[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

This is a genuine concern for many, so let me try to explain.
Same logic, apply for hotel loyalty programs, but mostly, the availability of rooms is higher in a hotel loyalty program.
Feel free to DM in case you have any other doubts.

Appreciate your detailed explanation. Pardon me but I'm not familiar with HDFC redemption system or usage of their portal or the air miles redemption. Wondering how does it work when primary member is traveling with family.

Let's say in this case, I would like to use the Infinia points for hotel or airlines booking. Can I use points + cash in a single booking for entire family? Or the points redemption only works for primary card holder and I need to make separate booking for family members? Does it work same way while booking directly with the airlines using miles?

[dass]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

Eg: I paid INR 12k & 125k KrisFlyer miles (Singapore Airlines FFP) for a Business Class ticket from India (BOM) to New Zealand (CHC).
This ticket would've definitely cost me more if I would've booked revenue i.e. the way we book our tickets in SmartBuy using the accumulated points.
.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. One additional question on this topic, what is the best way to redeem for domestic travels? I have always just done the booking directly on the smartbuy portal using the points. Does what you mention above for international travel, be used in some other ways for domestic as well?

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

But these same miles & points can make a Business Class or First Class a reality for many.
...
Feel free to DM in case you have any other doubts.

As many of us are interested in understanding this further, it would be great if you share clarifications here.

So the miles redemptions are beneficial only if you wish to go for business or first class seats. Are there any benefits to book economy seats compared to booking through Smartbuy portal?

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Pardon me but I'm not familiar with HDFC redemption system or usage of their portal or the air miles redemption. Wondering how does it work when primary member is traveling with family.

Your accumulated points can be redeemed (upto 70% of ticket price, rest through CC) on the Smartbuy portal for flights/hotels or even buying jewellery through Tanishq. You can book tickets for yourself or your family members or even friends/relatives. No restriction as long as you book it from your own login in Smartbuy portal. It will allow to redeem points upto 70% of price.

[Everlearner]

Insurance payments using Amazon GVs is restricted now.

I tried paying my LIC premium of 25k by loading Amazon GVs, but learnt that the wallet balance can now be used for insurance payments upto 16k only. Thats unreasonably low.

As per customer care, this new limit is in place since few months.




Is there still a way to utilise Amazon balance for insurance payment?

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Insurance payments using Amazon GVs is restricted now.

Is there still a way to utilise Amazon balance for insurance payment?

I remember paying one of my premiums directly thru insurance provider website which had Amazon wallet as one of the payment options. Just give it a try

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Insurance payments using Amazon GVs is restricted now.

I tried paying my LIC premium of 25k by loading Amazon GVs, but learnt that the wallet balance can now be used for insurance payments upto 16k only. Thats unreasonably low.

As per customer care, this new limit is in place since few months.

I just did the payment and it did succeed.

[Everlearner]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I just did the payment and it did succeed.

Looks like the limit is 25k then. Mine was 25.5k, so didn't go through. Customer care told me it's 15 or 16k, not sure if it is different for different users

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Looks like the limit is 25k then. Mine was 25.5k, so didn't go through. Customer care told me it's 15 or 16k, not sure if it is different good different users

I have done one more payment of Rs 7660 on 17-APRIL. Now, I do not know if this restriction started after 17-APRIL?

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Appreciate your detailed explanation. Pardon me but I'm not familiar with HDFC redemption system or usage of their portal or the air miles redemption. Wondering how does it work when primary member is traveling with family.

You can visit the Infinia SmartBuy link and see the transfer partners and the ratio you have. Only KrisFlyer transfer will be available via the NetBanking page of HDFC and the redeem reward points link from that page.

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Let's say in this case, I would like to use the Infinia points for hotel or airlines booking. Can I use points + cash in a single booking for entire family? Or the points redemption only works for primary card holder and I need to make separate booking for family members? Does it work same way while booking directly with the airlines using miles?

Originally Posted by shipnil

As many of us are interested in understanding this further, it would be great if you share clarifications here.

So the miles redemptions are beneficial only if you wish to go for business or first class seats. Are there any benefits to book economy seats compared to booking through Smartbuy portal?

Bookings via airmiles can be done for self and/or family or friends based on the policy of the FFP.
So, in this case, your family wants to fly and you are able to see that there are tickets which can be booked via airmiles (called award space), then the process to follow:
i) Transfer points from HDFC/Axis/Amex to Airline FFP
ii) Find the option of airmile redemption on the Airline FFP and enter the city of travel, date, cabin class and key in details of the passengers.
iii) If the award ticket is still available, then book it via redeeming the required total miles and pay the taxes using your preferred method.
Please note, this is all very dynamic and one needs to be flexible in dates as by the time your points get transferred and start reflecting in the airline FFP, the award space may vanish for that date.

And now to also answer which type of cabin makes sense for booking via points.
All of you seem very familiar with SmartBuy redemption method for booking economy tickets, as it is a simple Online Travel Agent (OTA) type process. But instead of paying in entirety, one can offset some portion by points, reducing the load on out of pocket expense.
As we normally book economy tickets using this method, there is no point in converting to airmiles and then book economy award ticket redemptions.
However, you may sometime face scenarios where the ticket price maybe exorbitant, and award ticket will be reasonably priced, you can take the plunge into booking economy tickets using airmiles.
For example: while Kumbh mela was going on, people saw rates skyrocket, but few people were able to snag domestic economy tickets on Air India at a fraction of the cost. Some even preferred to travel via business because the airmiles requirement was still less than the cost of the ticket.

Originally Posted by dass

Thank you for the detailed explanation. One additional question on this topic, what is the best way to redeem for domestic travels? I have always just done the booking directly on the smartbuy portal using the points. Does what you mention above for international travel, be used in some other ways for domestic as well?

It can be used for domestic travel, but most likely, you won't get exceptional value. Our Infinia points are worth INR 1, and in many domestic redemptions which I have seen, I see it is the same when booking via points and booking via airmiles. But in those special cases like Kumbh, Diwali, Christmas etc when high demand makes prices go crazy, then it may bring in value, provided the award space is still there.
I have booked my domestic Pune-Leh and return on Air India economy on points as the ticket prices were ₹30k, but I had some Air India points due to Vistara migration and took just 26k miles and some ₹3k in taxes.

Final note: Business Class tickets etc are very difficult to come by for families, but it is an experience worthwhile. A better strategy is to book economy, but stay in luxury hotels like that of Marriott, Accor, Hilton etc.
HDFC may not be the best partner for the likes of the above hotels, but it is a great partner for few airlines. Do your research before transferring points randomly. Only if those points are expiring, take a rash decision.

Hope I have been able to address most of your concerns, if not all.

[shardul_pathak]

Hi everyone, I was looking at my Infinia statement for the month of May and realized that no reward points were credited for below expenses:

1. Against swiggy, zomato and blinkit?
2. Some point of sale transactions at grocery store, restaurants and Reliance retail stores

Fuel expense I understand is exempt from rewards but are instant grocery deliveries too?

Originally Posted by turbospooler

You can visit the
Only if those points are expiring, take a rash decision.

Hi Turbospooler, really detailed explanation and clears a lot of my doubts, thanks a bunch for that!

What is the validity of Infinia points and when do they expire?

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

1. Against swiggy, zomato and blinkit?
2. Some point of sale transactions at grocery store, restaurants and Reliance retail stores

Probably all of them are treated as grocery expenses. The points for grocery expenses are paid as a separate line item. The max limit is 2000 points per month. BTW, why are you not using gift vouchers for Swiggy, Zomato and Reliance since you're paying directly using the card. You're missing out on accumulating bonus points through use of gift vouchers.

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

What is the validity of Infinia points and when do they expire?

The validity of Infinia points is 3 years from the statement date they are accumulated.

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

Hi everyone, I was looking at my Infinia statement for the month of May and realized that no reward points were credited for below expenses:

1. Against swiggy, zomato and blinkit?
2. Some point of sale transactions at grocery store, restaurants and Reliance retail stores

Like shipnil mentioned, the grocery spends rewards are categorized separately.
Also, do check if your transaction amount is more than INR 150 as that is the base denominator for most HDFC cards to be eligible for reward points.
So, if you spend INR 290, it will give reward points only on INR 150 as the division of 290 by 150 gives 1.9 something and it is always rounded down.

Hi Turbospooler, really detailed explanation and clears a lot of my doubts, thanks a bunch for that!

What is the validity of Infinia points and when do they expire?

Glad I could help!
As shipnil already mentioned, it is 3 years. If you don't have any plans for use, worst case is to transfer to Accor at 2:1 valuation, but you get close to INR 2 per point, so that evens out.

[shardul_pathak]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

Like shipnil mentioned, the grocery spends rewards are categorized separately.

As shipnil already mentioned, it is 3 years. If you don't have any plans for use, worst case is to transfer to Accor at 2:1 valuation, but you get close to INR 2 per point, so that evens out.

Originally Posted by shipnil

BTW, why are you not using gift vouchers for Swiggy, Zomato and Reliance since you're paying directly using the card. You're missing out on accumulating bonus points through use of gift vouchers.



The validity of Infinia points is 3 years from the statement date they are accumulated.

Thank you @shipnil and @Turbospooler

I will heed to the advice of using the GVs for retail spends. Is Gyftr the best platform for those?

[codezilla]

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

Thank you @shipnil and @Turbospooler

I will heed to the advice of using the GVs for retail spends. Is Gyftr the best platform for those?

Since I mostly use Swiggy, Zomato, and other apps on my phone, I typically use PayZapp by HDFC for all my gift card purchases.

It works great even at offline stores. For instance, when I shop at Lifestyle, I usually ask the billing executive for the final amount, then quickly generate a gift card of that value via PayZapp, and use it instantly to pay at the counter.

Just a small heads-up:
Before joining the billing queue, quickly check on PayZapp whether the gift card is available and go through the "How to Use" section. Some cards are valid only on specific platforms (online/offline), so it's best to confirm beforehand.

Note: In rare cases (maybe 1 in 50), the gift card might get stuck or delayed. Either it gets refunded, or the card shows up after some time—so don’t panic if it doesn’t reflect immediately.

What I also like about the app is that apart from gift cards, I use it for flights, bill payments, etc., and that helps me rack up accelerated reward points pretty easily.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

Is Gyftr the best platform for those?

You must use the Gyftr via SmartBuy portal of HDFC Bank to get the benefit bonus reward points. Any other Gyftr portal links would not give you the benefit.

You can use HDFC's PayZapp app on mobile too. It has a tab for SmartBuy where you can buy gift vouchers, book tickets/hotels etc.