For what was once considered parallel to Infinia, the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black credit card has seen harsh devaluations compared to elder brother Infinia. But, HDFC Bank has just fixed it to a large extent. The new launch HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition Credit Card fixes some of those issues to a large extent. It retains all of the plastic DCB features and ups some of the rewards & benefits. The Diners Club Black Metal Edition gets a great quarterly milestone benefit with a higher SmartBuy bonus reward points cap. The HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition Credit Card now takes the second position to Infinia and is a good option to upgrade to if you cannot get your hands on Infinia. Read on for a detailed review of the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition credit card.
Fees and Charges
HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition credit card has one of the stringent eligibility criteria among all credit cards. If you are applying for a new card, you need a net monthly income of Rs 1.75 Lakhs if salaried or Rs 21 Lakhs/annum if self-employed.
HDFC Bank relaxes the eligibility in case of card upgrades or on the basis of the customer’s NRV. For upgrades to DCB, the limit needs to be upwards of Rs 5 Lakhs to be eligible for a chance at approval. So, if you have an existing HDFC Bank credit card with a Rs 5 Lakh+ limit, do try your luck by asking for an upgrade.
| Joining Fee | Rs 10000+GST |
| Annual Fee | Rs 10000+GST |
| Welcome Benefit | Complimentary annual memberships of Club Marriott, Amazon Prime and Swiggy |
| Annual Fees Waiver | Rs 8 Lakhs Spend |
The welcome benefits are applicable on spending Rs 1.5 Lakhs within the first 90 days or upon first year fee realization on your HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition Credit Card.
Card Acceptance
Diners Club card acceptance is a challenge in some areas. Online acceptance of DCB Metal Edition is ok with a few exceptions. It is the offline stores where there will be a challenge in using this card. But the Discover Rupay tie up, acceptability has improved a lot.
| Network | Diners Club |
| Domestic PoS Acceptance (Metro/Tier 1 Cities) | Very Good – Around 80% |
| Domestic PoS Acceptance (Tier 2/Other cities) | Good (Around 60%) |
| International Acceptance | Fair (Around 50%) |
Rewards
HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition credit card earns 5 reward points for every Rs 150. Each reward point is worth Rs 1 on redeeming some rewards (more on it later), so this translates to an excellent 3.33% return on your regular spending. The maximum reward points that can be earned in a statement cycle for Diners Black is 75000.
| Category | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Base Rewards | 5 RP per Rs 150 |
| Weekend Dining | 10 RP per Rs 150 Maximum 1000 RP per day |
| Insurance Transactions | 5 RP per Rs 150 Maximum 5000 RP per day |
| Grocery Transactions | 5 RP per Rs 150 Maximum 2000 RP per calendar month |
| Wallet Loads, Fuel, Rent and Government Services | No Rewards |
Milestone Benefits
The 3.3% base reward rate is nice and the milestone benefits add more value to it.
- 10000 bonus RP on Rs 4 Lakhs spend in a calendar quarter ~2.5% reward rate
10X SmartBuy Rewards
This has always been the attraction of HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition credit card. The rewards used to be great till last year but have been devalued a bit now. HDFC Bank runs a SmartBuy platform where we can get up to 10X rewards for shopping.
The cap on bonus reward points is 10000 every calendar month/per day. This fixes one of the major issues with the plastic DCB. The 2500 daily cap was too less for any kind of large SmartBuy purchase.
| Shopping Category | Rewards | Value at 1RP = Rs 1 |
|---|---|---|
| IGP.com | 10X | 33% |
| Flights | 5X | 16.5% |
| Hotels | 10X | 33% |
| IRCTC | 3X | 10% |
| Redbus | 5X | 16.5% |
| Instant Voucher | 3X | 10% |
| Apple Imagine Tresor | 3X | 10% |
| Flipkart | 2X | 6.6% |
| Zoom Car | 5X | 16.5% |
| Nykaa | 5X | 16.5% |
| Jockey | 10X | 33% |
Unlimited Airport Lounge Access
HDFC Diners Club Black Metal Edition credit card also gives unlimited domestic and international airport lounge access at 700+ locations in India and worldwide. There is no cap on the number of visits. The list of lounges where this is valid is available at the official website over here. The point to be noted here is, the credit card itself doubles up as the access card – there is no separate card unlike Priority Pass.
The unlimited access is valid for add-on card members as well.
Other Charges and Benefits
- 24/7 Concierge Services
- Foreign Currency Markup: 2% + GST
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: Not Available. The plastic DCB has it but not the new Metal Edition.
Rewards Redemption
HDFC Bank provides multiple ways to redeem the accumulated reward points. Reward points are valid for three years from the date of credit. The best value would be to redeem the points for booking flights/hotels on SmartBuy or transfer miles to one of the transfer partners.
Flights/Hotels Booking on SmartBuy
The redemption option that provides the best value for the reward points is booking flights and hotels on SmartBuy. In this case, each reward point is valued at Rs 1. SmartBuy allows using up to 70% of the booking amount to be paid by reward points while the rest has to be paid by credit card. However, the good part is the amount paid by credit card accrues 5X reward points. 🙂 We can redeem up to 75000 RP per calendar month towards flights and hotels redemption.
Cash/Gift Vouchers Redemption
The Diners Club Black is not for someone who redeems the points for cash/vouchers. The effective standard reward rate when redeeming vouchers and cash drops to 1.65% (1000 RP = Rs 500 Amazon voucher) and 1% (1 RP = 30p) respectively! We now have plenty of cards in the market that provides a 2% or more direct cashback on transactions. SmartBuy allows using up to 70% of the voucher amount to be paid by reward points while the rest has to be paid by credit card.
Transfer as Airmiles
Last but not the least, we do have the option to transfer reward points to one of the Airmiles partners.
Reward Points Redemption Value Chart
| Redemption Option | Value of 1 RP |
|---|---|
| SmartBuy (Flights/Hotels) | Rs 1 |
| Airmiles | 0.5 to 1 Airmiles |
| Rewards Catalogue (Including Vouchers) | 20 paise to 50 paise |
| Cashback | 30 paise |
Transfer Partners
HDFC Bank DCB gets a whole new set of transfer partners now. Etihad Guest, British Airways, United MileagePlus and AeroPlan get a 2:1 ratio. So, two RP become 1 mile. Everything else is 1:1.
| Transfer Partner | Transfer Ratio RP:Miles |
|---|---|
| Air Canada – AeroPlan | 2:1 |
| Air Asia – airasia rewards | 1:1 |
| ALL – Accor Live Limitless | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 2:1 |
| Etihad Guest | 2:1 |
| Finnair Plus | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue | 1:1 |
| Hainan Airlines – Fortune Wings Club | 1:1 |
| IHG One Rewards | 1:1 |
| Vietnam Airlines – Lotusmiles Program | 1:1 |
| Turkish Airlines – Miles&Smiles | 1:1 |
| United MileagePlus | 2:1 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 |
| Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
| Vistara Airlines – Club Vistara | 1:1 |
| InterMiles | 1:1 |
Final Thoughts
There are very few credit cards that offer 3.3% as the standard reward rate on all transactions. But, the extra benefits offered by HDFC Diners Club Black Metal Edition credit card like 10X rewards and unlimited lounge access are what make it one of the better credit cards in India at this moment.
HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition Credit Card
27 thoughts on “HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Edition Credit Card Review”
Hi,
Thank you for the review. You mentioned no reward points for rent payments. Will it be considered for milestone benefits?
Yes, it will be.
Hi. Had a query reg my DB metal card. If I spend 10 lakhs in one transaction, what will I get in terms of RP??
5 RP/Rs 150 is uncapped
Hi Card Maven,
Thanks for all these articles. I have a couple of questions regarding the validity of my LTF DCB. It’s getting expired on July 2024. I would still like to continue with the ‘Plastic’ variant. However, I am bombarded by ‘upgrade’ requests both on my phone and on the net banking platform. Two questions
1) Whether they would forcibly ask me to get a paid ‘Metal’ variant or would they continue to give me the “plastic’ variant (my preference)?
2) My credit limit being northwards of 12 lakhs, would they offer me a paid FYF Infinia notwithstanding the fact that my spends were only in the vicinity of 3-4 lakhs over the last 8 months?
Thanks in Advance,
Grey Pilgrim.
1. You will get the same plastic on renewal too.
2. No, you would need to have higher spends to get Infinia. The credit limit is ok.
Hi,
Thanks for the update but I found the card to be a bit disappointment because:
1. Loss of monthly and annual rewards on spend thresholds.
2. Annual fee waiver is at 8L instead of 5L. Makes a difference if you spread spends on more than 1 card.
3. Daily/ monthly limits are same plus Smartbuy multiplier is same
Card makes sense only if your quarterly spends are expected to exceed 4L. If one can get this more than once a year than it works better than the previous card. But again, most of us spread the spends over multiple cards.
Just a crazy Q – Don’t you think with the bonus quarterly bonus rewards of 10k which adds up to 40k annually, DCB metal has added a notch higher than its big brother Infinia to become the best rewarding credit card?
Yes, it is a good addition but Infinia has 5X on instant vouchers which is more valuable unless you only have non SmartBuy spends.
True! I only use Infinia for instant vouchers. Basically use Diners for all regular transactions where the reward rate is same for Infinia or diners just to meet the quarter target.
Hi , Can yiu plsease clarify on my doubt can we get RP’s on utility bills ?
Yes, we do
hi, update
did the process through the link…they kept extending the response time every 3 days,
i am guessing since my account is still showing the upgrade to dcb metal from dcb,
today they finally rejected it saying i do not meet their criteria,
i have 20L limit on their exisitng DB card which i have been holding for over 7 years,
a cibil over 790 and Imperia relationship,
this bank just amazes me every day
thanks for your articles buddy, i just thought i would update you
Should i even bother taking the DCB metal or just continue with the existing card?
That’s strange. Do you also meet the spends criteria?
Yes , well exceed it,
They have given me their internal policy jargaon
Anyways what do you think I should do
Take the DCB Metal or stick with my dcb plastic
Or puruse the Infinia Metal after a few months?
Think it is time to push for Infinia Metal
This request was for the Infinia Metal which got rejected by them,
DCB Metal is showing up as mentioned on an account level basis as an upgrade
I guess what you say makes sense, might as well wait a bit more and Re apply for the Infinia Metal rather than take the DCB Metal now
Does it give Points on education spends?
Yes, it does.
Hi,
I have the DCB with a very high Credit limit [ can tell you this in a DM on twitter if need be], they offering me a upgrade to the metal one,
I am not finding it interesting enough, virtaully the same, what i am not liking is the 75k cap on reward redemptions through smartbuy per month remains,
and while they say the remaining tkt value earns 5x or 10x, its anyways capped to 2500 points
So i seek your advise, as you have been very helpful to me with your suggestions in the past
What to do..Upgrade to DCB Metal version?
Wait for that so called Galaxia [or what ever the gonna call that new premium card of their]
Or ask for Infinia [have one supplementary through my spouse]
I currently have the following which i regularly use , Infinia [add on with my spouse], Amex Plat charge, Axis Magnus [sadly got this just as they announced the devaluation, so will. close this card next year] and SBI Vistara Prime [on your suggestion]
The SmartBuy cap is increased for the DCB Metal Edition. So, you will get 5X/10X up to 10K bonus RP.
If you have 10L limit, then would suggest you to ask for Infinia. There is no news on when the next super premium card may come. So may as well make the most of it while we wait for it.
Hi Limit is 20L on DCB,
i guess will take your suggestion on Infinia,
which would be faster,
Going through the Dumb RM or the Dumb Customer “Scare” executive….
Go through this process. It will be faster. With that limit, try for Infinia.
Thanks for the prompt reply,
Have done the needful through the link you suggested,
Tried informing the RM, he was clueless and started pitching me some Endowment plan [rolls eyes]
Hoping this works,
Keep up the good work
That’s why suggested the alternate route 🙂
annual subscription of marriot.amazon prime and swiggy on spending 8 lakhs in a year, is not mentioned any where in the website of hdfc bank. Kindly clarify.
Yes, that is not available for now. It is now updated.