RBL Bank World Safari Credit Card Review
RBL Bank has about 35+ Credit card variants in their portfolio most of which are co-brand cards with not so amazing brands and hardly any of them make sense to hold for a premium credit card holder.
Even though they do have cards with a decent ~2% reward rate, that’s ain’t enough as their merchant offers aren’t in par with the top players and most importantly they don’t have a compelling USP.
But with this new card it’s finally changing the way we look at RBL cards. Here’s the detailed review of the same.
Overview
| Type | Travel Credit Card |
| Reward Rate | 0.5% – 1.1% |
| Annual Fee | 3,000 INR+GST |
| Best for | Travel spends |
| USP | 0% forex markup fee |
RBL has launched a new travel credit card named World Safari Credit Card and they say its the India’s first travel card with 0% markup fees.
That’s not really 100% right as Axis Burgundy Private Credit Card is the first one with that benefit, but its an invite only card.
So for mass offering, it is indeed the 1st credit card with 0% markup fee.
Fees
| Joining Fee | 3,000 INR + GST |
| Welcome Benefit | Rs.3000 worth MMT Voucher |
| Renewal Fee | 3,000 INR + GST |
| Renewal Benefit | Nil |
| Renewal Fee waiver | Nil |
- MMT Voucher that can be used on Flights/Hotels (online) & Holidays (Offline)
The joining fee is Offset by the MMT voucher but will have to check if we get the same for renewal too (no one confirmed it so far).
0% Markup Fee
- 0% Forex Markup Charges (but No Reward Points on International txns)
The USP of this card is its 0% markup fee on international transactions and that is great esp. because they’re using Mastercard platform which usually has better conversion rates.
But note that you will not get reward points on international spends, though you may continue to get the milestone benefits just like most other credit cards.
Rewards
Regular Rewards
- Travel Spends: 5 RP’s for every Rs. 100 spent (~1.15% return on spend)
- Non-Travel Spends: 2 RP’s for every Rs. 100 spent (~0.46% return on spend)
- 1 RP = ~0.23Ps
Milestone Rewards
- Spend 2.5L a year: Get 10,000 bonus Travel Points
- Spend 5L a year: Get additional 15,000 Travel Points
- Spend 7.5L a year: Get additional Rs. 10,000 gift voucher (Taj experiences, Amazon, Croma, Myntra & Makemytrip)
So on 7.5L spend, you get a nice 2% reward rate via milestone spends alone, which is decent for a card with 0% markup fee and affordable joining fee.
Overall reward rate could be as good as 3.15% if you use the card only for Travel but of-course that’s rare so you get close to 2.5% even on non-travel spends.
Airport Lounge Access
| ACCESS TYPE | ACCESS VIA | ACCESS LIMIT |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic (Primary) | Visa / Mastercard | 2/Qtr |
| International (Primary) | Priority Pass | 2/Yr (shared) |
| International (guests) | Priority Pass | 2/Yr (shared) |
- Get additional complimentary lounge visit via Priority Pass on spends of Rs. 50,000/- or more in a calendar quarter
Its interesting to note that the new cards are all coming with guest access limits as well that can be charged on the primary priority pass card itself, so you no longer need to deal with Add-on cards for the same, just like the Axis Magnus
However, 2 visits is way too low, maybe they could have added something like 4 more visits on 2L annual spend or so.
Golf benefit
- Complimentary Golf Games: 4/Year
- Complimentary Golf Lessons: 12/Year (1/month)
This is a Mastercard World privilege and not the feature of the product per se. Still good enough.
Travel insurance
The Travel Insurance covers:
- Personal Liability coverage
- Trip Delay
- Baggage Loss
- Loss of Passport
- Dental Treatment
But before, I just want to know if by any chance you’ve availed this benefit on any other card? I never did!
