AU Zenith+ vs Air India SBI Signature Card (2026)
AU Zenith+ marks foreign spend up 1.0% against Air India SBI Signature Card's 3.5% — 2.5pp on every rupee you spend abroad, before either card earns a point on it.
Head to head
| AU Zenith+ | Metric | Air India SBI Signature Card |
|---|---|---|
| #102 — wins this row | Our rank | #105 |
| ₹4,999/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹4,999/yr |
| ₹8,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | None |
| 0.99% + GST — the lowest forex tier across AU's lineup — wins this row | Forex markup | 3.5% + GST |
| 1.99%/mo (23.88%/yr) — Zenith+'s own tier, below AU's 3.75%/mo retail standard | APR | not published |
| 0.3% | Headline earn rate | 3.2% — wins this row |
| AU Reward Points | Currency | Air India Maharaja Points |
| ₹0.25/pt | House value | ₹0.80/pt † |
| Luxury gift vouchers or reward points worth ₹5,000 on activation | Welcome benefit | 20,000 Reward Points on joining-fee payment (credited within 15 days) + complimentary Air India Maharaja Club membership. Closed to new applications, so this is history unless you already hold the card. |
| 731 of 789 — wins this row | Lounge doors opened | 72 of 789 |
† Air India SBI Signature Card: The 3.2% assumes you convert to Air India Maharaja Points — 1 RP = 1 Maharaja Point, our ₹0.80 mark. Leave the points inside SBI's own catalogue and they price at the legacy ₹0.25, turning this into a 1% card. The conversion is one-way and irreversible, runs in blocks of 5,000, and takes up to 7 working days — so the good number here is a decision, not a default.
Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two. AU Zenith+ is open to a direct application; Air India SBI Signature Card is closed to new applications, and only grandfathered holders still have it. How people actually get each one is on its card page.
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
Ranking-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. This is the ranking model, the one that orders the board; each card page prints the earn-rate-only net annual value instead, which reads lower for any card with an accelerator (both models, side by side). Tune it to your own spend in the calculator.
Air India SBI Signature Card out-earns AU Zenith+ at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend
Air India SBI Signature Card leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹13,889 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹2,66,291 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹2,66,291).
Air India SBI Signature Card pays a renewal bonus whatever you spend, and AU Zenith+ pays nothing to stay.
AU Zenith+ draws above the line, Air India SBI Signature Card below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | AU Zenith+ | Air India SBI Signature Card | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | −₹4,136 | ₹9,753 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹13,889 |
| ₹0.5L | −₹3,274 | ₹36,505 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹39,779 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹5,588 | ₹47,257 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹41,669 |
| ₹1L | ₹13,950 | ₹82,009 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹68,059 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹14,813 | ₹92,761 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹77,948 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹15,675 | ₹1,03,513 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹87,838 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹16,538 | ₹1,54,265 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,37,727 |
| ₹2L | ₹17,400 | ₹1,65,017 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,47,617 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹18,263 | ₹1,75,769 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,57,506 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹19,125 | ₹1,86,521 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,67,396 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹19,988 | ₹1,97,273 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,77,285 |
| ₹3L | ₹20,850 | ₹2,08,025 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,87,175 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹21,713 | ₹2,18,777 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,97,064 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹22,575 | ₹2,29,529 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,06,954 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹23,438 | ₹2,40,281 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,16,843 |
| ₹4L | ₹24,300 | ₹2,51,033 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,26,733 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹25,163 | ₹2,61,785 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,36,622 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹26,025 | ₹2,72,537 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,46,512 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹26,888 | ₹2,83,289 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,56,401 |
| ₹5L | ₹27,750 | ₹2,94,041 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹2,66,291 |
Transfer reach
Only AU Zenith+
- Air India Maharaja Club
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for
AU Zenith+ · 2 more →
- 0.25% base earn at AU's honest ₹0.25 point; even dining/travel is only 0.5%
- The Maharaja 3:2 is the only escape — every other redemption is the ₹99 + GST closed catalogue, points expire in 24 months
- ₹4,999 fee, waived only at ₹8L spend; the milestone pays ₹250 at ₹75k/month, and utility, insurance, transport, rent, education/govt, fuel, cash and EMI spends don't count toward it
Air India SBI Signature Card · 5 more →
- Closed to new applications — SBI stopped issuing it in late 2024 after the Air India–Vistara merger; existing holders only
- ₹4,999 renewal fee every year with no spend-based waiver published
- Priority Pass is membership-only — SBI bills $27 per lounge visit, so there is no free international lounge here
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, Air India SBI Signature Card nets ₹82,009 against ₹13,950 — a ₹68,059 gap. At ₹5L/month, Air India SBI Signature Card nets ₹2,94,041 against ₹27,750 — a ₹2,66,291 gap. Lounge chasers: AU Zenith+ opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to Air India SBI Signature Card's 72.
Our standing verdicts: AU Zenith+ — Cancel; Air India SBI Signature Card — Keep. On our board, AU Zenith+ sits at #102 to Air India SBI Signature Card's #105 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Straight answers
Which is better, AU Zenith+ or Air India SBI Signature Card?
AU Zenith+. It sits at #102 on our board to Air India SBI Signature Card's #105. Air India SBI Signature Card takes 4 of the 7 rounds we can score. Air India SBI Signature Card out-earns AU Zenith+ at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
AU Zenith+ or Air India SBI Signature Card — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, Air India SBI Signature Card nets ₹2,08,025 against ₹20,850 — a ₹1,87,175 gap. Those are ranking-value figures: everyday spend at the card's base rate plus a realistic slice at its best accelerator, net of the fee.
Which costs less to hold, AU Zenith+ or Air India SBI Signature Card?
They cost the same to get: ₹4,999/yr. AU Zenith+ waives its fee at ₹8,00,000 of spend; Air India SBI Signature Card at no spend level — there is no waiver.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, AU Zenith+ or Air India SBI Signature Card?
Lounge chasers: AU Zenith+ opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to Air India SBI Signature Card's 72. Visit quotas, guest charges and spend gates are per card — the lounge map carries each one.
How current is this comparison?
Card records last re-verified against their issuers' own documents: AU Zenith+ on 2026-08-01, Air India SBI Signature Card on 2026-07-26. Every figure on this page — the ranking values, the fee rows, the lounge counts, the transfer ratios — is recomputed from those records each time the site builds, so a devaluation changes the call the day we log it.