[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

I managed to upgrade to Diners black last month.
The reward rate is pretty good and as per the catalog, it is at par with the HDFC Infinia card.

Thanks for this feedback.I just realized i have been spending 5L + on the cc per year but really not getting the benefits as my Indusind legend only gives me 1 point for a 100 spent.
Is there any joining fee for the Diners black and can it be used like any other standard CC ? Just asking because I had heard from someone that Diners isnt accepted by all establishments (not sure if i can or should believe this).
Your feedback makes it look like a good one to move to. Thanks much.

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

The reward rate is pretty good and as per the catalog, it is at par with the HDFC Infinia card.

While on reward rate it may be at par on with Infinia, it is way behind on the acceptance aspect. You cannot have Diner's as your primary card in India. You need to have another card in that case.

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Thanks for this feedback.I just realized i have been spending 5L + on the cc per year but really not getting the benefits as my Indusind legend only gives me 1 point for a 100 spent.
Is there any joining fee for the Diners black and can it be used like any other standard CC ? Just asking because I had heard from someone that Diners isnt accepted by all establishments (not sure if i can or should believe this).
Your feedback makes it look like a good one to move to. Thanks much.

As explained above, better to try for Infinia than Diner's Black. Or else look at Standard Chartered Ultimate Card too.

Both Infinia & Diner's Black need good relationship value with HDFC.

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

The 10X rewards is just amazing if you are able to buy through hdfc smart buy.

I've heard there are some bonus points for scheduling utility bill payments from Diners Card. Are you aware of these?

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

The reward rate is pretty good and as per the catalog, it is at par with the HDFC Infinia card.

It should be more than Infinia. DCB offers 50/150 rewards (on partner portals and through smartbuy) while Infinia doesn't.

[MDED]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Which credit card gives more benefits for fuel expense usage?

I see a SBI BPCL card and Citi bank IOC card. Any other better options?

IOC Citi Bank card hands down. I have been using this for the past couple years and got fuel worth over Rs 5000 till date through reward point redemption.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by tejas08

You cannot have Diner's as your primary card in India. You need to have another card in that case.

Both Infinia & Diner's Black need good relationship value with HDFC.

Thank you, very helpful. Will call my banker and talk.

[nrahul]

For what it's worth, I'm using Diners Black as my primary card in Hyderabad and yet to find a place that doesn't accept it.

But I did face challenges in using it in US.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by nrahul

For what it's worth, I'm using Diners Black as my primary card in Hyderabad and yet to find a place that doesn't accept it.

But I did face challenges in using it in US.

Looks like we are living in different 'Hyderabad'. I too have a Diners black and it has been rejected in many places but it's improving with time. But still, you should have alternate card always available.

On another news, AMEX is offering membership rewards card lifetime free for salary>15L. SO, good time to grab it.

[Ranabegins]

Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver

This offer is quota based. You'll have to book at midnight to get this offer. I've never been able to avail it even if I tried at 8am in the morning. The process is quite opaque too. I didn't like it.

Forget 8, it won't even work 30 seconds past 12AM so for most of people it's not worth it. In my case I do work nights so whenever I have to book a ticket I am ready at 11.59PM and apply the offer exactly at 12. It works for me 50% of the time.

[jsrakkar]

Never thought I would be able to get such comprehensive and expert information about Credit Cards also, but Team-BHP family continues to surprise me, even after 13 years of being an active member!

Coming to my request, I have the following cards with me currently:-

1. Citibank IndianOil (Visa)
2. Citibank Rewards (Visa)
3. Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium (Mastercard)
4. HDFC Visa Allmiles

The Citibank IndianOil one is the latest one, but seems like it isn't much of a benefit over SCB SV Titanium.

More and more of my transactions are cashless these days, and I use card payments for the following services:-

• Fuel (Around 8k per month)
• Dining-Out (Mostly fast food chains, not premium hotels or alike)
• Utility Payments
• Groceries at local stores (Not chains like Reliance or Easyday)
• Online Shopping
• Kids' school fee payment!

My mantra is that wherever card payment is accepted, I tend to use it!

Only major payments in cash are loan EMIs. Basically, I try to use limit cash transactions to the minimum - only where I cannot use a card or PayTM, do I opt for payment in cash. I average around 8 lakhs in total card payments annually and going by the usage pattern, this is only going to increase over the years.

I'm planning to reduce my cards to 3 (2 for me and 1 for use by wife) and maximize points amongst them. Going through the last 25 pages in the thread, it seems like American Express or Diners club would be the most beneficial for maximum points. Also, since these would not be the primary cards, so even if they are not accepted everywhere, it shouldn't be much of an issue. Looking for experts' opinion on which particular card to apply for depending upon the usage pattern described above - looking for maximum points, cashback or merchant offers.

Much thanks for your help and guidance!

Regards,
Jaspreet Singh

[aka_iitd]

Originally Posted by abhi3284

I also have the SCB Super Value Titanium Card and can vouch for it. Pretty handy card but use it only for Fuel and Bill Payments for Cashback. On other purchases, the Reward Points is pretty low on this. As stated earlier, the Annual Fee is 750, which is also waived on spending 60k in a year.

I have been using this Card for 10 months till now and have accumulated close to 4000 Rs. Cashback. i get 200 Cashback per month for filling Fuel at Shell Pump and 200 Cashback for loading Mobikwik Wallet, for paying Bills and other stuff. They also have some or the other Promotions running frequently.

I guess for fuel you are considering waiver of 2.5 percent(there in many cards) + 2.5(?) cash back in Rs 200 Or I am not earning it well. For wallet loading, they give cash back? When I checked with CC they said no. I will try this month if it works for paytm

[abhi3284]

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

I guess for fuel you are considering waiver of 2.5 percent(there in many cards) + 2.5(?) cash back in Rs 200 Or I am not earning it well. For wallet loading, they give cash back? When I checked with CC they said no. I will try this month if it works for paytm

From what i can see, for SC SV Titanium Card, it is 4% Cashback and 1% Surcharge for Fuel Spends. Regarding Wallets, initially i tried loading Money in few of them to check and only Mobikwik provides 5% Cashback with 750 being minimum loading amount. Not sure about PayTM.

[sharktale]

Looking for options on Debit Card (preferably HDFC Bank) which provide complementary Lounge Access being the only major need.
The better the number per quarter, the better. It'll be used by my parents for their domestic trips.


Also, Priority Pass usage is fully chargeable at domestic terminals now, right?

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Looking for options on Debit Card (preferably HDFC Bank) which provide complementary Lounge Access being the only major need.
The better the number per quarter, the better. It'll be used by my parents for their domestic trips.

You can consider HDFC Bank JetPrivilege debit card which comes with Rs 500 annual fee. For Classic and higher banking relationships first year fee is waived. I have MasterCard variant, but now a days it's issued in Visa variant. Number of lounge visits is 2 per quarter.

[DigitalOne]

ICICI bank has issued me a contactless Visa PayWave credit card.

It works without Pin authentication for transactions less than 2K. Couple of points here:

1. Feel it is less secure in case of card loss. Since there is no Pin authentication, thieves can do multiple <2K transactions by the time you realize the loss.

2. It looks to be working pretty fast. So is it like a pre-authorisation or does it hit the Visa servers and checks your balance?

Any opinions?

[binand]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

It works without Pin authentication for transactions less than 2K. Couple of points here:

1. Feel it is less secure in case of card loss. Since there is no Pin authentication, thieves can do multiple <2K transactions by the time you realize the loss.

2. It looks to be working pretty fast. So is it like a pre-authorisation or does it hit the Visa servers and checks your balance?

1. The Rs. 2000 no-pin-required limit for contactless cards is an RBI upper limit. Banks are expected to take further risk mitigation measures (allow customer to set it lower or disable it altogether, cap the number of such transactions beyond with PIN needs to be entered etc.).

2. All card transactions go all the way till the issuing bank. I don't think there is an exception for contactless cards.