Amazon Great Indian Festival opens today and Flipkart Big Billion Days tomorrow: dates, bank offers and what to check before you buy

India’s two biggest festive online sales are back to back this week. Amazon’s Great Indian Festival opened to all shoppers on Thursday, 8 October, a day after Prime members got early access. Flipkart’s Big Billion Days opens to everyone on Friday, 9 October. “Amazon” was one of the most searched terms in India over the past day, with more than 200,000 searches, and “Big Billion Days 2026” was also trending.

Key dates

• Amazon Great Indian Festival: open to all from 8 October. Prime members got in 24 hours earlier, on 7 October. Amazon hasn’t announced an end date.
• Flipkart Big Billion Days: early access from midnight on 8 October for Flipkart Plus and BLACK members and eligible Flipkart credit card holders. The sale opens to everyone on 9 October. It is the event’s 13th edition, and Flipkart hasn’t announced an end date either.

Bank offers

• Amazon: 10% instant discount on eligible SBI credit and debit card payments, including credit card EMI. There are also No Cost EMI options, exchange offers and Amazon Pay cashback for Prime members.
• Flipkart: up to 10% instant discount on eligible Axis Bank and ICICI Bank cards. GoodReturns reports that Plus Silver members get a 12% early-sale discount and Plus Gold members 15%, subject to terms.

Headline deals

Flipkart is advertising the iPhone 17 from Rs 79,999. Business Today also reported much lower “effective” prices on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, but those depend on trading in a recent iPhone and paying with an eligible bank card. Flipkart lists the MacBook Air M5 (16GB/512GB) at an effective Rs 1,24,990, against an MRP of Rs 1,49,900.

Amazon’s early deals include coupons of up to Rs 6,000 on selected Samsung and Sony smart TVs. It has teased big phone discounts from Samsung, OnePlus and iQOO, and promises 8 PM Deals, Top 100 Deals and Blockbuster Deals during the sale.

Before you buy

• Read the small print on “effective” prices. They often add together a discount, a bank offer and the best possible exchange value. Your old phone may be worth much less, depending on its condition.
• Check the bank offer limits. Instant discounts usually have a cap and a minimum order value, and may not apply to every card or EMI plan.
• Compare prices across sites before checkout. Both sales overlap this weekend.
• Check who the seller is and what the return policy says, especially for electronics.

Sources: GoodReturns, Business Today, The Sunday Guardian, DesiDime.