Air India SBI Signature Card vs Club Vistara IDFC FIRST (2026)
Club Vistara IDFC FIRST vs Air India SBI Signature Card: which wins?
₹2,08,025ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to Air India SBI Signature Card
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
Same points, and neither card transfers anywhere — the redemption catalogue is the ceiling for both, so this one is decided on earn and fee, nothing else: 3.2% at ₹4,999/yr against 2.4% at ₹4,999/yr.
Air India SBI Signature Card out-earns Club Vistara IDFC FIRST at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
Every metric, row by row — 10 compared
Head to head
| Air India SBI Signature Card | Metric | Club Vistara IDFC FIRST |
|---|---|---|
| closed | Our rank | closed |
| ₹4,999/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹4,999/yr |
| None | Fee waiver | None |
| 3.5% + GST | Forex markup | Nil — bank-wide MITC dated 9 Sep 2026 prints NIL on foreign-currency and DCC/SCC transactions — wins this row |
| not published | APR | 0.75%–3.85%/mo (9%–46.2%/yr), set on internal policy parameters |
| 3.2% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 2.4% |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Currency | Air India Maharaja Points |
| ₹0.80/pt † | House value | ₹0.80/pt † |
| 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. | Welcome benefit | 1 Premium Economy ticket voucher, 1 one-class upgrade voucher, Maharaja Club Silver membership and 3 months of EazyDiner Prime on the joining fee — and the ticket voucher, the upgrade voucher and the Silver renewal again on every annual fee. Plus up to 6,000 bonus Maharaja Points (2,000 per ₹30,000 cycle) across billing cycles 2, 3 and 4, first year only |
| 72 of 793 — wins this row | Lounge doors opened | 62 of 793 |
† 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.
† Club Vistara IDFC FIRST: Maharaja Points at the house ₹0.80. IDFC prints the earn per ₹200, not per ₹100: "6 Maharaja points on spends up to Rs. 1,00,000 in a billing cycle and 4 Maharaja points for all spends above Rs. 1,00,000 … Earn of Maharaja point will be calculated per Rs. 200." That is 3 points per ₹100 on the first ₹1 lakh of a cycle and 2 above it — 2.4% and 1.6% at ₹0.80.
Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two, and the door is the same on both sides: Air India SBI Signature Card and Club Vistara IDFC FIRST are both 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 →
The ₹ face-off at ₹1L/₹3L/₹5L a month
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 Club Vistara IDFC FIRST at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend — a 20-step sweep from ₹0.25L to ₹5L/month
How the gap moves with spend
Air India SBI Signature Card leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹7,456 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹1,91,520 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹1,91,520).
Air India SBI Signature Card pays 3 annual spend milestones, the first at ₹5,00,000 a year, and Club Vistara IDFC FIRST pays none; Air India SBI Signature Card pays a renewal bonus whatever you spend, and Club Vistara IDFC FIRST pays nothing to stay.
Air India SBI Signature Card draws above the line, Club Vistara IDFC FIRST below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | Air India SBI Signature Card | Club Vistara IDFC FIRST | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹9,753 | ₹2,297 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹7,456 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹36,505 | ₹9,593 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹26,912 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹47,257 | ₹16,889 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹30,368 |
| ₹1L | ₹82,009 | ₹24,185 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹57,824 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹92,761 | ₹29,081 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹63,680 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹1,03,513 | ₹33,977 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹69,536 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹1,54,265 | ₹38,873 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,15,392 |
| ₹2L | ₹1,65,017 | ₹43,769 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,21,248 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹1,75,769 | ₹48,665 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,27,104 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹1,86,521 | ₹53,561 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,32,960 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,97,273 | ₹58,457 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,38,816 |
| ₹3L | ₹2,08,025 | ₹63,353 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,44,672 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹2,18,777 | ₹68,249 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,50,528 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹2,29,529 | ₹73,145 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,56,384 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹2,40,281 | ₹78,041 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,62,240 |
| ₹4L | ₹2,51,033 | ₹82,937 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,68,096 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹2,61,785 | ₹87,833 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,73,952 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹2,72,537 | ₹92,729 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,79,808 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹2,83,289 | ₹97,625 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,85,664 |
| ₹5L | ₹2,94,041 | ₹1,02,521 | Air India SBI Signature Card by ₹1,91,520 |
Transfer reach — 0 shared live routes
Transfer reach
Both cards earn Air India Maharaja Points, so the partner list is identical — 0 live transfer routes each. The fight is decided on earn and fees, not reach.
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for — 6 points
What to watch out for
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
Club Vistara IDFC FIRST · 10 more →
- Programme ends 30 September 2026. From 1 October the card takes no transactions — online, international, cash or standing instructions
- A clear account closes on 1 October 2026. A balance or a running EMI stays open only until it is paid, then closes
- Add-on cards and the FIRST Digital card on this account stop working on 1 October 2026
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, Air India SBI Signature Card nets ₹82,009 against ₹24,185 — a ₹57,824 gap. At ₹5L/month, Air India SBI Signature Card nets ₹2,94,041 against ₹1,02,521 — a ₹1,91,520 gap. Lounge chasers: Air India SBI Signature Card opens 72 of 793 tracked doors to Club Vistara IDFC FIRST's 62.
Our standing verdicts: Air India SBI Signature Card — Keep; Club Vistara IDFC FIRST — Keep. Air India SBI Signature Card takes 5 of the 6 rounds we can score — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Common questions — 5 answered
Straight answers
Which is better, Air India SBI Signature Card or Club Vistara IDFC FIRST?
Air India SBI Signature Card. Air India SBI Signature Card takes 5 of the 6 rounds we can score. Air India SBI Signature Card out-earns Club Vistara IDFC FIRST at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
Air India SBI Signature Card or Club Vistara IDFC FIRST — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, Air India SBI Signature Card nets ₹2,08,025 against ₹63,353 — a ₹1,44,672 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, Air India SBI Signature Card or Club Vistara IDFC FIRST?
They cost the same to get: ₹4,999/yr. Air India SBI Signature Card waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; Club Vistara IDFC FIRST at no spend level — there is no waiver.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, Air India SBI Signature Card or Club Vistara IDFC FIRST?
Lounge chasers: Air India SBI Signature Card opens 72 of 793 tracked doors to Club Vistara IDFC FIRST's 62. 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: Air India SBI Signature Card on 2026-08-23, Club Vistara IDFC FIRST on 2026-09-25. 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.
Verified against SBI Card and IDFC FIRST Bank's own documents on · the ranking model, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 10 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Official SBI product page — ₹4,999 annual + ₹4,999 renewal, no spend waiver, 20,000 RP welcome on joining-fee payment, 4 RP/₹100 general, 10 RP/₹100 on Air India tickets
- official SBI's own product record behind that page — isOnline "no", re-confirmed 26-Jul-2026 against the ten other SBI travel cards on the identical template
- official SBI's MITC — Air India SBI Signature Card ₹4,999 annual and ₹4,999 renewal with no spend reversal, and a 3.5% foreign-currency transaction fee
- official Airport Lounge Access — this card is in neither Set A nor Set B, so its domestic lounge quota runs on Visa's own programme and Visa's own room list
- community CardInsider — filed as discontinued by SBI Card, "no new applications will be entertained"
- community CardExpert review — issuance of the SBI Air India co-brands stopped around September–October 2024 on the back of the Air India–Vistara merger and the application link went
- official Cardmember notice — the programme ends 30 September 2026 and the card takes no transactions from 1 October
- official Product page — closed to new applications; programme ends 30 September 2026; 6 Maharaja Points per ₹200 up to ₹1 lakh a cycle
- official Bank-wide MITC — ₹4,999 joining and ₹4,999 annual, ₹499 add-on, 2.99% forex and no fuel-surcharge waiver
- official IDFC's May-2026 cardmember notice — from 18 June 2026 Maharaja Points stop at the credit limit for the cycle, and redemption is Maharaja Club only