One of the cards on my radar for a very long time, but not in my pocket, was the HDFC Bank Diners Club Credit Card. HDFC Bank revived the Diners Club program, and brought their cards to India a couple of years back. They have three variants, to suit various pockets, called HDFC Bank Diners Club Premium, HDFC Bank Diners Club Rewardz and then HDFC Bank Diners Club Black. The Black is a league of its own, and works in the same category as the American Express Platinum or the Citibank Prestige Credit Card.
Now, I haven’t fully be able to wrap my head around the card, so I am holding off a review. But a very interesting feature for the line of cards is a very liberal rewards program. HDFC Bank frequently has 10x campaigns with a limited number of partners, which have meant, that in the past, you could have earned 50 miles/points per INR 150 or 33 miles/points per INR 100 by booking a travel on partners such as Yatra.com or Cleartrip.com. Additionally, all dining is at 10 miles/points per INR 150.
They also run multiple programs all the time, which are targeted affairs sometimes and help you earn more points than you’d have imagined when you signed up. For instance, they sent me a promotion to spend INR 1000 4 times in May 2015, and get 2500 extra points.
And just yesterday, I received another mailer telling me that I’d earn 2x miles for all shopping over the weekend on the card.
The best part, you get to transfer the points to other loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio. For instance, Marriott Rewards and Hyatt Gold Passport are two unique propositions as transfer partners of this credit card only.
Have you got an HDFC Bank Diners Club Credit Card? Let me know your experience with the card.
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How many add-on cards can you have?
I also tried really hard to get my Jet Privilege World card upgraded to Diners Black. I filled a form online received multiple calls some saying take Premium as Black is discontinued some asking for documents. Eventually, one guy got my application filled and told me that my existing card will be discontinued when new card is issued. Post a week, I learnt from customer care that my application is rejected because I already have an HDFC Card. I then wrote mails to their customer care and it kept on going back and forth. On one of the calls to customer care I was adviced to write a letter to their Chennai address and attach documents as all forms available online have been discontinued. I did that and while on the email chain with customer care I was told my card can’t be processed for their internal reasons, to my surprise the Diners Black card was delivered to my address! Their seems to be a clear lack of coordination internally at HDFC but then I am happy since I got my card. And clearly the card hasn’t been discontinued as I got mine in second week of Oct 2016.
Can you do me a favour? Just wanted to ask, what is the minimum salary inhand that is required or what is minimum amount that one needs to spend on the existing card to even place his/her application for upgradation to Diners Black?
25-28 Lakhs
Hi,
Finally received the black card.. Can anyone confirm that Add-On card also get free lounge access ? I see that is card fee is waived of if 1L is spend with 90 days does this work ?
Thanks
Rajesh
@Rajesh, How did u apply for Diners Black? There is no upgradation form ava for Diners black in HDFC website and when i called d customer care, they told me that Diners Club Black is currently available only on an Invitation Basis.. Could u pls tell us how u applied and from which card u upgraded ? Do we have to worry about the Credit limit? Currently i hold HDFC REGALIA lifetime free.
Form is available online if you search for it: https://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/Diners_Black_Upgrade_Form_Nov3.pdf
Limit isn’t a problem usually. It’s your relationship and salary etc that they see. Process is fairly opaque.
The lounge access for add-on isn’t documented anywhere, don’t bank on it. You can swipe them in as an extra +1 on your card definitely.
i got the card fees 11500 in my 3rd statement…very much pissed off.
Congrats for the Black card.
Yes, add on card gets free lounge access. Not sure about the fee waiver as mine is free.
Yes, that is supposed to be exactly like this. The Diners Black card’s joining fees is ₹10,000 + ST which comes down to ₹11,500. Now, if you want to do away with your joining fees, you have to spend ₹1 Lakh within 3 months of issue date. You won’t be charged anything for the first 3 months as they will allow you the option of making the joining fees free for the spends. If you don’t meet that, you’ll have to pay ₹11,500. However, since you paid the joining fees, you’ll get 10K Reward Points as benefits. This is worth ₹10K. So that way, you effectively, only pay ₹1500.
Dear Users, will anyone please tell me the conversion ratio that HDFC bank uses when they upgrade someone from Diners Rewardz to Diners Premium? I saw from their website that Diners Rewardz as well as Diners Premium card have the same value of points- INR 0.75/point. So do they decrease the points if they upgrade? I have around 22K points on my Diners Rewardz card and I am sceptical about this whole conversion thing. Till now I have pushed nearly 8-10 emails to them, but they don’t tell me specifically. They just tell me, we will follow the conversion ratio but don’t tell me what conversion ratio. Bunch of idiots. So kindly share your experiences. I don’t want to loose so many points if they are actually just going to transfer 40% points. In that case, I’ll use the points first and then apply for the upgrade.
Yes, points will definitely be reduced. Please see the upgrade form here: http://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/Upgradation_existing_CC_to_Premium.pdf
Use all your points before the upgrade.
There is no mention of Upgrade conversion from Diners Rewardz Card to Diners Premium Card. Kindly explain.
Ask HDFC to send you the Diners premium upgrade form, it’ll have the points handling on it. By default, every upgrade for sure has the point reduction.
They don’t have any upgrade form wherein the upgrade to Diners Premium or Diners Black is written as of now in their form center. I told them this and they said me to write on a plain paper with signature requesting to upgrade the card from Rewardz to Premium. But they are very reluctant in telling what is the conversion ratio that they’ll use. useless bank.
Black upgrade form is available if you google.
They will certainly reduce the points, dont be in any doubt. Use them all up.
Is the black card still available. And like one person asked, what is the procedure to get upgrade. I have rewardz card with 2.6 lakh limit and itr of 15 lakhs per year but my request was declined. Please anyone who upgraded, provide some details.
I think diners club black is still available. I spoke with credit card marketing department for applying for it. The person informed me that it is issued to a person who has gross salary of more than 175000 per month (excluding bonus, shift allowance and tax). He also said it is offered without any fee to a person with aforementioned salary. I am not sure how strict HDFC is about the salary criteria for issuing a new diners club black or upgrading existing diners club card to black. I wanted to upgrade from premium to black and hence applied on HDFC website to understand the selection criteria for black. Once he knew that i have regalia and diners club premium he said he cannot process new credit card application (not sure if that is true also because he may not be getting incentive for an existing customer). Diners club black is still visible on HDFC website and HDFC diners club website so i don’t think it is discontinued. I am planning to upgrade to black once i empty my points accumulated.
Can someone tell whether 175000 per month salary is sacrosanct for HDFC to a get a new diners club black or upgrading to diners club black?
Diners Black Discontinued…???
Aj,
Just visited my Branch in Pune for the upgrade of Diners Premium to Diners Black. I was told that Diners Black card is now discontinued for fresh issuance and only Jet Diners Black is available going forward. The application form is pulled down from the website too.
They have come out with Version 2.8 of Credit Card application form and it enlists 20 different HDFC Cards including Jet Diners black but plain vanilla Diners Black is missing.
Can some re-re confirm this?
You can apply online. Its still on their website and also on hdfcbankdinersclub.com. try applying from there and see if you get a message back about discontinuation. i dont think they would discontinue it. they may have temporarily stopped taking fresh application requests for the card.
Also diners black and infinia are not mentioned on the form (whichever version). i recently applied for a hdfc jet world card (as a secondary card) and did not see it. both these cards are premium cards.
Dear All,
I am having HDFC Diners premium card for more than 8 months. I have accumulated 25k points on it. Now I am looking to upgrade to Diners Black. But as per comments from some other members, HDFC reducing the value of points to much lower extend.
So to avoid it can I convert to Air miles? and Then apply for Diners black card upgrade?
I am very new to Air miles and have not much knowledge about it. Also I am not having any plan for Domestic or International travel in immediate future. Please suggest.
Thanks in advance!!
Hi. I donno wats going on with HDFC.I GOT 2 SUPER PREMIUM CREDIT CARD UPGRADES WITHIN 4 DAYS. LIFETIME FREE. Initially i was holding an ALLMILES credit card with HDFC. Since i wanted to make use of the 10x promotions, i upgraded for HDFC DINERS CLUB PREMIUM CREDIT CARD and it was duly approved. Even though i had a very low limit of 110000 only, i got upgraded to Diners Premium credit card without any increase in credit limit. However, within 4 days of the card reaching me, HDFC Offered me to upgrade the Diners card to REGALIA CREDIT CARD on visa signature platform. This also came with the same limit of 110000 only. Even though HDFC says that it requires the credit card to be at least 6 months old to be considered for an upgrade, i got my upgradation offer within 4 days of usage. This is when i hold a very low credit limit with the bank. The one thing to be noted is, i utilise my credit limit to the full every month for my company monthly expences and pay it back regularly (since they are my essential monthly spends like Electricity Bills, Phone bills). What’s the point is, HDFC doesn’t look at the Income and Credit limit vigorously for Super Premium Credit Card upgrades. They just need you to spend more and more and pay it back regularly. They need u to provide them Business. Thats it.
Reply
Hi. I donno wats going on with HDFC. Initially i was holding an ALLMILES credit card with HDFC. Since i wanted to make use of the 10x promotions, i upgraded for HDFC DINERS CLUB PREMIUM CREDIT CARD and it was duly approved. Even though i had a very low limit of 110000 only, i got upgraded to Diners Premium credit card without any increase in credit limit. However, within 4 days of the card reaching me, HDFC Offered me to upgrade the Diners card to REGALIA CREDIT CARD on visa signature platform. This also came with the same limit of 110000 only. Even though HDFC says that it requires the credit card to be at least 6 months old to be considered for an upgrade, i got my upgradation offer within 4 days of usage. This is when i hold a very low credit limit with the bank. The one thing to be noted is, i utilise my credit limit to the full every month for my company monthly expences and pay it back regularly (since they are my essential monthly spends like Electricity Bills, Phone bills). What’s the point is, HDFC doesn’t look at the Income and Credit limit vigorously for Super Premium Credit Card upgrades. They just need you to spend more and more and pay it back regularly. They need u to provide them Business. Thats it.
Hi AJ,
I got my card upgraded from Rewardz to premium. I had 20k points in it. But guess, they have reduced my points to just 40%.
I understand the conversion factor in moving from a low redemption value card. But Diners has equal value for both the card. Is it justified? Do you think raising the issue with the Customer care team help?
thanks
FYI.. for those thinking about getting the Rewardz or Premium Diners Card, heres something to keep in mind:
Points:
Rewardz card actually gives you more points over a certain threshold. As per their website: ” Double Reward Points on incremental retail spends greater than Rs.10000 in a statement cycle.”
What this means is that so long as you spend 15k+ in a month, you’ll get more value from a Rewardz card than from a Diners Premium (breakeven at 15k)! I have an excel sheet with the calculations if anyone wants to take a look, but basically Rewardz gives you 3% after 10k spend, while Premium gives you 2% flat all the time. This assumes no 10x use.
Other:
The only benefit of Premium is if you really need either the international lounge access, or the 2% currency markup for major USD spends.
And of course, black is even better, but much more difficult to get.
Hi. I have Rewardz card as of now. Tell me one thing. They offered me Rewardz card Lifetime Free. Now say after 1 year of continued usage, I am not given an automatic upgrade to a higher level card say Diners Premium/Regalia, but I know I am eligible as my Credit limit is high and my salary income is great too. In this case, if I want to upgrade to the Card, will they still remain lifetime free or I’ll be forced to do a paid upgrade? I am asking this because, HDFC does offer Diners Premium and Regalia for Lifetime free to customers if they meet their salary criteria. Now all the forms in the HDFC websites have for upgradation say that it’s a “Paid Upgrade”. That’s why I am asking this question. In case someone is applying for say Diners Black, this thing doesn’t apply as it is always a Paid card. But Rewardz, Allmiles, Diners Premium and Regalia like cards come for Lifetime free. So if one upgrades or switches to other card among these, does he have to pay the normal annual charges and loses his lifetime free benefit? Also I’ll to know that do they allow free upgrades to Preferred or Infinia Account holders? (PS- I’m a Classic Account holder as of now). Please clarify.
Abhishek, I am not sure of the rules followed by HDFC regarding fees for the upgraded card. I can surely tell you about my experience. I had a lifetime free Diners Premium, which I had applied while their offer was going on. The letter had no mention of fees or whether it was lifetime free. Since I wasn’t charged any fee for many months, I am sure it was really free! I got this card upgraded to Diners Black, irrespective of whether they will charge me a fee or not. Again, the letter that came with Diners card had no mention of fee. And it’s been 4 months now and it was never billed to me. So my assumption is that a lifetime free card when upgraded still remains lifetime free. I might be wrong, but this is what I experienced in my case. Also, I’m a classic account customer of HDFC.
I totally agree with the fact that the letter that they send does not have any mention of Lifetime free status. The only way to know it is to call the customer care executive and ask them if your credit card is a lifetime free card or not. I’ll like to ask you is that for how much time ( months/years) did you use the Diners Premium card and the approx level of transactions ( w.r.t to money spent on the card) before you applied for the Diners Black? I’ll also like to know the procedure by which you applied for the Diners Black. I mean through the Diners Black up-gradation form available on the HDFC Bank Form center on their website or through writing a plain letter? Besides, did you do it on your own or you applied for the Black by your Relationship manager? After the application, were you ever called by the customer care for verification or the charges? Please guide. Also, this is my mail ID. I’ll be happy to receive a mail from you regarding all this- (admin[at]abhishek[dot]ro)
Yes, HDFC truly does not have guideline as to what we should consider while upgrading. They upgraded my wife’s card from Allmiles to Regalia free of cost and now its Life Time Free too.
Hi Abhishek,
Did you upgrade your card from Rewarz to Premium?
I got a positive surprise and a negative one.
The card got upgraded. but the points got reduced to just 40%.
Did you also meet the same luck?
No I have not applied for an upgrade to Diners Premium. I never will. I don’t see any value in upgrading from Rewardz to Premium. The reason being, Rewardz offers a feature if earning 6 points/₹150 for any any incremental spends above ₹10000. That means if you spend more than ₹15000/month on your credit card, you will earn more on Diners Rewardz than Diners Premium. I will straightaway upgrade to Diners Black/HDFC Infinia (my dream cards) when I earn enough. Other than that I got my wife’s card upgraded from All miles to Regalia. Initially in her case also the points were 40% of the former value but after 3-4 days all the previous points were restored. So we didn’t have to bear any kisses on account of card upgrade. It’s Lifetime Free card as well. Hope that answers all your question. By the way congrats on your new card. Make it a point that you never upgarde your card without redeeming your miles.
Abhishek,
Recently i filled up the form and sent it to HDFC. They upgraded me from AllMiles to Diners Premium with Lifetime free benefit. So, they do offer you lifetime free card, even when it is mentioned in the form that it is a priced upgrade
Quick Update: As a classic customer, talked to my personal banker. Apparently they are quoting a min take home salary of 3.5L monthly as the criteria for the Diners Black card.
There is no hard & fast rule that HDFC follows regarding the salary criteria of Rs 3.5 lacs per month for Diners Black.
I had mine upgraded from Diners Premium(2.5 lacs limit) to Diners Black (4 lacs limit). I just filled the upgrade form and dropped in one of the box in ATM. I never got any call for confirmation, just a message a few weeks later that the upgraded card has been dispatched.
I don’t have salary of Rs 3.5 lacs/month and still got this card. So the salary criteria is not mandatory. Also, my Diners Premium was just 2 months old and it was upgraded.
Quick check: I thought the diners black application could only be submitted by the RM since it has a sourcing info section. Can I fill it myself and request?
In that case I can probably first request a credit limit increase and then an upgrade.
I never contacted the RM for an upgrade. I just downloaded the form from website and filled it and sent. There was nothing for me to lose, and actually I wasn’t expecting anything. But the upgrade got through. I don’t know how, and surprisingly no one from HDFC contacted me for anything. I attached my recent payslips which show less than Rs 3.5 lacs. I also did not ask for limit upgrade (existing being 2.5 lacs) before sending the form.
I just got someone from HDFC (some of their outsourced partner) visit my home for verification. It was ridiculous to know that he didn’t even know for which product/service he is there to verify! HDFC seems to have pathetic systems, which I have experienced so many times.
Just for Information , What was your monthly salary when you applied for the black ?
Is the upgrade to diners club black card from premium card free or one has to pay the joining fee?
@Vikram: I would imagine this would be a paid upgrade, unless you are in the really high net worth category.
To be fair, it doesnt matter, because you get the same amount as reward points back for redemption, so its neutral really.
Vikram, I had a lifetime free Diners Premium. I got it upgraded to Diners Black. I haven’t been charged a fee for Black yet. There was no mention of it either in the accompanying letter. So I’m assuming it to be free.
Congratulations on your Diners Black card. You have been very fortunate to get it without fuss and fee I guess. 🙂 One more thing that I wanted to know is that is it wise to apply for Diners Black only of your salary is above 1.5L/month? Or you can apply for a Diners Black even if your salary is say around 80-90 K/month but you have limit on your existing HDFC card of around 3.5L/month? Please, if anyone knows, they are free to comment too.
I don’t think HDFC has a strict criteria on salary for upgrade. They probably look into your entire relationship with them. My Diners Premium had a limit of just 2.5 lacs when I applied for upgrade, and it went through. Even salary was lower than 3.5 lacs.
I guess the only option is to give it a try. If you ask anyone at HDFC they’ll insist on salary of 3.5 lacs, though thats clearly not a rigid criteria in practice by them.
Just wanted an advice. My wife recently got a MasterCard variant of ALLMILES Card from the VISA Signature Variant of ALLMILES Card that she had been using before. I mean this is not a new card altogether. It’s just that the VISA card was swapped with the MasterCard, nothing more. Now she wants to upgrade it to Regalia MasterCard World but the up gradation form in their form centre says “Any card conversion request will not be processed if current card has been set up in the last 180 days.” Will this hold true in our case? She has the ALLMILES card for the last one and a half years. She only changed to MasterCard variant of ALLMILES from visa, 7 days back. So will they process or not? I’m a bit baffled. Please guide.
@Abhishek I can’t comment on this. Maybe you can try it out and let us know!
I called up the HDFC Credit Cards Customer care. I told them about this situation. Her put me on hold and then said, HDFC has just changed the Franchisee of an existing card with them. They haven’t set up a new card altogether. So we can go ahead and place an application. I have done so. Let’s see what happens. So the rule is it should be an entirely new card for this rule to come into effect. A new card also means if you have been upgraded to a card from an existing lower variant card. But changing the franchisee will not affect and will not be counted as a new card.
@Anshul: So how did you apply for an upgrade? Was it through the online form available on HDFC website? The form clearly mentions that one has to pay Rs.10000 as fee. I am interested to upgrade to Diners club black however not at the cost of paying 10000 as upgrade fee. I am happy with my diners club premium card (as it is lifetime free) but tempted to upgrade to black if available for free.
@Vikram: I applied for upgrate to Black from Premium through the upgrade form on their website. I filled the form, attached my payslips and dropped it in dropbox in one of their ATMs. Took around a month for the upgrade. Also, note that you may not receive any status update on your upgrade. You will have to call customer care for any enquiry. My Diners Premuim was lifetime free. I have not been charged for Black till now, so I’m assuming it’s free as well.
@Anshul: Has it been more than 1 year since you upgraded the card from premium to black?
The question stems from the possibility of HDFC charging you the fee from second year or billing you the fee at the end of the year.
If HDFC have not charged you the fee even after one year of upgrade then i will also apply for an upgrade.
@Vikram: I got a new lifetime free Diners Premium issued to me in Oct 2015. Got it upgraded to Diners Black in Dec 2015. Haven’t been charged any fees yet. Not sure if I’ll be charged when I complete one year.
Anyways, I won’t mind paying Rs 5k as fees when I get 5k points in return (1 point= Re 1), though there’s some loss when I take taxes into account. Also, I have annual spend of more than Rs 5 lacs, so the card will still be free for me if I consider the annual fees waiver criteria. So I would never be able to know if I was not charged the fee or was it waived because of my spends, unless I specifically inquire from customer care.
@Anshul: I was told by credit card marketing department that one should have gross 175000 per month salary (excluding bonus, shift allowance and tax) to get a diners club black card. Is this salary criteria strictly followed to issue or upgrade to diners club black?
Hi Vikram, I am not sure if the salary criteria is strictly followed. As I was above this salary threshold while applying, so cannot really comment.
@Anshul. I am thinking of getting upgrade from Premium to Black. The only thing I wanna know is if your points were devalued and by how much? Also how do they inform you of such devaluation
@Nihit: Upon upgrade from Diners Premuim to Black, your points would be reduced to 40% of what you have currently (effective devaluation of 47% in terms of points worth in Rupees).
Their form mentions no conversion rate, nor I was informed of the same through any call or letter. I had a bitter experience over this with them and I had to take the matter to their grievance redressal officer to address this.
I would suggest you to redeem all points on Premium before applying for upgrade.
Yea I was thinking the same , I will redeem all points before upgrDING THE Card .
So, did grievance redressal helped? In what ratio finally they converted them?
Yes the grievance redressal did help after writing a detailed complaint and dissatisfaction email. Finally, managed to retain all my points as in last statement before upgrade.
But I would still recommend to utilize all points before upgrade. As per their policy, they’ll reduce them to 40%. My complaint with them was with not providing conversion rate neither on the form nor through call/email before upgrade.
Is there a dedicated helpline for the Diners Black card? I had a query on what exactly do they have when they say “Complimentary Offers on Taj Safaris” and called up the the regular HDFC helpline but they directed me to Concierge and in turn back to Helpline. Basically none of them have any clue as to what this.
HDFC Bank Super Premium Call centre Number is 18001023310
I want to know the benefits of HDFC Diners Club Rewardz Credit card. Is it good for shopping?
Hi,
I would like to know if I can use this card for online transactions outside India on Amazon since its not a MasterCard Or Visa. Is it accepted on amazon??
It will not work on amazon india website
Yes. If you buy from Amazon.com then HDFC Diners card can be used, but Amazon.in doesn’t allow HDFC Diners Card.
@ Raghu. I have used this card for lounge recently at Mumbai International and Hong Kong International airports. Used both the addon card for my wife and mine. There was no problem. All Diners Black cards gets lounge access. I don’t know about the other variants. Even tough the number of the addon card is the same, there is no charge. Its free. Check the list of lounges on the Diners website.
Does this Add-on Lounge Card benefit work for other variants (Diners Premium and Diners Rewardz) also? I mean like Only domestic lounges for Rewardz but allows the Add-on card holder too without any charge?
Hi Guys,
Was just going through the terms and conditions page of HDFC CC. Last page has a list of cards, their fee etc. I am unable to find Diners black card there. Only Jetprivilege Diners card is on the list. Does it in any way mean Black card is going to be discontinued?
Also, Diners black is compared to the jetprivilege/Infinia cards in the page. They give a waiver of the redemption fee (75/Redemption) for all these premium cards. Any comments on this? Has anyone used the card for redemption?
Sorry ppl. Referred the website and found a seperate document for Diners black schedule of charges. Still, it does not show a reward redemption fee for diners black. Will appreciate if someone can help. HDFC Customer care doesn’t seem to have any clue on this.
No Diners Black has no waiver on the redemption fees of Rs 75 I guess. I say this as Ajay die mention that he was being charged Rs 75 for redemption of his Diner Black points when he applied for conversion to Marriot Gold Passport and AAdvantage miles. The only cards that have the fee redemption waived off is Infinia, Regalia/Business Regalia and the JP cards (as the points are automatically transferred to your JP account)
Hi Guys,
Just had a chat with an RM and enquired about upgradation to Diners Black. I hold a Rewardz card now. he told me there is a limit enhancement offer and upgrade offer is not shown on the website for my account. So applied for the same and got my limit enhances to > 5 Lacs.
Now I have applied for upgrading my card to Black. My income is way lesser than the discussed 24 Lac and I do not have any huge funds parked at the bank.
Hope everything turns out well. I am only banking on the limit they have given.
Will keep you guys posted. Cheers !!
@Raghu: HDFC doesn’t seem to have any fixed and standard criteria for upgrade to Diners Black (and other conversions too). Their website says something else, the useless customer care has no clue about anything, the RM has different criteria to communicate and the grievance redressal officers have entirely different standards. Don’t know whom to trust. But I can tell you that it’s possible to have this card, even with salary less than Rs 24lacs pa and/or credit limit of existing card < Rs 5 lacs.
Thanks Ajay. I too hope I’ll get the card. Have you or anyone here used their concierge services? Howz the service? Kindly share your experience.
Have you tried using the card for lounge access using add-on card? Heard somewhere add-ons also get access for black variant of Diners.
Got the approval for the card. Yayy !!
So it is confirmed. The approval criteria is not fixed in HDFC..
I’ll really like to know in a bit details how you applied for the Black card and got it even without the Payement of Rs 2L/month criteria? As a matter of fact, if you don’t mind please tell me roughly as to around what annual income should someone try and apply for the Diners Black so that the application has more chances of acceptance. Above 10L/pa or above 15L/pa? For how much time did you hold the Diners Rewards card before you got a Credit Limit upgrade to 5L? Last but not the least, does Diners Rewards card also allow 2% mark fees for any international transactions just like the Diners Premium and Diners Black card? Please try and answer these questions. I’ll be really grateful.
Hi Abhishek,
I was holding the Platinum edge card with a limit of around 80000 for around a year, then upgraded on my request to Diners Rewardz with a limit of 1.25 Lac and held it for 6 months. Got limit enhancement offer online to 6 Lac. Immediately applied for Black card.
Nowadays banks have a different criteria for credit cards and salary is not so important. They see your transactions and stuff. Considering my case and the discussion I had with HDFC RM, black card has a minimum limit of 3 Lac. So first apply for limit enhancement to 3 Lac, after that you can easily upgrade to Black.
Rewardz card does not have 2% mark up but 3.25% if I remember. Read the MIDC document to know more.
Sorry for jumping in between here and asking before reading all the comments but what are the actual benefis of Diners Black / Diners Rewards and what is the fee. I am currently on HDFC JA world master card with 3+ lacs limit and I am not paying any fees.
Hi Vinay,
Unlimited domestic/Intl. lounge access in almost all the airports, unlimited free golf lessons, 3.33%(5/150) rewards for anything you buy, 10x rewardz on a few websites, ability to book tickets, convert to miles/milestone points with reward points earned. Lowest markup fee of 2% for intl transactions,. These are some of the features of the card as I remember. Full details on http://www.hdfcbankdinersclub.in
Hi Raghu, thanks for your reply. I will try my luck with this card. Cheers!!!
Hello Raghu,
Thank You for taking out time to reply to my queries. I applied for a Diners Premium through my RM. Now, this was my first credit card with HDFC. They said that I don’t satisfy their salary criteria for now. Inspite of my RM trying a lot (that’s what he said) by sending mails to higher authorities to get the card approved, he said that they are not allowing approval of Diners Premium, however, he said that I can easily get Diners Rewardz and told that I should take this card and later on we can get it upgraded. So, I have accepted the proposal and got a confirmation call from HDFC today that my card has been approved. I am getting this card Lifetime Free as their current offer. I really wanted to have that 2% markup fee thing as I do a lot of international transaction in a year. So, I would have benefited a lot by Diners Premium. I’ll stick around with this card for a year and see if they allow credit limit increase and subsequent upgrade to Diners Premium and later on to Black or not. I am not a very heavy spender so probably Diners Premium will be a better proposition for me rather than the Super Premium Black. Anyways, thank you so much for your reply once again.
Abhishek, All is well. I never imagined I would get this upgrade approved. The same will happen to you I hope. Since this is the first card, they might have taken the salary criteria. Anyway u get most of the benefits in rewardz and the markup fee is one of the lowest if you compare rewardz league of cards. Happy spending and saving. 😀 Cheers !!
Hi,
I finally got my Rewardz card today after around a month of applying. They rejected my application twice. Their verification team is extremely poor, and due to very lame reasons like poor contactibility, doubtful address (They actually said that!!) they rejected my application. Finally I real talked tough with my manager and told him the lapses on the part of the verification team. He shot an email with all the screen shots of my conversations with him to the regional head of verification team and they agreed to do reverification for the 3rd time. This time everything was fine and they gave me the card. But in doing so, these dolts forgot to update any email id with my credit card, so I again have to run to the ATM with an email id update form now!! Still, I’m happy coz I finally got the card. Got a good limit of 1.25L to start off with and hopfully will be able to use it.
One issue I wanted to know, anyone can clarify if anyone has knowledge,-
Tell me one thing. When You had applied for an upgrade to Diners Rewardz from Platinum Credit card that you previously held, did they charge you the actual fees of the Dinerz card (Rs 1000 pa) or gave it to you for free? I am asking this because if I apply for an upgrade to Diners Premium Card from Diners Rewardz later on, am I still eligible for a free Lifetime Diners Premium or I’ll have to pay Rs 2500 as annual charges for that? Diners Premium is also offered Lifetime to people who apply online for the first time but I don’t know if they allow a free upgrade to eligible people from Diners Rewardz to Diners Premium or not. Kindly clarify. Anyone can answer please. I know Diners Black is paid one (Rs 20K pa) but Diners Premium is also Lifetime free. So if I upgrade later on from Rewardz to Premium, will it be free or do I have to opt for a paid upgrade?
My RM says 3.5L per month take home required for the Black. Lets see if I can argue with them.
Do you already hold a Diners Card? If you are straightaway applying for Black, it might be almost impossible to get. The salary criteria is probably for first timers. After that pretty much what matters is the credit limit. Besides, the role of RM is also very vital. 3.5L/month salary is pretty insane in India!! 😛
I already hold a Diner rewards with a 1L limit. Looks like the salary thing applies whether you have a card or not. Just upgraded to a classic customer account and asked the RM that I want the Black, so this was the reply.
Yeah, dont think the RM pushed much, but he did connect me to their Premium Cards guy who gave me this info. Offered me a free Regalia, I said no thanks.
Salary bar kind of makes sense, considering they pitch the Black as a super premium product.
I won’t deny that they pitch Diners Black as a super premium card, but the fact is that they give more weightage and your relationship with the bank as a criteria with the level of transactions too. They say, if you want to apply for Diners Black, you need to have a Credit limit of 5 L on your existing card. Even Raghu said that he was far below the approx salary requirement of 2L/month that they usually ask for the Diners Black card, but he got a limit upgrade offer of 5L/month on his existing rewardz card, so he upgraded and went ahead and applied for a Diners Black upgrade. and guess what, he got it. So I guess, it depends a lot on your RM’s contacts and the way he pitches in your case too. But then, it’s HDFC. You expect anything out of them. If you get, your should understand you have been lucky!! 🙂 By the way, if you don’t mind, I was told that for Regalia or Diners Premium, I need to have 1L/ month as salary. Do you already get that or were you offered Regalia even though you don/t meet the salary requirement? Please do reply to the last question because I myself want to upgrade to Diners Premium but they denied me while I applied saying I don’t meet their minimum salary criteria. Also, I would like to know that how do we apply for a free upgrade to Diners Premium or Regalia from an existing Life Time free card, if I meet their salary requirement?
Thanks Abhishek. Have applied for a limit upgrade on the Rewardz to 4L, will try applying for a black if that’s approved.
As for salary, I am already over the 1L limit, also a classic customer of HDFC as of March. I guess both combined were good enough to get free Regalia. I moved my emergency fund into HDFC this year to get preferred status, an RM, and try for black. 😀
Personally, I think the Rewardz card is better than the premium, so long as you don’t want international lounge access. While the Rewardz gets slightly lesser points, there’s a clause on the website that says double earning for spend over 10k, which the premium doesn’t have.
Yes, I’ll personally agree that those who spend a lot say around 40K-50K a month will immensely benefit from that incremental spends over 10K policy. I hadn’t thought about it earlier. One major reason I wanted Diners Premium was the industry lowest markup fee of just 2% against rewardz which has a markup fee of 3% (still lower than other banks that charge 3.5% though). But tell me one thing, when will the extra points get reflected in the account? I mean 6 points instead of 3 points per INR 150 after I cross INR 10K spends in a month? One thing I really wanted to ask- IS Diners Black really worth the upgrade from Diners Premium or Diners Rewardz considering that I( and may be you too) hold a Life time free Diners Rewardz Card? Please comment. And I’m really grateful for your prompt replies. Besides, how did you apply for Limit upgrade? Do they have a form for that? Did you have to attach your recent salary slips again with the application?
1. Yes, the 2% markup fees does give a 1% advantage, but thats only on foreign spends. So the question is if a majority of your spends are INR or USD. Personally, I do a lot more INR, unless I am traveling on work.
2. Extra points (2x over 10k) are reflected immediately in that months statement.
3. I dont hold a free card, applied for the standard fee-based package. I usually hit their annual fee waiver limits anyway, so it doesnt matter to me. Anyway, fee is usually returned multiple times over by sign-up rewards + usage.
Personally, the Black would give me unlimited international lounges (I travel on work), + the 10X promo on Black would give me a lot more points. Overall its more rupee value from points collected.
4. Limit upgrade form is available on HDFC website: http://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/Upgradation_existing_CC_to_Premium.pdf
Salary slips are required.
Yes, I agree that I don’t make that much foreign transactions. Still I do a bit as I hold a lot of domains and webistes and blogs that I pay in US dollars, so a Low Mark up fees would have been definitely beneficial, but I guess, if this 10K this works and I am paid 6 points per INR 150 spends over 10K, then I guess, that will compensate for it. I don’t have to travel abroad at all now, so international lounge access is kind of irrelevant for me as of now. Earlier Diners Black had an annual fees of 20K, but I saw that it has now been reduced to a mere 5K (10K for joining). So that is a huge benefit. Besides, the 10X scheme is going to last till 31st March 2016. Don’t know when they will bring it back. Besides they need to partner with more websites, specially like Amazon.in which do not accept Diners and do not accept wallets like Paytm or Mobikwik as well. How long have you been holding the Diners Rewardz? Hasn’t HDFC themselves contacted you for upgrading your Credit limit based on your spending?
@Abhishek:
The 10x scheme has been running for a while, and they renewed some of the expired partnerships earlier as well, so I do expect them to continue to promote Diners, though of course some partners may come and go. There Rewardz is ~14% while Black is ~30% in terms of return points, so major difference while booking travel etc.
Holding the card for 7-8 months now, didnt hear from HDFC. They are anyway totally unpredictable from a customer service/contact perspective.
Hmm, I get it, if it’s the 10X rewards you are targeting then definitely, Diners Black is a great card (33.33% cashback as reward points) against Diners Rewards (15% cashback through rewards points). But you have to spend enough to get well pass the 5000 INR annual fees, which I’m sure you will. May be someday I’ll also have the opportunity to apply for it. 🙂 Do keep me posted if you get the credit limit enhancement, any hurdles, how you tackled them and for sure if you get upgraded ti Black. Will love to hear. These real life experiences come in handy for everyone.
Sure, will update.
As for 10x, here’s how to look at it. If you spend 30k combined annually, across Goibibo (hotels/flights) & Flipkart/Snapdeal, you get 10k worth points with black, and 5k worth with rewards. That alone makes up for the 5k fee, not to mention the renewal points you get for the 5k fee every year.
Think about it. Anything over 30k will be additional savings. 🙂 I do 30k+ easily across their 10x providers, so definitely attractive to me.
@Abhishek:
1. Got limit upgraded to 3L, though I asked for 4. Dunno why. Will try upgrade to Black next.
2. Did the calculation on Rewardz Vs Premium: So long as you spend 15k+/month, rewards actually gives you more value overall due to 2x above 10k.
No brainer to prefer rewardz over premium so long as you arent hung up on international lounge access or 2% vs 3% currency markup. Even with markup, you ll earn more on rewardz.
Raghu,
1.25L to 6L is a huge difference, almost 5X. Never had that much limit enhancement on my card. May i know how much approx you spent in those 6 months? and, did you maintain high balance on linked savings account?
Please throw some light on it.
@Vivek: Its usually a combination of all these factors. Your salary and balance history/preferred status would have value here rather than simply amount of transactions.
The first limit is usually a conservative one by the bank for new cards. The second upgrade based on your salary etc can be substantial. I have gone above 10L limit on Citi over time with decent spending and full repayment pattern.
@Anshul
They usually inform you about that. It happens in most of the banks that when you change from one card to another, they sometimes transfer 40%,50% 75%,etc depending on what their policies are.
I agree Shubham. But HDFC being HDFC. They never informed of anything like that and neither called nor emailed to provide any information. They expect the customer to ask everything.
@anshul The upgrade forms usually have the conversion factors listed.
@J G: I agree, but, the one for Diners Black upgrade has no conversion factor mentioned. Link here:
http://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/Diners_Black_Upgrade_Form_Nov3.pdf
@Anshul:
Correct, but the form does say: “• I also understand that my current reward points will be reduced post my move into Diner’s Club International Credit Card.”
They do not list the amount though.
Has anyone recently got their card upgraded to Diners Black from Diners Premium? I am appalled at their conversion rate of existing reward points being transferred to new card.
I had 18k points in Diners Premium (worth Rs 13.5k at Rs 0.75 per point). However, after upgrade, I now have only 7.2k points in Black (worth Rs 7.2k at Rs 1 per point).
That is a robbery of Rs 6300. I wouldn’t even call it adjustment. Shouldn’t worth of the points remain same after upgrade?
Has anyone else been a victim of same thing or am I missing out something here? As usual, customer care executives have no clue.
@ Anshul
Did they charge you Rs 20000/- or was it a Free Upgrade??
Guys finally a good news…. Snapdeal and GoIbibo are up now…..
Others still down…..
Hi Ajay,
I have met spending limit for fee waiver for the year, so I am not charged yearly fee for the card. Do we get renewal bonus in this case?
Regards,
Pranay
Im getting a feeling that 10X campaign has been unofficially suspended….. I checked on all online 10X merchants, and for none of them txn is happening…..
Moreover hdfc customer care doesnt have any clue why txns are not happening…..
@Abdul. I don’t think that should be true. If the 10x program was cancelled they could easily tell us and stop it. many people perhaps only have one card and if they can’t use it on such sites then it would be very very wrong of hdfc. I have tried flipkart and snapdeal and clear trip. Will be checking Reliance express tomorrow. It’s in front of my house. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
My wife holds a Diners Black add on card with me as the primary card holder. Can she avail lounges in India and abroad? We are travelling for Christmas and I recently got her an add-on primarily for this purpose. Can anyone holding the Black card answer my query of whether my wife will be able to enjoy lounges everywhere free of cost? Thanks.
@ Ashutosh- HDFC banks issuesthe same credit card number for Primary as well as add on card. In my experience the add on card cannotuse any facility. I had this problem in the past with Jet Master Worldcard of HDFC. However My wife could use her Add on of Citibank without any issue..
If the website has a HDFC payment gateway and all HDFC cards then Diners payments are going through. If its a website like snapdeal or flipkart etc then no payments will go through.
I just paid 2 electricity bills in mumbai on best since they have a dedicated hdfc gateway.
My snapdeal and cleartrip payments are still stuck. No news from the bank. Any update on this matter.
@ Ashutosh. While its a speculative to imagine that Diners and HDFC have broken up, I agree that the signs are not good. I had given a request to HDFC on 15 th Nov to transfer my Rewards points ( earned on Diners Premium) to Marriott reawrds, no action has been taken by HDFC. Usually they act upon it within a week.
Something is happening at the bank since 2 days is long. Lets wait and see. I am already stuck. Will perhaps use Citibank tomorrow for my travel needs and will contact my RM to figure out what was the problem.
@Abdul. Yes, Diners card is not working since yesterday. I called up customer care but they never admitted that there is a problem at their end.
Hope u got Diners Black card in Hand. In my case the Black card was approved twice but was never delivered and was declined later. HDFC guys give you a feeling as if unki ladki Ka haath mang rahe ho!
Yes, I tried making a payment on 2 websites. The response I got was that the banks payment gateway is down. Customer service also did not confirm if it was down or not. They merely said that my card is ok and so is the service. Both my payments are important and I can’t do anything. By when will it be up and running, any idea?
@krishnakumar…. Yes i have the diners black card in hand…. Once card is approved and dispatched, sms is recd on registered mobile with courier details…
@ ashutosh… I also have to make some urgent payments but im surprised how their payment gateway can be down more than 2 days… I hope that the problem is rectified asap….
It is surprising that their payment gateway is down for 2 days. It’s a long period of time for banking. 2 hrs is the acceptable time frame.
The sad thing is that hdfc will not tell us the reason why. They like to keep customers in the dark.
Worst case scenario is that Diners has broken up with hdfc. That means all our cards are useless.
I just hope it’s up from tonight. I have to pay for travel tickets on clear trip and also utilise their 10x program. Hence waiting. Else will have to use Citibank. Hdfc should send out a sms to its cardholders. Imagine going to a prestigious place for dinner or shopping and finding out that black coveted card is being dishonored for no reason. Very bad.
@ashutosh: Never carry only a diners due to acceptance issues. Always keep a backup Visa handy. 🙂
Finally got upgraded to Diners Black… Thanks..
Also to inform you that im not able to make transactions using diners card online from yesterday.. Hdfc says there is a problem for diners cards at their end…. Will take 1-2 days to sort it out..
Its pathetic as i never had such an issue with earlier visa/MasterCard..
Did you use your diners card since yesterday?
@Shubham
Tell the bank that since they are both different cards ie. Diners and Visa (i guess) you should be allowed to keep them. The bank wont give you two of the same type cards. However in case they still say no, I would personally prefer the Diners since you already have a Visa with Prestige. Reward points with Diners and Infinia are same, however sometimes you are given extra rewards with Diners like the 10x program. My two cents.
@Ajay,
There is a problem. I received a letter from HDFC Bank stating that I am holding 2 super premium cards, i.e Infinia and Diners Black and its against the bank policy. So they are planning to cancel either of the card. I also received a call for the same and have asked them for some time. Can you please recommend which card should i stick to. I have the Citi Prestige, so if there is a card which i giving me the same benefits, i might just cancel that. My main aim for a credit card is reward points, easy acceptance at Offline Merchants and adding multiple utility bill payments.
How does this compare with HDFC Infinia?
I was using the Citibank Premier Miles and transfering to Delta Airlines for great valuations. But since Citi halved transfer value, am looking for a better credit to use for travel spend and redemptions.
Any suggestions?
How di i redeem my points in HDFC Diners Club International card?
@Ajay: any chance of a detailed review of the diners black card anytime soon? I am thinking if I should upgrade my Rewardz to black.
@shubham… Thanks… Im getting a hard time changing my jp world card to diners black…. Talked to the RM, they say for diners black, minimum limit of the card should be 5lac… I have only 3.90lac…
@Abdul
Its for the Imperia,Infinia and the Diners Club black card only.
@abdul
The Dedicated Customer Care Number for HDFC Bank VISA INFINIA Credit Card members: 1800 102 3310 and 022-28561443 (Available round the clock)
@ Shubham
Can you tell me the customer care number of diners club on which you raised a complaint and shared your customer ID? Im not able to find it….. Thanks..
Also can anybody tell me how frequently HDFC has 10X promotion running on diners cards? You can tell by your past experiences….
Thanks…
Hi Can anyone tell me the major difference between HDFC Infinia vs HDFC Diner’s Black card? I am holding Infinia card, therefore which other HDFC card should I go for keeping in mind the travel benefits, airlines tier upgradation etc?
Is there any card available which can get instant One World Gold Tier Status?
Thanks
My wife just got a lifetime free Regalia card on applying through internet banking, just before their offer expired on September 30. Does anyone know who will arrange the complimentary membership of Air India’s Silver Edge, Air India or HDFC Bank? The priority pass came in after a couple of days, but the pack says nothing about Silver Edge membership.
@Saurabh, the offer is withdrawn temporarily. I am not even sure they had it ready to launch, or how many days it stayed on the website.
Now HDFC Bank’s Regalia card (which is also a super premium card with many benefits) has been upgraded and is now offering a complimentary membership to Air India’s Silver Edge level. Check the details at the bank’s website. This card seems to have been given a good upgrade. Apart from Taj Epicure etc and Priority Pass with upto 8 visits they have a lot more to offer. For many premium bankers you can get a lifetime free card.
hi Anshul, here is an excerpt from the 10X TnC :
Offer valid on HDFC Bank Diners Club retail credit cards with reward points feature. Offer not valid on Corporate, Commercial and business cards or Card with Miles as feature.
hope it helps.
Thanks Gaurav!
@Ashutosh
Any idea if 10X rewards offer on Diners Card will be applicable on JetPrivilege Diners Club Card too?
@ Raghu and Ajay
Yes, these tier points qualify for upgrade and retention of tier. Its a substantial amount. Lounge can be used only by primary member and not by add-on members. I guess in the Diners Black, the lounge can be used by even the add-on members. the only thing holding me back is that I shall get stuck with Jet.
Ajay, can we have a new post with your detailed review of this new card and comparison with the Diners Black. Points, conversion, lounge, benefits, privileges etc. Just about everything.
Hi. I just noticed that HDFC has launched a new credit card “JetPrivilege Diners Club”. Seems very interesting. Can you post an article or comment on the usefulness of this card compared to the Black card? Details can be found in the following link
http://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/credit_card/jetprivilege-hdfc-bank-diners-club
Thank you.
@ Raghu
Just when I got the Diners Black and started enjoying it, HDFC introduces this new co-branded card. 15 tier points and 5 on renewal seems very good. 10k and 5k joining fees and renewal fees is also great. 30k jet miles bonus is awesome. All other privileges remain the same. I am actually thinking of changing my black to jet black.
But then you are stuck with jetairways. Thats the only minus point. With Diners black, you can use your miles for many things.
Thanks Ashutosh. Agree that the benefits are good but will these TierMiles and TierPoints be considered for membership upgradation? From what I see on the Jet Airways account summary page, it says “Only Base TierMiles and TierPoints will be considered. Any bonus TierPoints or TierMiles will not be considered for upgradation. Any comments?
@Raghu they will be considered for membership upgradation, yes.
Anyone holding the Prestige card, gets a set of 33 Luxe City Guide books. Can anyone with this card advise if Hong Kong is on the list? The website only states “Stay, eat and be entertained in style with 33 city guides created exclusively for Citi Prestige Cardmembers. From dining and shopping, to nightlife and more, you’ll get a true insider’s perspective of a city.”
From what I know they periodically review (i guess once every 3 months) your account and upgrade/downgrade if necessary, not on a daily basis. I had pulled out my entire amount for a month or more for some urgent requirement. Nothing happened. I feel your RM is just not a friendly guy.
@ Ashutosh,
In 2010 I had parked 25L in mutual funds to meet Imperia criteria. Suddenly my RM was changed after 2 years. New RM said – MF investment will not count for Imperia status and asked me for new FD/ Insurance etc . I got annoyed and pulled out my MF investments. I was downgraded to plain vanilla base account soon. Last year I deposited a high value cheque and the money was sitting in the account for a few days. Suddenly I realized that I am Imperia again. That is how HDFC works!!!
Just have a friendly/casual talk with your RM or anyone more senior and casually tell them that you have shit loads of money you have received as inheritance or whatever. Sound puzzled as to what to do with this cash (discuss FD’s, funds, etc) and in between drop a hint that you guys have some nice credit cards to offer to your customers aka the Infinia etc. Sound really serious and then watch the fun.
Citi tells it openly on your face. To get your fee waived off,you need to invest shit loads of money. I have an uncle of mine who received the Ultima Infinite without paying a fee and the card is worth 2.8L.
I agree with ashutosh, a bank will give you everything irrespective of your ITR. Overall they just want your free cash. This is due to the 2009 crash, else the banks used to bathe you with all damn possible privileges irrespective of your investment with them.
@Ajay
This was the reason why I was getting the Infinia. Cause I have been assigned a useless limit of 4L only and its been 2 yes since I am holding the diners black card. Though citi prestige doesn’t have NPSL, they have assigned me a limit of more than 12L and Amex has done the same.
@ Krishnakumar
From what as told to me, all super premium cards are supposed to have a 5 lakh limit. I had 5 L on Regalia and hence the upgrade was easier. Same limit was given on Black. This will be subsequently reviewed and increased next year. Else they would first take a request for limit enhancement and then upgrade the card.
ITR criteria is 45 L for Infinia and 36 L for Black. This was told to me by a senior credit card department guy.
HDFC has different criteria for difference people it seems. It all depends on your relationship with the bank. If I call them and tell them that I would like to invest 50,00,000 in one of their banks’ funds, they will issue a Infinia irrespective of my ITR. Basically they see your overall account. This includes insurance, demat, trading, savings etc.
@Ashutosh
Double dip is crazy difficult but not impossible. I have got double dip for a lot of cards. Also they don’t promise you 5,00,000 limit. Though its super premium, none of the banks promise you limits except for charge cards and credit cards with NPSL.
@Shubham, this is HDFC you are dealing with. And the 10l minimum for HDFC black is still around!
@Ajay@ Ashutosh
1.I agree with Shubham. They do not have any 10L or 5L limit. As in my case they stuck to my earlier limit of 2L which was on my Diners premium.
2.I was also told that your ITR should show min 45 L as your gross income.
3. Good news.. 10X is back!!!
@Krishnakumar when I was to get the card I talked all the way up to the product manager who informed me about the limit.
I applied for Diners Black and it is approved. The limit is only Rs 2 L as i got my earlier Diners Premium upgraded.
Another thing.. Spend 40K in 90 days and get waiver on Joining fee doesn’t apply now. I was told by RM and also I got a confirmation call in the evening from HDFC Bank informing me that 20K will be charged to me.
@ Ajay- Did you get Double dip on your Diners Black i.e. getting 20000 miles and waiver on fees?
@ Krishnakumar
Diners Black and Regalia are their super premium cards and both should have a minimum limit of Rs. 5,00,000. Infinia has 10,00,000 as minimum although they state that its No Preset Spending Limit.
Spend 8 lakhs in a year and get the waiver as per the current scheme. For frequent flyers, this is very easy.
I am sorry I am intruding here because your question was directed to Ajay. But I am giving my experience below.
Double dip is impossible. I paid 20k and got 20k reward. As Imperia and if you have a good relationship with the bank you can ask them to waive 20k joining fee and also forego 20k rewards. I already tried for double dip. It may have been possible when the card was introduced. Not any more now. In fact I tried to get them to retain my Regalia and side by side issue a Black, but what they have done is given my mother (also an Imperia) a lifetime free Regalia and got me an add on.
HDFC is very very rigid with policies.
@ Ashutosh- I will try your tricks now….! HDFC Bank has undoubtedly the worst Customer support. One can really feel the difference when you are used to Citibank Prestige servic
@ Shubham- I will try your tricks now….! HDFC Bank has undoubtedly the worst Customer support. One can really feel the difference when you are used to Citibank Prestige service.
@ Ajay- While I am still under the impression that 10X promotions on yatra, Flipkart, Cleartrip etc are for specific period which keeps coming up from time to time, when I visited HDFC Diners club website and clicked on “Apply Now”, there is a footnote about 10X partners and it gives an impression that 10X promotion on these partners is perpetual and ongoing forever..!!
@ajay
The main purpose is acceptance, limit, less paperwork(since infinia card holders completely have a separate set up in terms of documentation for any requests,etc), international spends, etc.Also I will be getting those Taj Inner circle cash vouchers for free(though I will be giving them way more business)
If the ITR condition is fulfilled, an Imperia customer is the first one who is given preference for issuing such cards. Instead of those useless RM’s, you should contact the diners club customer care and share your customer id, they will put your RM on fire and get it done. That’s how I got it and now I am in talks to get the Infinia, just some negotiations going on which will result in waiving of the 30K fee.
@Shubham, Infinia and the Diners Black for you? What is different?
@ Ashutosh
Did you get this card ? I am struggling for last one year despite the fact that I am holding Imperia Account
@Krishnakumar
Yes, it has been processed and I received it. Please speak to your Relationship Manager and ask him to put forward a strong case for issuing this card. You may not get it just because you are Imperia. I too am Imperia and had to fight for it. The best case you can put across is your total spends you can give on the card, assuming you have other cards as well. Otherwise I guess Diners Black have the same criteria for Infinia as far as income criteria etc is concerned. Please pressurise your relationship manager and pester him to the point of either helping you get the card or committing suicide.
HDFC will not give 2 Visa cards or 2 Diners cards or 2 Mastercards etc. They have to be different. I hold Regalia Mastercard and they are processing my Diners Black. 🙂
HDFC will give 2 cards if you are a premium bank account holder like Preferred or Imperia. They can alternatively split the original credit limit between the cards. Assuming you hold a Regalia with a limit of 5,00,000 and want a Diners Black, they will ask you how to split it, but your total credit exposure with the bank remains 5,00,000.
It is not very difficult to get it if you are a premium banker. The 3 lakh criteria is more for Infinia and not so much for Diners Black. They want to promote the Diners Black and may give it even if you income is less.
The SBI Air India card is great as mentioned by Shubham. I have used it and really benefitted out of it. Unless you are anti Air India that is. But my experience with Air India has been good during the last 4 flights.
Regalia is the next best card in the HDFC collection.
Does anyone know what is the eligibility requirements for Diners Black Card for salaried individuals?
On the page for expressing interest on their website, there’s an option with annual income > Rs 1.8 lacs. On filling the form I got a call from a representative (looked like from some call center speaking in Hindi) saying the income requirement is Rs 3 lacs per month and that they do not process applications for this card and asked me to contact branch directly. It’s so strange that this conflicts with what they have on their website. Why do they have the option to express interest online when they do not even process it and provide wrong information on their website.
No wonder it’s a pathetic bank to have a credit card of! Does anyone has experience of applying for this card?
Thanks,
Anshul
Couple of questions guys:
1. What is the annual fees of Diners Black Club Card and what are the main features?
2. Do you know any credit card where you can convert your points to SPG points.
Thanks
Guys, if you arent Anti-Air India.
Please go for the SBI-Air India Card.
One of the best cards a person can ever have.
The only disappointing part is the airline itself for its obvious reasons.
BUT the bank i.e SBI is Great. Could never expect any service from a Bank owned by the Government of India.
Let it be the way of talking, service requests, website, etc. Its just great and better than many private banks.GENUINELY!!
@Rajiv,
Yeah my mistake.
But yes, when i received the card last year, I had received the waiver and wasnt charged any fee.I remember it being mentioned in the tnc’s as well.
Maybe they have changed their conditions.
People with bank accounts in HDFC can ask their RM’s for the second card.
It’s been a long time since HDFC hasnt launched any new premium cards.
HDFC and the worst customer care out of all!! Without an RM or any other contact, its very difficult to get things done.
Whom should I plead with for my second card? HDFC Customer Care is useless. I have HDFC Jetairways World Card which I do not wish to close.
The diners club sites says that points can be redeemed across 15 International Airlines. Which airlines are these?
@Anjali I am looking for the list but I know Air India, Jet Airways, American Airlines for sure on the list. Also Hyatt Gold Passport & Marriott Rewards
The airlines that the points can be transferred to are:
1) Thai
2) American
3) Virgin Atlantic
4) Delta
5) El Al
6) Frontier
7) SAS Scandinavian
8) Air Canada
9) Hawaiian
10) Iceland Air
11) Southwest
12) Singapore
13) Jet
14) Air India
15) Indigo (I’m guessing a cash voucher for this)
This is the only card I found where you can transfer to AAdvantage. To me, that is a huge benefit.
@Gaurav – You need to plead hard with a constant follow up HDFC, but is worthwhile. I have 2 cards (JetPrivilege World Credit Card & Diners Black) since 2 years now and happy with it. Although, customer service leaves lot to wish for.
Hi PB, Do HDFC allow multiple cards? My understanding was, they do not allow more than 1 credit card.
@Gaurav, they allow multiple cards but in rare circumstances.
Dear Rajiv,
Please visit http://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/cc_common_MITC.pdf and go on to page no.6
And there’s a slight correction, its 40k and not 60k.
Yes the International Currency mark up fee of 2% is very helpful for those people who transact a lot in International Currencies.
@Shubham, thats for Premium, not Black
Does the Diners Rewardz too has the 2% mark up or 3.25/3.5 % as other cards with other banks? Kindly reply.
Do you earn miles on all your spends or is it just on, “retail spends” as the website mentions 5 Miles for Rs. 150 spent.
Would you say this card is better than Premier Miles as with premier miles, you get 4 Miles for every Rs. 100 which translates to a benefit of Rs. 1.8 benefit, whereas in case of Diners Card, you get benefit of Rs. 3.3 for every Rs. 100 spent, plus if you exceed spends of Rs. 8 Lakhs, the card is free, which is amazing.
What is the current acceptance level of Diners Card. Thanks.
@Dhawal Shah, retail spends is a way for card issuers to protect themselves from those who are putting their entire business expenses on the card. For instance, if you pay telephone bills worth INR 150K, then that is for sure a business expense and not an individual spend unless proven otherwise. Diners Club is accepted by everyone who has an HDFC Bank terminal in india, and most websites, but not all.
HDFC Bank Diners Club Credit Card is one of the only few cards (others being HDFC premium travel credit cards) in the country which offer 2% FCY rates, which is a big deal of savings on FCY compared to other credit cards in the country.
Also to note, HDFC allows to have 2 Credit Cards (my other card is a HDFC Bank JetPrivilege World Credit Card) for selected customers, although to note is a painful ordeal.
Ajay, website says 2X on dining i.e 10 for Rs 150 right?
Shubham, where does it say fees waived from spends of 60k in 3 months? I can only find “Spend Rs. 8L in 12 Months and get Renewal Fee waived for next renewal year”
@Rajiv yes 10 for 150.
@Ajay “Additionally, all dining is at 10 miles/points per INR 100/” >> to be corrected?
@Raj, thanks.. fixed it.
Hi Ajay,
You can’t compare this card with the Prestige or the Platinum.
But yes this is one of the best cards since once you cross the 60k spending within the first 3 months, you are not charged a fee.
Also it is Genuinely one of the best mileage earning cards since you earn good amount of points.
Pros:
Good concierge, personalized travel website where you earn 10x points all round the year, can redeem for Indigo vouchers in smaller denominations, NO need to remember pins in case someone is used to forgetting them or not in the habit of remembering, etc
Cons:
Acceptance issues, an issue for auto pay for Utility Bills, customer care aint that great and lastly for any requests like REDEEMING POINTS, updating contact details or credit limit increase, you need to do a lot of paperwork and nothing can be done over the phone.
@Shubham I don’t find their concierge anything great. Citi is much better, and erstwhile Ultima was using the same concierge as HDFC. On the travel website you earn 2x not 10x.
Hi Ajay,
How does it stack against the Prestige Card ?
@Kapil, Prestige is a benefits oriented card, while this one is largely for the miles/points it can generate. Prestige gives you tonnes of benefits/goodies/status just to get started, here all you get is 20K points and some of these kind of bonuses. The only place they work on similar lines is unlimited lounge access.
Was this post paid for? It smells like one
@Ajay sorry if you feel like that. I don’t do paid posts, and regulars around here know that. Cheers!