Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card
The Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro is the middle tier of ICICI's Emirates co-brand, sitting between the entry Rubyx and the super-premium Emeralde. Since 15 January 2026 it earns a flat 1.5 Emirates Skywards Miles per ₹100 on eligible domestic and international retail spends — cut from 2 — credited straight to your Emirates account, worth roughly 1.5% at the ₹1/mile airline baseline. It welcomes you with 5,000 Skywards Miles and complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier status, repeats 5,000 miles on renewal, and lets you retain Silver with ₹5 lakh of annual spend. Lounge access is 2 domestic visits a quarter (gated behind ₹75,000 of quarterly spend) plus 2 international visits a year, via Priority Pass for cards issued on or after 15 Nov 2024 (DreamFolks before). You also get up to 10% off Emirates flights. There is no fee waiver on the ₹5,000 fee. It is a sensible pick for the regular-but-not-heavy Emirates flyer; for everyone else the modest earn and 3.5% forex make it a niche buy.
Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹5,000 in vouchers, points or cashback on card activation
️ 1.5% on Other
1.5 Emirates Skywards Miles per ₹100 (~1.5% at the ₹1/mile airline baseline) on eligible domestic and international retail spends; miles credit to your Emirates Skywards account
️ Airport Lounge Access
2 complimentary visits per quarter at domestic and international airport lounges
24x7 Concierge
Up to 10% off Emirates flight bookings on emirates.com or the Emirates App using the card
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% waiver on fuel transactions, capped at ₹500/month
Movie Ticket Benefit
Buy one BookMyShow ticket and get up to ₹500 off the second, twice a month, gated behind ₹25,000 of quarterly spend (from 15 Jan 2026)
Hotel Membership
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership — 25% bonus miles on Emirates flights, extra baggage and priority check-in
Milestone Bonus
~₹5,000 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | airline miles | 1.5% | — |
Fees & charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹5,900 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹5,900 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1%, cap ₹500 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹29,000/yr in total.
milestone bonus ~ ₹5,000 /yr
5,000 Skywards Miles on each annual renewal (the matching 5,000-mile welcome benefit is a one-off joining bonus, counted separately); retain Emirates Silver Tier with ₹5 lakh of annual spend
️ lounge access ~ ₹12,000 /yr
2 domestic lounge visits a quarter (gated behind ₹75,000/quarter spend) plus 2 international visits a year — via Priority Pass (cards issued on/after 15 Nov 2024) or DreamFolks (before)
hotel membership ~ ₹5,000 /yr
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership — 25% bonus miles on Emirates flights, extra baggage and priority check-in
concierge ~ ₹4,000 /yr
Up to 10% off Emirates flight bookings on emirates.com or the Emirates App using the card
movie ticket ~ ₹2,400 /yr
Buy one BookMyShow ticket and get up to ₹500 off the second, twice a month, gated behind ₹25,000 of quarterly spend (from 15 Jan 2026)
fuel waiver ~ ₹600 /yr
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions of ₹400–₹4,000 at any fuel outlet
Should you get it?
Best for: Regular Emirates flyers who want Silver status without the Emeralde's fee, Travellers who redeem Skywards Miles on Emirates
Premium tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
Strongest value if you spend heavily on Other ( 1.5% back).
Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
✓ Pros
- Emirates Skywards Silver status and a 5,000-mile welcome
- Both domestic and international lounge access
- Up to 10% off Emirates flights
✕ Cons
- No fee waiver on the ₹5,000 annual fee
- ~1.5% earn that is only worth it if you redeem Skywards well
- Domestic lounge access gated behind ₹75,000 of quarterly spend
Eligibility & documents
Age
21 –65 years
Min. income
₹1,50,000 /mo
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- PAN card
- Aadhaar / valid address proof
- Latest 3 months bank statement
- Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
🎁 Redeem Skywards Miles for Emirates flights, upgrades and partner awards via your Emirates Skywards account
🎁 Use miles toward hotel stays and partner bookings in the Emirates Skywards programme
What your Emirates Skywards Miles are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Emirates award flights & upgrades ₹1 per Skywards Mile, the house baseline for a full-service airline currency
The concern No fee waiver on a ₹5,000 card, and a ~1.5% earn that only materialises if you redeem Skywards well, mean the value depends entirely on flying Emirates and redeeming Skywards Miles well; retaining Silver status also needs ₹5 lakh of annual spend.
The bottom line
For someone who flies Emirates with reasonable regularity, this card hits a comfortable middle ground — Silver Tier status, a 5,000-mile welcome bonus, both domestic and international lounge access, and fares discounted by up to 10%, all for a ₹5,000 fee. The catch is that the fee carries no spend-based waiver, the earn rate works out to only about 1.5%, and the whole proposition hinges on actually flying Emirates and redeeming Skywards Miles thoughtfully. Anyone who flies Emirates only occasionally would likely get more out of a general-purpose travel card.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card are taken from ICICI Bank 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 13 Aug 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 ICICI Bank . 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 2022 · 6 changes · last change Jan 2026
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2026 3 changes — 3 cuts
▼ Benefit Observed 22 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
BookMyShow movie benefit becomes spend-gated
Complimentary BookMyShow offer → Requires ₹25,000 spend in the previous quarter
From 15 Jan 2026 the Emirates Skywards devaluation made the Sapphiro's BookMyShow movie benefit conditional: the buy-one-get-up-to-₹500-off offer is unlocked only if the cardholder spent at least ₹25,000 in the preceding calendar quarter. The Emirates co-brand cards were gated in their own 15 Jan 2026 revision, ahead of the wider portfolio's 1 Apr 2026 date; the change applies across all three Emirates variants, Sapphiro included.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
▼ Reward Observed 22 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
Miles earn rate cut to 1.5/₹100 and categories dropped
2 Skywards Miles/₹100; insurance/utility/government/education earned → 1.5 Skywards Miles/₹100; those categories excluded
In ICICI's January 2026 overhaul the Sapphiro's base earn on eligible domestic and international retail spend was cut from 2 to 1.5 Skywards Miles per ₹100, and insurance, utility, government and education payments stopped earning any miles. It is the first cut to the card's own miles engine since launch. ICICI's own Most Important Terms and Conditions carry the change verbatim: "1.5 Skyward Miles will be earned per ₹100 spent instead of 2 Miles on eligible domestic & international retail spends."
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
▼ Fee Observed 17 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
New wallet, gaming and transport transaction fees
No wallet-load / gaming / transport surcharge → 1% wallet-load (>₹5,000), 2% gaming, 1% high-value transport; revised DCC
As part of the same portfolio-wide 2026 revision — applied to all retail ICICI credit card customers, the Sapphiro included — ICICI introduced a 1% fee on third-party wallet loads above ₹5,000, a 2% fee on gaming-platform spends, a 1% surcharge on high-value transport transactions and a revised dynamic-currency-conversion charge. These are cost additions independent of the card's miles benefits.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
2024 2 changes — 1 cut, 1 neutral
▼ Lounge Observed 11 Oct 2024 · Effective 15 Nov 2024
Domestic lounge access gated behind ₹75,000/quarter spend
₹35,000/quarter spend (₹5,000 earlier) → ₹75,000/quarter spend
ICICI's system-wide November 2024 restructure made the Sapphiro's complimentary domestic airport lounge visits conditional on spending ₹75,000 in the previous calendar quarter — up from the earlier ₹35,000 threshold (itself raised from ₹5,000 in April 2024). Miss the spend and the two quarterly domestic visits switch off for the next quarter, with no roll-over.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
◆ Lounge Effective 15 Nov 2024
International lounge programme switched to Priority Pass for new cards
DreamFolks membership → Priority Pass membership (new issues)
Alongside the November 2024 restructure, ICICI moved the Sapphiro's two complimentary international lounge visits a year from a DreamFolks membership to a Priority Pass membership for cards issued on or after 15 November 2024; cards issued before that date keep DreamFolks. Priority Pass reaches a wider international network, so it is a lateral-to-favourable swap for new applicants while existing holders are unaffected.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
2022 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Launch Effective 15 Mar 2022
Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro launched
ICICI Bank became the first Indian bank to co-brand with Emirates Skywards, launching a three-card range — entry Rubyx, mid Sapphiro and super-premium Emeralde. The ₹5,000 Sapphiro earned Skywards Miles credited straight to the cardholder's Emirates account (about 2 miles per ₹100 at launch), complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier status, a welcome mile bonus, and domestic plus international airport lounge access. Miles are the card's currency, so ICICI's Reward-Points programme changes never applied to it.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
↓ Show all 6 changes 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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Source: Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card value timeline — CardAdvisor
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Source: Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card value timeline , CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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Quick summary
Type Premium credit card
Reward rate 1.5%
Best for Regular Emirates flyers who want Silver status without the Emeralde's fee
Joining fee ₹5,000
Annual fee ₹5,000
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 13 Aug 2026
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