewards and travel. The cardholder gets 40,000 reward points worth Rs. 10,000 as a joining bonus and other amazing milestone benefits such as a TataCliq Voucher worth Rs. 1500 on spends of Rs. 1 Lakh monthly, a Luxe voucher which includes premium brands like Jimmy Choo, Burberry, etc worth Rs. 5,000 on annual spends of Rs. 5 Lakhs and a Taj Voucher worth Rs. 10,000 on annual spending of Rs. 10 Lakhs.

This card also offers complimentary memberships such as Amazon Prime, Zomato Pro, EazyDiner Prime, and Lenskart Gold which you can use to your advantage. Avid travelers can benefit from the complimentary domestic airport lounge access (4 visits per quarter) and unlimited international airport lounge access from this card. You also get access to a domestic airport spa which is capped at 1 visit per quarter.

Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card 

Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card is a super-premium credit card that offers an array of exclusive services and luxury privileges across different categories. Although the annual fee of this card is the highest among all the listed credit cards, it provides equivalent benefits and bonuses to the cardholders. Axis reserve credit card is an invite-only card with a joining and renewal fee of Rs. 50,000.

On joining you get an exciting welcome bonus of 50,000 reward points. For every Rs. 200 that you spend on domestic purchases, you get 15 Edge Points and for every Rs. 200 spent on international purchases, you get 30 Edge Points.

This card offers multiple hotel and resort memberships which include :

• ITC Culinaire Membership offers 50% off on published tariffs for suits on weekends. You also get the 3rd night free during your stay at some premium hotels.
• Accor plus membership offers a free stay of one night across the Asia Pacific region. You also get access to free room upgrades along with up to 50% off on dining. Plus you get a free lunch buffet for 2 across all Accor hotels in India.

There are a plethora of other benefits that this card offers such as a 20% discount at partner restaurants in India, and priority pass membership with unlimited international lounge visits for both primary and add-on card holders. You also get to avail of 8 free VIP assistance services at airports such as security checks, check-in, and porter services.

Citi Prestige Credit Card

CitiBank’s Prestige Credit Card is one of the flagship cards which comes with an annual fee of Rs. 20,000. It offers reward points that can be converted to AirMiles and can be redeemed against several other options. As a customer, you will get amazing benefits from this card as it gives you access to a host of redemption partners and other loyalty programs. As a joining and annual benefit, you get 2,500 reward points which are equivalent to 10,000 air miles upon making the first transaction every year. The airline partners through which you can redeem the air miles include Air India, British Airways, Etihad Airways, and many more. You also get a gift card worth Rs. 10,000 from the Taj Group and 4 gift vouchers worth Rs. 2,500 each from the ITC Hotels Group. The joining benefit will also include a Taj Epicure Plus Plan and Inner Circle Gold Membership.

Exclusive perks are offered under the travel, stay and lifestyle category including complimentary unlimited priority pass lounge access to more than 800 airports worldwide, luxury airport transfers discounted at 20% and 1 complimentary night stay at any hotel on staying a minimum of 4 nights (twice a year). You also get access to 4 complimentary rounds of golf and golf lessons across 15 golf clubs in India and you get to enjoy Citi Prestige Concierge for personal assistance on daily tasks, travel, entertainment, and other services locally as well as abroad.

Travel insurances include overseas medical insurance of USD 50,000 and air accident insurance worth Rs. 5 crores (a nominee or supplementary card member will get this benefit). In case of any fraudulent transaction on your lost card, you get a lost card protection worth Rs. 10 Lakh.

The Bottom Line

Credit cards nowadays are not only used for making large payments but can also be used to enhance your lifestyle. The above-listed credit cards offer multiple rewards and benefits, but it should be noted that managing them requires a disciplined approach. It is really essential to keep a track of your spending and pay your balance before the due date to avoid paying steep interest. Nevertheless, if you are among the people who have a high Credit score and can afford to pay the hefty annual fee, these cards can provide you with extensive value.

Check here: List of Top Credit Cards in India