KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex Review 2026: 10 Miles per ₹200 on Singapore Airlines, Elite Gold & FAQs

The KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex is SBI's top airline co-brand: ₹9,999 a year, 10 KrisFlyer Miles per ₹200 on Singapore Airlines, 8 on international spends and 6 on everything else, credited directly to your KrisFlyer account with no redemption step. It comes with eight domestic and eight international lounge visits a year, and spending ₹7.5 lakh on Singapore Airlines upgrades you to KrisFlyer Elite Gold.

It is also the second most expensive card in SBI's range, and it has no fee waiver at any spend level. This article works through whether that adds up.

KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex Quick Overview

Eligibility Criteria

SBI Card publishes no age or income threshold. Approval rests on its own assessment. Indian residency and a valid PAN are required. Add-on cards are free — but note the Priority Pass benefit is for primary cardholders only.

What a KrisFlyer Mile Is Actually Worth

Every percentage in this article uses ₹0.67 a mile, and it is worth explaining why, because the honest answer is a range rather than a number.

₹0.67 is used because it is Singapore Airlines' own published, always-available rate — it needs no award seat and no redemption window. It is also FX-dependent, since the underlying rate is fixed in Singapore dollars.

If you redeem for long-haul business class, this card is materially better than the numbers below suggest — potentially two and a half times better. If you redeem economy awards, slightly worse. Miles are credited directly to your KrisFlyer account on the statement date, which is unusually clean, but it also means they leave SBI's control and fall under Singapore Airlines' own expiry rules (typically three years).

Reward Structure

None of the three rates carries a published cap. An uncapped 2.01% base rate is the strongest in SBI's range outside the cashback cards, and it is what makes the Apex defensible as an everyday card rather than purely an airline card.

Two conditions the schema can't capture

The international rate is a geography condition, not a merchant category. There is no MCC for "spent abroad" — so any calculator working from merchant categories will understate this card badly for someone who spends overseas. In practice the acquirer's country code determines it.

The Singapore Airlines rate is merchant-keyed. It fires on Singapore Airlines Group transactions. Note that on the Apex, Singapore Airlines spend (10 miles) genuinely outearns general international spend (8 miles) — unlike the standard KrisFlyer SBI Card, where both earn 5 and there is no premium for flying SQ at all.

The ₹200 denominator

All three rates accrue per ₹200, and accrual rounds down to complete ₹200 blocks. A ₹350 purchase earns on ₹200. On small, frequent transactions the effective rate is meaningfully below the headline.

The Elite Gold Upgrade

Spend ₹7,50,000 on Singapore Airlines, booked through the Singapore Airlines app or website, and you are upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold.

This is not a milestone that pays miles — it is a status upgrade, and for a regular SQ flyer it may be the card's most valuable feature. Elite Gold brings Star Alliance Gold benefits: priority check-in and boarding, extra baggage allowance, and lounge access across the Star Alliance network independent of the card's own lounge entitlement.

₹7.5 lakh of airline spend is a lot — roughly four to six long-haul business class tickets, or considerably more in economy. But for someone whose employer or business books SQ regularly on this card, the status is genuinely hard to buy otherwise.

Welcome Benefit and Milestones

Welcome: 10,000 KrisFlyer Miles — ₹6,700 at ₹0.67 — credited on payment of the annual fee and a first transaction within 60 days of card issuance. That recovers two-thirds of the ₹9,999 fee in year one.

Milestones:

A caution on the second one: SBI describes the first as annual and the second as cumulative, which may mean lifetime rather than anniversary-year. If it is lifetime, the 3,000-mile bonus is a one-time award, not a recurring one. Worth confirming with the bank.

Milestones run annually from the account creation date, not the calendar year, and credit within 30 days.

Lounge Access

• 8 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits a year — 2 per quarter
• 8 complimentary international visits a year — 2 per quarter

Both on a complimentary Priority Pass membership worth US$99, with two limitations SBI states plainly:

• Primary cardholders only — add-on holders are not covered
• Valid for 2 years only — after that the membership lapses, even though the card continues

That second point matters at a ₹9,999 fee. From year three you are paying the same fee for a card whose Priority Pass membership has expired, unless SBI renews it (which the captured terms do not promise). Ask about renewal before year three.

Beyond the complimentary visits, Priority Pass lounges are charged at the standard rate.

Worked Example

Illustrative, at ₹80,000 a month — ₹9.6 lakh a year:

Annual tally:

Plus 8 domestic and 8 international lounge visits, not counted.

Redeem those miles for long-haul business class instead and the same accrual is worth roughly ₹55,000–₹69,000 — which is the case for this card in one line.

Where You Won't Earn

SBI does not publish an exclusion list for this card. Its wording is "Reward Points are not applicable on some spend categories. Refer to TnC for more details" — and the referenced T&C is not reproduced on the product page.

Fuel and cash advances are excluded, as on every SBI card. Treat the base rate as a ceiling on categories SBI has not addressed, and check your statement in the first month or two.

The fuel surcharge waiver is the whole fuel benefit: 1% reversed on transactions between ₹500 and ₹3,000, capped at ₹100 per statement cycle — a low cap for a ₹9,999 card.

SBI's range-wide transaction fees apply: ₹199 per rent payment, 1% on wallet loads above ₹1,000, 1% on utility payments once the cycle total passes ₹50,000, and 1% on education payments through third-party apps.

Fees and Charges

The 3.5% forex markup is the card's central contradiction. This is an airline card paying 2.68% on international spends — and charging 3.5% to make them. You are net 0.82% down on every foreign transaction, before considering that the miles may be worth more than ₹0.67. SBI Card ELITE and AURUM both charge 1.99%; neither earns KrisFlyer Miles.

Apex vs the Standard KrisFlyer SBI Card

The Apex triples the base rate — the single biggest difference, and the reason it works as an everyday card. Break-even on the ₹7,000 fee difference is about ₹5.2 lakh of general annual spend, at which point the higher base rate alone repays the gap.

Is the KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex Worth It?

Yes, if you fly Singapore Airlines regularly and spend ₹6 lakh+ a year on the card. The uncapped 2.01% base rate, 3.35% on SQ and the Elite Gold pathway make it one of the strongest premium propositions in India — provided you redeem for premium-cabin awards.

Yes, if you redeem for long-haul business class. At ₹1.74–₹2.17 a mile the card returns well over 5% on SQ spend, and the analysis above is conservative by a wide margin.

No, if you redeem for merchandise. At the KrisShop rate the card returns 2.01% base against a ₹9,999 unwaivable fee. SBI Card PRIME pays 2.5% on four everyday categories for ₹2,999 with the fee reversed at ₹3 lakh.

No, if you spend heavily abroad but do not fly SQ. The 3.5% forex markup cancels the 2.68% international rate. A 1.99%-markup card serves better.

Watch the two-year Priority Pass limit. From year three the lounge membership lapses unless renewed, on a card whose fee never does.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the annual fee of the KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex? ₹9,999 plus GST, on joining and renewal. There is no spend-based fee reversal at any level on either KrisFlyer card.

What is the reward rate? 10 KrisFlyer Miles per ₹200 on Singapore Airlines Group, 8 per ₹200 on international spends and 6 per ₹200 on everything else — 3.35%, 2.68% and 2.01% at ₹0.67 a mile. None of the rates is capped.

What is a KrisFlyer Mile worth? It depends on redemption. Singapore Airlines' guaranteed KrisShop, Pelago and Kris+ rate is 100 miles = SGD 1, about ₹0.67 — the figure used throughout this review. Business-class awards ex-India run ₹1.74–₹2.17 a mile; economy awards about ₹0.47.

How do I get KrisFlyer Elite Gold? Spend ₹7,50,000 on Singapore Airlines, booked through the Singapore Airlines app or website. Elite Gold carries Star Alliance Gold benefits — priority check-in and boarding, extra baggage and Star Alliance lounge access.

How are miles credited? Directly to your KrisFlyer account on the statement date, with no redemption request needed. They then fall under Singapore Airlines' own expiry rules, typically three years.

How many lounge visits do I get? Eight domestic and eight international a year, two per quarter each, on a complimentary Priority Pass membership. The membership is for primary cardholders only and is valid for two years only.

What spends are excluded? SBI does not publish a list for this card — it refers to the T&C without reproducing it. Fuel and cash advances are excluded as standard. Check your statement early.

Is the Apex worth ₹7,000 more than the standard KrisFlyer card? If your general annual spend exceeds roughly ₹5.2 lakh, yes — the tripled base rate alone repays the difference, before the doubled SQ rate, larger milestones and doubled lounge entitlement.