HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card

The benefits you get from these memberships make the joining fee worth it. A one-year Times Prime membership usually costs Rs. 1,199, and Swiggy One can cost anywhere from Rs. 899 to Rs. 2,999. These memberships give you discounts on everyday things like food delivery, dining out, travel, and entertainment. With Swiggy One, you save on food orders, and Times Prime gives you vouchers for various brands and online services like Uber, PharmEasy, and Hotstar. The only downside is that you have to spend a bit more to activate these benefits. But if you spend a lot using this card, you'll easily reach that requirement.

*Swiggy One subscription value may vary from the prices mentioned above. Price may vary from time to time and user to user as per ongoing special offers by Swiggy.

With the HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card, you earn rewards as follows:

• 4 reward points on every Rs. 150 spent on retail spends
• 20 rewards (5X) on every Rs. 150 spent on Swiggy & Zomato
• Up to 40 rewards (10X) on every Rs. 150 spent on SmartBuy

You won't earn reward points for certain transactions, including fuel purchases, cash advances, paying off your outstanding balance, card fees, and other charges, as well as transactions related to Smart EMI or Dial an EMI.

The reward points you earn with this card are valid for two years from the date you earn them. You can redeem them in the following ways:

Starting from August 1, 2023, the option to redeem reward points for Air Miles has been replaced. Now, you can redeem your points for dining vouchers instead, at the same value of 1 reward point equaling Rs 0.5. This change might be great for people who enjoy dining out, but no redemption on airmiles can be a drawback for frequent travelers.

The 5X rewards you get on Zomato & Swiggy can be a fantastic benefit for anyone who regularly orders food online. On top of that, being able to redeem your reward points for dining vouchers and getting a Swiggy One membership when you activate the card are excellent benefits. Plus, you can enjoy up to 20% off through the good food trail program. All these dining privileges make this card one of the best choices for food enthusiasts.

Rather than offering an annual milestone benefit, this card provides quarterly milestone benefits, which can work to your advantage each quarter. If you spend Rs. 1.5 lakh in a quarter, you'll receive a voucher worth Rs. 1,500 from your choice of brands such as Marriott, Decathlon, Barbeque Nation, O2 Spa, or Lakme Salon.

By spending Rs. 6 lakh annually, you can enjoy a benefit of Rs. 6,000. Additionally, when you meet the annual fee waiver criteria by spending Rs. 3 lakh, you can receive a total benefit of Rs. 8,500, provided you meet the spending criteria each quarter.

If you compare this with HDFC Regalia & HDFC Regalia Gold, you get the following benefit on spending Rs. 6 lakh in a year:

*Based on maximum redemption value of 1 reward point= Rs. 0.5

Thus, clearly, in terms of offering the milestone benefit, HDFC Regalia Gold > HDFC Diners Club Privilege > HDFC Regalia- based on the presumed value of spending Rs. 6 Lakh in a year.

Please note that the benefits mentioned above are applicable when you make annual spends totaling Rs. 6 lakh in a year. The actual milestone benefit on these cards is:

• HDFC Regalia: Bonus 10,000 reward points on spending Rs. 5 lakhs and additional 5,000 reward points on spending Rs. 8 lakh in an anniversary year.
• HDFC Regalia Gold: Rs. 1,500 worth vouchers on quarterly spends of Rs. 1.5 lakh; Rs. 5,000 worth flight vouchers on annual spends of Rs. 5 lakh and an additional voucher of Rs. 5,000 on spends of Rs. 7.5 lakhs.

On that basis, the maximum value back you can avail with these cards via the milestone benefit, is as follows:

HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card comes with the following travel benefits:

• You have access to 2 complimentary airport lounge visits every calendar quarter worldwide, which means you can enjoy a total of 8 lounge visits in a year.
• Low forex markup fee of 2%

*Complimentary lounge access is applicable upon spends of Rs. 15,000 in previous calendar quarter.

HDFC Bank has reduced the travel benefits on this card by lowering the number of lounge accesses from 12 to 8 per year and removing the option to redeem air miles. Additionally, you don't receive a complimentary Priority Pass Membership, unlike with some other HDFC cards like Regalia and Regalia Gold. While the benefits may seem decent on their own, they don't stand out as great when compared to other cards.

When selecting the best card among these options, it's not just about the fee; it's also about how well the benefits match your spending habits and needs.

Drawbacks of HDFC Diners Club Privilege?

• To enjoy the welcome benefit, you're required to maintain a higher spending level, which means you'll need to spend approximately Rs. 25,000 each month during the initial three months.
• Previously, the card used to provide redemption benefits for air miles, but now it doesn't offer this perk. This is a significant drawback, especially considering the card's claim to offer premium benefits. Additionally, it falls short in delivering the typical package of low forex markup fees, good lounge access, and air miles redemption, which is expected for travel benefits. As a result, it slightly falls behind in providing overall travel benefits.
• Additionally, the cashback redemption value on this card appears relatively low, especially when compared to other entry-level HDFC cards like HDFC Millennia. For an annual fee of Rs. 1,000, Millennia offers a cashback redemption value of 1:1.
• Furthermore, even at a fee of Rs. 2,500, this card does not provide fuel surcharge waivers or access to golf facilities.