SBI Card MILES Review
★ 3.5 / 5
[Card image placeholder: SBI Card MILES]
At a Glance
| Joining Fee | ₹1,499 plus GST |
| Annual Fee | ₹1,499 plus GST, reversed on ₹6 lakh annual spends |
| Best Suited For | Occasional domestic flyers who want an airline-agnostic travel card at a low fee |
| Reward Type | Travel Credits, transferable to airline miles and hotel points at up to 1:1 |
SBI Card MILES is the entry-level card in SBI Card’s three-card travel range, sitting below MILES PRIME and MILES ELITE. It costs ₹1,499 plus GST a year and pays you in Travel Credits, which move across to more than 20 airline and hotel programmes at ratios of up to 1:1. The pitch is straightforward: a travel card that is not locked to a single airline, at a fee most people can justify. The catch is the earn rate. At 2 Travel Credits per ₹200 on travel and 1 per ₹200 on everything else, the welcome bonus, the milestones and the lounge visits are doing most of the heavy lifting. Here is the full breakdown.
Rewards & Benefits
Reward rate and earn structure
You earn 2 Travel Credits for every ₹200 spent on travel, which covers flights, hotels and holiday bookings with no partner or portal restriction. Every other eligible spend earns 1 Travel Credit per ₹200. There is no monthly cap on how many Travel Credits you can earn, which is unusual at this fee level and works in the card’s favour.
What is capped is the list of categories that count. Fuel, utility bills, insurance premiums, rent, property management payments, education, e-wallet loading, cash advances, balance transfers, Flexipay and merchant EMI conversions, and the card’s own fees all earn zero Travel Credits. For a lot of Indian households, that is a sizeable chunk of monthly card spend earning nothing at all.
What a Travel Credit is actually worth
The value depends entirely on how you redeem. Transfer to an airline or hotel partner and 1 Travel Credit is worth up to ₹1. Use Travel Credits for bookings on the SBI Card travel portal and the value drops to ₹0.50. Spend them in the Shop & Smile catalogue and they are worth ₹0.25.
So the real return on ₹200 of travel spend is ₹2, which is 1%, and only if you transfer to a partner. Other spends return 0.50%. Go the catalogue route and those numbers fall to 0.25% and 0.125%. Air India, British Airways, Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Thai Airways, Air Canada, Air France-KLM, AirAsia, SpiceJet, IHG, Radisson, Wyndham and Orchid all transfer at 1:1. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, United, Japan Airlines, Accor and ITC Hotels transfer at 2:1, and Shangri-La at 6:1. Redemptions happen in multiples of 2,000 Travel Credits, and credits expire 24 months after they are earned.
Welcome and milestone benefits
Spend ₹30,000 within 60 days of card issuance, after the joining fee is paid, and you get 1,500 Travel Credits. Transferred at 1:1, that is worth about ₹1,500, which covers the ₹1,499 joining fee before GST.
Two annual milestones follow. Hit ₹5 lakh of spends in a membership year and you get 5,000 bonus Travel Credits. Hit ₹6 lakh and the annual fee is reversed. The bonus Travel Credits stack, so the maximum from the welcome benefit plus the milestone is 6,500 Travel Credits in your first year.
Lounge access
Domestic lounge access is where this card earns its keep. The base allowance is small but grows with your spending, and earned visits can be used by the primary cardholder or a guest.
| Lounge type | What you get |
|---|---|
| Domestic, base | 4 complimentary visits a year, maximum 2 per quarter |
| Domestic, earned | 1 extra visit per ₹1 lakh spent, up to 8 extra visits a year |
| Domestic, maximum | 12 visits in a year |
| International | Complimentary Priority Pass membership worth $99 for the first 2 years, with no complimentary visits included |
That last row matters. The Priority Pass gets you into over 1,000 lounges worldwide, but you pay the per-visit charge yourself every single time. Treat it as a waived membership fee, not as free international lounge access.
Fees & Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | ₹1,499 plus GST |
| Annual renewal fee | ₹1,499 plus GST |
| Annual fee reversal | On ₹6 lakh spends in a membership year |
| Foreign currency markup | 3% of the transaction value |
| Finance charges | 3.75% per month, 45% per year |
| Cash advance fee | 2.5% of the amount withdrawn, subject to a minimum charge |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1% on transactions of ₹500 to ₹4,000, capped at ₹250 a month |
| Late payment, up to ₹500 | Nil |
| Late payment, ₹501 to ₹1,000 | ₹400 |
| Late payment, ₹1,001 to ₹10,000 | ₹750 |
| Late payment, ₹10,001 to ₹25,000 | ₹950 |
| Late payment, ₹25,001 to ₹50,000 | ₹1,100 |
| Late payment, above ₹50,000 | ₹1,300 |
All fees are exclusive of GST, and 18% GST applies on top of each of them.
The ₹6 lakh fee reversal works out to ₹50,000 a month, every month, which is a real ask for a card at this price point. Before you plan around it, check how much of your spending actually sits in the non-earning categories listed above, because a household that puts rent, school fees and utility bills on the card can look like a ₹6 lakh spender while earning almost nothing in Travel Credits.
Interest is the other number worth internalising. Revolve a balance and you pay 3.75% a month, which compounds to 45% a year, and the interest-free period disappears until the full balance is cleared. Cash withdrawals get no interest-free period at all, so the 2.5% cash advance fee is only part of the cost and interest starts running from the withdrawal date.
The charge that catches people out is the 3% forex markup. Spend ₹1,00,000 abroad and you pay ₹3,000 plus GST in markup, which is more than double what the ₹4,999 MILES ELITE charges at 1.99%. If a meaningful share of your travel spending is in foreign currency, this card is the wrong one in the family.
Eligibility & Documents Required
SBI Card does not publish a card-specific income floor for MILES, and the final call depends on your profile, credit history and internal segment. As a general rule, applicants should be between 21 and 70 years old, be salaried or self-employed with a steady documented income, and hold a clean repayment record. A credit score of 750 or above improves your chances, though no issuer guarantees approval at any score.
Keep these ready: PAN card, Aadhaar or another accepted address proof, and income proof, which means recent salary slips and bank statements for salaried applicants, or the latest income tax return for self-employed applicants.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No cap on Travel Credit earnings | 1% on travel and 0.50% elsewhere is thin for a paid card |
| Transfers at up to 1:1 to over 20 airline and hotel programmes | 3% forex markup is high for a travel card |
| Up to 12 domestic lounge visits a year with milestones | Priority Pass carries zero complimentary visits |
| Welcome bonus of 1,500 credits covers the joining fee before GST | Fuel, rent, utilities, insurance and education earn nothing |
SBI Card MILES vs Competitors
| SBI Card MILES | SBI Card MILES PRIME | Axis Bank Horizon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | ₹1,499 plus GST | ₹2,999 plus GST | ₹3,000 plus GST |
| Travel earn rate | 2 credits per ₹200 | 4 credits per ₹200 | 5 EDGE Miles per ₹100 |
| Other spends | 1 credit per ₹200 | 2 credits per ₹200 | 2 EDGE Miles per ₹100 |
| Forex markup | 3% | 2.5% | 3.5% |
| Welcome benefit | 1,500 credits on ₹30,000 in 60 days | 3,000 credits on ₹60,000 in 60 days | 5,000 miles on ₹1,000 in 30 days |
Axis Bank Horizon out-earns both SBI cards on travel and hands over a far larger welcome bonus, but it costs twice as much as MILES and charges more on foreign spends. MILES PRIME doubles the earn rate for double the fee, so it only makes sense above roughly ₹3 lakh of annual travel spend. If your travel spending is occasional, the base MILES is the cheaper entry point.
How to Apply
Apply online on the SBI Card website. Open the MILES card page, choose the apply option, and enter your mobile number and occupation. Confirm the OTP, then complete your PAN, email address, PIN code and income details, and upload proof if the system asks for it.
An approved card is usually delivered in 7 to 10 working days. Track the application using the reference number on the acknowledgement screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the SBI Card MILES annual fee waived? Yes, the ₹1,499 plus GST annual fee is reversed if you spend ₹6 lakh in a membership year. Below that threshold the full fee is charged, with no partial waiver.
How many lounge visits does SBI Card MILES give? You get 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year, capped at 2 per quarter. Every ₹1 lakh you spend adds one more visit, up to 8 extra visits a year, so the ceiling is 12 domestic visits.
Does SBI Card MILES give free international lounge access? No. You get a complimentary Priority Pass membership worth $99 for the first two years, but it includes no complimentary visits. You pay the standard per-visit charge each time you use it.
What is 1 Travel Credit worth? Up to ₹1 when transferred to an airline or hotel partner, ₹0.50 against travel bookings on the SBI Card portal, and ₹0.25 in the Shop & Smile catalogue. Transferring to a partner is the only redemption route that makes the card’s maths work.
Do Travel Credits expire? Yes, 24 months from the date they are credited to your account. Spending on the card does not reset that clock, so plan a transfer before your oldest credits age out.
Which spends do not earn Travel Credits? Fuel, utility bills, rent, insurance, education, property management payments, e-wallet loading, cash advances, balance transfers, and Flexipay or merchant EMI conversions all earn zero. So do the card’s own fees and charges.
Bottom Line
SBI Card MILES is a sensible first travel card if you fly domestically two or three times a year, spend ₹2 lakh to ₹4 lakh annually, and want airline miles without committing to one airline. The welcome bonus repays the joining fee and the lounge visits do the rest.
Skip it if your travel spending is mostly in foreign currency, because the 3% markup eats the rewards. Skip it too if much of your spending sits in rent, fuel, utilities or education, since none of that earns here. Above ₹5 lakh a year, compare MILES PRIME first.
Fees and features are as of 26 August 2026 and can change. Check the SBI Card website before you apply.