While HDFC Bank has more or less drained out most of their card members for their point earnings, they are good at keeping the top end happy. They have renewed their list of 10x partners and kept the Jet Diners Black card out of their recent devaluation. In their attempt to keep the HDFC Bank Diners Club card holder happy, they added the international spend program in September last year, where one could get HDFC 10X points for International Spend through December 31, 2017.

Yesterday, HDFC Bank extended their 10x promotion to Smartbuy. This means you can get tonnes of more points to shop on Flipkart, Yatra and Cleartrip amongst other merchants.

HDFC 10X Rewards for International Spends through March 2018

Turns out, HDFC Bank has also extended the International Spends promotion. Through March 2018, HDFC Bank Diners Club is offering their Diners Club card members the opportunity to earn bonus Reward Points. They are offering 10X rewards on International Spends between September 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018. The following rewards can be earned under this promotion per billing cycle:

• HDFC Bank Diners Rewardz: 2,000 Points
• HDFC Bank Diners Premium/Club Miles: 5,000 Points
• HDFC Bank Diners Black: 10,000 Points

The bonus points earned here are over and above any spends made on other promotions such as the regular 10X promotion or the Smartbuy 10X promotion on all HDFC cards. As usual, the points come in within 90 days after the spend is done, and you need to pay in a foreign currency to be able to get your points.

Value of the International Spends Promotion

Now, how does it work for you in terms of value, you ask?

• HDFC Bank Diners Rewardz: You earn 3 Reward Points/ INR 150 spent, which value at INR 0.90 after the latest valuations. With this promotion, you would get another 27 Reward Points/INR 150 spent, so you get a total value of INR 9/INR 150 spent, which makes it a 6% cashback in total.
• HDFC Bank Diners Premium/Club Miles: You earn 4 Reward Points/ INR 150 spent, which value at INR 2.00 after the latest valuations. With this promotion, you would get another 36 Reward Points/INR 150 spent, so you get a total value of INR 20/INR 150 spent, which makes it a 13% cashback in total.
• HDFC Bank Diners Black: You earn 5 Reward Points/ INR 150 spent, which value at INR 5 after the latest valuations. With this promotion, you would get another 45 Reward Points/INR 150 spent, so you get a total value of INR 50/INR 150 spent, which makes it a 33% cashback in total.

Capping

Given there is a cap on the points, it makes sense to use your cards per billing cycle for the following amounts on international spends:

• Diners Rewardz: INR 11110 per cycle
• Diners Premium: INR 20830 per cycle
• Diners Black: INR 33330 per cycle.

Again, these are promotions for points earning cards and not valid for miles earning cards such as those with JetPrivilege. You need to make transactions over INR 150 to be eligible for the points in the first place.

Revisiting HDFC Global Value: 1% Cashback

HDFC Bank has also added the Diners Club Cards to their Global Value program as of this month. You pay INR 199 towards your welcome or renewal benefit from this promotion. In return, you get 500 Reward Points on activation by doing the first international transaction. Subsequently, you get 1% cashback up to INR 1000 per billing cycle. If you spend more than INR 150,000 per annum, you get an additional INR 2000 Yatra Voucher. You need to call HDFC Bank to enrol in this program and you get it activated within 5 working days.

Why does this make sense? Well, you pay 2% markup fees +GST on your cards and with this, you get back much more (1% cashback, 10X points and more).

Bottomline

I’m glad that HDFC Bank continues to keep their top tier customers happy at least. So, if you are on an international trip, or spend abroad buying off Amazon, here is the place to direct some of your spends on. What are your thoughts on the promotion?