Yesterday Ajay wrote about the new HDFC bank credit card Diwali offer, where you can earn up to 15,000 bonus points when you shop for apparel and electronics between 5 PM to 9 PM. What caught my attention was that you could earn bonus JPMiles using your co-branded cards as well, given most such promotions leave out the co-brand cards. As HDFC Bank has so many credit cards, I decided to hunt for some incredible value.

As a recap, HDFC Bank credit cards will get you 9X bonus rewards when you shop between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM through November 10, 2018, in the Apparel & Electronics category. The maximum bonus limit is 15,000 Reward Points or JPMiles, regardless of the kind of currency you were earning. Not all cards in HDFC Bank’s card platform are created equal. While some cards offer decent returns, a few stand out! Here’s how I have ascertained the bonus returns on almost their entire card portfolio.

HDFC Bank Card Name	Point/ Miles	₹/Point	Earning / ₹150	9X Bonus	Total Earning	₹ Value Points Earned	Earning %	₹ Maximum Spend for 10X
JetPrivilege Diners	Miles	1	8	72	80	80	53.33	31250
JetPrivilege Signature / World	Miles	1	6	54	60	60	40	41666
Diners Black	Points	1	5	45	50	50	33.33	50000
Infinia	Points	1	5	45	50	50	33.33	50000
Diners ClubMiles	Miles	1	4	36	40	40	26.66	62500
JetPrivilege Platinum	Miles	1	4	36	40	40	26.66	62500
Maruti Suzuki Nexa	Points	0.75	3	27	30	22.5	15	83333
Diner Club Premium	Points	0.5	4	36	40	20	13.33	62500
Regalia	Points	0.5	4	36	40	20	13.33	62500
Diners ClubMiles	Points	0.5	4	36	40	20	13.33	62500
JetPrivilege Titanium	Miles	1	2	18	20	20	13.33	125000
Regalia First	Points	0.3	4	36	40	12	8	62500
Diners Rewards	Points	0.3	3	27	30	9	6	83333
Solitaire	Points	0.2	3	27	30	6	4	83333
Money Back	Points	0.2	2	18	20	4	2.66	125000
Platinum Edge	Points	0.1	2	18	20	2	1.33	125000
Titanium Edge	Points	0.1	2	18	20	2	1.33	125000
Freedom	Points	0.1	1	9	10	1	0.66	250000

Most credit cards will get you upwards of 10% back in the form of reward points which is good. But the big boy here is the JetPrivilege HDFC Bank Diners Club Credit Card. You earn a whopping 80 JPMiles for every INR 150 spent! The Diners Black and the Infinia top the charts if you’d rather stick to flexible points. For Airmiles, I’ve valued each mile at INR 1.

Now, where can you earn this bonus? POS merchants which are classified under ‘Apparel’ and ‘Electronics’, such as Croma, Aeropostale, GAP, IZOD, and Lifestyle should be eligible for the bonus. We’re still not sure whether purchases on online portals like Amazon or Flipkart come under the promotion. On the other hand, smaller players like Croma & Reliance Digital may be the best bet if you want to shop online, given they are pure-play electronic chains.

While the following merchants are part of another promotion, we’re sure that you’ll be able to earn the bonus with them as HDFC Bank classifies these partners under the apparel and electronics category.

Bottomline

HDFC Bank’s Diwali Happy Hours is an excellent opportunity to mint a ton of points this festive season. And I’m impressed that the folks from HDFC Bank have put in thought while designing this promotion. After all, heading to the market after work to pick up clothes is a Diwali ritual that perhaps most people can relate to.

What are your plans to maximize the HDFC Bank’s Happy Hours?