If you rely on the SBI Card Elite for lounge access, this is a clear downgrade you should not ignore. Starting June 2026, the card’s Priority Pass benefit is being reduced from 6 to 2 lounge visits per quarter. On top of that, the Trident Privilege membership benefit is being discontinued, so this update is not just about lounges — it’s a broader trimming of premium perks.
The annual fee stays at ₹4,999, which is important because the card is not getting cheaper even as some benefits shrink. The good news, if we can call it that, is that the milestone benefit of ₹5,000 on spending ₹10 lakh remains intact. So SBI is keeping the headline spend-linked reward in place while scaling back some of the more easy-to-use travel extras.
For many cardholders, the lounge cut is the bigger story. Priority Pass is one of the most visible premium features on a card like Elite, and reducing access from 6 to 2 per quarter changes how often the card can realistically be used for airport travel. If you travel frequently, this makes the card less compelling unless you are specifically chasing the milestone benefit or value the rest of the package.
The removal of Trident Privilege membership also matters because it signals that SBI is willing to pare back non-core premium add-ons. That’s usually a sign that cardholders should review whether the annual fee still makes sense for their own usage pattern. A card can look premium on paper, but if the benefits you actually use are being reduced, the math changes quickly.
Compared with other premium cards in the market, SBI Elite is now more of a selective-use card than a broad travel companion. If you were holding it mainly for lounge access, this update weakens the case quite a bit. If you were using it for the milestone benefit and other SBI-specific perks, it may still have a place — but only if you’re spending enough to justify the fee.
What You Should Do: If you mainly kept SBI Elite for lounge access, start comparing alternatives now and don’t renew blindly. If you can still extract value from the ₹5,000 milestone benefit on ₹10 lakh spend, keep the card under review, but treat the June 2026 change as your cue to reassess.