As overseas travel policies tighten, Indian travellers are turning to specialised credit cards that offer tailored benefits, ranging from zero-forex convenience to loyalty points transfers, highlighting a shift away from traditional perks towards more practical, use-case focused solutions.
For Indian travellers, the right card can save real money long before a suitcase is packed. On overseas trips, standard cards often add a foreign exchange mark-up plus tax, while many banks have also tightened lounge eligibility, replacing easy access with spending thresholds. That has made travel cards less about perks and more about choosing the right structure for the way a person actually spends.
Among the strongest options in the current market, Scapia is positioned as the simplest zero-forex choice. The card is marketed as lifetime free, with no foreign currency mark-up and domestic lounge access tied to a manageable spend condition. Its travel-app rewards are designed for people who book flights and hotels frequently, and the issuer also advertises a first-booking discount for new users applying with a referral code. In a market where even modest overseas spending can be eroded by fees, that combination makes Scapia especially attractive to occasional and budget-conscious international travellers.
For frequent flyers who value mileage transfers over flat cashback, the Axis Bank Atlas stands out. The card uses Axis’s EDGE Miles currency and is built around travel spend, with stronger earning rates on airline and hotel bookings than on everyday purchases. Its main appeal is the transfer network, which includes major airline and hotel loyalty programmes. Reuters-style comparisons of travel cards in India have repeatedly placed transfer flexibility near the top of the value equation, and Atlas is clearly aimed at that segment rather than at casual cardholders.
HDFC Bank’s Regalia Gold and Infinia sit higher up the premium ladder. Regalia Gold is pitched as a balanced option for professionals who want lounge access, travel rewards and a manageable annual fee. Infinia is the more exclusive product, with stronger benefits on bookings made through HDFC’s SmartBuy platform and broader lounge access. The gap between the two shows how sharply India’s premium card market has split: one tier for aspirational regular travellers, another for high spenders who can extract outsized value from transfer partners and portal multipliers.
Two specialist cards also deserve mention. Ixigo AU Bank is aimed at lower-cost travellers, especially those who fly or take trains often, and its zero-forex positioning makes it useful for overseas spending as well. American Express Platinum Travel is different again: it is built around hitting a yearly spend target that unlocks a large points bonus and a hotel voucher, which suits cardholders who can plan their purchases in advance. Tata Neu HDFC, covered in a separate review by the same publication, is another ecosystem play, offering value back in NeuCoins across Tata brands rather than positioning itself as a pure travel card.
The most important lesson is that card perks only matter if they are used correctly. Dynamic currency conversion should usually be avoided, because paying in rupees at an overseas terminal can hide a worse exchange rate than paying in local currency. Lounge access should also be checked against current spend rules, since many banks now require recent qualifying spending before generating entry codes. In practice, the best travel card in India depends on the traveller’s habits: zero-forex convenience for some, miles transfers for others, and premium access for those who can justify the annual fee.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
