The Best Credit Card in India – HDFC Diners Club Black
The Diners Club Black is the best Credit Card in India for Travel. Why do we feel so ? Well for starters, the card offers a whopping 33% (Yes that’s thirty three percent and it is not a typographical error) across a variety of merchants in India via their 10x Rewards Programme. Interested ? Let’s look at why this card blows away the competition in India.
Eligibility/Fees
- Income Criteria – Above INR 21 lacs (INR 21,00,000 ~ USD 30,000) per annum
- Indian Residents Only
- INR 10,000 + Taxes in First Year and INR 5,000 + Taxes for renewal [Not to worry, see our expert tips section below]
Key Benefits
- Earn 5 Reward Points for every INR 150 Spent
- 1 Reward Point = 1 INR (Reward Rate of 3.33%) when used for booking Flights & Hotels
- 10x Reward Programme with select merchants (Upper limit of 50,000 points per cycle)
- Unlimited lounge access to 700 Lounges in India and abroad
- Free Overseas Medical Insurance (Sum Insured INR 50,00,000) – Cannot be used for application of a Visa
- Golf Access (Green Fee Waived) 6 times per quarter at 20 locations in India and 40 locations overseas
10x Rewards
This promotion is the biggest selling point of this credit card.
There are two parts to the 10x Rewards Programme at present each with an ability to earn a maximum of 25,000 Reward Points per cycle
Part 1 (via SmartBuy) – This is a portal exclusively for HDFC Bank CardHolders and allows you to
- Book Flights & Hotels via the Travel Portals Yatra & Cleartrip
- Shop online via the two largest e-tailers in India viz. Flipkart and Amazon
All spends on this portal earn 1x points in the immediate cycle and 9x points are credited within a maximum of 90 days
Imagine booking an economy class round trip from India to UK for approximately INR 45,000 via Emirates or Etihad Airways and getting 15,000 Reward points back which can be used to book two one way economy class tickets in India for Free !!
Part 2 (via Partner Brands) – All eligible spends (above INR 150) earn 1x points in the immediate cycle and 9x points are credited within a maximum of 90 days (Usually much earlier and generally in the next cycle)
This list of partner brands keeps on changing every now and then but the current top picks for us here are
- Uber – We spend an average of INR 12,000 per month
- Zomato (Food Delivery) – We spend an average of INR 15,000 per month
- Big Basket (Online Grocery) – We spend an average of INR 6,000 per month
Based on the above spends alone we earn around 11,000 reward points every month!
Rewards Redemption
Reward points can be redeemed against Flights & Hotels via www.hdfcbankdinersclub.in . The entire procedure is fairly simply and convenient.
Reward points can also be transferred to British Airways (Avios), Jet Airways (Jet Privilege), Singapore Airlines (Krisflyer), Trident Hotels or Club Vistara in a 1:1 ratio
Expert Tips
1. The 33% reward rate is addictive. You would always face the temptation of booking upcoming flights/hotels via SmartBuy to earn an additional 33% instead of using your existing reward points. Try and strike a fine balance between the two. Otherwise you run the risk of your points being devalued in the future.
2. The card has a fee of INR 10,000 per annum which is generally waived for most users by setting up auto pay or keeping a minimum relationship value etc. However, if you are unable to get this waived off, do not worry. If you do make the payment of 10,000 + Taxes, you end up earning a bonus 10,000 reward points which can be redeemed easily. Same goes for renewal fees as well. You just end up spending for the taxes from your pocket which is not so bad (Around 18%)
3. The reward points can be only to book flights/hotels and have an expiry of 3 years. So don’t go hoarding a massive number of points unless you have an end use (Although to be honest 3 years is generous and most people earning over INR 21 lacs per annum would travel once or twice a year at least with family)
Summary
This is an incredible credit card and is a no brainer if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Have a look at the video below for further details. Happy Travels !
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