How to Compare Credit Cards in India (LTF, Lounge, Forex)

Start here: in India, the three things that decide whether a card is worth keeping are the fee structure (is it actually lifetime-free, or just first-year-free?), the lounge access cap (how many free visits, and does it reset quarterly or yearly?), and the forex markup (most cards charge around 3.5% plus GST on overseas spends). Reward rate matters too, but it's the fourth thing to check, not the first. A card paying 5X points that quietly charges you a fee every year and a 3.5% forex hit will lose to a plain lifetime-free card if your spending pattern doesn't line up with the bonus categories.

So compare in that order. Below is the method we use on our side-by-side tool, plus a worked example so you can see how the numbers shake out.

Step 1: Is it lifetime-free, or just baiting you with year one?

"Lifetime-free" (LTF) means no joining fee and no annual fee, ever. The trap is cards marketed as "free" that are really first-year-free with a renewal fee that kicks in at month 13. As of 2026 a lot of issuers waive the renewal fee if you spend above a threshold in the prior year, commonly somewhere around Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 3,00,000 depending on the card. That's fine if you'll hit it. It's a quiet annual cost if you won't.

Two edge cases people miss. First, some "LTF" offers are LTF only when you apply through a specific bank channel or a partner link, and the same card carries a fee if you walk into a branch. Second, add-on (supplementary) cards sometimes carry their own fee even when the primary is free. Confirm both on the issuer's official site before you apply, because these terms change.

Step 2: Lounge access caps, not the word "unlimited"

Almost every mid-tier card now advertises lounge access. The real question is how many free visits and how often the counter resets. A card offering 2 domestic visits per quarter gives you 8 a year; one offering 2 per year gives you 2. Same headline, four times the value.

Watch for the spend gate: as of 2026 several cards only unlock the next quarter's free lounge visits if you spent a minimum amount (often around Rs 50,000) in the previous quarter. International lounge access usually runs through a Priority Pass, and the membership being free doesn't mean the visits are free, you may still pay per entry after a small included quota, sometimes around US$30+ a visit. Check whether guests are charged, that's where the bill balloons.

Step 3: Forex markup is the silent fee for travellers

If you spend abroad or on international websites, forex markup matters more than any reward rate. The standard is roughly 3.5% as of 2026, with GST on top of that fee. A handful of cards market a lower markup near 1% to 2%, which is the real reason to pick a "travel" card over a cashback one. Don't let a 4% reward rate distract you from a 3.5% markup, they roughly cancel out, and the markup is charged on the full amount while rewards often exclude some categories.

Worked example: cashback card vs. travel card on a Rs 2,00,000 year

Say you spend Rs 2,00,000 a year, of which Rs 50,000 is overseas (a short trip). Card A is lifetime-free, 2% flat cashback, 3.5% forex markup. Card B has a Rs 2,500 renewal fee (waived above Rs 3,00,000 spend, so you'll pay it), 4% rewards but only on travel, 1% rewards elsewhere, and 2% forex markup.

Here the plain lifetime-free card wins by about Rs 2,250 for this spend profile, because the travel card's fee and narrow bonus category don't earn their keep at this volume. Flip the numbers, Rs 6,00,000 spend with Rs 2,50,000 overseas, and Card B pulls ahead easily. The point isn't that one card is better. It's that the answer depends entirely on your numbers, which is exactly what a comparison tool is for.

Who should skip the premium card

If you spend under roughly Rs 1,50,000 a year, almost never travel internationally, and won't use more than a couple of lounge visits, skip the fee-bearing premium cards entirely. You'll pay a renewal fee (or chase a spend threshold to dodge it) for perks you don't touch. A lifetime-free flat-cashback card is the better hold. Likewise, if you carry a balance, none of this matters, interest at typical India APRs of around 40%+ annualised will swamp any reward, so pay the card off first and treat rewards as a tiebreaker, not a strategy.

For your shortlist, browse the India cards hub or filter by travel cards, then drop two or three into the comparison view. Our methodology explains how we score fees, lounge caps, and forex side by side.