Spends · category 10 of 15
Which credit cards still earn on Travel — September 2026
Of the 1119 cards on the desk, 73 publish a rule for travel — and 12 of those pay ABOVE the card's own normal rate here, against 35 at full rewards. The rest: 13 capped, 4 at a reduced rate, 9 earn nothing. Every one is below, with the cap, the MCC and the rate a swipe actually returns.
what the counts mean fold that back up
Which credit card is best for travel spends in India?
Unity Bank BharatPe Credit Card (Unity Small Finance Bank) pays 2.00% on travel — the best rate of any card with a published rule here. 73 cards publish one, 9 of which earn nothing at all.
MCC 4511, 7011, 4722, 4112, 4121, 4131, 4111, 7512 · 73 cards read line by line · rates at our house ₹/point
The three that actually pay
Ranked by what ₹100 of travel returns — first-tier earn × this category's published treatment × our ₹/point. The same math the wallet winner ranks your own cards by.
- 01 Unity Bank BharatPe Credit Card
Earns the full 2%. Airlines, hotels and the whole transport block earn like anything else — this card's travel value is the lounge quota (2 domestic visits a calendar quarter plus 2 outside India a year, KFS §E), not a travel accelerator
2.00% full earn - 02 Myntra Kotak
5% at Cleartrip as a preferred partner, sharing the same ₹1,000 per-cycle ceiling; no other travel accelerator existed
1.25% accelerated a slice of this category pays MORE — see the rule - 03 Paytm HDFC Bank Select
5% CashPoints on Paytm Travel, a named category in the card's own Merchant-ID annexure, inside the 1,500-CashPoint monthly cap on the whole Paytm bucket
1.00% capped up to a monthly cap — see the rule
Every card with a published rule
73 cards
Accelerated first, then full earners, then capped, then reduced, then the zeroes — each block by the rate it returns here. The rule text is the issuer's own, quoted from the document we read.
| Card | Earns | Rate here | The cap, and the rule it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myntra Kotak Kotak Mahindra Bank | accelerated | 1.25% | 5% at Cleartrip as a preferred partner, sharing the same ₹1,000 per-cycle ceiling; no other travel accelerator existed |
| Fibe Axis Bank Credit Card Axis Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | 3% on the local-commute codes — 4121 taxicabs and limousines, 4131 bus lines, 4111 local and suburban transport, 7512 car rental. Flights and hotels are not on the list and earn the 1% base |
| Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card Axis Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | Cleartrip is a named co-brand partner at 5%, capped at ₹4,000 a statement quarter, and that cap is separate from Flipkart's |
| Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Axis Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | 2% on local commute only — MCC 4111 (local transit), 4121 (taxis and limousines), 4131 (bus lines) and 7512 (car rental), which Axis glosses as Ola and Uber. Airlines and hotels earn the 1% base |
| Paytm HDFC Bank Digital HDFC Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | 2% on Uber, sharing the ₹250-a-month ceiling with Swiggy. Airlines and hotels earn the 1% base |
| Paytm HDFC Bank HDFC Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | Paytm travel sits inside the 3% Paytm bucket, capped at 500 CashPoints a calendar month; separately, redemption of travel CashPoints is capped at 50,000 points a month |
| Swiggy Ornge HDFC Bank Credit Card HDFC Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | 5% at the online travel agents HDFC names — Paytm Travel, EaseMyTrip, Ixigo, Yatra, Ibibo and Cleartrip (MCC 4111, 4112, 4121, 4131, 4722, 7011) — inside the shared ₹1,500 ceiling. Airline and hotel spend outside those merchants earns 1% |
| Swiggy BLCK HDFC Bank Credit Card HDFC Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | 5% at the online travel agents HDFC names — Paytm Travel, EaseMyTrip, Ixigo, Yatra, Ibibo and Cleartrip (MCC 4111, 4112, 4121, 4131, 4722, 7011) — inside the online leg's own ₹1,500 ceiling. Airline and hotel spend elsewhere earns 1% |
| RBL Paisabazaar Duet Plus RBL Bank | accelerated | 1.00% | 2.5% cashback on travel, capped at ₹200 a month shared with dining — so about ₹8,000 of combined travel and dining a month exhausts the rung. But "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) sits on this card's own ineligible-MCC table, so train tickets earn neither the 2.5% nor the 1% |
| PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE SBI Card | accelerated | 1.00% | 3 Reward Points per ₹100 on travel booked inside the PhonePe app, sharing the 750-point non-insurance monthly ceiling |
| Axis Bank Titanium Smart Traveller Axis Bank | accelerated | 0.20% | 4 EDGE REWARD Points per ₹200 on hotels, holiday packages, airlines, train and bus bookings in India — double the base rate, worth about 0.4% at the catalogue rate |
| RBL Cookies RBL Bank | accelerated | 0.20% | 10% cashback on Uber — ₹300 a month, inside the ₹900 all-brand ceiling, transactions above ₹100 only. Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the ordinary rate; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) earns nothing |
| Unity Bank BharatPe Credit Card Unity Small Finance Bank | full earn | 2.00% | Earns the full 2%. Airlines, hotels and the whole transport block earn like anything else — this card's travel value is the lounge quota (2 domestic visits a calendar quarter plus 2 outside India a year, KFS §E), not a travel accelerator |
| CASHBACK SBI Card SBI Card | full earn | 1.00% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the ordinary rate — 5% booked online, 1% at a physical counter. RAILWAYS ARE THE EXCEPTION and earn nothing: MCC 4011 and 4112 are on the exclusion table |
| Axis Bank SuperMoney RuPay Axis Bank | full earn | 1.00% | No travel accelerator — travel earns the 1% base, and there is no lounge |
| RBL Paisabazaar Duet RBL Bank | full earn | 1.00% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs pay the full 1%; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is on the ineligible table and pays nothing |
| SBM MobiKwik First Credit Card SBM Bank (India) | full earn | 1.00% | On no exclusion list; earns the flat 1%. There is no travel accelerator and no lounge benefit on this card |
| Paisabazaar Paisa Plus Credit Card SBM Bank (India) | full earn | 1.00% | On no exclusion list; a flight or hotel booked online earns 1.5% at the ₹10,000-deposit tier. There is no travel accelerator and no lounge benefit |
| CUB CSK Master World City Union Bank | full earn | 1.00% | 2X — CUB's §2.3 accelerator is "Travel, Flight Bookings, and Hotel Bookings", worked in its own illustration as "Travel Spend of ₹10,000 → Base = 100 RP → Final (2X) = 200 RP", i.e. 2 RP per ₹100 = 2.0% at the World variant's ₹1.00 point. Airline (4511), hotel (7011) and travel-agency (4722) MCCs appear NOWHERE on the exclusion table. CUB does not publish the MCC list that defines the accelerator, only the category names |
| CUB SRH Master World City Union Bank | full earn | 1.00% | 2X on "Travel, Flight Bookings, and Hotel Bookings" — 2 RP per ₹100, worth 2.0% at the World variant's ₹1.00 point. Airline (4511), hotel (7011) and travel-agency (4722) MCCs are on no exclusion list |
| Axis Bank Cashback Axis Bank | full earn | 0.75% | THE TRAP ON THIS CARD: travel is excluded from the online accelerator ladder BY NAME and falls back to the card's ordinary base rate — airlines, 4722 agencies, 4011/4214/4411/4582/4723/4761/4789/7523/7524, travel rental and 4112 railways. A flight booked online earns three-quarters of one percent, exactly what a card-present swipe at a supermarket earns |
| CUB CSK Master Platinum City Union Bank | full earn | 0.60% | Base rate only — NOT accelerated. The 2X on "Travel, Flight Bookings, and Hotel Bookings" belongs to §2.3, the Master World, and this variant's §2.2 list is retail and dining instead. Airline (4511), hotel (7011) and travel-agency (4722) MCCs are on no exclusion list, so they earn the full 1 RP per ₹125 = 0.6% |
| CUB SRH Master Platinum City Union Bank | full earn | 0.60% | Base rate only. The 2X on travel, flights and hotels is §2.3, Master World only. Airline (4511), hotel (7011) and travel-agency (4722) MCCs are on no exclusion list, so they earn 1 RP per ₹125 = 0.6% |
| Paytm HDFC Bank Mobile HDFC Bank | full earn | 0.50% | No travel accelerator at all — travel earns this card's ordinary base rate, which is itself half what the Paytm Digital and Paytm Business cards pay on the same spend |
| Kotak Cashback+ Kotak Mahindra Bank | full earn | 0.50% | No travel accelerator and no lounge — travel earns the 0.5% base |
| Kotak Cashback+ Prime Kotak Mahindra Bank | full earn | 0.50% | No travel accelerator and no lounge — travel earns the 0.5% base |
| ICICI Bank NRI Coral ICICI Bank | full earn | 0.50% | Earns the base rate; transportation transactions above ₹50,000 draw a 1% fee w.e.f. 15 Jan 2026 (MCC 4111, 4112, 4784, 4131). |
| ICICI Bank NRI Sapphiro ICICI Bank | full earn | 0.50% | Earns the base rate domestically; transportation transactions above ₹50,000 draw a 1% fee w.e.f. 15 Jan 2026 (MCC 4111, 4112, 4784, 4131). |
| RBL Platinum Delight RBL Bank | full earn | 0.50% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn and count toward the waiver; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) does neither |
| RBL Platinum Max RBL Bank | full earn | 0.50% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs are absent from the exclusion table and earn the base 2 RP/₹100 — but "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is ON it since 15-Oct-2024, so train tickets earn nothing |
| RBL Platinum Prime RBL Bank | full earn | 0.50% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the base 2 RP/₹100; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is on the exclusion table since 15-Oct-2024 and earns nothing |
| CUB CSK RuPay Platinum City Union Bank | full earn | 0.33% | Base rate only — NOT accelerated. This variant's §2.1 accelerator list has no travel entry at all; the 2X on "Travel, Flight Bookings, and Hotel Bookings" is §2.3, Master World only. Airline (4511), hotel (7011) and travel-agency (4722) MCCs are on no exclusion list, so they earn 1 RP per ₹150 = 0.33% |
| CUB SRH RuPay Platinum City Union Bank | full earn | 0.33% | Base rate only. §2.1 lists no travel accelerator; the travel/flight/hotel 2X is §2.3, Master World only. Airline (4511), hotel (7011) and travel-agency (4722) MCCs are on no exclusion list and earn 1 RP per ₹150 = 0.33% |
| RBL Platinum ShopGain RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the ordinary rate; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| RBL Platinum Plus RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn 1 RP/₹100 (2X online, capped at 1,000 RP); "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| RBL Platinum Choice RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn 1 RP/₹100 (2X online, capped); "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| RBL Platinum Advantage RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn 1 RP/₹100; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| RBL Binge RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn 1 RP/₹100 and pick up the 12-RP online rung when booked online; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| RBL Shoprite RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the base rate and count toward the waiver; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) does neither |
| RBL Movies and More RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn 1 RP/₹100 and count toward both milestones; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) does neither |
| RBL Patanjali Vishisht RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the base rate and count toward the milestone; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) does neither |
| RBL Bank DMI Finance RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn (2 RP/₹100 booked online) and count toward the milestone — but "Railway" heads this card's exclusion list, so a train ticket does neither |
| RBL BankBazaar SaveMax RBL Bank | full earn | 0.25% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the base 1 RP/₹100; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) was excluded in the 15-Oct-2024 wave |
| RBL MyFirst RBL Bank | full earn | 0.06% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the base rate; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| RBL EasySaver RBL Bank | full earn | 0.06% | Airlines, hotels and OTAs earn the base 1 RP per ₹400; "Railways" (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112) is excluded since 15-Oct-2024 |
| DCB PayLess Select Credit Card DCB Bank | full earn | — | On no exclusion list; counts toward the quarterly milestone at face value |
| DCB PayLess Platinum Credit Card DCB Bank | full earn | — | On no exclusion list; counts toward the quarterly milestone at face value. The card's travel benefit is the lounge quota, not an accelerator |
| Paytm HDFC Bank Select HDFC Bank | capped | 1.00% | 5% CashPoints on Paytm Travel, a named category in the card's own Merchant-ID annexure, inside the 1,500-CashPoint monthly cap on the whole Paytm bucket |
| HDFC PIXEL Go HDFC Bank | capped | 1.00% | 5% CashPoints on SmartBuy Flights, Hotels, Bus and Rail on full payment, capped at 500 CashPoints a calendar month and not clubbable with the 1% |
| Swiggy HDFC Bank Credit Card HDFC Bank | capped | 1.00% | Local cabs are on the 5% online MCC list, inside its ₹1,500-a-cycle ceiling; flights, hotels and OTAs are on neither the 10% nor the 5% list and fall to 1%, capped at ₹500 a billing cycle |
| Standard Chartered Smart Standard Chartered | capped | 1.00% | A flight or hotel booked online earns 2% inside the ₹1,000 monthly cap; the same booking made offline earns 1% inside the ₹500 cap. SC names no travel exclusion and no travel accelerator on this card |
| ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Credit Card ICICI Bank | capped | 0.50% | From 1-Feb-2026 ICICI caps reward points on transportation transactions at ₹10,000 a statement cycle for the HPCL and Coral families — this card is named in both halves of that row |
| ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card ICICI Bank | capped | 0.50% | NEW: from 1-Feb-2026 ICICI caps reward points on "Transportation Transaction" at ₹10,000 a statement cycle for Platinum, HPCL, Coral, ManU, CSK, Expressions, Parakram and Secured Platinum — a quarter of the utility ceiling and half of what Rubyx, Sapphiro and the Emeralde pair get |
| ICICI Bank Parakram Select ICICI Bank | capped | 0.50% | 2 RP per ₹100, but the MITC caps reward points on transportation MCCs at ₹10,000 a statement cycle for the tier naming "Parakram" (w.e.f. 1 Feb 2026) |
| ICICI Bank Coral against FD ICICI Bank | capped | 0.50% | Reward points on transportation MCCs are capped at ₹10,000 a statement cycle for the Coral tier (w.e.f. 1 Feb 2026) |
| ICICI Bank Rubyx against FD ICICI Bank | capped | 0.50% | Reward points on transportation MCCs are capped at ₹20,000 a statement cycle for the Rubyx tier (w.e.f. 1 Feb 2026) |
| HDFC Bank UPI RuPay HDFC Bank | capped | 0.25% | Not on the exclusion list — 1 CashPoint per ₹100 in the "other spends" bucket, capped at 500 CashPoints a calendar month |
| ICICI Bank Parakram ICICI Bank | capped | 0.25% | 1 RP per ₹100, but the MITC caps reward points on transportation MCCs at ₹10,000 a statement cycle for this card's tier (w.e.f. 1 Feb 2026) |
| PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo HDFC Bank | capped | — | 10% Reward Points on flights, bus, trains and hotels booked in the PhonePe app (MCCs 4112, 4511, 4722), inside the same 1,000-point monthly cap |
| PhonePe HDFC Bank Uno HDFC Bank | capped | — | 2% Reward Points on flights, bus, trains and hotels booked in the PhonePe app, inside the same 500-point monthly cap |
| Utkarsh Eternal Credit Card Utkarsh Small Finance Bank | reduced | rate unpublished | Split by Utkarsh's own ineligible list — 'Railway' and 'Transport' are ineligible and earn zero, so rail bookings and transit spend pay nothing. Airline and hotel spend is not named on the list and earns the card's normal flat rate |
| Utkarsh Rhodium Credit Card Utkarsh Small Finance Bank | reduced | rate unpublished | Split by Utkarsh's own ineligible list — 'Railway' and 'Transport' are ineligible and earn zero, so rail bookings and transit spend pay nothing. Airline and hotel spend is not named on the list and earns the card's normal flat rate |
| Utkarsh SmartGen Credit Card Utkarsh Small Finance Bank | reduced | rate unpublished | Split by Utkarsh's own ineligible list — 'Railway' and 'Transport' are ineligible and earn zero, so rail bookings and transit spend pay nothing. Airline and hotel spend is not named on the list and earns the card's normal flat rate |
| Axis Bank Shoppers Stop Credit Card Axis Bank | reduced | rate unpublished | Split by Axis's own list, and the T&C's worked table shows both halves. Airline spend earns the base rate — the example books an airline purchase and credits it — while transportation, bridge fees, road fees and tolls are named on the excluded list and earn nothing. Hotels are named nowhere, so they fall to the base rate |
| AU LIT Credit Card AU Small Finance Bank | earns nothing | — | AU's LIT T&C defines travel as MCC 4112, 4131, 4511, 4722, 4723 and the airline codes for its cashback feature — but the Altura Plus notice that "With effect from 1st April 2026, Reward Points accrual on Transportation Merchant Category Codes will be discontinued" reaches AU's transportation block (MCC 4111, 4112, 4784) bank-wide, so rail and local transit no longer earn. Air, hotel and OTA spend sits outside that block and earns; AU also charges 1% fair-usage on transportation past 50% of the limit or ₹25,000 a month from 14-Jun-2026, excluding IRCTC and its marquee travel partners — flag, AU has not published one combined statement |
| AU Altura Plus Credit Card AU Small Finance Bank | earns nothing | — | Zero Reward Points on transportation since 1-Apr-2026 — AU's own dated notice on this page: "With effect from 1st April 2026, Reward Points accrual on Transportation Merchant Category Codes will be discontinued." AU's MITC defines Transportation as MCC 4111 (local and suburban commute), 4112 (passenger railways) and 4784 (tolls and bridge fees), and from 14-Jun-2026 charges 1% fair-usage on it past 50% of the limit or ₹25,000 a month, excluding IRCTC and marquee travel partners. Airline, hotel and OTA spend falls outside that block and still earns |
| Suryoday SFB RuPay Platinum Suryoday Small Finance Bank | earns nothing | — | Suryoday's "Transport" group — MCCs 4111, 4119, 4121, 4131, 4214, 4784 and 4789 — earns nothing, and railway (4112) is listed separately and is also excluded. That covers local and suburban transit, taxis and limousines, buses, freight carriers, tolls and bridge fees. AIRLINES AND HOTELS ARE ON NEITHER LIST, so an air ticket or a hotel bill earns the full 0.5% |
| Suryoday SFB RuPay Select Suryoday Small Finance Bank | earns nothing | — | The Transport group — 4111, 4119, 4121, 4131, 4214, 4784, 4789 — and railway 4112 earn nothing. Airlines and hotels are on neither list and earn the full 0.5%, which matters more on this tier because Suryoday markets it with flight discounts and an unquantified lounge claim |
| RBL Bank Shoppers Stop Black RBL Bank | earns nothing | — | Railways are struck out by name (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112). From 07 Jan 2026 a 1% fee also applies to FASTag loading and toll transactions above ₹10,000 (MCC 4784, 4111, 4131) |
| RBL Bank Shoppers Stop Platinum RBL Bank | earns nothing | — | Railways are struck out by name (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112); from 07 Jan 2026 a 1% fee applies to FASTag and toll transactions above ₹10,000 |
| RBL Bank Shoppers Stop Gold RBL Bank | earns nothing | — | Railways are struck out by name (MCC 0066, 4011, 4112); from 07 Jan 2026 a 1% fee applies to FASTag and toll transactions above ₹10,000 |
| RBL Bank novio RBL Bank | earns nothing | — | Railways earn nothing — MCC 0066, 4011 and 4112. No other travel exclusion, and no travel accelerator either |
| RBL vCard RBL Bank | earns nothing | — | Railways earn nothing — MCC 4112, 4011 and 4111 |
Not published
1040 cards on the desk have no rule we could read for travel. They are named here rather than guessed into the ranking above — an unread rule is not a full-earn rule.
Name all 1040
Where this comes from
Treatments are read from issuer T&C, reward annexures and FAQs (HSBC and SBI publish full MCC tables; HDFC and Amex publish only category names), corroborated by community reporting where the banks stay vague — those rows say so. Where sources conflict we keep the conservative treatment. "Rate here" is the card's first-tier earn × this category's treatment × our house ₹/point from the valuation index — the same number the wallet winner puts on a swipe. A capped card shows its rate before the cap bites; the rule text names the cap. Issuers churn these rules quarterly — a note's date is the rule's date, not ours.