We have written extensively about the HDFC Diners 10x program. HDFC Bank Diners Club 10X Rewards were my favourite kind of reward currency primarily due to some offbeat transfer partners they provided in India. The list went away in 2016, but still, I look at it as a 33% cashback card, with all the cashback going towards travel.
HDFC Bank 10X Rewards
The list of 10X partners frequently gets updated, but no major shakeups, until now that is. The focus has been on travel & e-commerce. They initially put out a year-long list of partners, but then recalled it, and started to extend the date of the promotion by the months. Here are the announcements for April, May, June & July 2016. Then, it got extended through March 2017 but applied caps on reward earning per month, and a one-month extension through April 2017. In May, they put a new list valid through July 2017. Subsequently, they added all categories of SmartBuy on the list as of July 2017. In the last reveal, they knocked off the travel category. You can now access this category through SmartBuy which is for everyone who is an HDFC Bank Credit Card Holder.
Yesterday, HDFC Bank has confirmed that SmartBuy will continue through September 2018. This is in line with their prior line of thinking, where they just extend the promotion through June 2018.
There is not much that is new in the list of partners just revealed, except they are one down on Lifestyle. Here are the partners, including Zomato which just got added:
This list would be valid through September 2018. For Treebo, only online transactions will get 10X points, not pay at hotel.Just as a recap, you earn the following points on your cards with the various variants on the merchants mentioned above:
- Rewardz: 3 points/INR 150 + 27 points/INR 150 bonus [Total 30 points/INR 150]. Monetary Value is INR 9 [6% cashback]
- Premium: 4 points/INR 150 + 36 points/INR 150 bonus [Total 40 points/INR 150]. Monetary Value is INR 20 [13% cashback]
- Black: 5 points/INR 150 + 45 points/INR 150 bonus [Total 50 points/INR 150]. Monetary Value of INR 50 [33% cashback]
- There is, however, a new lower cap installed on the number of points you can earn per statement cycle this year.
- Rewardz: 2,000 points
- Premium: 5,000 points
- Black: 25,000 points
The 10x points are not applicable for the HDFC Bank JetPrivilege co-branded Diners card. Currently, there is no news on the extension of the International Spending program.
What do you think of these changes to the HDFC Bank Diners Club 10X program?
I have earned 2.5 lakh points in 8 month only on smart buy and international spend only thing which sucks is 10 X points which you get after 90 days and it’s very difficult to track, you have to call them call time and follow up .
Hey any clue on the oct lover extension ??
Is 10x offer applicable on add cards as well?
I am new to Black. Has anyone claimed an international travel on points? What if someone accumulate points worth a Europe return flight ticket. Can we claim? Wanted to ask from people who have experienced this process and not their call center.
@Kapil Bhagia as long as you are going to use their services online (hdfcbankdinersclub.com), you should do fine to find international tickets as well.
Hi Ajay
Tata Cliq is no longer a 10X partner as such. From what I’ve seen, its now only a 10x partner through compare&buy.
Shame, I did like that website.
Compare & buy is great, but the interface is rather glitchy. Its just about making do for now.
Cheers
Chaitanya
(insta : @old_sea_dog)
PS: the LFAL insta-page is pretty cool. And damn, u travel a hell lot.
@Chaitanya, thanks a lot for the appreciation. It is still there on the 10X partnership. Why would you think otherwise?
Hi Ajay
Yes. I stand corrected. It is indeed.
I have probably mixed somethings up over here. But….thanks as always for clearing it up.
Cheers
Chaitanya
10 x on international is it also applicable?
It is a challenge to earn 25K miles on 10X partners now. Lifestyle was useful here.. Also 10X on international transactions gone too..!
@Krishnakumar, there is flipkart via smartbuy yet. And I guess 10X on international should return.
yes it has :D:D