May 21, 2025 · 10 mins read
Santosh Kumar
Premium credit cards are offered by banks to high-net-worth individuals and also to their loyal customers. These credit cards offer exclusive and luxurious benefits unlike any other regular credit card. Although the joining fee as well as the annual fee of these credit cards is skyrocketing, they provide you with the best privileges, including premium travel reward programs with elite hotel groups, free access to airport lounges, airport VIP facilitation, free golf sessions and many more.
Let us have a closer look at the most popular premium credit cards and analyse their features so that you can choose the best credit card for you:
Here are the top premium credit cards that offer luxury travel and lifestyle benefits and decent value for your expenses.
Best Pick For: All-round Benefits (Rewards, Air miles, Lounge and Golf)
Joining Fee: Rs. 12,500+ taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 12,500+ taxes (Waived off on spending Rs. 10 Lakh or more in the preceding year)
Key Features:
1: Free Priority Pass Membership and unlimited access to its lounges in India & abroad
2: Low foreign currency markup fee of 2% (GST extra)
3: Unlimited free golf games at select golf courses in India and overseas
4: Welcome benefit of 1 year Club Marriott Membership (Membership offers 20% discount on dining and stay)
5: 5 reward points per Rs. 150 spent on retail, except fuel
6: 10x rewards on travel and shopping via HDFC SmartBuy
7: Good Food Trail Dining program at premium restaurants across top cities
8: 1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations in India. Valid on transactions between Rs. 400 and Rs. 1 lakh
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Best Pick For: Rewards and International Travel
Joining Fee: Rs. 10,000 + Taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 10,000 + Taxes (Waived off on spending Rs. 5 Lakh or more in the preceding year)
Key Features:
1: Annual memberships of Club Marriott, Forbes, Amazon Prime, MMT BLACK, and Swiggy One (3 months) on spending Rs 1.5 lakh in the first 90 days
2: 5 reward points on spending Rs. 150 across all retail spends
3: Up to 10x reward points on SmartBuy spends
4: 2x reward points on weekend dining
5: Unlimited lounge access to 1,000+ airport Lounges in India and across the world for primary and add-on card members
6: 6 golf games per quarter across selected courses in the world
7: Low foreign currency markup fee of 2%
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Best Pick For: Rewards & Lifestyle Benefits
Joining Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes (Nil for Burgundy Private customers)
Annual Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes (Nil for Burgundy Private customers)
Key Features:
1: 15 EDGE REWARD points per Rs. 200 spent on the card
2: Complimentary EazyDiner Prime Membership for savings of up to 25% at fine-dining restaurants
3: Free 50 rounds of golf every calendar year
4: Free tickets for 5 movies and 5 non-movie tickets per month booked through BookMyShow
5: Unlimited lounge access at domestic as well as international lounges
6: 12 free guest visits every calendar year
7: Free hotel and dining memberships, including Club Marriott, Accor Plus, and Taj Epicure
8: Up to 15% off on International & Domestic Oberoi and Trident Hotels
9: Up to 20% off and other privileges at Postcard hotels
10: 0% forex markup fee
11: Concessions on health and wellness coaching at Weljii, diagnoses at leading medical institutions, etc.
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Best Pick For: Travel and Rewards
Joining Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes (Waived off on spending Rs. 35 Lakh or more in the preceding year)
Key Features:
1: Priority Pass membership with free unlimited international lounge visits for both primary and add-on cardholders
2: Free unlimited domestic lounge visits for both primary and add-on cardholders
3: 12 free guest visits across international and domestic lounges
4: 8 free VIP assistance services
5: Hotel benefits with multiple memberships like ITC Culinaire, Accorplus, Club Marriott Asia Pacific, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, and Postcard Hotel
6: 15,000 Edge rewards on card activation
7: 15 Edge reward Points per Rs. 200 spent
8: 30 Edge reward Points (2x) per Rs. 200 spent internationally
9: Low forex markup fee of 1.5%
10: 50 free golf rounds every year across select golf courses in India
11: Up to 25% off across premium restaurants via EazyDiner Prime Membership
12: B1G1 offer on the movie (up to Rs. 500 off on second ticket) and non-movie ticket (up to Rs. 1,000 off on second ticket), five times a month each
13: Health and wellness benefits via Weljii, referral-based services for second medical opinion
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Best Pick For: Rewards and International Travel
Joining Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 10,000 + Taxes (Waived off on spending Rs. 25 Lakh in the preceding year)
Key Features:
1: Unlimited complimentary domestic and international lounge access for primary and add-on cardholders, along with 12 additional guest visits
2: Exclusive benefits at select hotels like Shangri-la Singapore, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Intercontinental Chennai, etc.
3: Complimentary VIP airport meet and greet and 'Airport by Invitation' service.
4: Up to $1000 USD saving on round-trip private air charter booking through Vitesse Worldwide
5: Low forex markup fee of 0.5%
6: Welcome benefit of 2 Lakh reward points and Oberoi Hotels 3-gift voucher worth Rs. 9,000
7: Additional 50,000 reward points on spending Rs. 10 Lakh or more in the first 90 days of card issuance
8: 20 reward points per Rs. 200 spent on domestic transactions
9: 40 reward points per Rs. 200 spent on international transactions
10: 12 rounds of complimentary green fees and 12 complimentary golf lessons in a year, along with 4 complimentary green fees for guests
11: Buy One Get One offer on movie tickets, giving up to 4 free tickets in a calendar month
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Best Pick For: Rewards and Travel
Joining Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 50,000 + Taxes
Key Features:
1: 1,00,000 reward points worth Rs. 25,000 and Complimentary Club ITC Culinaire Select & Accor Plus Explorer Memberships as welcome benefits
2: Complimentary Taj Experiences Signature dining voucher on spending Rs. 15 Lakh in 6 months
3: Unlimited complimentary lounge access worldwide
4: Unlimited complimentary golf rounds & lessons
5: Unlimited complimentary railway lounge access
6: 0% interest on cash withdrawal
7: 0% forex markup fee
8: 15% off on a stay at the Trident Hotel
9: Complimentary night at ITC Hotels by paying for 2 consecutive nights
10: Up to Rs. 1,500 off on ticket bookings through BookMyShow
11: 3 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on rent & education-related payments
12: 1 reward point for every Rs. 100 spent on insurance premium payments
13: 10 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent
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Best Pick For: Travel & Rewards
Joining Fee: Rs. 12,500 + Taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 12,500 + Taxes (Waived off on spending Rs. 25 Lakh in the preceding year)
Key Features:
1: Luxe gift card/ The Postcard Hotels/ Yatra voucher worth Rs. 12,500 on making the first transaction within 30 days from card issuance
2: 12 EDGE reward points per Rs. 200 spent on cumulative monthly spends of up to Rs. 1.5 Lakh
3: 35 EDGE reward points per Rs. 200 spent above the cumulative monthly spends of Rs. 1.5 Lakh
4: 60 EDGE reward points per Rs. 200 spent on the Travel EDGE portal up to cumulative monthly spends of Rs. 2 Lakh
5: 35 EDGE reward points per Rs. 200 spent on Travel EDGE portal above monthly spends of Rs. 2 Lakh
6: Unlimited complimentary international lounge visits with Priority Pass and 4 additional guest visits per year
7: Unlimited visits to select domestic airport lounges for both primary and add-on cardholders (subject to spending Rs. 50,000 in the previous three months)
Best Pick For: Rewards and Travel
Joining Fee: Rs. 12,499 + Taxes
Annual Fee: Rs. 12,499 + Taxes (Reversed on spending Rs. 10 Lakh in the preceding year)
Key Features:
1: Taj Epicure membership and 12,500 bonus rewards as card activation benefits
2: 6 ICICI reward points per Rs. 200 spent, including spends on grocery, education, utilities, and insurance payments
3: Vouchers worth Rs. 6,000 as milestone benefits
4: Unlimited domestic and international lounge access every year
5: Unlimited golf lessons or rounds every month
6: Complimentary EazyDiner Membership every year
7: Buy 1 ticket and get up to Rs. 750 off on the 2nd ticket on BookMyShow bookings twice a month
Premium credit cards are offered to high-net-worth individuals, which means people who have a high annual income. These cards offer premium benefits like unlimited lounge access, a low forex markup fee, complimentary premium hotel memberships, free airport services, and much more. However, with such extensive features these come with a high annual fee, which can go up to Rs. 50,000 – Rs. 60,000, offering benefits that are unlikely to be enjoyed with a regular credit card.
All premium credit cards charge very high annual fee with benefits that easily surpass the fee charged. However, amongst these, Axis Bank Primus Credit Card is the most expensive credit card in India right now. It charges a joining fee of Rs. 5 Lakh and an annual fee of Rs. 3 Lakh.
The decision as to whether or not you should get a premium credit card depends on your eligibility and your spending preferences. Since premium cards usually come with more strict eligibility norms, especially in terms of annual income of the applicant, it is important to check whether you qualify for the card. Secondly, you must consider the value that such premium cards would offer you to decide whether you should apply for them.
Usually, individuals with a high annual income can apply for premium credit cards by visiting the official website of the respective card issuer. Besides this, some of the premium cards, like HDFC Infinia, are invite-only, which means they are offered only to select customers of the bank. Hence, you need to maintain a relationship with the bank to avail a super premium card, in some cases.
Premium credit cards come with features like VIP meet-and-greet service at airports, unlimited lounge access, discounts at luxury hotels, etc., that are generally not available with regular cards. However, such features would be valuable only for those who can make the most of them. For example, a premium card that offers complimentary membership to a luxury hotel along with a discount on your stay will not hold any value for someone who does not travel frequently.
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