The travel segment has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last few years. As more and more Indians travel within and outside India, banks have been launching travel-centric credit cards. Kotak Bank is the latest bank to launch a travel-centric card – the Kotak Solitaire Credit Card. In this article, we will understand the features and benefits of this card and whether it is a good card to have.
Features and benefits of Kotak Solitaire Credit Card
The Kotak Solitaire Credit Card is an invite-only credit card crafted exclusively for the select few. It is a metal card and provides a number of travel-centric features. Some of these include earning airmiles, unlimited lounge access, benefits on ITC Hotels bookings, transfer of airmiles to travel partners, zero forex mark-up, 1% fuel surcharge waiver, etc. Let us understand the features and benefits in detail.
Earning airmiles: The cardholder earns 10 airmiles for every Rs. 100 spent on flight and hotel bookings made through the Kotak Unbox platform. All other spends earn 3 airmiles for every Rs. 100 spent (subject to excluded categories).
A maximum of 1,00,000 airmiles can be earned in a statement cycle through the Unbox platform. On reaching the limit, the cardholder will earn the base reward rate of 3 airmiles for every Rs. 100 spent. Spends on the following categories will not earn any air miles – fuel, rent, wallet loading, utility, telecom, insurance, education, Government, and international spending. The airmiles have a validity of three years.
The value of each airmile is Rs. 1 when redeemed for flights, hotels, and travel add-ons on Kotak Unbox. When redeemed for gift vouchers, merchandise, etc., the value of each airmile will be Rs. 0.50. When the airmiles are redeemed for travel bookings, vouchers, and merchandise, only 80% of the transaction value can be paid with airmiles. The remaining 20% of the transaction value must be paid with the Solitaire Credit Card.
The airmiles can be transferred to various partners in a specified ratio.
|
Airline/Hotel Partner |
Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|
|
Etihad Airways |
2:1 |
|
Qatar Airlines |
2:1 |
|
British Airways |
2:1 |
|
United Airlines |
2:1 |
|
Cathay Pacific |
2:1 |
|
Air France |
2:1 |
|
Air Canada |
2:1 |
|
Singapore Airlines |
2:1 |
|
Indian water |
1:1 |
|
Accor Live Limitless (ALL) |
2:1 |
|
Marriott Bonvoy |
3:1 |
(Source: Kotak Bank website)
A minimum of 2,000 airmiles are required for transfer to any partner.
Complimentary lounge access: The Kotak Solitaire Credit Card provides unlimited complimentary domestic and international airport lounge access to the primary and add-on cardholders. The domestic lounge access is powered by DreamFolks and international lounge access is powered by Priority Pass.
The card also provides complimentary airport lounge access for a guest. For guests, it is limited to 4 complimentary lounge visits (2 domestic and 2 international) per primary cardholder.
Zero forex mark-up: The cardholder can enjoy zero forex mark-up on all international transactions.
Fuel surcharge waiver: The card provides a 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all petrol pumps in India for fuel transactions between Rs. 400 and Rs. 7,500. The maximum fuel surcharge waiver that can be availed of in a card anniversary year is limited to Rs. 10,000.
Minimal cash withdrawal fees: The cardholder can make cash withdrawals across any ATM around the globe for just a 1% fee. For cash withdrawals, there will be no interest or APR charges till the payment due date.
Benefits for hotel booking: The cardholder can enjoy exclusive privileges at ITC Hotels, Elivaas Villas, and Alaya Stays. These include a 50% off on the second night, complimentary 3rd night on booking two consecutive nights, etc.
Fees: There is no joining fee for the Kotak Solitaire Credit Card. The annual fee is Rs. 25,000 + Taxes. The annual fee is waived for Kotak Solitaire Program customers. It is an invite-only credit card. There is no eligibility criteria mentioned on the Kotak Bank website.
How do the Kotak Solitaire Credit Card rewards compare with other credit cards?
Are you looking for a travel-centric credit card with good benefits and a lower annual fee? You can look at Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card, American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card, HSBC TravelOne Credit Card, etc.
The Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card provides an accelerated reward rate of 5 Edge Miles (card reward currency) per Rs. 100 spent on direct flight/hotel booking with the respective company. There are milestone spend-based benefits. You can choose from 19 airline and hotel partners to transfer Edge Miles in the 1:2 ratio (except for Marriott Bonvoy 2:1). The annual fee is Rs. 5,000 + Taxes.
The American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card provides 2 Membership Rewards or MR (card reward currency) for every Rs. 100 spent. It provides 3X MR points for spends through the Reward Multiplier (RM) platform. The card has two milestones. On spending Rs. 1.9 lakhs in a card membership year, the cardholder gets 15,000 bonus MR points. On spending Rs. 4 lakhs in a card membership year, the cardholder gets an additional 25,000 bonus MR points and a Rs. 10,000 Taj e-gift cards.
Thus, for Rs. 4 lakhs spent in a year, the cardholder gets base/accelerated MR points, 40,000 bonus MR points, and a Rs. 10,000 Taj e-gift cards. The MR points can be transferred to various airline and hotel partners. The annual fee is Rs. 5,000 + Taxes.
Apart from the above travel-centric credit cards, there are a couple of invite-only premium metal credit cards. These include the HDFC Bank Infinia and ICICI Bank Emeralde Private Metal credit cards. The HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card offers a reward rate of up to 33% for spends on the SmartBuy portal. The ICICI Bank Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card offers a reward rate of up to 36% for spends on the iShop portal. These higher reward rates are offered at a lower annual fee than the Kotak Solitaire Credit Card.
Is Kotak Solitaire Credit Card a good card to have?
The Kotak Solitaire Credit Card has a base reward rate of 3% and an accelerated reward rate of 10% on flight and hotel bookings made through the Kotak Unbox platform. It is a good reward rate. The card provides travel benefits like unlimited lounge access, zero forex mark-up, exclusive privileges at ITC Hotels, etc.
However, the annual fee of Rs. 25,000 + Taxes are on the higher side. There is no annual spend-based waiver criteria for the annual fees. Also, it is an invite-only card, which may make it difficult to get. The Kotak Bank website mentions the card has been crafted exclusively for the select few.
If you are a Kotak Solitaire Program customer, consider the Kotak Solitaire Credit Card, as the annual fee is waived.
Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.
