AU Ananta vs RBL World Safari (2026)
Two small-bank travel cards nobody should take abroad on the same day — Ananta's 3.49% forex vs Safari's 0%, and neither earns 1% at home.
Head to head
| Metric | AU Ananta | RBL World Safari |
|---|---|---|
| Our rank | #43 | #39 |
| Annual fee | ₹2,000 + GST | ₹3,000 + GST |
| Fee waiver | ₹3,00,000 spend | None |
| Forex markup | 3.49% + GST (Ananta sits in AU's bottom forex tier — Zenith+ gets 0.99%, ixigo AU 0%) | Nil — 0% markup, a World Safari-specific carve-out (3.5% standard on RBL cards) |
| APR | 3.75%/mo (45%/yr) — all AU retail cards except Zenith+ | Bureau-score-tiered: 3.35%/mo (40.20%/yr) at CIBIL >775; 3.85%/mo (46.20%/yr) at 725–775; 3.99%/mo (47.88%/yr) below 725 |
| Effective reward rate | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Currency | AU Reward Points | RBL Reward Points |
| House value | ₹0.25/pt | ₹0.25/pt |
| Welcome benefit | 8,000 Reward Points (₹2,000) on activation and first transaction | ₹3,000 MakeMyTrip voucher — one transaction within 30 days + fee payment in the first cycle; voucher emailed within 60 days |
| Lounge doors opened | 72 of 644 | 73 of 644 |
| Income — salaried | not published | not published |
| Income — self-employed | not published | not published |
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
Net annual value face-off
Everyday spend at each card's base rate plus a realistic ~20% at its best accelerator (less for narrow or capped boosters) — milestones, fee waivers and the redemption haircut all at our house ₹/point. That's why the biggest headline rate doesn't automatically win. Tune it to your own spend in the calculator.
It swings with spend: RBL World Safari at ₹1L/month, AU Ananta at ₹3L/month, AU Ananta at ₹5L/month.
Transfer reach
Only AU Ananta
- Air India Maharaja Club
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, RBL World Safari nets ₹20,330 against ₹20,120 — a ₹210 gap. At ₹5L/month, AU Ananta nets ₹50,600 against ₹48,650 — a ₹1,950 gap. Lounge chasers: RBL World Safari opens 73 of 644 tracked doors to AU Ananta's 72.
Our standing verdicts: AU Ananta — Cancel; RBL World Safari — Keep. On our board, RBL World Safari sits at #39 to AU Ananta's #43 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →