[tejas08]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Question - do we need to have hdfc bank account to be eligible for Infinia? I randomly asked an hdfc guy and he insisted that I open a bank account for it.

Mandatory - No

Recommended - Yes

Key criteria for Infinia
- 2.75 Lacs Net Salary for Direct Application
- 8+ Lacs of Credit Limit & 7.5 Lacs of Spends in past 6 months on Existing HDFC Card for upgrade to Infinia

[vinu_h]

Folks apologies in advance for the laxity on my part. I am on the road and do not have much bandwidth to read up on this at the moment.

I am on vacation and could not make it to a reservation that I had made of an accommodation. The hotel has debited me as it is outside the cancellation window and is of significant value. I understand some credit cards come bundled with insurance. Would you know which one of these includes travel insurance in particular a one that will accept such claims ?

Again, thanks in advance. I will surely pack the best travel insurance next time I step out.

[JMaruru]

How does individual UPI payments considered as in rupay card based transactions?
Most of the small vendors have individual UPI accounts and I hope this doesn't get classified as cash transfers.

I have my bank account and also the rupay card as options on google pay.
For certain transactions, rupay card option doesn't show up. So, have to use the bank account for debit. Does this mean, the UPI takes care of the filtering on their end?

Please advise.

[cncmachinist]

Even I am using Rupay card with Google pay. My observation is if the name on recipient account in an individual, bank account is shown. If it is a company name then Rupay card is shown.

[TSIched'Out]

So ICICI is going to make changes to lounge access program for most of its low end cards. One would now need to spend Rs 35,000/- in a quarter to get one complementary lounge access in the next quarter. It is also introducing Dynamic Currency Conversion fee of 1% plus taxes and withdrawing reqard points on rent payments and wallet load transactions. Details here: https://icici.co/DUvfZJsEfCa

[Pancham]

So something very strange happened. Perhaps this is due to my ignorance. My HDFC credit card got upgraded to Regalia Gold and because I did not activate the new card on time, they closed it altogether.

The HDFC CC was my oldest credit card (from more than 10 years back) and snap! They just cut all ties and closed the account. Now I dont have a relationship with them.

Man! This break up hurts.

Checked with the customer care and it seems they cannot do anything. I have to apply for a fresh card after 6 months.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Pancham

...Perhaps this is due to my ignorance. My HDFC credit card got upgraded to Regalia Gold and because I did not activate the new card on time, they closed it altogether.

This is due to a regulation by RBI, and nothing the bank can do about it.
However, the 6 months to apply new card is the usual HDFC bureaucracy at play.

[pickdj]

Need some advice:
I already have an HDFC Infinia card. I have been offered a choice between the Metal Infinia or the Diners black. Obviously some differences wrt charges and mandatory spend etc and benefits. Any suggestions which one to go for?

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Pancham

So something very strange happened. Perhaps this is due to my ignorance. My HDFC credit card got upgraded to Regalia Gold and because I did not activate the new card on time, they closed it altogether.

The HDFC CC was my oldest credit card (from more than 10 years back) and snap! They just cut all ties and closed the account. Now I dont have a relationship with them.

Man! This break up hurts.

Checked with the customer care and it seems they cannot do anything. I have to apply for a fresh card after 6 months.

Yes, this is the RBI guideline. Bank cannot do anything here. I was also about to face the same situation a few months ago; however, the relationship manager called me a few days before the deadline for the first transaction and reminded me to make any transaction.

I suggest you go to the nearest HDFC branch and explain the situation and your long relationship with them. Most likely they will help you to wavier the 6 months waiting.

[aastiksaluja]

I finally got the news of the Devaluation of Axis Vistara Infinite. It was the least favourite out of my three cards (Infinia Metal and StanC Ultimate), and I guess this change pushes me to ditch this and maybe explore other options.

Now, they ask one to take four flights and a minimum of 15,000 tier points for renewal of Gold Status. Honestly, I flew the least in Vistara last year, as they don't fly my international routes or have codeshare flights that I can use on half the leg. In the domestic circuit, the flight options and availability are always trumped by Indigo, and unhappily, I would have to choose practicality over comfort. So, Gold Status was not useful in a sense.

Achieving these numbers will be easy if they fly more timings and circuits.

Still, the value recovery is there. I have already spent over 7.5 lakh for the calendar year ending June 2024, thus earning three business-class domestic vouchers. I don't like the 12 lakh stage as it's not valued enough.

Now, I have two tasks at hand:

1. Spend three Biz classes, three one-class upgrade vouchers, and 80K points on holiday with family before June so they don't go to waste.

2. Find an ideal replacement- If Axis offer Magnus with Burgundy status with some investment, is it worth it after devaluation?
I was waiting to get a Platinum charge after a little increase in my spending to reap maximum benefits. Still, I recently saw the hoarded upgrade online, with influencers spamming and asking anyone and everyone for an upgrade to earn referral points- I'm afraid there will be some devaluation in the coming years.
P.S.: I'm not against mass use, but banks are not stupid to spend more than they can earn with any system in place. Exclusivity helps them give more benefits per customer than mass offerings.

[sagarpadaki]

Can anyone share what is the hierarchy of HDFC Credit cards. I understand that the Infinia is their top tier card. Is there anything above it? What about the cards below it? Is there any link that shows the hierarchy of the their cars in terms of exclusivity and benefits?

Thanks

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by pickdj

Need some advice:
I already have an HDFC Infinia card. I have been offered a choice between the Metal Infinia or the Diners black. Obviously some differences wrt charges and mandatory spend etc and benefits. Any suggestions which one to go for?

Do nothing. Continue with Infinia PVC.

Originally Posted by aastiksaluja

Still, the value recovery is there. I have already spent over 7.5 lakh for the calendar year ending June 2024, thus earning three business-class domestic vouchers. I don't like the 12 lakh stage as it's not valued enough.

Now, I have two tasks at hand:

1. Spend three Biz classes, three one-class upgrade vouchers, and 80K points on holiday with family before June so they don't go to waste.

2. Find an ideal replacement- If Axis offer Magnus with Burgundy status with some investment, is it worth it after devaluation?
I was waiting to get a Platinum charge after a little increase in my spending to reap maximum benefits. Still, I recently saw the hoarded upgrade online, with influencers spamming and asking anyone and everyone for an upgrade to earn referral points- I'm afraid there will be some devaluation in the coming years.
P.S.: I'm not against mass use, but banks are not stupid to spend more than they can earn with any system in place. Exclusivity helps them give more benefits per customer than mass offerings.

I am not sure why you did not hop on to the Magnus Bandwagon long back or even Atlas over the last 4-5 months despite heavily using Vistara Infinite. The same usage on Axis Atlas would have gotten you much better quality of rewards than simply Vistara Domestic Business Class Tickets. I only value the Gold Status in the Vistara Infinite Card and value those Business Class Tickets as Premium Economy Ticket pricing at best as I dont see the need to book Business Class in Domestic Flights.

So Vistara Infinite was a 'Pay Annual Fee and Do nothing card' for me.

Axis Magnus with Burgundy still remains the best in terms of reward rate but the Axis Bank circus will get you frustrated within a couple of months of Banking and Card usage.

As for Amex, they have always been targeting cards increase thru referral program for ages. And Amex getting more limelight is a result of Axis devaluing its cards.

Amex in January offered the highest ever Sign-up bonus on the Platinum Charge Card of 135K MR Points. It was a no brainer to pick it up for those who know the optimal utilization of Amex MR Points. My Platinum Charge card was delivered just today. I took it purely for the Sign-Up Bonus and potentially the additional referral bonus points limit that it offers. I dont think I would be using any of its offers more than 2-3 times a year. I had the card earlier for two years, closed it and now got it again after one & half year of last closure. Why? Cause Amex doesnt offer anything against annual fees any more. The last time I renewed Amex Platinum Charge Card, they offered 100K MR Points against the annual fee.

Amex devaluations are never harsh. But then Amex doesnt offer anything extravagant either. Platinum Charge card is not for the Middle Class. Its for people with significantly high discretionary spends.

https://www.livemint.com/money/are-u...940833292.html

If you have a premium Subscription, you would be able to read some insights on why I say that Platinum Charge card is not for Middle Class People.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Can anyone share what is the hierarchy of HDFC Credit cards. I understand that the Infinia is their top tier card. Is there anything above it? What about the cards below it? Is there any link that shows the hierarchy of the their cars in terms of exclusivity and benefits?

The top 3-4 cards:

HDFC Infinia
HDFC Diners Club Black Metal
HDFC Diners Club Black
HDFC Regalia Gold
HDFC Regalia

Rumours have been around for a long time for HDFC to launch a card above Infinia but nothing concrete yet.

[SiddharthR]

Originally Posted by pickdj

Need some advice:
I already have an HDFC Infinia card. I have been offered a choice between the Metal Infinia or the Diners black. Obviously some differences wrt charges and mandatory spend etc and benefits. Any suggestions which one to go for?

There's no benefits of going from Infinia to Diners black unless they offer you LTF. The acceptance is pretty poor for Diners club both in India and in foreign countries. Even on spends like dining, Infinia has better rewards in India

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Question - do we need to have hdfc bank account to be eligible for Infinia? I randomly asked an hdfc guy and he insisted that I open a bank account for it.

I have infinia but no HDFC bank account.
If you have sufficient income or other card with high credit limit >10lakhs, it should not be a problem.

Originally Posted by pickdj

Need some advice:
I already have an HDFC Infinia card. I have been offered a choice between the Metal Infinia or the Diners black. Obviously some differences wrt charges and mandatory spend etc and benefits. Any suggestions which one to go for?

Diners black is actually a downgrade. Apart from the poor acceptance of Diners, the caps and limits on Diners are much lower than Infinia.
In fact, I upgraded from Diners black to Infinia, not sure why would anyone want to downgrade

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Has anyone used Axis Flipkart and/or Axis Airtel card for lounge access in Bangalore T1? Axis website says TFS lounge but last month while travelling didn’t notice any lounge with that name. Is it the 080 lounge next to smoking room in T1?

Have never used these cards for lounge access, so would be my first time. How's the acceptance?

Update : Tried domestic lounge for first time in India(Bangalore) and was a decent experience. Had an early morning flight(domestic), so decided to reach airport late at night as travelling early(3/4AM) with kid is a task.

I could use both Scapia & Axis flipkart card for my spouse and I to get entry. Scapia works even for the better 080 lounge but Axis flipkart has a 885INR charge. Scapia works only with pinelabs card machines, so swiped that in 080 and headed to BLR lounge. Axis flipkart worked fine in BLR lounge. Both were charged INR 2.00. Kids under 5 years have complimentary entry.

Being early morning, crowd was relatively less. However one thing I noticed is after recent spurt of devaluation lot of people couldn't get access to the lounge. Most were regalia holders AFAIR. So do check in dreamfolks website on eligibility before heading to domestic lounges.