HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege credit card is a premium offering that provides a good reward rate as well as excellent benefits. As a welcome benefit, we get complimentary annual memberships to Swiggy One and TimesPrime. With the Diners Privilege, you can earn 4 reward points per Rs 150 spent with accelerated rewards for Swiggy and Zomato. Additionally, it offers complimentary access to airport lounges and BMS Buy One Get One offers. We can also get a reward rate of up to 13% with the Diners Privilege quarterly milestone benefit and SmartBuy rewards. Check out our detailed review of the HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege credit card.
Eligibility
HDFC Bank has set high eligibility criteria for the Diners Club Privilege credit card. But, these criteria are relaxed by quite a bit if one already has a savings account or some other relationship with HDFC Bank. If you already have an existing HDFC Bank credit card with Rs 3 Lakh limit, you can upgrade to the Diners Club Privilege by writing to customer care.
The same limit criteria also applies for C2C applications. You can apply for the Diners Club Privilege on C2C basis with any other credit card having at least Rs 3 Lakh credit limit.
| Salaried | Net Monthly Income > Rs 70000 |
| Self Employed | ITR > Rs 8.4 Lakhs/Annum |
Fees and Charges
HDFC Bank has gone in favour of annual memberships instead of the usual points as the welcome benefit. These annual memberships also get renewed if we spend more than Rs 5 Lakhs in a card membership year.
| Joining Fee | Rs 2500+GST |
| Welcome Benefit | Complimentary annual memberships of Swiggy One and Times Prime |
| Annual Fee | Rs 2500+GST |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Spend Rs 3 Lakhs in card anniversary year |
| Renewal Benefits | None |
The welcome benefits are applicable on spending Rs 75000 within 90 days of card issuance. The benefits can be redeemed on this SmartBuy link.
Rewards
Diners Club Privilege credit card earns 4 reward points for every Rs 150. Each reward is worth between 20 paise to 50 paise based on redemption options. So this translates to a 1.3% return on your regular spending.
| Spend Category | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Retail Spends | 4 RP per Rs 150 ~1.3% return |
| Swiggy and Zomato Spends | 20 RP per Rs 150 ~6.5% return 4X bonus RP capped at 2500 RP per calendar month |
| EasyEMI, Wallets, Rent, Property Management, Packers & Movers, Government transactions | No rewards |
| Cap on Grocery spend rewards | 2000 RP per calendar month |
| Cap on Insurance spend rewards | 2000 RP per day |
Milestone Benefit
The HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege credit card now gets a quarterly milestone benefit. Spend Rs 1.5 Lakhs in a calendar quarter and get a Rs 1500 worth of gift voucher from any of the below brands.
- Marriott Experience
- Decathlon
- Barbeque Nation
- O2 Spa
- Lakme Salon
You can track the milestone spends and redeem these benefits on SmartBuy Diners –> Click on ‘Diners Club Benefits’ tab –> Select ‘Diners Club Privilege Milestones’ –> Check Quarterly Benefits
SmartBuy Rewards
The normal and milestone rewards on Diners Club Privilege might seem less for a card in this segment. This is where SmartBuy is useful. For shopping on below merchants through SmartBuy, we get accelerated rewards which increase the overall reward rate. The SmartBuy cap for Diners Club Privilege credit card is 4000 reward points per calendar month.
| Shopping Category | Rewards | Value at 1RP = 50 paise |
|---|---|---|
| IGP.com | 10X | 13.3% |
| Flights | 5X | 6.6% |
| Hotels | 10X | 13.3% |
| IRCTC | 3X | 3.9% |
| Redbus | 5X | 6.6% |
| Instant Vouchers | 5X | 6.6% |
| Apple Tresor | 5X | 6.6% |
| Flipkart | 3X | 3.9% |
| Zoom Car | 5X | 6.6% |
| Nykaa | 5X | 6.6% |
| Jockey | 10X | 13.3% |
Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
Diners Club Privilege credit card gets 8 complimentary airport lounge visits in a year for primary and add-on card members. The access is directly through the credit card – no separate pass is required. Complimentary lounge access on the Diners Club Privilege is valid only if spends are more than Rs 15,000 in the previous calendar quarter.
- List of eligible domestic airport lounges for Diners Club Privilege
- List of eligible international airport lounges for Diners Club Privilege
Other Key Benefits and Charges
- BookMyShow BOGO Offer: Buy 1 Get 1 Free on movie/non-movie weekend tickets via BookMyShow. Offer is applicable for shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (irrespective of booking day). Maximum discount is Rs 250 per ticket and we get up to 2 free tickets every calendar month
- Foreign Currency Markup: 2% + GST ~2.36%
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: Not Available
Rewards Redemption
Rewards on the Diners Club Privilege can be redeemed on the Smartbuy redemption portal.
HDFC Bank provides the option of redeeming for products from its catalog, booking flights/hotels, gift vouchers, or even cash. What differs is the value offered for your rewards for these redemption options. If booking a flight or hotel, each reward point has a value of 50p.
However, if we go for products, gift vouchers, or cash the value of each reward point drops to 20p. So, if you travel the best option is to book flights on Smartbuy using reward points or transfer them to one of the Airmiles partners.
| Redemption Option | Value of 1 RP |
|---|---|
| Smartbuy (Flights/Hotels) | 50 paise |
| Airmiles – Intermiles, Singapore Airlines (Krisflyer), Club Vistara | 0.5 Airmiles |
| Rewards Catalogue (Including Vouchers) | 20 paise to 35 paise |
| Cashback | 20 paise |
Final Thoughts
HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege is like the Regalia on many levels. It is not surprising as they are below the super-premium Infinia and Diners Club Black in their range. But, Diners Club Privilege scores in some areas over Regalia. It gets many extra benefits over the Regalia. But, acceptance at offline stores is something that is an issue for the Privilege card. Though this has improved to a large extent thanks to the tie up with Rupay.
HDFC Bank credit cards are generally more rewarding than others. The Diners Club Privilege does not disappoint on this front as well. With the quarterly milestone and SmartBuy, the reward rate would be between 2% to 4% on spends which is good! Another reason to get this card will be the potential to upgrade to Diners Club Black or Infinia in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege Credit Card
10 thoughts on “HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege Credit Card”
Are you sure that airmiles option is available in privilege card. I don’t see that .. please advise
You can access it in Netbanking when you go to redeem credit card rewards page.
Currently getting this card as an option of upgrade over my LTF Millennia Diners.
But have to pay 2500 annual fee.
Is there a way to make it LTF like my Millennia Diners?
HDFC Bank is now issuing upgrades with fee. No way to upgrade as LTF unless you get the pre-approved offer.
2x reward points on weekend dining are no longer available post devaluation.
Thanks! It is now removed.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Have the limit to the tune of Rs 6 lacs in other bank Card. Interested in Diners Club Black Card.
You need to request your RM to upgrade you to DCB based on credit card limit or email grievance helpdesk.
I applied for this card upon getting a notification from Payzapp. HDFC declined my application without stating any reason (my CIBIL: 840, annual income above 14 lacs, have three cards with a combined CL of 3.15 lacs, oldest since May 2019).
I reapplied through Payzapp on another notification. This time the customer care executive on first round of telephonic verification asked me, if my current location is at least 50 km from my Aadhar and i was told that is their internal policy.
So I changed my Aadhar address to current address.
Now I’m trying to apply from HDFC banks site, but it shows “you’ve already applied, please check the status”, the status is the same one as that of my first application.
Any other way to get through this? How do I get this?
Hi DP. Please follow up with HDFC Bank with the old application number. You can drop an email to [email protected] with the application details. They will get in touch with you.