BEST Travel Credit Cards of 2026 (RANKED)

0:00 I'm currently standing in one of the most luxurious resorts in Maldives. This is a water villa that I'm staying in. And in this video, I'm going to be ranking some of the best travel cards in 2026 that all of you should own for any of your domestic or even international trips. This is my 10-year anniversary trip and all thanks to you guys and the credit card community that has always supported me to make this happen. HSBC Travel One. This is the best mid-level premium HSBC credit card that can give you crazy returns on travel. For starters, it offers the base rewards of two reward points per 100 rupees spent for non-travel spends, but you get double returns for travel spends like four reward points per 100 rupees spent on any online travel agencies like MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, etc. for flights or hotel bookings. To get the best value as accelerated rewards, book from the HSBC rewards marketplace to get 6x rewards, which means 24% back in hotel bookings, 4x rewards, which is 16% back in flight bookings, and 2x rewards, which is 8% reward in car rental. The accelerated rewards are capped at 18,000 points per month and the reward points earned can be redeemed in these air mile partners or these hotel partners from the HSBC app in a 1:1 ratio. Travel One also offers the welcome rewards of 1,000 rupees cashback, 3,000 rupees postcard voucher, and 3 months Easy Diner Prime membership when you download the HSBC app and spend 10,000 rupees within 30 days of getting the card. Plus, you will get 3,000 bonus reward points when you spend 1 lakh rupees in the first 90 days of getting the card. You will also earn 10,000 bonus reward points when you spend more than 12 lakh rupees in a year with the card. If you apply for the card using the link in description, you will earn 250 rupees Amazon Pay gift card when your card is approved. You also get six domestic and four international lounge access in a year, plus four free golf rounds and 12 lessons every year.

1:49 One recently introduced amazing feature is the four complimentary chauffeur-driven airport transfers in a year, max one per quarter in a premium SUV, which will save your cab the airport. Another great offer going on till 30th June is 3.5% cashback on forex fees, which offsets the forex markup fee of 3.5%, making it a zero forex card as well for international trips. You need to register for this by texting HSBC FX to 575750 or calling/emailing the customer care.

2:20 They also offer a price match guarantee where if you find a better price than HSBC's travel portal within 24 hours of booking a flight or hotel, they will match that up up to 1,500 rupees. In addition, you get buy one get one free movie ticket up to 250 rupees twice in a month in BookMyShow and so many other travel offers you will get with this card as shown in the screen. And these are the transactions where you won't earn any rewards. Let me know in the comments if I should make a more detailed and dedicated video on the Travel One card highlighting the best strategy to fully optimize spends on the card to get the maximum value, its reward points redemption process of transferring to air miles or Accor hotels and more. And if you stay outside the serviceable area of HSBC, then watch the HSBC Life Plus video where I shared a trick of how to get any HSBC card even if you're not staying in the eligible cities list provided by HSBC. HSBC Travel One definitely deserves to be an S tier. It's an S tier card. I recently took the BOB Eterna card for lifetime free. And in this video, I'm going to be talking about why you should own this card in 2026 as it's currently on offer for lifetime free till 31st March.

3:25 Because it's a forex positive card. And in this video, I'm going to be talking about everything that you need to know. Currently, it's the only lifetime free card that's giving this crazy offer. One bonus of getting the BOB Eterna Visa Infinite variant like mine is that till 31st October 2026, you will get 750 rupees worth of either Amazon, Zomato, or Swiggy vouchers after getting any Visa variant credit card or forex cards. Link in description. If you're watching this video after the lifetime free offer is over, then you can get the joining fee waived off just by spending 25,000 rupees within the first 60 days of getting the card. Eterna's yearly fee gets waived off when you spend 2.5 lakh rupees in a year. As a joining benefit till 31st March, you will get a complimentary 6 months Fitpass Pro membership worth 15,000 rupees, plus 10,000 bonus reward points on spending 50,000 rupees within the first 60 days of getting the card. Since I was planning my Maldives and Sri Lanka trip, I got the card for that and spent 51,000 rupees even before the card was delivered to me using the virtual card in BOB app. And in just the first transaction, I became eligible for the 10,000 bonus reward points, which I will get within 60 days of card issuance.

4:32 We'll keep you guys updated about the bonus reward point in my WhatsApp and Telegram community, which you can join from the link in description or bio. Don't worry, your phone number won't be shared or visible to anyone. You also get unlimited complimentary domestic airport lounge access on spending 40,000 rupees in the previous quarter, which you can share with your spouse, parents, siblings, or kids over 18 for free by getting them an add-on card. So, free lounge access for the entire family.

4:58 Comment BOB lounge list and I'll share the list with you or join my Telegram and WhatsApp community and I'll share it there. You also get 20,000 bonus reward points on spending 5 lakh rupees in a year and it also offers buy one get one free movie ticket per month up to 250 rupees on District app, which I have also utilized two times already. And it also offers 1% fuel surcharge waiver. Eterna also offers flat 120 rupees off on Swiggy orders above 499 twice per month using the coupon code BOB CARD120, which is technically 20% cashback. And it also has a lot of merchant discount and offers as you can see on your screen. Now, let's understand the reward structure. BOB Eterna offers 5x reward points, which is three base plus 12 bonus reward points. So, total 15 reward points per 100 rupees spent on anything, be it travel spends, both domestic or international, and on dining and any other online spends. So, basically, for any online or even offline spends, even including international transactions, you get reward points except for these transactions like fuel, government spends, etc. Since one reward point is 25 paisa, so effective return is 3.75% for 5x rewards. The reward points you earn can be redeemed as statement credit very easily using the BOB card app.

6:11 Remember, the 5x reward points has a monthly cap of 5,000 reward points, which means till spends of 41,667 rupees in a month, whether done in India or foreign, whether online or offline, you will get the rewards, which I think is good enough. Post 5,000 reward points earned in a month, it offers the base rate of three reward points per 100 rupees spent on all spends without any cap. So, it's unlimited, but the net return is just 0.75%. Now, let me explain how it's a forex positive card, which means you get rewards even in foreign spends, both online or offline.

6:46 BOB Eterna has a forex markup fee of 2% and cashback rate is 3.75% as explained before. So, your effective net return is roughly 3.75% minus 2% forex fee minus 18% GST on forex fee equals to approx 1.4% net return, which is still really good. Remember, this is the only lifetime free credit card that's offering 1.5% cashback even in international spends. I'm recording this video on 3rd March and in just 3 days, I'm going to Thailand for 2 weeks and I'll be using the BOB Eterna for all my forex spends there till 41,000 rupees and then I will use other forex card.

7:23 You can check this video to learn about the best forex cards in India. If you get the BOB Eterna card before 31st March 2026 for lifetime free, then it definitely deserves to be an S tier card. I have used it internationally also and I love this card. Up next, we have Axis Horizon, which offers the welcome benefits of 5,000 Edge miles on just 1,000 rupees transaction within 30 days of card issuance. It offers accelerated rewards of five Edge miles on every 100 rupees spent on Axis Bank's Travel Edge portal and direct airline websites on all airline spends. It also offers base rewards of two Edge miles per 100 rupees spent on all other spends, including flight bookings done through online travel agents like MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, etc. You will also get 32 complimentary domestic airport lounge access per year in the Visa variant and 24 in the Mastercard variant and also eight international airport lounge access in a year, which is helpful during traveling. You also get this Wednesday Delight offers with the card. Horizon comes with a 3,000 rupees plus GST fee, but you get renewal benefits of 1,500 Edge miles worth 1,500 rupees on completion of anniversary year. In Axis Horizon, one Edge mile is one partner point, which you can redeem in the Axis mobile app or by visiting Travel Edge website by Axis Bank for flight, hotel bookings, or even by buying voucher. I'm already pre-qualified for the Axis Horizon card.

8:40 If you want a dedicated video on it, please comment. And if there are enough response, I will take the card myself and make a separate video. Axis Horizon is definitely an A tier card since is the replacement of Axis Atlas, which was discontinued last year. Next, I would like to mention the HDFC Marriott Bonvoy credit card, which I got for two reasons. One, it gives you 12 domestic lounge access in India and 12 international lounge access outside India with no minimum spending criteria, plus no per quarter restrictions, which is great as I travel a lot and I use this for lounge access. Second reason is it gives you one free night at any Marriott properties around the world up to 15,000 Marriott points. And plus, you can top up another 15,000 points, so max 30,000 points per night properties you can stay. When you get the card, you automatically get qualified for Marriott Silver Elite status with 10 elite night credits. And even if you're someone like me who does not stay at Marriott properties, then also for the lounge and one free night at Marriott for special occasions felt like a good deal for the 3,500 rupees yearly fee. Since it's a Diners Club card, it has other offers also. You can check this dedicated video where I talked about its reward points, how to redeem the free night, and more.

9:51 I would put Marriott Bonvoy in the A tier because of the 24 lounge access without restriction, plus free night in Marriott properties around the world. Up next, IDFC Mayura metal card. It's a premium metal credit card that comes with 5,999 plus GST yearly fee, but you will get 4,000 free reward points after paying the fee, and you will get another 4,000 reward points on spends over 20,000 in the second statement cycle, and another 4,000 points on spends over 20,000 in the third cycle. It's a zero forex card that also offers rewards even in international spends both online or offline. The best part of the card is that it offers 50x bonus reward points on hotel bookings and 30x bonus reward points on flight bookings via the travel and shop section of the IDFC app only, which is over and above the base reward points of 10 points per 150 rupees spent. In addition, you will get 10x reward points on spends over 20,000 in any statement cycle. Another cool thing is that the reward points never expire, and one reward point is 50 paisa on hotel and flight bookings done via travel and shop section of IDFC mobile app. You also get buy one get one free movie ticket worth 500 rupees twice every month. With this benefit, you are getting 12,000 rupees of free movie ticket every year. According to my research, I have seen the IDFC portal offer better and cheaper price compared to many OTAs like MakeMyTrip, but it's very dynamic. So, compare prices before booking. IDFC Mayura is a very underrated card, so it could belong to STR for some or in A tier for some. I'll just put it in A tier for now. Up next will be Scapia, which is an entry-level credit card best suited for international trips because it's a zero forex card that will help you save thousands of forex markup fees and GST in every foreign transaction. And if you apply for the card using the link in description, you will earn 1,000 Scapia coins for free. Best part of the card is the Scapia airport privileges that offer unlimited domestic airport lounge access or free shopping, spa, or dining at airport worth 1,000 rupees fully free, which gets unlocked when you spend 20,000 rupees in the Visa and RuPay variant combined or in any of the variants. With this card, you get 20% cashback as Scapia coins in all travel bookings in the Scapia app, which is 4% net return, 10% cashback in any online or offline spends outside Scapia, which is 2% rewards since five Scapia coins are 1 rupee, plus 5% cashback in UPI spends in RuPay variant if you take it.

12:11 Watch this video on Scapia to learn more. I would have put Scapia in A tier, but for the recent changes in airport privileges, it still belongs to be in the B tier category. Up next, we have IndusInd Tiger, which is a very beginner-friendly lifetime free credit card that will give you eight free domestic airport lounge access in a year, two per quarter, without any spending criteria, plus two international lounge access in a year via Priority Pass, which is awesome. It also offers one free BookMyShow movie ticket up to 500 rupees every six months, which means in a year you can get 1,000 rupees worth of free movie tickets. You will get a free 500 rupees Amazon Pay gift card if you apply for the card using my link in description.

12:46 So, subscribe for more such offers. I know it's not technically a travel card, but if you're not eligible for premium cards, at least you can use the Tiger card for lounge access during your next trip. IndusInd Tiger would belong either in B tier or C tier since it's only for lounge, so maybe C tier for now. Up next, I would have added Axis Atlas, which is a great travel card that offers five Edge miles per 100 rupees spent on travel bookings worth 7 to even 13% returns if done right, but since they are not offering new cards, so no point of talking about it. Also, same goes to Amex Platinum Travel Card, which recently got devalued as the milestone criteria increased from 4 lakh to 7 lakh spends, plus they are not issuing new cards either since last year. Both Axis Atlas and Amex Plat Travel deserves in C tier because both of them were discontinued, so we can't have this card now. Now, more premium cards would be HDFC Diners Club Black metal card that can give up to 33.3% return on hotel bookings and 16.67% on flight bookings if done through HDFC SmartBuy, 10% rewards for any vouchers through Gyftr, 10,000 bonus points every quarter on spending 4 lakhs with the card, which effectively adds an extra 2.5% return on your spending. DCB also has unlimited lounge access around the world and a low forex markup fee of 2%, which makes it a forex positive card, and it comes with a 10,000 rupees plus GST yearly fee. This card comes second to Infinia, which I won't add in this list since it's an invite-only card. Same reason I'm not adding the Axis Magnus for Burgundy or the ICICI Emerald Private Metal, which are also invite-only cards that require high relationship value with the bank.

14:20 For the features, it can belong to STR or A tier, but since the eligibility criteria is very high, so I'm putting it in B tier. I have never made videos on premium or super premium credit cards yet on my channel. Let me know in the comments if I should do that also. Check the detailed comparison of the best lifetime free forex cards in India or the best credit cards of 2026 by clicking here. Thank you for watching.

14:40 I'm Anirban, and I'll see you on the next one. Cheers.