IndiGo SBI Card ELITE vs SBI Card ELITE (2026)
SBI Card ELITE marks foreign spend up 2.0% against IndiGo SBI Card ELITE's 3.5% — 1.5pp on every rupee you spend abroad, before either card earns a point on it.
Head to head
| IndiGo SBI Card ELITE | Metric | SBI Card ELITE |
|---|---|---|
| #49 — wins this row | Our rank | #67 |
| ₹4,999/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹4,999/yr |
| None | Fee waiver | ₹10,00,000 spend |
| 3.5% + GST | Forex markup | 1.99% + GST (SBI names ELITE in the 1.99% exception list; DCC markup also 1.99%) — wins this row |
| not published | APR | up to 3.75%/mo (45%/yr) |
| 1.0% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 0.5% |
| IndiGo BluChip | Currency | SBI Reward Points |
| ₹0.50/pt | House value | ₹0.25/pt |
| 5,000 IndiGo BluChips + a 6E Eats voucher on fee payment and first transaction within 60 days, plus 4 6E Prime passes on ₹1L spend within 90 days; 5,000 BluChips + a 6E Eats voucher again on every renewal | Welcome benefit | e-Gift voucher worth ₹5,000 (Yatra, Bata/Hush Puppies, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Fashion, Shoppers Stop) on joining-fee payment |
| 75 of 789 | Lounge doors opened | 732 of 789 — wins this row |
Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two, and the door is the same on both sides: IndiGo SBI Card ELITE and SBI Card ELITE are both open to a direct application. How people actually get IndiGo SBI Card ELITE 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.
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE out-earns SBI Card ELITE at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹4,200 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹21,001 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹21,001).
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE pays a renewal bonus whatever you spend, and SBI Card ELITE pays nothing to stay.
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE draws above the line, SBI Card ELITE below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE | SBI Card ELITE | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹4,401 | ₹201 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹4,200 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹11,301 | ₹9,151 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹2,150 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹18,201 | ₹15,601 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹2,600 |
| ₹1L | ₹25,101 | ₹23,300 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹1,801 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹29,001 | ₹26,000 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹3,001 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹32,901 | ₹28,700 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹4,201 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹36,801 | ₹31,400 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹5,401 |
| ₹2L | ₹40,701 | ₹34,100 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹6,601 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹44,601 | ₹36,800 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹7,801 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹48,501 | ₹39,500 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹9,001 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹52,401 | ₹42,200 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹10,201 |
| ₹3L | ₹56,301 | ₹44,900 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹11,401 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹60,201 | ₹47,600 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹12,601 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹64,101 | ₹50,300 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹13,801 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹68,001 | ₹53,000 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹15,001 |
| ₹4L | ₹71,901 | ₹55,700 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹16,201 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹75,801 | ₹58,400 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹17,401 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹79,701 | ₹61,100 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹18,601 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹83,601 | ₹63,800 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹19,801 |
| ₹5L | ₹87,501 | ₹66,500 | IndiGo SBI Card ELITE by ₹21,001 |
Transfer reach
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE · 2 more →
- BluChips redeem only for IndiGo flights — no transfer partners, worth ₹0.50 each
- 2% general earn — the accelerated 3.5% is IndiGo-fares only
- ₹4,999 fee with no spend waiver; 3.5% forex markup
SBI Card ELITE · 3 more →
- Reward Points are fixed at 4 RP = ₹1 and transfer to NO airline or hotel programme — there is no award-ticket path here
- 0.5% base earn; even the 5X dining / departmental-store / grocery rate lands at 2.5%
- ₹10 lakh a year to dodge the ₹4,999 renewal — the steepest waiver bar in SBI's lifestyle range
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE nets ₹25,101 against ₹23,300 — a ₹1,801 gap. At ₹5L/month, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE nets ₹87,501 against ₹66,500 — a ₹21,001 gap. Lounge chasers: SBI Card ELITE opens 732 of 789 tracked doors to IndiGo SBI Card ELITE's 75.
Our standing verdicts: IndiGo SBI Card ELITE — Downgrade; SBI Card ELITE — Keep. On our board, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE sits at #49 to SBI Card ELITE's #67 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Straight answers
Which is better, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE or SBI Card ELITE?
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE. It sits at #49 on our board to SBI Card ELITE's #67. IndiGo SBI Card ELITE takes 5 of the 7 rounds we can score. IndiGo SBI Card ELITE out-earns SBI Card ELITE at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
IndiGo SBI Card ELITE or SBI Card ELITE — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE nets ₹56,301 against ₹44,900 — a ₹11,401 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, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE or SBI Card ELITE?
They cost the same to get: ₹4,999/yr. IndiGo SBI Card ELITE waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; SBI Card ELITE at ₹10,00,000 of spend.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, IndiGo SBI Card ELITE or SBI Card ELITE?
Lounge chasers: SBI Card ELITE opens 732 of 789 tracked doors to IndiGo SBI Card ELITE's 75. 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: IndiGo SBI Card ELITE on 2026-08-08, SBI Card ELITE 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.