HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card vs Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card

Super-premium credit cards are exclusively for wealthy businessmen and high net-worth individuals, and the HDFC Infinia is one of the top cards in India in this category. HDFC Bank relaunched this card in the metal variant and it is an invite-only card that charges a joining fee of Rs. 12,500 from the cardholders. The HDFC Infinia is packed with elite-level privileges across different categories like travel, golf, dining, etc., and has a high reward rate for your spends.

If we shift our focus towards Axis Bank, the Reserve credit card is the bank’s topmost offering and it comes at a high joining fee of Rs. 50,000 plus taxes. It is also a super-premium credit card offering up to 1.5% as rewards on your domestic spends, and double reward points on your international spends with the card. The card also offers other features like complimentary lounge access, hotel loyalty program membership, exclusive dining discounts, and more.

In this article, we will compare both the HDFC Bank Infinia and Axis Bank Reserve credit cards across all categories. We’ll compare their features and benefits, fees, and other important information related to these cards, so that you can pick the better one out of the two.

HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card

For high net-worth individuals, the HDFC Bank Infinia credit card is usually the first choice when they look for super-premium cards. Not everyone can get their hands on this exclusive offering as it is an invite-only card and HDFC Bank only offers it to select customers. The card charges a high Rs. 12,500 joining fee, but it is perfect for you if you live a luxurious lifestyle and cannot compromise with your spending habits.

Some key features on the card include concierge services, complimentary lounge access, golf rounds, and a high reward rate. If you regularly make foreign currency spends, then the card is ideal as it charges a low forex markup fee of 2% of the transaction amount. Let’s take a look at the offerings of this card in detail and how it stacks up against the Axis Bank Reserve card.

Welcome Benefits

As a welcome benefit, the card offers bonus 12,500 reward points when you successfully pay the joining fee. Also, you get a 1-year complimentary Club Marriott membership that offers exclusive discount and offers at Marriott hotels in India and the Asia Pacific region.

Travel Benefits

The HDFC Infinia credit card offers the following travel benefits to the cardholder –

Complimentary lounge access – Unlimited domestic and international airport lounge access for both the primary and add-on cardholders through the Priority Pass membership. You must carry the Priority Pass card for international lounge access, and guests are charged $27 per visit to the lounges.

Club Marriott membership – With the complimentary Club Marriott membership, you get 20% discount on the best rates at luxurious Marriott hotels in India, and on weekend rates at Marriott hotels in the Asia Pacific region.

ITC Hotels Benefits – When you book a 2-night stay at partner ITC hotels, you get one complimentary night stay. Just pay for 2 and stay for 3 nights at partner ITC hotels, but remember that the offer is available only on advance booking.

Flight Booking – You can head over to the SmartBuy portal and use the reward points earned by you to book flights or hotels. There are also other deals and discounts on travel at the Smartbuy portal.

Dining and Movie Benefits

The HDFC Infinia credit card offers the following dining benefits to the cardholder –

Club Marriott membership – Cardholders can get 20% discount on food and beverages, and up to 15% off for maximum 10 guests at participating Marriott hotels. You also get access to room and spa services discounts along with this.

Good Food Trail program – You get access to multiple dining benefits through the Good Food Trail program that provides you the Dineout Passport for a month. You get 25% discount at over 2000 restaurants, 1+1 buffet, and 1+2 on drinks/food at partner restaurants.

ITC Hotels – You get complimentary 1+1 on buffets at participating ITC hotels. You can avail this benefit once per month and get 1 complimentary buffet.

Golf Benefits

The Infinia credit card offers complimentary unlimited golf games at top courses in India and some select ones worldwide. Every golf round includes green fees to access the course and driving range, instructor fees, and golf balls. You even get unlimited golf coaching at various courses in India when you make your booking with the HDFC Infinia concierge service.

Reward Earning Rate

You get 5 RPs per Rs. 150 spent with the card, except on rent, fuel, EMI, wallet reloads, and government spends.

You get accelerated up to 10x RPs per Rs. 150 spent on the Smartbuy platform. The reward rate is different for different spend categories and the accelerate reward points are capped at 15,000 per month.

Reward Redemption

The reward points earned by you on the Infinia credit card can be redeemed against a host of different choices. You can refer to the following table –

There is a capping on reward points that can be redeemed against certain categories. Also, you can make 70% of the payment for products/vouchers and hotel/flight bookings via reward points, and the rest of the amount has to be paid via credit cards.

Fuel Surcharge Waiver

You get a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on fuel spends between Rs. 400 and Rs. 1000 across the country. The maximum benefit is capped at Rs. 1000 per month.

Renewal Fee Waiver

You can get the Rs. 12,500 renewal fee of the card waived off on spending Rs. 10 Lakhs or more in the card anniversary year.

Insurance Benefits

The HDFC Infinia credit card offers the following insurance benefits –

• Accidental air death – Rs. 3 Crores
• Medical emergency cover – Rs. 50 Lakhs
• Credit liability cover – Rs. 9 Lakhs
• Credit shield cover – Rs. 9 Lakhs

Fees and Charges

The following are the fees and charges associated with the HDFC Ban Infinia credit card –

• The cards comes at a joining and annual fee of Rs. 12,500 plus taxes
• The interest rate on the card is 1.99% per month and 23.8% per annum on the due amount. It is quite low as compared to other credit cards.
• The card has a low forex markup fee of 2% of the total transaction amount.
• The card does not charge any fee for cash withdrawal.

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Read More: HDFC Infinia Credit Card vs Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card

Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card

The Reserve credit card is the topmost offering by Axis Bank and it comes at a very high joining fee of Rs. 50,000 plus taxes. As you can tell from the expensive fee, the card is exclusively for businessmen and high net-worth individuals. The card has a high reward rate where you can earn EDGE reward points for your spends and 2x rewards on your international spends with the card.

Being a super-premium credit card, you get access to various elite-level privileges like complimentary lounge access, movie and dining benefits, low forex charges, hotel program memberships, insurance benefits, etc. Read on to know about the features and benefits of the card in detail –

Welcome Benefits

Bonus 50,000 EDGE reward points as welcome benefit when you activate the card. You get the bonus reward points every year, whenever you renew your card membership by paying the annual fee.

Travel Benefits

You get the following travel benefits with the Axis Bank Reserve credit card –

Airport concierge service – Get 8 VIP assistance services at select airports including security check, immigration, porter services, etc.

Luxury airport transfers – 4 complimentary luxury airport transfers per year that include drop-offs and pick-ups, available at 46 locations across India.

Complimentary lounge access – Unlimited domestic airport lounge and international lounge access with the Priority Pass membership

Club ITC Culinaire membership – Complimentary Club ITC Culinaire membership offering exclusive benefits at ITC hotels like complimentary third night stay, 25% Green Points on food and beverages, 50% discount on suites, etc.

Handcrafted Club Marriott membership – Complimentary Club Marriott membership offering 20% discount on food and beverages, and 20% discount on best rates at participating Marriott hotels.

Accorplus membership – Complimentary Accorplus membership offering room upgrades, 50% discount on dining, complimentary lunch buffet, etc. at participating Accor hotels.

Oberoi hotels and resorts – Exclusive 15% discount at Oberoi hotels for room-only or room with breakfast rates, or complimentary night stay on 2-night booking at participating hotels and resorts.

Postcard Hotels benefits – Exclusive benefits at Postcard hotels that include 15% off on best available rates, anytime check-in check-out, lifestyle consultation, and more.

Dining and Movie Benefits

You get the following dining and movie benefits with the Axis Bank Reserve credit card –

BookMyShow BOGO offer – Buy One Get One offer on both movie and non-movie tickets via BookMyShow, maximum discount capped at Rs. 500 for movie and Rs. 1000 for non-movie bookings.

EazyDiner Prime membership – Complimentary EazyDiner Prime membership that offers 25% discount at top restaurants across the country.

Dining Delights – Get up to 20% off at more than 4000 partner restaurants across India with the Dining Delights Program by Axis Bank.

Handpicked Experiences – You get access to exclusive activities like sailing, golf, chef for a day, tours, etc. through extraordinaryweekends.com.

Golf Benefits

You get access to 50 complimentary golf rounds throughout the year at top golf courses across the country.

Health and Medical Benefits

You get the following health and medical benefits with the Axis Bank Reserve credit card –

• Second medical opinion
• Health packs and Pathology test discounts
• Weljii offers
• Global medical assistance

Reward Earning Rate

You earn 15 reward points on every spend of Rs. 200 with the Reserve credit card.

You get accelerated 2x reward points on all international spends with the card

Reward Redemption

The reward points earned by you can be redeemed against a host of different choices.

You can go to the Edge Rewards portal and redeem your reward points against products, electronics, vouchers, etc. from top brands.

You can redeem reward points against hotel/flight bookings and other experiences at the TravelEdge portal.

You can convert your reward points to partner airline or hotel points at a 5:4 ratio, where 5 RPs = 4 airmiles or points.

Fuel Surcharge Waiver

You get a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on fuel spends between Rs. 400 to Rs. 4000. The maximum benefit is capped at Rs. 400 per card statement cycle.

Renewal Fee Waiver

You can get the Rs. 50,000 renewal fee of the Reserve credit card waived off on spending Rs. 25 Lakhs or more in the card anniversary year.

Insurance Benefits

The following are the insurance benefits offered by the Axis Bank Reserve credit card –

• Purchase protection cover – Rs. 2 Lakhs
• Loss/Delay of baggage or documents – $500
• Credit shield cover – Rs. 5 Lakhs
• Lost or counterfeit card – Up to the credit limit of the cardholder

Fees and Charges

The following are the fees and charges associated with the Reserve credit card –

• The credit card has a joining and renewal fee of Rs. 50,000 plus taxes
• The interest rate on the card is 3% per month, or 42.5% per annum
• The card charges a low forex markup fee of 1.5% of the total transaction amount
• The card does not charge any cash advance fee for ATM withdrawals

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HDFC Infinia vs. Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card – Quick Comparison

The following table features a quick comparison between the HDFC Infinia and Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card –

Category	HDFC Infinia Credit Card	Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card
Joining/Annual Fees	Rs. 12,500 plus taxes	Rs. 50,000 plus taxes
Welcome Benefits	12,500 reward points as welcome benefit and Club Marriott membership for the first year	50,000 reward points on activating the card and whenever you renew the membership
Reward Earning Rate	5 RPs per Rs. 150 spent Up to 10x RPs per Rs. 150 spent on the Smartbuy portal	15 RPs per Rs. 200 spent with the card 2x reward points on international spends with the card
Reward Redemption	RPs can be redeemed against flight/hotel bookings, airmiles, products and vouchers, Tanishq/Apple vouchers, and cashback.	Reward points can be redeemed against products/vouchers at the Edge Reward portal You can convert reward points to partner airlines miles at a 5:4 ratio
Travel Benefits	Complimentary Priority Pass membership with unlimited international and domestic lounge access Complimentary Club Marriott membership Exclusive offers at ITC hotels	Complimentary domestic and international lounge access Complimentary Club Marriott, Accorplus, and Club ITC Culinaire membership
Dining/Movie Benefits	Exclusive dining benefits with the Good Food Trail program. Dining benefits with the Club Marriott membership Complimentary 1+1 on buffets at ITC hotels.	Complimentary EazyDiner Prime membership Up to 20% discount at partner restaurants with the Dining Delights program BOGO offer on BookMyShow movie tickets
Golf Benefits	Unlimited golf rounds at leading golf courses in India and abroad.	50 complimentary golf rounds per year at top golf courses in India and around the world
Renewal Fee Waiver	Renewal fee waiver on spending Rs. 10 Lakhs or more in the card anniversary year	Renewal fee waiver on spending Rs. 25 Lakhs or more in the card anniversary year
Forex Markup Fee	2% of the total transaction amount	1.5% of the total transaction amount

Bottom Line

As we read in the above article, both the HDFC Infinia and the Axis Bank Reserve credit card are top options in the super-premium category, and are loaded with elite-level privileges across all spending categories. Whether you want travel, dining, movies, fuel, shopping, or benefits across any other category, you get it all with both these cards.

Moreover, the reward rate on both the cards is great and you can redeem your reward points against various products/vouchers, airmiles, cashback, etc. For those who spend regularly in foreign currency or make spends abroad, both the cards have a low forex markup fee than the standard 3.5%. Also, you get access to comprehensive golf, health and wellness, and insurance benefits with the card.

When it comes to decide between the two cards, it is a difficult choice, but we recommend the HDFC Infinia credit card because of its lower joining fee as compared to the Reserve credit card. The difference in joining fees is huge as the Infinia has a Rs. 12,500 annual fee and the Reserve has a Rs. 50,000 fees. There are some additional travel and other health and wellness benefits with the Reserve card which you won’t get with Infinia, but at the price the Infinia is a better choice.