Air India SBI Signature Card
Discontinued — SBI closed its Air India co-branded cards to new applicants from 10 October 2024 after the Vistara–Air India merger, though existing holders keep their benefits. While open it was a ₹4,999 airline co-brand that earned 10 Reward Points per ₹100 on Air India tickets and 4 per ₹100 on all other spends, with Points converting 1:1 to Air India Maharaja Points. It front-loaded value with a 20,000-point welcome and a 5,000-point anniversary gift, plus milestone bonuses of up to 1,00,000 points a year. Extras included complimentary Maharaja Club membership, 8 domestic lounge visits a year, Priority Pass and a 1% fuel surcharge waiver.
Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹10,000 in vouchers, points or cashback on card activation
️ 5% on Travel
10 Reward Points per Rs.100 on Air India tickets booked via website, app, booking offices or call centres (incl. Super Saver); Reward Points convert 1:1 to Air India Maharaja Points
️ 2% on Other
4 Reward Points per Rs.100 on all other spends; Reward Points convert 1:1 to Air India Maharaja Points (min redemption 5,000, in multiples of 5,000)
️ Airport Lounge Access
2 complimentary visits per quarter at domestic and international airport lounges
Milestone Bonus
~₹10,000 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | airline miles | 5% | — |
| Other | airline miles | 2% | — |
Fees & charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹5,899 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹5,899 |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹21,000/yr in total.
milestone bonus ~ ₹10,000 /yr
20,000 Reward Points welcome on joining-fee payment plus a 5,000 Reward Point anniversary gift each year. Annual milestone bonuses of 20,000 RP at Rs.5L, 30,000 at Rs.10L and 50,000 at Rs.20L spend (up to 1,00,000 RP a year).
️ lounge access ~ ₹8,000 /yr
8 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits a year (max 2 per quarter) via the Visa lounge programme, plus complimentary Priority Pass membership (worth $99) for international lounges; a usage fee up to $27 applies per Priority Pass visit.
fuel waiver ~ ₹3,000 /yr
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs.500 and Rs.4,000 at all petrol pumps in India; maximum waiver Rs.250 per statement cycle.
Spend milestone
· ₹5,00,000 a year ₹10,000 of value
Should you get it?
Best for: Frequent Air India flyers, Air India Maharaja Club members, Travellers who book Air India tickets on card, Anyone consolidating spend into Maharaja Points
Premium tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
Strongest value if you spend heavily on Travel ( 5% back).
Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
✓ Pros
- 10 Reward Points per Rs.100 on Air India tickets — a strong return for frequent Air India flyers
- Reward Points convert 1:1 to Air India Maharaja Points, plus complimentary Maharaja Club membership
- 20,000 Reward Points welcome and a 5,000 Reward Point gift every anniversary
- Up to 1,00,000 bonus Reward Points a year on high spends, with Priority Pass and domestic lounge access
✕ Cons
- Only worthwhile if you fly Air India regularly — of little use to other-airline flyers
- 4 RP per Rs.100 base rate is modest once Maharaja Points are valued realistically
- Rs.4,999 annual fee with no renewal-fee waiver
- Maharaja Point value is variable and typically below the Rs.1-per-point headline
Eligibility & documents
Min. income
₹50,000 /mo
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- PAN card
- Aadhaar / address proof
- Income proof (salary slips or ITR)
- Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
🎁 Convert Reward Points to Air India Maharaja Points 1:1 (minimum 5,000, in multiples of 5,000)
🎁 Redeem Maharaja Points for Air India award flights and upgrades
🎁 Conversion completes within 7 working days of request; once converted, points cannot be reversed
What your SBI Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Statement credit Capped at 60,000 pts/month from Apr 2026
Rewards catalogue / vouchers Vouchers & merchandise
Airline / hotel transfer (co-brands & AURUM) BEST Only four SBI cards can transfer Reward Points at all. The two Air India co-brands reach Air India alone, at 1:1 (⇒ ₹1/pt — the only SBI Reward Point route that beats cash). AURUM reaches four partners through its own portal — Air India 5:1, Qatar 5:1, Club ITC 5:1, airasia 4:1 — and EVERY ONE OF THEM LOSES MONEY: at 5:1 an Aurum point is worth ₹0.20 against the ₹0.25 SBI itself publishes for it, and the airasia route is ₹0.05. AURUM earns plain SBI Reward Points despite the 'AURUM Reward Points / ARP' branding: SBI's own T&C says points carry forward UNCONVERTED on upgrade to Aurum, keeping the old card's expiry, which no separate currency could do. Do not confuse any of this with SBI Card MILES, which earns Travel Credits — a genuinely different currency with 25 partners, and which reaches Club ITC at 2:1 where Aurum gets 5:1.
✈ Transfer partners ✈ Air India Maharaja Club ( 1:1 ) Value your balance: SBI Reward Points ✈ Air India Maharaja Club ( 1:1 ) ₹ 10,000 vs. typical redemption ₹ 2,500 Direct transfers from this card only, ranked by what a point is worth in the destination programme . Full calculator, every currency → The concern It was only worthwhile for regular Air India flyers, with a modest 4-point base rate and no renewal-fee waiver — and it is now discontinued.
The bottom line
With applications closed since October 2024, this page now serves as a record rather than a live recommendation. During its active years, the card excelled at one thing — rewarding dedicated Air India flyers — though the ₹4,999 fee and modest 4-point base rate always made it a poor fit for anyone loyal to other airlines. Those seeking flexible travel rewards from SBI today are better off looking at the Miles range instead.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Air India SBI Signature Card are taken from SBI Card 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 14 Jul 2026 . Reviewed by Devchandra Sah . Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for SBI Card . All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2013 · 4 changes · last change Mar 2025
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2025 1 change — 1 cut
▼ Reward Effective 31 Mar 2025
Air India earn rate cut from 30 to 10 points per ₹100
30 RP per ₹100 → 10 RP per ₹100
Effective 31 March 2025 SBI removed the accelerated self-booking bonus: the Signature card's earn on Air India tickets fell from 30 Reward Points per ₹100 to a single flat 10 RP per ₹100, a 66.67% cut. The 4 RP per ₹100 base rate on all other spends was unchanged.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
2024 2 changes — 1 cut, 1 neutral
◆ Redemption Effective 13 Nov 2024
Flying Returns becomes Maharaja Club; miles renamed Maharaja Points
Air India Flying Returns miles → Air India Maharaja Points
With the Vistara merger completed, Air India replaced Flying Returns with the new Maharaja Club programme and migrated ~4.5 million Club Vistara members in. The card's Reward Points now convert 1:1 into the renamed Maharaja Points; existing tier benefits and redemption features were carried over rather than cut.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
▼ Eligibility Effective 10 Oct 2024
Closed to new applicants after Vistara–Air India merger
SBI Card stopped accepting new applications for both Air India co-brands (Signature and Platinum) from 10 October 2024, following the Air India–Vistara merger and the parallel wind-down of the Club Vistara co-brand cards. Existing holders kept their cards, but the product was no longer open to new customers.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
2013 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Launch Effective 2013
SBI Card & Air India launch the Air India co-brand
SBI Card and Air India launched their co-branded Visa cards, with the Signature as the premium tier. It earned accelerated Reward Points on Air India tickets that converted 1:1 to Air India Flying Returns miles, and bundled Flying Returns membership, domestic lounge access, Priority Pass and a fuel-surcharge waiver.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Quick summary
Type Premium credit card
Reward rate 2%–5%
Best for Frequent Air India flyers
Joining fee ₹4,999
Annual fee ₹4,999
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 14 Jul 2026
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