Best Premium credit cards

Premium credit cards charge Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 10,000 a year and return value through lounge access, milestone vouchers and service rather than through a high earn rate. Three are tracked here.

The question on this page is not which is best but whether any of them beats a Rs. 500 card for your spending.

SBI ELITE's waiver needs Rs. 10,00,000 of annual spending — about Rs. 83,000 a month — so for most holders the fee is real.

Outside this category, DBS Vantage at Rs. 20,000 offers 0% forex, which is the one premium feature that pays for itself on heavy foreign spending.

Neither rate beats a good Rs. 500 cashback card. The case for these cards rests on benefits, not arithmetic on the rate.

None is free, and only SBI ELITE publishes a waiver at all — at Rs. 10,00,000 of annual spending.

A blunt test: a Rs. 5,000 fee needs about Rs. 2,50,000 of accelerated-category spending a year at 2% value back before the card pays for itself. Below that, the lounge visits and vouchers have to cover the rest.