Icici Sapphiro Variant

[Hitman_107]

Hi Community,
On what platforms is Sapphiro card issued like Visa and Mastercard i know but which variants of visa and mastercard can anyone let me know if they have sapphiro card on visa or mastercard then…..

 

[ak95]

@ashwink @anirban.choudhury @ak95

Is 50% higher PAYBACK points, the only reason for selecting dual variant instead of visa or is there anything more to it ?

As, PAYBACK points are anyway not that great, and AMEX lounge list too is quite short as its co-branded card, So could you please help me with the though process as to why dual variant would be better than single card (even number of lounge entries are same in both)

@Hitman_107, ak95 (tagged above) already has all 3 variant working, check: https://www.technofino.in/community/threads/icici-sapphiro-got-all-3-variants.11539/#post-201101

So, even you can do the same thing... But just wanted to know why you shifted from Dual to Visa ?
as, I think BMS is there for dual variant too.

I had too many Visa Signature cards and ICICI cards are anyway very less rewarding , I wanted Amex for amex related offers (yesterday used my amex sapphiro in dominos app)

I can't get an Amex card because my location is not serviceable so I applied for dual variant. The fact that I could keep my Visa card (even after getting dual) was just cherry on top.

 

[ak95]

Not sure if this is a thing or maybe I was just fooled but back in 2018 I was denied entry in Delhi T3 lounge because their "Visa Free lounge quota" was exhausted and that I could get entry after 12AM (i was there at around 10:00-10:30pm)

So after that incident I always keep atleast 1 VISA, 1MC, 1Rupay, 1 Diners in my wallet
Amex is just another variant for backup

 

[ashwink]

I think Rubyx is also offered in dual , but I am not sure about the railway lounge access.
The reason ICICI offers the dual is because of low acceptance of Amex in India , so they gave MC as a floater with the Amex version .

Someone should only carry the MC version and keep Amex only for online or international transactions, sometimes lounges like Irish house etc do accept the ICICI amex version also , which are premium lounges and only gets access through PP/lounge key or business class tickets , so that could be another use of ICICI Amex cards with lounge access , plus Amex keeps running some offers online and then the ICICI version Amex also gets through the discounts.

Yes Rubyx also available in dual variant.

 

[NOOBY]

I think Rubyx is also offered in dual , but I am not sure about the railway lounge access.
The reason ICICI offers the dual is because of low acceptance of Amex in India , so they gave MC as a floater with the Amex version .

Aahh okay... as reward structure of Rubyx and Sapphiro seems similar..
So, their difference is only in the number of lounge access, golf and 1/2 more items (which I can't remember)

As, AMEX offer would still be valid on Rubyx dual, plus railway lounge (if they provide)

Someone should only carry the MC version and keep Amex only for online or international transactions, sometimes lounges like Irish house etc do accept the ICICI amex version also , which are premium lounges and only gets access through PP/lounge key or business class tickets , so that could be another use of ICICI Amex cards with lounge access , plus Amex keeps running some offers online and then the ICICI version Amex also gets through the discounts.

Got it... but in this case, even Rubyx amex variant should work as the lounge list is same for both

First i didnt receive amex due to ban then rn for bms we ger cashback after 2 months... Whereas for visa we get 1000 discount flat movies. My use case was purely for movies since i mostly watch movies in imax 3d or 4dx version for hollywood.. so i get full 500 max amount discount on 2nd ticket....

Cool, Even I was comparing dual vs VISA variant and was not able to find anything rewarding in dual variant than in VISA (other than 1 more PAYBACK point per transaction)

I had too many Visa Signature cards and ICICI cards are anyway very less rewarding , I wanted Amex for amex related offers (yesterday used my amex sapphiro in dominos app)

I can't get an Amex card because my location is not serviceable so I applied for dual variant. The fact that I could keep my Visa card (even after getting dual) was just cherry on top.

Cool, so amex only for offers...

Yes Rubyx also available in dual variant.

but do you know about their railway lounge access ?
do we get 2 railway lounge access per card in case of dual variant ?


After all this, I think it's better to have Sapphiro VISA and Rubyx Dual (if they have 4 railway lounge access). This way, we can have best of both worlds

 

[ashwink]

Aahh okay... as reward structure of Rubyx and Sapphiro seems similar..
So, their difference is only in the number of lounge access, golf and 1/2 more items (which I can't remember)

As, AMEX offer would still be valid on Rubyx dual, plus railway lounge (if they provide)


Got it... but in this case, even Rubyx amex variant should work as the lounge list is same for both


Cool, Even I was comparing dual vs VISA variant and was not able to find anything rewarding in dual variant than in VISA (other than 1 more PAYBACK point per transaction)


Cool, so amex only for offers...


but do you know about their railway lounge access ?
do we get 2 railway lounge access per card in case of dual variant ?


After all this, I think it's better to have Sapphiro VISA and Rubyx Dual (if they have 4 railway lounge access). This way, we can have best of both worlds

Yeah railway lounge access is available in dual varient

 

[ak95]

If it was possible
I would have asked for Rubyx all 3 variants also for Railway lounge access AND Coral rupay for Rupay related offers
Total 3+3+1 cards under 1 account 😅😅

 

[NOOBY]

Yeah railway lounge access is available in dual varient

That I know, but I wanted some details..

they say they have 2 railway lounge access per quarter.. but is it 2 per card i.e. 4 in total or is it total 2 railway lounge access for the account ?

As, @TechnoFino had said while unboxing rubyx dual variant that we can access 4 times.. which is why I wanted to confirm that

In case of sapphiro, its clearly mentioned 4 airport lounge access (2 per card), but same isn;t mentioned for rubyxs' railway lounge access which is why the question

If it was possible
I would have asked for Rubyx all 3 variants also for Railway lounge access AND Coral rupay for Rupay related offers
Total 3+3+1 cards under 1 account 😅😅

It's possible

after 2-3 months, you can request for Rubyx too... ICICI does not limit you to get only 1/2/3 card... you can have all of them

 

[jack333]

Aahh okay... as reward structure of Rubyx and Sapphiro seems similar..
So, their difference is only in the number of lounge access, golf and 1/2 more items (which I can't remember)

As, AMEX offer would still be valid on Rubyx dual, plus railway lounge (if they provide)


Got it... but in this case, even Rubyx amex variant should work as the lounge list is same for both


Cool, Even I was comparing dual vs VISA variant and was not able to find anything rewarding in dual variant than in VISA (other than 1 more PAYBACK point per transaction)


Cool, so amex only for offers...


but do you know about their railway lounge access ?
do we get 2 railway lounge access per card in case of dual variant ?


After all this, I think it's better to have Sapphiro VISA and Rubyx Dual (if they have 4 railway lounge access). This way, we can have best of both worlds

Are both mc and amex giving double the payback points?

 

[ashwink]

That I know, but I wanted some details..

they say they have 2 railway lounge access per quarter.. but is it 2 per card i.e. 4 in total or is it total 2 railway lounge access for the account ?

As, @TechnoFino had said while unboxing rubyx dual variant that we can access 4 times.. which is why I wanted to confirm that

In case of sapphiro, its clearly mentioned 4 airport lounge access (2 per card), but same isn;t mentioned for rubyxs' railway lounge access which is why the question

It's possible

after 2-3 months, you can request for Rubyx too... ICICI does not limit you to get only 1/2/3 card... you can have all of them

Yup every single card gives you separate access.

 

[NOOBY]

Are both mc and amex giving double the payback points?

I think only amex variant gives that... Reward point of AMEX is higher than MC/VISA

Payback Reward structure of Rubyx and Sapphiro is same though... Sapphiro only has higher domestic airport lounge limit, international lounge access, golf and higher BMS offer

Yup every single card gives you separate access.

Okay, so this would mean MC is giving 2 per quarter, and same by Amex.. so, Rubyx variant has 4 railway lounge access per quarter... Sound great!!

 

[jack333]

Sapphiro doesn't have railway lounge i think. Only coral, rubyx and makemytrip have

 

[NOOBY]

Sapphiro doesn't have railway lounge i think. Only coral, rubyx and makemytrip have

Yup (which is sad)

 

[jack333]

They expect people holding Sapphiro and Emeralde to travel by air only and stay away from railways 🤣

 

[ak95]

It's possible

after 2-3 months, you can request for Rubyx too... ICICI does not limit you to get only 1/2/3 card... you can have all of them

After getting Sapphiro last year I have tried twice to apply for another ICICI Card but every time application page shows that I am not eligible for any credit card & next day I receive a call from CC that I already have Sapphiro so they can't give me lower variant card

Someone here suggested me to try twitter method but that was also futile.

 

[Rishab Goel]

After getting Sapphiro last year I have tried twice to apply for another ICICI Card but every time application page shows that I am not eligible for any credit card & next day I receive a call from CC that I already have Sapphiro so they can't give me lower variant card

Someone here suggested me to try twitter method but that was also futile.

Yep same. I also don't get shown shown any lower variant card. Seems like I'm stuck with Sapphiro!

By the way, all 3 variants of your Sapphiro are working fine right? No pressure from bank to cancel the VISA one or any such thing? And what method to choose for asking them variant change? Tried emailing but got a standard response declining it.

 

[NOOBY]

After getting Sapphiro last year I have tried twice to apply for another ICICI Card but every time application page shows that I am not eligible for any credit card & next day I receive a call from CC that I already have Sapphiro so they can't give me lower variant card

Someone here suggested me to try twitter method but that was also futile.

Yep same. I also don't get shown shown any lower variant card. Seems like I'm stuck with Sapphiro!

By the way, all 3 variants of your Sapphiro are working fine right? No pressure from bank to cancel the VISA one or any such thing? And what method to choose for asking them variant change? Tried emailing but got a standard response declining it.

Replying to both:

This happens only if you have only Sapphiro in your list.

If you any other card (even Amazon), then you can ask for a new card on the basis of that lower variant card.

So, If you have Sapphiro and Platinum card, then you can ask for Coral card, on the basis of Platinum card i.e. telling them that you want to upgrade your platinum to Coral

this way, your Platinum will not get closed (as ICICI doesn't do that), and you will also get Coral (as that's an upgrade).

As ICICI doesn't close any cards, you can also try to ask for Downgrade (but make sure that they do not close the card)... so you can ask for downgrade from Sapphiro to Rubyx, provided they do not ask you to cancel Sapphiro

 

[ak95]

Yep same. I also don't get shown shown any lower variant card. Seems like I'm stuck with Sapphiro!

By the way, all 3 variants of your Sapphiro are working fine right? No pressure from bank to cancel the VISA one or any such thing? And what method to choose for asking them variant change? Tried emailing but got a standard response declining it.

Yes all three variants are working fine
Used Visa for BOGO on BMS last week
Used Amex for Dominos offer 2-3 days ago
Used MC for Amazon Sale this week

I had emailed them twice, the first time they rejected straght away then I waited for 2 days again sent the same email, this time I received a positive reply

 

[ak95]

Replying to both:

This happens only if you have only Sapphiro in your list.

If you any other card (even Amazon), then you can ask for a new card on the basis of that lower variant card.

So, If you have Sapphiro and Platinum card, then you can ask for Coral card, on the basis of Platinum card i.e. telling them that you want to upgrade your platinum to Coral

this way, your Platinum will not get closed (as ICICI doesn't do that), and you will also get Coral (as that's an upgrade).

As ICICI doesn't close any cards, you can also try to ask for Downgrade (but make sure that they do not close the card)... so you can ask for downgrade from Sapphiro to Rubyx, provided they do not ask you to cancel Sapphiro

This is interesting, I actually have both Amazon Pay & MMT Signature but never asked for Coral or Rubyx on the basis of these cards.
Maybe I will try this next.

 

[NOOBY]

This is interesting, I actually have both Amazon Pay & MMT Signature but never asked for Coral or Rubyx on the basis of these cards.
Maybe I will try this next.

use MMT Signature then, ICICI doesn't seem to respect Apay

You can try Rubyx via MMT Signature (as they are at same level). I did it with MMT Plat and was able to get Coral Rupay

 

[lks999]

Visa signature
I had the visa variant initially which I converted to dual variant

How to convert to dual variant