RBL Bank quietly introduced the “PLAY by BookMyShow” Credit Card in the third week of September 2022 through an exclusive partnership with BookMyShow. RBL already offered several entertainment-focused cards—such as the Fun+ card (later replaced by the Movies and More card) and the Blockbuster card—resulting in some customer confusion over overlapping features and benefits.
A few years later, RBL discontinued some of these overlapping products and launched the RBL Popcorn Credit Card, which shares many similar features and benefits. Below is a concise, user-friendly summary of the PLAY credit card’s fees, eligibility, features, limitations and overall experience.
Fee Structure
Joining Fee:
- INR 500 + GST (waived at approval if you are a BookMyShow Superstar)
Welcome Offer: Two movie tickets (up to INR 500 total — INR 250 each) redeemable on BookMyShow. This applies even if your joining fee is waived as a BookMyShow Superstar. Additionally, you receive INR 200 BookMyShow cash after card approval upon completing VKYC.
Terms: Activate and make at least one transaction with the PLAY credit card within 30 days of issuance. The ticket offer is valid across Movies, Plays, Events, Sports, Activities and Stream categories for 90 days from card activation. Convenience fees apply.
Annual Fee:
- INR 500 + GST
Annual fee is waived while you remain a BookMyShow Superstar. For non-Superstars the annual fee is waived if you spend INR 150,000 or more in a year.
BookMyShow Superstar
BookMyShow awards Superstar status to users who complete 10 bookings in the past 365 days, with each booking amounting to at least INR 100. Superstar status is retained by making 10 or more qualifying bookings in subsequent years.
Features & Benefits
Monthly Benefit (USP):
Spend INR 5,000 or more in a billing cycle and receive two free tickets for Movies, Plays, Events, Sports, Activities or Stream (Stream category limited to a total discount of INR 500), up to INR 250 per ticket.
The two-ticket reward earned in a billing cycle is activated for the following billing cycle only. These tickets cannot be accumulated and must be used during the next billing cycle.
Redemption must occur in a single transaction and requires booking at least two tickets together.
Other Benefits:
When you book food & beverages (F&B) along with movie tickets using this card and apply the “PLAY Credit Card – F&B Offer”, you get a one-time INR 100 discount per month. Only one such offer can be applied per month; unused quotas may carry forward.
Note: Holders of Visa Infinite cards may find better combined ticket and F&B discounts from those cards, although those offers are quota-limited and can be exhausted quickly.
Fuel surcharge waiver: up to INR 100 once per month on fuel transactions between INR 500 and INR 4,000.
Welcome Kit
Limitations
The PLAY card only rewards the two-ticket benefit once per billing cycle after you meet the INR 5,000 spending threshold. Beyond that, additional spending in the same billing cycle does not earn further ticket rewards.
Although the offer can appear like a 10% return on paper, actual effective rewards are lower. Competing cards that offer buy-one-get-one (B1G1) promotions can deliver similar or better value, which reduces the PLAY card’s effective return to roughly 3.5–5% in real usage because it is uncommon to extract the full INR 250 value every time.
Despite this, the card still makes sense for users who frequently use RBL merchant offers and can reliably redeem the two free tickets each month, since relatively few RBL cards offer strong rewards for entertainment categories.
Final Thoughts
Integration of the PLAY card within the BookMyShow app could be improved. Redemptions for both monthly and welcome offers generally work smoothly, but the app does not clearly indicate whether the monthly offer is active or inactive, which would be helpful for cardholders.
If you already hold an RBL credit card, the available credit limit is shared across RBL cards. Some applicants may notice a different or lower limit shown at approval compared with other RBL cards.
Bottomline
- Cardexpert Rating: 2.5/5 (4.5/5 if you’re a BookMyShow Superstar)
For BookMyShow Superstars who can maintain their status, the PLAY card is an obvious choice: joining and annual fees are waived, you receive the welcome offer, and you benefit from RBL’s periodic merchant promotions across grocery and online platforms.
Non-Superstars may consider skipping this card unless they can comfortably meet the INR 150,000 annual spend required to waive the annual fee. If you already hold high-reward premium cards, those may provide better value than the PLAY card for general spending.