KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex Review: Is It Worth ₹9,999 for Singapore Airlines Loyalists?

The KrisFlyer SBI Card Apex is the super-premium half of SBI's co-branded partnership with Singapore Airlines. It's a narrow, purpose-built card — earning strong miles on SIA Group spend and layering on priority boarding and seat-selection privileges — rather than a general-purpose travel card you'd hold for flexibility. If you're not already invested in the KrisFlyer ecosystem, most of what makes this card special won't matter to you.

Fees and eligibility at a glance

Joining and annual fees are both ₹9,999, and there's no spend-based waiver — this is a fee you pay in full every year regardless of usage, so there's no way to work it down through spending more. Forex markup is 3.5%, on the higher end for a super-premium travel card, which is a real cost if you're using this abroad frequently rather than just for SIA bookings. Combined with the flat fee and elevated forex cost, eligibility for this card skews toward a very high income bar, which limits who can realistically apply.

Rewards and how they actually work

The card earns miles at a 1.5% base rate, but the accelerator is the real draw: up to 5% miles on spend with the Singapore Airlines Group specifically. Outside SIA-related bookings, the earn rate is respectable but unremarkable for this fee tier. A 10,000-mile welcome bonus lands on joining and completing the first transaction within 60 days — a substantial head start toward an award redemption, since KrisFlyer awards can require tens of thousands of miles depending on route and cabin. Redemption for statement credit, vouchers, or physical products carries a ₹99 + tax fee per batch request, standard across SBI's premium card range.

Lounge access and travel perks

Cardholders get 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (2 per quarter) plus 8 complimentary international lounge visits through a Priority Pass membership — though that Priority Pass access is only valid for the first two years, an important detail that's easy to miss when comparing this against cards with permanent Priority Pass memberships. Beyond lounges, the SIA-specific perks are the real differentiators: priority boarding and seat selection privileges when flying with the Singapore Airlines Group, on top of the accelerated mile-earning rate. There's also a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between ₹500 and ₹4,000.

What's genuinely good about this card

The up-to-5% mile earn rate on SIA Group spend is genuinely strong for a co-branded card, and combined with the 10,000-mile welcome bonus, it front-loads real value for anyone who flies Singapore Airlines, Scoot, or partner carriers with any regularity. Priority boarding and seat selection are small conveniences individually, but they compound across a year of travel into a noticeably smoother experience than flying without them. The 8 domestic plus 8 international lounge visits a year is a solid allotment for this fee tier, comparable to cards costing more, even accounting for the two-year Priority Pass limit.

Where it falls short

The lack of any waiver spend threshold is the most consequential drawback — at ₹9,999 a year with no way to reduce it, this card only makes financial sense if you're actively extracting value from the SIA-specific perks every year, not just holding it for the occasional flight. The Priority Pass international lounge access expiring after two years is a real limitation that undercuts the card's long-term value proposition unless SBI renews the arrangement, and it's the kind of detail that can catch renewing cardholders off guard. A 3.5% forex markup is high for a card marketed around international travel, meaning any non-SIA overseas spend is better routed through a lower-markup card. And the very high income bar required for approval narrows the realistic applicant pool considerably before you even get to whether the rewards fit your travel pattern.

Who this card actually makes sense for

This card is built for high-income frequent flyers who are already loyal to the Singapore Airlines ecosystem — people who fly SIA, Scoot, or Star Alliance partners regularly enough to make the accelerated mile rate, priority boarding, and welcome bonus worth the flat, unwaivable fee. It's a poor fit for anyone without an existing SIA travel pattern, since the card's best features are entirely tied to that one airline group.

Where to go from here

For a broader comparison of mile-earning travel cards, see our best credit cards for air miles in India and best co-branded airline credit cards in India. For SBI's full range, our SBI credit cards guide shows where Apex sits relative to the bank's other travel and lounge-access options.