[Ithaca]

Originally Posted by Naetik30

Go for HDFC Regalia, if HDFC provides it. HDFC INfinia is the best - but may not be provided by HDFC. Regalia has the most value for money and easier to get.

Originally Posted by Lobogris

All HDFC core cards (not cobranded ones) are eligible for these discounts. You can get Moneyback, Milennia, Regalia, DCB or Infinia. Moneyback is the worst and Milennia and the Infinia are the best. Personally, I love the Infnia.

Thank you, Sirs, for taking the time to respond to my query. I will restrict my search to Regalia, Infinia and Moneyback.
I surrendered my Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card in the interim. And it has been deactivated.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by inder

My spend in HDFC Regalia has crossed 1 lac. I have recieved the monthly statement which mentions
Regalia Lounge upg 100
Regalia Lounge upg 25
Regalia Lounge New 100
Unable to understand it.
Am I eligible for lounge access after the end of quarter i.e 31st mar ?

Were you able to figure this out?

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by govigov

Were you able to figure this out?

I have the Regalia and finally figured out how the Regalia lounge access works.

Once you cross the 1 Lak threshold limit in a quarter say on day x, you will be eligible for the voucher. You go to https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/regalia and login.
Then navigate to Regalia benefits -> Airport Benefits and you will notice 2 vouchers showing up for lounge access.

Click on generate voucher and provide the OTPs. The voucher will be generated. Download this.

Note: The voucher has a validity of 1 year from the day x. It is not 1 year from date of voucher generation, but from the day you completed 1 lak spending in the quarter.

[heysac]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

the SBI card kiosk. I approached them and told them that I needed this card but the address in my address proof seemed to be not serviceable. They took it up and got my card approved in a couple of days.

Yeah, they probably have some weight and they need to meet their targets. Are you salaried or self-employed?

[amahale]

Originally Posted by amahale

Follow up question:
I called my RM and he said I was eligible for Diners Club Black Metal.
I am worried about the acceptance of DC because this is the only credit card I use. So, should I go for the DC Black Metal upgrade or upgrade to Regalia Gold?

Originally Posted by HighOnSpeed

The card works in all terminals accepting Rupay in India. I was using the DCB for few years and I had rarely faced any issue, so you can go ahead and take the card. Outside India, Diners/Discover network is poor.

Originally Posted by turbospooler

Wow. I would say that DCB Metal is a much better upgrade than Regalia Gold for 2 main reasons:
1) Reward rate is 3.3% + option to earn another 2.5% on completing 4L spends per quarter.
2) Lounge access is phenomenal.

Any doubts regarding acceptance are valid, but I think 20% of swipe machines issued are by HDFC, so it should accept the card.
Nevertheless, there are some places like schools, remote hotels which may not accept this card.
I was using this card from 2020 to 2022 and I faced very few instances of non-acceptance (this was primarily in Maharashtra).

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I have used Diners Black for 5 years. Never faced issue with availability in India.

Abroad is a different story altogether. Don't rely on this card internationally.

Originally Posted by texens

I gave up DCB in 2 months because of acceptance issues. It probably had a success rate of 50% at POS machines. HDFC Ergo website refusing to accept Diners for my annual insurance payment was when I gave up and switched to Magnus (HDFC didn't upgrade me to Infinia, despite being a Imperia customer).

I got my HDFC DC Black Metal card today and faced my first acceptance issue
I make zoom meeting payments for one of my college professors and it did not accept my DC credit card. I checked zoom help pages and said it accepts Discover cards but the payment page had only Visa & Master symbols.

When I had raised the acceptance issue with my RM before going for the DC card, he said they would be providing an additional VISA/MASTER card for such situations. I need to follow-up with him on this.

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by heysac

Yeah, they probably have some weight and they need to meet their targets. Are you salaried or self-employed?

Salaried. What they check with is our PAN number. I guess the system has a way of letting them know if it can be approved or not. Probably based on CIBIL

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by amahale

I got my HDFC DC Black Metal card today and faced my first acceptance...(redacted)
When I had raised the acceptance issue with my RM before going for the DC card, he said they would be providing an additional VISA/MASTER card for such situations. I need to follow-up with him on this.

Very surprising, not about the acceptance issue, but that they will give an additional VISA/Master card! They didn't provide this option to me (low key I am glad as I got Infinia because of this issue being raise).
And what will be the reward rate you will get for those transactions?

Also, international transactions are always a gamble, even with AMEX cards, so not sure if Diners will be getting any better in the future, but do report if you are facing issues for domestic transactions.

[amahale]

Originally Posted by amahale

I got my HDFC DC Black Metal card today and faced my first acceptance issue

When I had raised the acceptance issue with my RM before going for the DC card, he said they would be providing an additional VISA/MASTER card for such situations. I need to follow-up with him on this.

Originally Posted by turbospooler

Very surprising, not about the acceptance issue, but that they will give an additional VISA/Master card! They didn't provide this option to me (low key I am glad as I got Infinia because of this issue being raise).
And what will be the reward rate you will get for those transactions?

Also, international transactions are always a gamble, even with AMEX cards, so not sure if Diners will be getting any better in the future, but do report if you are facing issues for domestic transactions.

They would be offering what they call a "floater" card. This is nothing but yet another FYF credit card with it's own reward system, limited lounge access, etc. I was offered Marriott Bonvoy and Tata Neu credit cards. I have not decided on this yet.

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by amahale

They would be offering what they call a "floater" card. This is nothing but yet another FYF credit card with it's own reward system, limited lounge access, etc. I was offered Marriott Bonvoy and Tata Neu credit cards. I have not decided on this yet.

Understood. So they are giving another card.
But the fun part is Bonvoy card is based on Diners network , so don't know how it will solve your problem.
Tata Neu card is best taken under RuPay network.
Check if you can get Swiggy card.
But best of all would be if you can escalate and try to get an Infinia. It gives the same reward rate but is in Visa/Mastercard so it would solve your problem.

Even if you are going to continue with DCB or upgrading to Infinia, then enrol in Global Value Program for 1% cashback on forex transactions.

[VaibhaoT]

Originally Posted by amahale

They would be offering what they call a "floater" card. This is nothing but yet another FYF credit card with it's own reward system, limited lounge access, etc. I was offered Marriott Bonvoy and Tata Neu credit cards. I have not decided on this yet.

Check if they can give you Regalia. When I was pursuing HDFC to upgrade my LTF DCB to Infinia, I was quoting my main reason as lack of acceptance. I was really frustrated with DCB. In its peak rejection phase, even DMart rejected my card. Funny thing is, they accepted Amex.

As a solution, HDFC was offering me LTF Regalia as add on card to DCB. They mentioned that limit will be shared between Regalia and DCB. I firmly rejected the offer though. This was in 2022. They ultimately gave me FYF Infinia.

[ventoAsFirstCar]

Originally Posted by haridsv

Aren't these Amazon Shopping Vouchers? I once bought through Gyftr to meet spend target and realized that this balance doesn't appear as regular gift card balance and so can only be strictly used for shopping on Amazon itself. Transactions on Amazon Pay and payments on 3rd party gateways won't allow this balance to be used.

The link I shared is for Amazon Pay Gift card: https://www.gyftr.com/amexrewardmult...-gift-vouchers

It will be loaded to Amazon Pay wallet and can be used in all Online places where Amazon Pay wallet is accepted

Amazon shopping voucher: https://www.gyftr.com/amexrewardmult...-gift-vouchers

These have some restrictions on where they can be used. Always prefer buying the Amazon Pay Gift vouchers

[BudgetFailure]

Originally Posted by VaibhaoT

I firmly rejected the offer though. This was in 2022. They ultimately gave me FYF Infinia.

Have you ever got to know if they offer are LTF Infinia ? I am just trying to force the HDFC representatives to issue one, but seems they don't really do that. FYF is what they are giving.

For the heck of it, I know someone getting 1cr plus salary post tax, even they do not have LTF. Really curious if there is anyone one who actually owns Infinia LTF.

[SourPai]

Originally Posted by BudgetFailure

Have you ever got to know if they offer are LTF Infinia ? I am just trying to force the HDFC representatives to issue one, but seems they don't really do that. FYF is what they are giving.

For the heck of it, I know someone getting 1cr plus salary post tax, even they do not have LTF. Really curious if there is anyone one who actually owns Infinia LTF.

Yes there are many people. During Covid time in early 2021, they ran a campaign for a short duration to offer Infinia LTF to select customers with existing credit limit in excess of 8L. Post that there are no instances of LTF Infinia that I heard.

Now it is only FYF. but it shouldn't matter as there is fee reversal on spending 10L. Even if you don't spend 10L, they charge the fees and offer 12.5K points so effectively you only pay for GST component of fees

[Everlearner]

Originally Posted by BudgetFailure

Have you ever got to know if they offer are LTF Infinia ? Really curious if there is anyone one who actually owns Infinia LTF.

Originally Posted by SourPai

During Covid time in early 2021, they ran a campaign for a short duration to offer Infinia LTF to select customers

I'm one of those lucky ones having ltf infinia

I don't really maximize the reward points game or even plan my spends. I just use it for my regular expenses. I always feel bad that I'm not utilising this enough.

[BudgetFailure]

Originally Posted by SourPai

.

Now it is only FYF. but it shouldn't matter as there is fee reversal on spending 10L. Even if you don't spend 10L, they charge the fees and offer 12.5K points so effectively you only pay for GST component of fees

Yeah based on this I am thinking to just go with FYF only for now.

Originally Posted by Everlearner

I'm one of those lucky ones having ltf infinia

I don't really maximize the reward points game or even plan my spends. I just use it for my regular expenses. I always feel bad that I'm not utilising this enough.

Lucky you!