Air India SBI Card – Are We Supposed to Be Archivists Now?

[magnusfan]

Need a reality check here.

I’ve been happily swiping my SBI Air India Signature Card, thinking I’m racking up those sweet 30 bonus reward points per ₹100 on Air India bookings. Fast forward a year — no bonus points!


So I emailed SBI Cards and boom — they tell me I need to submit old airline ticket copies or PNR details to get my bonus points. Wait, what? Since when did a credit card come with homework?


I triple-checked the T&Cs — no mention of this little plot twist. No alerts, no heads-up, not even a vague SMS.

Couple of questions for the TF detectives out here:

1. Anyone else asked to submit tickets after months of radio silence?
2. Did you manage to get points credited without digging through your inbox like Indiana Jones?
3. Is this a hidden clause or just SBI winging it?
4. Shouldn’t bonus points for Air India spends be auto-tracked?

I have escalated this to the Banking Ombudsman. Though I've lit the fuse, wanted to check with the gurus here!

Help me not lose my mind — and my miles!

 

[magnusfan]

Anyone using the card who can help pl?

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

This is the latest information bonus points has been revised. From 31st March 2025. I don’t hold SBI AI cards but got this info. For your query I will tag some card holders, let’s see they might help you.

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

@prince747 @rutgersbach @thelazycamel

 

[thelazycamel]

I've had this card for over a year but never used it for Air India tickets lol, almost always other airlines were cheaper even with the "30" point return... but people have reported issues with getting those 30 points and that it takes a long time... wish you the best for this... since all these travels would be linked to your FF account perhaps AI can provide travel certificates? if that's easier than finding past tickets

 

[prince747]

I've had this card for over a year but never used it for Air India tickets lol, almost always other airlines were cheaper even with the "30" point return... but people have reported issues with getting those 30 points and that it takes a long time... wish you the best for this... since all these travels would be linked to your FF account perhaps AI can provide travel certificates? if that's easier than finding past tickets

Yes, receiving the 30% rewards on Air India ticket purchases wasn't straight forward. You'd receive 20%, 6%, and 4% in 3 tranches each after a certain time period from the date of transaction.

It was hell to track. I don't miss it at all.

 

[magnusfan]

Do you recall reading anywhere in their T&Cs that this is the way they operate and we need to entertain their tantrums?

Yes, receiving the 30% rewards on Air India ticket purchases wasn't straight forward. You'd receive 20%, 6%, and 4% in 3 tranches each after a certain time period from the date of transaction.

It was hell to track. I don't miss it at all.

 

[prince747]

Do you recall reading anywhere in their T&Cs that this is the way they operate and we need to entertain their tantrums?

Oh, no. I never read the T&C. Took the 30% at face value, as advertised.

Later when I booked my first ticket and got a much lesser reward rate I reached out to them. That's when they explained the process in detail.

 

[prince747]

Need a reality check here.

I’ve been happily swiping my SBI Air India Signature Card, thinking I’m racking up those sweet 30 bonus reward points per ₹100 on Air India bookings. Fast forward a year — no bonus points!


So I emailed SBI Cards and boom — they tell me I need to submit old airline ticket copies or PNR details to get my bonus points. Wait, what? Since when did a credit card come with homework?


I triple-checked the T&Cs — no mention of this little plot twist. No alerts, no heads-up, not even a vague SMS.

Couple of questions for the TF detectives out here:

1. Anyone else asked to submit tickets after months of radio silence?
2. Did you manage to get points credited without digging through your inbox like Indiana Jones?
3. Is this a hidden clause or just SBI winging it?
4. Shouldn’t bonus points for Air India spends be auto-tracked?

I have escalated this to the Banking Ombudsman. Though I've lit the fuse, wanted to check with the gurus here!

Help me not lose my mind — and my miles!

I never had to submit my tickets to them. It was always automatic.

Although I did face other types of issues like the one I wrote about in a message above.

(My wild guess is they messed up your account activation or the link between the card and the Air India account. Hence they need to credit your account manually).

 

[rutgersbach]

Do you recall reading anywhere in their T&Cs that this is the way they operate and we need to entertain their tantrums?

Yes, I do. It was stated on the homepage under bonus para if you clicked "Read more" and then clicked on T&C link, it was a pdf. Can't find the link but I have a screenshot which I sent to my friend:




That being said, I myself found that EVEN AFTER 60 days, the 20% points were not credited, even when I did everything right.

I had to raise a complaint, which the idiotic customer support didn't understand. Then I raised the same complaint to Nodal Office who again, was an idiot and was sending me non-sense replies. Then I raised it to PNO, after a couple days since raising to PNO, I received a call in which I talked to a customer support executive who actually understood my problem for the first time and then a couple days after that I could finally see the amount being credited to my rewards account. I didn't have to submit any tickets though, because my Maharaja Club number was inserted in the ticket at the time of booking itself(which is a requirement for getting 30%). If you didn't enter it at the time of booking, chances are you will have to share the tickets and still might get denied.

Also, FYI, the 30% offer has been discontinued from this FY, so there's no use of this card now (apart from the joining bonus, which is still unrivalled) vs Axis Atlas which also provides you the flexibility of redeeming points in other airlines or even hotels.(though excluded categories are more).

Also, for your case particularly, I would directly raise a complaint to PNO and ask for a comprehensive detailed statement of reward points since the card was opened(I have asked for this in the past, PNO can provide it easily). Then match all the transactions you did on Air India and ask for all your missing points. The base 4% and the 6% are not an issue but the 20% points have been a miss in most cases.