BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium Credit Card Review 2026: 2 Miles per ₹100, Gold Tier Tightened & FAQs
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium Credit Card charges ₹5,000 and earns 2 Etihad Guest Miles per ₹100 and 6 on Etihad.com. The Gold Tier condition tightened on 5 August 2026. Fees and FAQs.
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium Credit Card earns 2 Etihad Guest Miles per ₹100 on general spends and 6 per ₹100 on Etihad.com bookings, with 8 international lounge visits a year.
One condition changed recently and it is the first thing an applicant should know.
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium Credit Card Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Airline co-brand card |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | Frequent Etihad flyers |
| **Joining / renewal fee** | ₹5,000 + GST, same on renewal — renewal waived at ₹5 lakh of annual spend |
| **Network** | Visa, RuPay |
| **Base reward rate** | **1.0%** |
| **Top reward rate** | **3.0%** — Etihad.com bookings |
| **Reward currency** | Etihad Guest Miles, valued at ₹0.5 each |
| **Welcome benefit** | 15,000 Etihad Guest bonus Miles — 10,000 on payment of the joining fee and 5,000 on cumulative spends of ₹50,000 |
| **Lounge access** | 2 international per quarter (8 a year) |
| **Forex markup** | 3.5% |
Reward Structure: How You Earn
Etihad Guest Miles are valued at ₹0.50 here, and that is an estimate. Etihad publishes no rupee rate; a Guest Mile's worth depends on route, cabin, season and award availability. Treat every percentage as indicative.
2 Miles per ₹100 — about 1.0%. 6 Miles per ₹100 on Etihad.com — about 3.0%.
| Spend | Effective rate |
|---|---|
| Etihad.com bookings | **3.0%** |
| Everything else | 1.0% |
| Fuel, rent, wallet loads, government, gaming | **0%** |
The Gold Tier condition tightened on 5 August 2026. BOBCARD's own revision notice states that where the complimentary Etihad Guest Gold Tier upgrade previously came from 'completing your transaction on Etihad.com within 6 months of card issuance', it now requires 'a transaction of ₹10,000 or more on Etihad.com within 6 months from the date of card issuance'.
Any review describing a single qualifying transaction of any size predates that change.
The accelerated rate is a booking-channel condition — Etihad.com specifically, not airline merchants generally. No merchant code expresses it, so expect structured comparisons to apply the base rate to all travel and understate the card for an Etihad customer.
Milestone Benefits
| Spend | Benefit | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ₹3 lakh a year | 4,000 bonus Etihad Guest Miles | ₹2,000 |
| ₹12 lakh a year | 24,000 bonus Etihad Guest Miles | ₹12,000 |
Category Restrictions: Where You Won't Earn
- Where you earn nothing: Earns nothing at all: fuel on every BOBCARD except HPCL Energie; cash withdrawals at ATM; and quasi-cash transactions. BOBCARD names these three in Annexure 1 of its rewards terms as ineligible for BOTH core and accelerated Reward Points. Transactions below ₹100 earn nothing either (₹150 on HPCL Energie).
- Point expiry: Reward Points are valid for 24 months from the date they are earned on most BOBCARD products. Points on BOBCARD ETERNA do not expire.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | ₹5,000 + GST |
| Renewal fee | ₹5,000 + GST |
| Finance charges | 3.75% per month (45% per annum) on all credit cards. Micro Enterprise cards are charged 1.5% per month (18% per annum). |
| Interest-free period | 20 to 50 days, and only where there is no previous outstanding. A purchase made early in the cycle gets the longer period; one made near the statement date gets the shorter. Not available at all if the previous month's balance was not cleared in full or if cash has been withdrawn at an ATM. |
| Minimum amount due | 100% of all fees, charges, finance charges, GST and EMI amounts, PLUS 2% of retail spends and cash advances — or ₹200, whichever is higher. Revised w.e.f. 1 October 2025. Where the total amount due exceeds the credit limit and the over-limit amount is greater than the computed MAD, the MAD becomes the whole over-limit amount. Any unpaid MAD from previous statements is added to the current one. |
| Cash advance fee | 2.5% of the amount withdrawn or ₹500, whichever is higher. |
| Cash advance interest | 3.75% per month (45% per annum), charged from the date of withdrawal with no interest-free period. |
| Forex markup | Varies by card: 2% on Eterna, Tiara, Varunah Premium, ICAI, ICSI and CMA One; 2.5% on Varunah Plus; 3% on Yoddha, The Sentinel, Rakshamah and Vikram; 3.5% on every other BOBCARD. Also applies to transactions in Indian rupees at an international location or at merchants registered overseas. |
| Late payment | Graduated by statement balance: nil below ₹100; ₹100 for ₹100–₹500; ₹400 for ₹501–₹1,000; ₹750 for ₹1,001–₹10,000; ₹950 for ₹10,001–₹25,000; ₹1,100 for ₹25,001–₹50,000; ₹1,300 above ₹50,000. |
| Overlimit | 2.5% of the amount over and above the sanctioned credit limit, or ₹600, whichever is higher. Charged only where the cardholder has given explicit consent to the over-limit facility. |
| Payment return | 2% of the payment amount subject to a minimum of ₹500 for a returned cheque. The same 2%/₹500 applies to an auto-debit or standing-instruction bounce, but only ONCE per statement cycle per card and only where the failure was due to insufficient balance. |
| Rent payment | 1% of the transaction amount on all rent payments (MCC 6513), with no minimum threshold. Non-reversible. |
| Wallet load | 1% of the transaction amount on all wallet loading transactions (MCC 6539, 6540, 6541, 6542), with no minimum threshold. Wallet loading is not permitted at all on the Micro Enterprise card. Non-reversible. |
| Utility payments | 1% of the transaction amount, capped at ₹3,000 per transaction, on utility payments (MCC 4900) of ₹50,000 or more. Non-reversible. |
| Education payments | 1% of the transaction amount, capped at ₹5,000 per transaction, on online education fee payments made through third-party apps — Cheq, CRED, Ease My Deal, MobiKwik, NoBroker, Paytm, PhonePe and SuperPe — w.e.f. 1 April 2026. Non-reversible. |
| Fuel transactions | 1% of the transaction amount on fuel transactions (MCC 5172, 5541, 5542, 5983) of ₹10,000 or more. NOT applicable to HPCL Energie BOBCARD. Non-reversible. |
| Card replacement | ₹100 per replacement card. |
| Add-on card | Nil. BOBCARD charges no joining or annual fee on add-on cards. |
| Reward redemption | No per-redemption handling fee is published. Minimum redemption is Reward Points worth ₹1,000, and redemption must be initiated through the BOBCARD Portal or mobile app. |
| EMI processing | Charged per the SmartEMI scheme selected. Purchases above ₹2,500 may be converted. |
| GST | 18% on all fees, interest and other charges. |
Is the BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium Credit Card Worth It?
The welcome Miles are split and conditional: 15,000 in total, part on payment of the joining fee and part on reaching ₹50,000 of cumulative spend. A fee waiver at acquisition would forfeit the first tranche.
The milestones pay 4,000 bonus Miles at ₹300,000 and 24,000 bonus Miles at ₹1,200,000 of annual spend.
8 international lounge visits a year — 2 per quarter — is the travel benefit that survives regardless of how you value Miles.
The ₹5,000 fee is waived at ₹500,000 of spend in each anniversary year.
If you do not fly Etihad, the Miles have no use — that is the whole test for this card.
Three charges are worth knowing before you apply. Finance charges run at 3.75% a month — 45% a year. Late payment is graduated, from ₹100 on a balance of ₹100–₹500 up to ₹1,300 above ₹50,000. And BOBCARD levies non-reversible 1% processing fees on rent, wallet loading, large utility bills and fuel above ₹10,000 — with toll and bus, railway bookings and third-party education payments added to that list on 1 April 2026.
Reward Points lapse if the card goes unused for 365 days, and are forfeited outright on closure, settlement or dues overdue beyond 90 days.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium Credit Card earn rate? 2 Etihad Guest Miles per ₹100 on general spends and 6 per ₹100 on Etihad.com bookings.
What changed on 5 August 2026? The complimentary Gold Tier upgrade now requires a transaction of ₹10,000 or more on Etihad.com within six months of card issuance, where previously any transaction qualified.
What is an Etihad Guest Mile worth? Etihad publishes no rupee rate. This review uses ₹0.50 as an estimate; real value swings with route, cabin and award availability.
What is the welcome benefit? 15,000 bonus Miles, split between payment of the joining fee and reaching ₹50,000 of cumulative spend.
How do I avoid the fee? Spend ₹500,000 or more in each card anniversary year.
How much lounge access? 8 international lounge visits a year, 2 per quarter.
Cards Mentioned in This Article
