Who this card is for
Anyone who travels domestically at least four times a year and doesn't want to pay an annual fee to enter airport lounges. Frequent flyers in their 20s and 30s based in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai or any tier-1 airport city will extract the most value. A Rs 3 lakh minimum income is modest, so young salaried workers can qualify. We'd also recommend it as a second card to anyone who travels abroad once a year and is tired of the 3.5% forex markup that most Indian cards charge.
What you earn
Scapia's reward structure is deliberately narrow. You get 20% back in Scapia Coins on any hotel or flight booking you make through the Scapia app. You get 1% on everything else. Coins redeem for future travel through the app at 1:1 with INR. That's it. No category bonuses, no partner brand tie-ins.
Is that limiting? Yes, genuinely. If you're looking for a general cashback workhorse, this isn't it. A Rs 50,000 flight booking through Scapia gives you Rs 5,000 in Coins, which is excellent if you're going to book another flight in the next 12 months. If not, the Coins can lose their value and the reward effectively vanishes.
Where Scapia wins is the non-reward benefits. Domestic airport lounge access at a lifetime free card is rare â though it requires ₹20,000+ of monthly card spend to unlock an Airport Privilege credit each billing cycle. The closest competitor we've seen is the IDFC Wealth, which requires a lifestyle upgrade to qualify for. Zero forex markup is also a standalone reason to keep this card in your wallet for every foreign transaction, even if you carry something else as your daily driver. Think of Scapia as the travel layer in a two-card setup, not your primary.
Worth knowing about the app experience. Scapia's hotel inventory is powered by a smaller set of partners than MakeMyTrip, so availability for Tier 2 destinations can be patchy. Flight options are more comprehensive. For international trips, we'd cross-check pricing on Skyscanner before committing to a Scapia booking purely to capture the 10%. If the base fare is Rs 3,000 higher than elsewhere, the 10% cashback doesn't cover the gap.
| Category | Rate | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| travel | 20% | 20% back in Scapia Coins on travel bookings (flights, hotels, buses, trains, experiences) via Scapia app |
| Default cashback rate | 1% | All other eligible spends |
What you actually pay
There is no fee, ever. Joining is free, annual is free, and we've seen no fine print about hidden charges. That alone puts this card in a category of one. Most Indian banks charge something, or hide a renewal charge in year two. Scapia doesn't.
What about forex and fuel? Forex markup is zero, the best rate in the market. Fuel surcharge waiver applies to all fuel transactions, with no minimum or maximum bound. Honestly, the fee structure is the single most aggressive thing about the card. Federal Bank is clearly positioning this as a user-acquisition play, so we wouldn't assume these terms last forever, but as of April 2026 the pricing is still intact.
| Joining fee | ₹0 |
| Annual fee | ₹0 |
What we like, what we don't
What works
- Lifetime free with zero joining and zero annual fees, no waiver conditions to worry about
- Domestic airport lounge access (Airport Privilege credit, unlocked with ₹20,000+ monthly spend) on a zero-fee card
- Zero forex markup fee on international transactions, saves roughly 3.5% per foreign spend
- 20% Scapia Coins on app-booked travel, which can offset a full flight with a year of regular travel
- 1% cashback on all other spends, acceptable default for a free card
What it costs you
- Scapia Coins only redeem through the Scapia app for travel, so if you stop travelling the rewards become unusable
- Scapia app's hotel and flight inventory is limited compared to MakeMyTrip or Booking, so you may pay a higher base fare to capture the 10%
- Owning this card blocks you from holding any other Federal Bank credit card for the same PAN, per recent user reports
- No international lounge access, so long-haul flyers will still need a Priority Pass card