If you’re carrying the SBI Card Elite mainly for travel perks, this update is hard to ignore. SBI is reducing Priority Pass lounge visits from 6 to 2 per quarter starting June 2026, and that is a meaningful downgrade for anyone who relied on the card for frequent airport access. The annual fee stays unchanged at ₹4,999, so cardholders are paying the same price for less lounge utility.
There’s more to this change than just the lounge cut. SBI has also discontinued the Trident Privilege membership benefit, which removes another premium travel perk from the card’s package. On the other hand, the milestone benefit of ₹5,000 on spending ₹10 lakh remains intact, so the card is not being stripped bare — but the travel side of the value equation has clearly been trimmed.
This is the sort of update that forces a quick wallet audit. Elite has always been pitched as a premium card with a mix of travel and lifestyle benefits, but lounge access is often the feature that justifies keeping a card like this in the first place. Cutting Priority Pass usage from 6 to 2 per quarter makes the card far less attractive for frequent flyers, especially if you travel multiple times in a month or use lounges for family trips.
The unchanged fee makes the devaluation sting more. If a card gets more expensive, at least the bank is being upfront about the trade-off. Here, SBI is keeping the ₹4,999 annual fee while reducing one of the most visible premium benefits. For many cardholders, that means the card’s value now depends much more on whether they can actually use the milestone reward and whether the remaining benefits fit their spending pattern.
In practical terms, this update pushes SBI Card Elite closer to being a niche card rather than a broad travel companion. If you are a light traveler, the change may not hurt much. But if lounge access was the main reason you kept the card, this is a strong signal to compare alternatives before the new limit takes effect. Cards with better lounge structures may now offer a cleaner value proposition.
What You Should Do: If lounge access is a key reason you hold SBI Card Elite, start comparing alternatives now and don’t assume the old travel value will continue. If you still want to keep it, plan around the June 2026 change and treat the card more as a milestone-spend product than a lounge-heavy travel card.