KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX vs KrisFlyer SBI Card (2026)
KrisFlyer SBI Card vs KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX: which wins?
₹1,27,853ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
SBI's own two KrisFlyer tiers — the APEX pays triple the everyday earn for 3.3 times the fee, and swaps a cut-down 30-lounge list for the full network. Whether that trade lands is a question about how much you spend, not how much you fly.
KrisFlyer SBI Card wins under ₹0.5L/month; KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX takes over above it.
Every metric, row by row — 12 compared
Head to head
| KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX | Metric | KrisFlyer SBI Card |
|---|---|---|
| #22 — wins this row | Our rank | #88 |
| ₹9,999/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹2,999/yr — wins this row |
| None | Fee waiver | None |
| 3.5% + GST — the schedule of charges exempts only ELITE, AURUM and the three SBI Card MILES tiers, and APEX is in none of them | Forex markup | 3.5% + GST |
| 3.50%/mo (42%/yr) — SBI's standard unsecured-card rate | APR | not published |
| 3.3% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 1.1% |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Currency | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer |
| ₹1.10/pt | House value | ₹1.10/pt |
| 10,000 KrisFlyer miles on annual-fee payment plus a first transaction within 60 days of card issuance | Welcome benefit | 3,000 KrisFlyer miles on annual-fee payment and first transaction within 60 days |
| 689 of 793 | Lounge doors opened | 728 of 793 — wins this row |
| ₹2L+/month — SBI's own product record tags the card's income band "2lac-above" | Income — salaried | not published |
| Same ₹2L+/month band — SBI's record does not split salaried from self-employed | Income — self-employed | 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 →
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.
KrisFlyer SBI Card wins under ₹0.5L/month; KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX takes over above it.
Where the lead changes hands — a 20-step sweep from ₹0.25L to ₹5L/month
Where the lead changes hands
The lead changes hands at ₹0.5L a month: KrisFlyer SBI Card is ahead by ₹3,898 at ₹0.25L, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,32,040 at ₹5L.
KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX draws above the line, KrisFlyer SBI Card below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX | KrisFlyer SBI Card | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹297 | ₹4,195 | KrisFlyer SBI Card by ₹3,898 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹21,593 | ₹8,089 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹13,504 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹31,889 | ₹11,983 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹19,906 |
| ₹1L | ₹45,485 | ₹15,877 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹29,608 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹55,781 | ₹19,771 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹36,010 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹66,077 | ₹23,665 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹42,412 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹76,373 | ₹27,559 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹48,814 |
| ₹2L | ₹86,669 | ₹31,453 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹55,216 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹96,965 | ₹35,347 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹61,618 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹1,07,261 | ₹39,241 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹68,020 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,17,557 | ₹43,135 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹74,422 |
| ₹3L | ₹1,27,853 | ₹47,029 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹80,824 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹1,38,149 | ₹50,923 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹87,226 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹1,48,445 | ₹54,817 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹93,628 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹1,58,741 | ₹58,711 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,00,030 |
| ₹4L | ₹1,69,037 | ₹62,605 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,06,432 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹1,79,333 | ₹66,499 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,12,834 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹1,89,629 | ₹70,393 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,19,236 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹1,99,925 | ₹74,287 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,25,638 |
| ₹5L | ₹2,10,221 | ₹78,181 | KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX by ₹1,32,040 |
Transfer reach — 0 shared live routes
Transfer reach
Both cards earn Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, 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
KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX · 5 more →
- ₹9,999 every year with no spend-based waiver — the only SBI travel card at this fee that publishes none
- 3.5% forex markup against a 4.4% international earn — the international accelerator nets under 1%
- Fuel, rent, utilities, government, wallet loads, cash advances and every EMI earn zero miles
KrisFlyer SBI Card · 5 more →
- General earn is 1 mile/₹100 (≈1.1%) — everyday spend belongs on another card
- ₹2,999 fee has no spend-based waiver; 3.5% forex markup
- Elite Silver is NOT a general-spend milestone — SBI gates it on ₹2.5L booked with Singapore Airlines, a bar almost nobody clears on a ₹2,999 card
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX nets ₹45,485 against ₹15,877 — a ₹29,608 gap. At ₹5L/month, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX nets ₹2,10,221 against ₹78,181 — a ₹1,32,040 gap. Lounge chasers: KrisFlyer SBI Card opens 728 of 793 tracked doors to KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX's 689.
Our standing verdicts: KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX — Keep; KrisFlyer SBI Card — Keep. KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX takes 5 of the 7 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, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX or KrisFlyer SBI Card?
KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX. KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX takes 5 of the 7 rounds we can score. KrisFlyer SBI Card wins under ₹0.5L/month; KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX takes over above it.
KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX or KrisFlyer SBI Card — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX nets ₹1,27,853 against ₹47,029 — a ₹80,824 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, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX or KrisFlyer SBI Card?
KrisFlyer SBI Card — ₹2,999/yr against ₹9,999/yr. KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; KrisFlyer SBI Card at no spend level — there is no waiver.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX or KrisFlyer SBI Card?
Lounge chasers: KrisFlyer SBI Card opens 728 of 793 tracked doors to KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX's 689. 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: KrisFlyer SBI Card APEX on 2026-08-15, KrisFlyer SBI Card on 2026-08-02. 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 SBI Card'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 SBI's own T&C for this card — ₹9,999 annual and ₹9,999 renewal, 10 KrisFlyer miles/₹200 on Singapore Airlines, 8/₹200 international, 6/₹200 on other spends, and the MCC exclusion table
- official SBI's product record behind the APEX page — the full earn, milestone and lounge grid, plus isOnline "yes" (open to new applications), productType KFAA, cardLaunchDate 2024-09-30
- official SBI's live card catalogue — the APEX is listed and applyable, isOnline "yes", annual fee 9,999, launched 30 September 2024
- official Airport Lounge Access — the APEX appears in neither Set A nor Set B, and the page scopes those cut-down lists to "all cards with an annual fee of ₹1,499 & ₹2,999"
- community CardInsider — the APEX is issued in an "American Express and Mastercard variant"; ₹9,999 joining and annual, 10/8/6 miles per ₹200, 3.5% forex
- official SBI Card's upgrade/downgrade FAQ — the only downgrade the issuer publishes: customer-initiated, inside 90 days of an upgrade, and no upgrade again for six months
- official Official SBI product page — 3,000 welcome miles on fee payment plus first transaction in 60 days, 5 KrisFlyer miles per ₹200 on Singapore Airlines Group and on international
- official SBI's product record behind that page — the full earn, fee and milestone grid, plus isOnline "yes" (open to new applications), productType KFBA, cardLaunchDate 2024-09-30
- official MITC — KrisFlyer SBI Card ₹2,999 joining and ₹2,999 renewal with no spend waiver printed; foreign-currency fee 3.5%
- community CardInsider — ₹2,999 fee, 5 miles/₹200 on SIA & international / 2 miles/₹200 general, 3,000 welcome, ₹2.5L Elite Silver + ₹3L 3,000 miles milestones