HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black Credit Card

HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black Credit Card

If there are two credit cards that everyone aspires to get – those are Infinia and Diners Club Black. Given that HDFC Bank issues only one super-premium credit card, which one to opt for if we have both options. Here is a detailed comparison of fees, rewards, and benefits for HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black.

Fees and Charges

FeeInfiniaDiners Club Black
Joining FeesRs 12500+GSTRs 10000+GST
Welcome BenefitClub Marriott membership for the first year

12500 RP if joining fees is paid
Annual memberships of Club Marriott, Forbes India, Swiggy One (3 months), Amazon Prime, MMTBlack, TimesPrime Smart on spending Rs 1.5 Lakhs in 90 days
Annual FeesRs 12500+GSTRs 10000+GST
Annual Fees WaiverRs 10 Lakhs SpendRs 5 Lakhs Spend
Renewal Benefit12500 RP if the renewal fee is paidWelcome benefit memberships get renewed on spending Rs 8 Lakhs
Issued asMetalPVC

The key difference here is that Infinia gets a renewal benefit. On realization of annual fees, HDFC Bank credits 12500 reward points to the card. For low spenders, DCB makes more sense as the waiver is set to a lower limit of Rs 5 Lakhs.

LTF IndusInd Bank Credit Cards

Network and Card Acceptance

The key difference between Infinia and Diners Club Black is the networks on which these are issued. This has an effect on card acceptance both in India and outside India.

InfiniaDiners Club Black
NetworkVisa Infinite
Mastercard World
Diners Club
Domestic PoS Acceptance (Metro/Tier 1 Cities)ExcellentVery Good – Around 80%
Domestic PoS Acceptance (Tier 2/Other cities) ExcellentGood (Around 60%)
International AcceptanceExcellentFair (Around 50%)

Rewards

Both HDFC Bank Infinia and Diners Club Black have a similar rewards system and are eligible for 10X rewards on Smartbuy. All transactions (except wallet load, Easy EMI, and Fuel) earn 5 reward points on every Rs 150/- spend. But, there are some key differences in the additional rewards that the two cards offer.

DCB also offers a monthly milestone benefit. We get 2 monthly vouchers from Ola Select membership or cult.fit Live 1-month membership or BookMyShow or TataCLiQ worth Rs. 500 each every month on spends of Rs 80000.

LTF IDFC First Bank Credit Cards
CategoryInfiniaDiners Club Black
Base Rewards5 RP per Rs 150 spend 5 RP per Rs 150 spend
2X Rewards on DiningNAWeekend Dining only – Maximum 1000 RP per day
Insurance TransactionsMaximum 5000 RP per dayMaximum 5000 RP per day
Grocery TransactionsMaximum 2000 RP per calendar monthMaximum 2000 RP per calendar month
Wallet, Fuel, Rent, and Government ServicesNo RewardsNo Rewards
HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black – Rewards Comparison

Smartbuy Rewards

HDFC Bank Smartbuy Rewards for Infinia and Diners Club Black

The February 2021 changes have completely tilted the scale in favor of Infinia as the top most card in HDFC Bank’s range.

  • Infinia has a higher Smartbuy bonus RP cap at 15000 per month vs DCB at 7500 per month
  • Infinia also has a higher Smartbuy bonus RP cap at 7500 per day vs DCB at 2500 per day
  • Infinia gets a higher Smartbuy bonus RP multiplier for instant vouchers and Flipkart
PartnerInfiniaDCB
IGP.com10X ~33%10X ~33%
Flights5X ~16.5%5X ~16.5%
Hotels10X ~33%10X ~33%
IRCTC3X ~10%3X ~10%
Redbus5X ~16.5%5X ~16.5%
Instant Voucher5X ~16.5%3X ~10%
Apple Tresor5X ~16.5%3X ~10%
Flipkart3X ~10%2X ~6.6%
HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black Credit Card – Smartbuy Rewards

Rewards Redemption

HDFC Diners Infinia and Diners Club Black Rewards Redemption

Both cards have the same redemption options. HDFC Bank offers a lot of ways to use up the reward points earned on Infinia and Diners Club Black. The preferred way is to use HDFC Smartbuy where we can book flights and hotels at a redemption rate of 1 point = Rs 1. This is also the way to get a good value for RPs. Another option is to transfer reward points to one of the Airmiles programs where we can get more value depending on the sector.

Other options are available in the HDFC Rewards Catalogue where we can order electronics and gift vouchers in exchange for points. The reward point redemption falls to around 20-35 paise in these cases. As with other HDFC Bank credit cards, redeeming for statement credit/cash is not a good option. The value of 1 RP falls to 30p in these cases.

AU Bank Xcite Ace
VALUE OF 1 RPInfinia Diners Club Black
Smartbuy (Flights/Hotels)Rs 1Rs 1
Tanishq VouchersRs 150 paise
Apple ProductsRs 120 paise to 50 paise
Airmiles0.5 to 1 Airmiles0.5 to 1 Airmiles
Rewards Catalogue (Including Vouchers)20 paise to 50 paise20 paise to 50 paise
Cashback30 paise30 paise

Transfer Partners

HDFC Bank Infinia and DCB Miles Transfer scaled

Infinia and 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 PartnerTransfer Ratio
RP:Miles
Air Canada – AeroPlan2:1
Air Asia – airasia rewards1:1
ALL – Accor Live Limitless1:1
Avianca LifeMiles1:1
British Airways Executive Club2:1
Etihad Guest2:1
Finnair Plus1:1
Flying Blue1:1
Hainan Airlines – Fortune Wings Club1:1
IHG One Rewards1:1
Vietnam Airlines – Lotusmiles Program1:1
Turkish Airlines – Miles&Smiles1:1
United MileagePlus2:1
Wyndham Rewards1:1
Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer1:1
Vistara Airlines – Club Vistara1:1
InterMiles1:1
HDFC Bank Infinia and DCB – Transfer Partners

Airport Lounge Access

Both Infinia and Diners Club Black offer unlimited airport lounge access within and outside India for primary and add-on cards. What may differ is the list of lounges to which you are allowed access. In the case of Diners, the card itself doubles up as the lounge access card. Infinia has tied up with Priority pass for lounge access.

Which card is better – HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black?

When to choose HDFC Infinia

  • Annual spends are greater than 8 Lakhs to get a fee waiver
  • The majority spends are on Smartbuy. Infinia gets 2X the cap of DCB for Smartbuy bonus reward points.
  • Offline spends are in Tier 2/3 cities. DCB acceptance at PoS terminals is quite low even in metro cities.
  • Frequent travel outside India where foreign spends are on the personal credit card.

When to choose HDFC Diners Club Black

  • Annual spends are around 5 Lakhs to get the annual fee waiver
  • Spends are primarily online and PoS in metro cities in India. DCB acceptance can be challenging sometimes
  • No/Less foreign travel and if you have an alternate card for foreign spends when traveling. DCB’s international acceptance is quite less
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32 thoughts on “HDFC Bank Infinia vs Diners Club Black Credit Card”

  1. I am holding Infinia Metal Card (upgraded from Regalia) from the last few months. What can be the next upgrade? On which card that I can aim at?

  2. Hi
    I am holding DBC card with 5 lakhs limit + I have my additional credit cards i.e. Axis Magnus (10 lakhs limits) + ICICI Sapphiro (14.60 lakhs limit)

    I am also started my banking relationship with HDFC and open preferred banking saving account…

    I have requested my hdfc RM / BM to upgrade my DBC to Infinia but they said it’s not approved from back end.

    What is the option to upgrade the DBC to Infinia?

      1. Maneesh Mishra

        I checked with customer care in nov 23 and they said that visit the branch take the upgrade form and send to Chennai. If your spend is over 7.5 lacs in 6 months there is a high chance that infinia gets approved. Though I don’t see benefit of infinia as I am not touching monthly rewards cap anyway

    1. Manoj Shinde

      My request approved by hdfc Bank and my Diners Black got upgraded to Infinia Metal…

      Thank you….

  3. Saajan Singh

    I have PreApproved FYF offer for DCB. I originally held Diners Club Premium that later got auto converted to Diners Club Millennia when the former got discontinued. I am actually reluctant for going to DCB ultimate because I am enjoying better rewards rate from Diners Club Millennia due to its 5% cashback offers. Diners offline acceptance is still an issue even in metro city like Gurgaon, hence I am reluctant towards it due to high annual fee, although I have FYF offer.I already have SCB Ultimate as counter to match my offline needs.
    I am waiting for similar offer on infinia for me. Just confused because my limit of 14lac has stuck since long, and not getting further limit approval offers apart from FYF DCB offer. Any recommendations?

    1. Card Maven

      You can email grievance and ask for upgrade to Infinia. Automatic upgrade offers are not always given.

  4. You missed out on mentioning the monthly benefits of Rs. 1K on DCB on spends of over 80K in a month, while there is no such monthly benefit in Infinia

  5. Ankur nigam

    Hi .. I have a Diners black (life time free) and I want to upgrade it to Infinia. I already have 1L points on DB. What is the best way to redeem the points before I get the card upgraded ? Is intermiles or club vistara a good option? Or should I go for something like Amazon vouchers? Or something else ?

      1. Is that? The bank guy was saying that from Diners black to Infinia transfer will be of 50% value

    1. On smartbuy you can book a vacation any pay 70% using the RP. I RP equals 1Rs in that case.

    1. Card Maven

      Depends on your redemption goals. If you want to transfer to one of the exclusive partners of HDFC or book revenue flights at 1:1, you can still look at Infinia.

  6. Obvious Idiot

    How many points one earn on Jewellary purchases on DCB/ Infinia?
    Is it under exempted catagory? if not, any limits are there?

  7. I have been a imperia customer for HDFC.. on 22nd August they reduced all the benefits of Lounge access on my Platinum debit card and regalia card. Very few lounges covered. Diners club still gets all the lounge access. I have closed down my regalia card. It doesnt make any sense. Amex rewards now has better returns of around 4% if u spend well. Plus i find my online shop needs mostly fulfilled by FK Axis 5%, Amazon Icici 5% and zomato RBL 5%. Basically by dividing my spends i earn a min 4% of return. All these cards are actually free except axis… but I manage to spend 1.5 lakhs a year so as in Amex. Regalia has become Regularia.

  8. Off topic question:

    Recently IDFC has launched a metal debit card. I am not a IDFC customer but I want to have a metal card. Do you know how can I get one ?

    It says it is for IDFC private clients. What does it mean ? And, what kind of relationship are they looking for giving this card ?

    1. Go for OneCard. Its a basic, LifeTime Free card, but will take care of your metal card fetish.

      1. True.
        Metal card, LTF, with a high credit limit even to start off with.
        The only grouse being the very low reward rate.
        But you get 1% on the top 2 categories in a month.

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