The SBI Elite Credit Card is facing a mixed update: the Priority Pass lounge benefit is being reduced from 6 visits per quarter to 2 visits per quarter starting June 2026, while the annual fee remains unchanged at ₹4,999. The Trident Privilege membership benefit is also being discontinued, but the ₹5,000 milestone reward on spending ₹10 lakh per year stays intact. This combination makes the card less attractive for travel-heavy users even though the fee is not increasing.
The structure of the change matters. SBI is not charging more, but it is clearly giving less in return. A reduction from 6 to 2 quarterly lounge visits is a major cut, and the removal of Trident Privilege membership strips out another premium hotel-related perk. The milestone benefit remains at ₹5,000 for ₹10 lakh annual spending, which means high spenders still have a reason to keep the card. But for users who valued lounge access, the economics are weaker from June 2026 onward.
The card’s biggest losers are frequent flyers and hotel users who relied on SBI Elite as a premium travel companion. Compared with Axis Magnus, which still retains 8 Priority Pass visits per year in the scraped data, SBI Elite now looks less competitive for airport lounge usage. Compared with HDFC Regalia, which is improving dining rewards without changing its fee, SBI Elite is moving in the opposite direction. For customers who can hit the ₹10 lakh milestone, the card may still make sense, but the value proposition is clearly more limited than before.
There is no opt-in or enrollment to manage because this is a policy change that will take effect automatically in June 2026. Existing cardholders should plan their lounge usage before the cutover date if they want to maximize the old allowance. New applicants should compare the reduced lounge access against competing premium cards before applying. The key fine print is that the annual fee stays fixed at ₹4,999, so the benefit reduction is not offset by any price relief. That makes the change a straightforward devaluation for travel-oriented users.