KrisFlyer SBI Card vs Axis Atlas (2026)
Axis Atlas vs KrisFlyer SBI Card: which wins?
₹1,90,600ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to Axis Atlas
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
India's only direct-KrisFlyer earner vs the 1:2 transfer machine — earning miles in the program beats converting into it only if you never fly anyone else.
Axis Atlas out-earns KrisFlyer SBI Card at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
Every metric, row by row — 12 compared
Head to head
| KrisFlyer SBI Card | Metric | Axis Atlas |
|---|---|---|
| #88 | Our rank | closed |
| ₹2,999/yr — wins this row | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹5,000/yr |
| None | Fee waiver | None |
| 3.5% + GST | Forex markup | 3.5% + GST. Dynamic currency conversion markup 3.5% since 28 August 2026, up from 1.5%, per the bank-wide revision notice. |
| not published | APR | 3.75%/mo (55.55%/yr, compounded as quoted by Axis) |
| 1.1% | Headline earn rate | 4.0% — wins this row |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Currency | Axis EDGE Miles |
| ₹1.10/pt | House value | ₹2.00/pt |
| 3,000 KrisFlyer miles on annual-fee payment and first transaction within 60 days | Welcome benefit | 2,500 EDGE Miles on the first transaction within 37 days |
| 728 of 793 — wins this row | Lounge doors opened | 667 of 793 |
| not published | Income — salaried | ₹12L+/yr |
| not published | Income — self-employed | ₹15L+/yr |
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.
Axis Atlas out-earns KrisFlyer SBI Card 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
Axis Atlas leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹9,605 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹2,22,819 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹2,22,819).
KrisFlyer SBI Card draws above the line, Axis Atlas below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | KrisFlyer SBI Card | Axis Atlas | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹4,195 | ₹13,800 | Axis Atlas by ₹9,605 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹8,089 | ₹27,600 | Axis Atlas by ₹19,511 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹11,983 | ₹51,400 | Axis Atlas by ₹39,417 |
| ₹1L | ₹15,877 | ₹65,200 | Axis Atlas by ₹49,323 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹19,771 | ₹94,000 | Axis Atlas by ₹74,229 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹23,665 | ₹1,07,800 | Axis Atlas by ₹84,135 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹27,559 | ₹1,21,600 | Axis Atlas by ₹94,041 |
| ₹2L | ₹31,453 | ₹1,35,400 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,03,947 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹35,347 | ₹1,49,200 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,13,853 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹39,241 | ₹1,63,000 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,23,759 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹43,135 | ₹1,76,800 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,33,665 |
| ₹3L | ₹47,029 | ₹1,90,600 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,43,571 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹50,923 | ₹2,04,400 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,53,477 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹54,817 | ₹2,18,200 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,63,383 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹58,711 | ₹2,32,000 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,73,289 |
| ₹4L | ₹62,605 | ₹2,45,800 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,83,195 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹66,499 | ₹2,59,600 | Axis Atlas by ₹1,93,101 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹70,393 | ₹2,73,400 | Axis Atlas by ₹2,03,007 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹74,287 | ₹2,87,200 | Axis Atlas by ₹2,12,913 |
| ₹5L | ₹78,181 | ₹3,01,000 | Axis Atlas by ₹2,22,819 |
Transfer reach — 0 vs 27 live routes
Transfer reach
0 shared routes · 0 only KrisFlyer SBI Card · 3 only Axis Atlas — the full partner lists
Only Axis Atlas
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Finnair Plus (Avios)
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios)
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 · 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
Axis Atlas · 6 more →
- Closed to new applications, re-verified 2026-08-15: Axis's own catalogue gives Atlas a "Know More" tile with NO Apply Now, its travel-cards shelf no longer lists Atlas at all, and the one Atlas-tagged apply link left on the product page is commented out of the markup
- Hotel grid on the 25 Sep 2026 Travel EDGE table: Marriott still gone, ITC off, Accor back at 2:1, Hilton new at the standard 1:2
- The punished 2:1 set is BA, Finnair, Qatar, Vietnam Lotusmiles, IndiGo, Cathay and the returned Accor — four times worse than the 1:2 partners
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, Axis Atlas nets ₹65,200 against ₹15,877 — a ₹49,323 gap. At ₹5L/month, Axis Atlas nets ₹3,01,000 against ₹78,181 — a ₹2,22,819 gap. Lounge chasers: KrisFlyer SBI Card opens 728 of 793 tracked doors to Axis Atlas's 667.
Our standing verdicts: KrisFlyer SBI Card — Keep; Axis Atlas — Keep. Axis Atlas takes 4 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, KrisFlyer SBI Card or Axis Atlas?
Axis Atlas. Axis Atlas takes 4 of the 6 rounds we can score. Axis Atlas out-earns KrisFlyer SBI Card at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
KrisFlyer SBI Card or Axis Atlas — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, Axis Atlas nets ₹1,90,600 against ₹47,029 — a ₹1,43,571 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 or Axis Atlas?
KrisFlyer SBI Card — ₹2,999/yr against ₹5,000/yr. KrisFlyer SBI Card waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; Axis Atlas at no spend level — there is no waiver.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, KrisFlyer SBI Card or Axis Atlas?
Lounge chasers: KrisFlyer SBI Card opens 728 of 793 tracked doors to Axis Atlas's 667. 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 on 2026-08-02, Axis Atlas 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 Axis Bank's own documents on · the ranking model, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 19 of them, each with the day we read it
- 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%
- official Airport Lounge Access — "Krisflyer SBI Card" is listed under "Set B: Eligible Credit Cards" (the ₹2,999 tier)
- 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
- official Revision of Axis Bank Credit Card Terms and Conditions — the bank-wide notice: DCC 1.5% to 3.5%, and gift cards, Bridge Fees, Road Fees and Tolls out of rewards, from 28 Aug 2026
- official Atlas features T&C PDF — welcome 2,500 EDGE Miles on 1 transaction within 37 days (cards sourced from 20-Apr-2024 onwards; older vintages 5,000)
- official Axis Bank Atlas product page — live but not selling on 2026-08-15: the page's only Atlas-tagged apply CTA sits inside an HTML comment, and no closure notice is published
- official Axis Bank's own credit-card catalogue — the Atlas tile renders a single "Know More" button and no "Apply Now", the treatment Axis gives cards it has stopped sourcing
- official Axis Bank Key Fact Sheet, updated 12-Aug-2026 — Atlas joining ₹5,000 / annual ₹5,000 with NO spend-based waiver, 55.55% p.a., 3.5% foreign transaction fee, 1.5% DCC markup
- official Axis Bank's own travel credit-cards shelf — Atlas is absent entirely, while Magnus, Select, Horizon, Privilege and IndiGo are listed there with "Apply Now"
- official Axis Bank Domestic Airport Lounge Access Program — Atlas sits in Set B and is expressly EXEMPT from the ₹50,000 prior-3-calendar-month spend criterion
- official Axis Bank Points/Miles Transfer ratio table — "Atlas credit card: 1 EDGE Mile = 2 Partner Points"
- community TechnoFino's Atlas thread, opened 26 Aug 2025 and titled "Applications Closed from August 31st 2025" — the community record of the same deadline
- community LiveFromALounge, published 29 Aug 2025 — new sourcing paused, and holders told not to cancel
- community LiveFromALounge, published 27 Aug 2025 — "Axis Bank will close the Atlas product to new applicants as of September 2025", with a reported apply-by of 31 August 2025
- community Apr-2026 partner purge
- community CardNitty — Atlas is Visa Signature, single network
- community CardInsider forex table — Atlas at the standard 3.5% Axis markup (vs Magnus 2%, Reserve 1.5%)