👉 Click here to apply for Scapia Credit Card: no joining fee, no annual fee, lifetime free.
The Scapia Federal Credit Card is a lifetime-free travel card from Federal Bank and Scapia. You get zero forex markup, Scapia Coins on eligible spends, and domestic airport privileges after a monthly spend. This review is updated for September 2026.
I am not listing a brochure. I used the card on trips to Thailand and Doha, and on that holiday it saved me over ₹10,000. The card rules have changed since then. The savings story below is from that trip. The fees, coins, and lounge rule are what Scapia publishes now.
What changed in 2026
- Lounge spend is ₹20,000, not ₹10,000. It is the combined Visa and RuPay spend in the previous billing cycle. Scapia's own guide and Federal Bank both state this.
- You get two cards on one account: Visa for international and in-person spends, RuPay for UPI on credit in India. One limit, one statement.
- Coins are not equal on every swipe: 10% Scapia Coins on eligible Visa spends, 5% on eligible RuPay spends, and 20% on travel booked in the Scapia app. Forex transactions do not earn coins.
- Activate airport privileges in the app before you pay. It does not work after the fact.
- Zero joining fee and zero annual fee are unchanged. Zero forex markup is unchanged.
How I saved ₹10,000+ on Thailand and Doha
Here is the math from that holiday. Treat it as one trip, not a promise for every bill.
- Zero forex markup. On flights, hotels, shopping, and meals abroad I skipped the usual 3.5% to 4% forex fee. That was about ₹6,000.
- Airport privileges. Instead of paying ₹800 to ₹1,000 for a lounge or an overpriced meal, I used lounge access and dining cover. Across the trips that was ₹2,000+.
- Scapia Coins. I redeemed coins for hotel stays on the way back. That covered about ₹2,500.
Total on that trip: about ₹10,500. If I took the same trip today, the lounge unlock would need ₹20,000 in the previous cycle, not ₹10,000.
Airport privileges and lounge access
Spend ₹20,000 across the Visa and RuPay cards in the previous billing cycle. Privileges start on the next statement date. Then you choose, per domestic visit:
- Complimentary domestic lounge access, or
- Dining, shopping, or spa at the airport, reimbursed in Scapia Coins. Scapia caps that at ₹1,000 at metro airports and ₹500 at smaller airports.
Open the Scapia app and activate the benefit before you pay. On the Bangkok to Doha to India route I used the dining option and still used the lounge on domestic legs in India. There is still no international lounge.
Rewards and Scapia Coins
- 10% Scapia Coins on eligible Visa spends.
- 5% on eligible RuPay and UPI spends.
- 20% on flights, hotels, trains, buses, and other travel booked in the Scapia app.
- No coins on forex transactions, even though those transactions have zero markup.
- Redeem coins inside the Scapia app for flights, hotels, trains, buses, visas, and shopping. They do not transfer to airline or hotel points.
On my trips I booked hotels and a domestic flight with coins I had already earned. That is real value only if you actually book travel in the app.
Fees: still lifetime free
Federal Bank still lists zero joining fee and zero annual fee. Add-on cards for up to three family members use the same benefits and do not add a fee. You do not have to "earn back" a ₹3,000 to ₹10,000 annual charge before the card is worth keeping.
The app
The iOS app is still the reason the card feels usable. Transactions show the merchant, the coins, and the cost. You can book travel in the app and pay with coins. Smart Forex switches the view to the local currency when you are abroad. For a large international ticket you can split the payment into EMIs in the app.
Downsides
- Domestic lounges only. International lounges are not included.
- ₹20,000 spend gate. Miss the previous cycle and the next month has no airport privilege.
- Activate before you pay. A lounge visit you forgot to turn on is not reimbursed later.
- Coins stay inside Scapia. No transfer to airline or hotel programmes.
- No rewards on foreign spends. Zero forex is the benefit. The coins are not.
Verdict
If you travel a few times a year and you can put ₹20,000 on the card in a normal month, the Scapia Federal Credit Card is still the lifetime-free card I would keep. I saved more than ₹10,000 on one Thailand and Doha trip. I would not pick it if you want cashback in rupees or points you can move to another loyalty programme.
