HDFC Bank 
SBI Card 
IDFC Bank 
Axis Bank 
RBL 
ICICI Bank 
CITI Bank 
HSBC 
YES Bank 
AMEX 
IndusInd Bank 
Standard Chartered
Federal Bank
There are plenty of credit cards available in the market offering great benefits in Travel, Shopping, Dining, Entertainment, Fuel, and whatnot. One can find a suitable credit card as per their needs and find one from entry-level to premium credit cards. But there is another category of credit cards, which is the super-premium cards. These super-premium credit cards are known for their world-class privileges and lavish benefits and are issued to high-net-worth individuals (HNI). Today we are going to talk about and also draw a comparison between two super-premium credit cards- HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card and ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card.
HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card is a super-premium offering by HDFC Bank that provides world-class benefits in Travel, Shopping, and Dining as well. The card comes with Complimentary memberships of Amazon Prime, Club Marriott, Zomato Gold, and many more. For Travelers, the card offers unlimited access to airport lounges and a lower forex markup fee. Moreover, you get two monthly vouchers from leading brands worth Rs. 500 based on your spends.
The ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card, on the other hand, is also a super premium credit card offered by ICICI Bank. With a membership fee of Rs. 12,000, the card comes with plenty of benefits in travel, shopping, and movies. For travelers, the Emeralde card is a great deal as it offers unlimited access to international and domestic lounges, travel-based insurance covers, lower forex fee, and much more. On top of that, you get many other privileges including 24×7 concierge service, a good reward rate as well as redemption options, and great entertainment benefits.
Both the credit cards, ie, the HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card and ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card comes under the super-premium category of credit cards and are known for their top-notch benefits. Therefore, it might be difficult to draw a comparison between these two cards. T0 help you out with the same, we have provided a fine comparison between these two cards along with detailed information about the same. To know more, keep reading.
HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card
The HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card as mentioned is the most premium credit card offered by HDFC Bank after the HDFC Infinia Credit card. The card carries the joining fee of Rs. 10,000 + GST, which also can be waived off based on your spending. As a welcome benefit, the card offers Complimentary annual memberships to Club Marriott, Forbes, Amazon Prime, Zomato Gold, etc, which can be availed by meeting the target spend. Talking about the rewards on transactions, the cardholder get an effective reward rate, where you can earn up to 10X RPs for all the spends made with the card. Moreover, the card offers great travel benefits which include lower foreign currency markup, Unlimited complimentary lounge visits, and much more. Following are detailed features of the HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card:
- On spending over Rs. 1.5 lakhs within the initial 3 months of the credit card issuance, the cardholder gets Complimentary annual memberships of Club Marriott, Forbes, Amazon Prime, Zomato Gold, Times Prime, and MMTDOUBLEBLACK as a welcome benefit.
- These memberships can be renewed every year on spending Rs. 8 Lakh or more with the Diners Club Black card in the previous year. Moreover, on spending Rs. 80,000 or more in a month, the card offers the option to select any 2 vouchers from leading brands including Cure.fit Live, Ola Select, BookMyShow, and TATA CLiQ which are worth Rs. 500.
- The card offers a great deal for travelers with its top-notch travel benefits. You get Unlimited complimentary international and domestic lounge access along with a lower forex markup fee of 1.99%. Moreover, the RPs are earned with the HDFC Diners club black card are redeemable for Airlines’ Rewards programs like Singapore Airlines AirMiles, InterMiles, and Club Vistara Points.
- The card offers 5 RPs on every Rs. 150 spent on retail. Also, you get up to 10X accelerated points for spends made via HDFC SmartBuy and on weekend dining’s you get 2X RPs.
- The reward points earned with the card are redeemable for a number of options including, Flight or Hotel bookings, Airmiles, and cashback (against the card’s statement balance and at Diners Club’s exclusive reward redemption catalog.
- The cardholders can also enjoy many other premium benefits that are provided with the card like every quarter you get 6 complimentary golf rounds with the best golf courses around the globe and travel-based insurance covers up to Rs. 2 crores.
Read More: HDFC Diners Club Alumni Offer: Get Diners Club Black Lifetime Free Credit Card Upgrade
ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card
ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card is sure one of the most premium credit cards offered by the ICICI Bank. This card charges Rs. 12,000 as the annual fee which can also be settled monthly (Rs. 1,000 per month). With this card, cardholders can earn up to 4 RPSs for every Rs. 100 spent. The Emerald credit card is known for its world-class travel benefits which provide travelers with a fine experience while traveling. It offers complimentary access to domestic and international airport lounges, a complimentary airport spa, a lower forex fee, and much more. Moreover, it also provides Travel based insurance plans worth up to Rs. 3 crores. Apart from travel benefits, the Emeralde credit card offers great dining and entertainment benefits, premium privileges like golf games, and 24×7 concierge services. The features of the ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card have been explained in detail below:
- The cardholders earn 4 RPs for every Rs. 100 spent on retail, except utilities, fuel, and insurance, and 1 Reward for every Rs. 100 spent on selected categories (utilities and insurance).
- The reward points earned with the card are redeemable for gifts or against statement credit. The value of 1 RP = Rs. 0.25.
- For Travel lovers, the Emeralde Credit card offers an Unlimited Access to international and domestic airport lounges, Unlimited complimentary domestic airport spa access, and zero cancellation charge on hotel and flight bookings (up to Rs. 12,000) for maximum 2 transactions in a year.
- Also, on international transactions, the charges are very low forex markup fee of 1.5% which is far low compared to other credit cards that charge around 3.5%.
- Being a premium credit card, it also offers 1 complimentary round/lesson of golf each month which can be availed by spending Rs. 50,000 in a month. Also, it offers you a 24×7 concierge service and travel-related insurance covers up to Rs. 3 crores.
- The card provides up to Rs. 750 off on movie or event tickets on BookMyShow along with more than 15% off on dining bills under the Culinary Treats program.
- The annual fee of Rs. 12,000 can be waived off upon spending more than Rs. 15,00,000 in the card anniversary year or Rs. 1,00,000 per month (under the monthly plan).
Quick Comparison
Now that we know about the features and benefits provided by both super-premium credit cards. Let us now draw a comparison between the HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card and ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card:
| Basis | HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card | ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card |
| Reward Rate |
|
|
| Reward Redemption |
|
|
| Welcome Benefits |
|
|
| Lounge Access |
|
|
| Travel Benefits |
|
|
| Insurance Covers |
|
|
| Golf Games |
|
|
| Dining Benefits |
|
|
| Entertainment Benefits |
|
|
| Spend-Based Fee Waiver |
|
|
| Joining Fee |
|
|
| Renewal Fee |
|
|
| Foreign Markup fee |
|
|
Bottom Line
Both the HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card and ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card offer almost the same benefits. But there are some things that are worth noticing such as the welcome benefit provided with the Diners Club Black credit card. It offers complimentary membership to some of the premium brands which can be availed by meeting the target spend. Also, the Diners club black card carries a strong reward rate and many redemption options. The complimentary golf games provided with the Emeralde credit card are subject to spending, whereas the diners card offers the same without any condition.
The annual fee charged with the Emerald credit card is higher than that of the Diners Club Black card. Moreover, the spend-based condition with Emeralde card of spending Rs. 15,00,000 is pretty high compared to the latter. Apart from this, the Emerald Credit card does provide some better benefits such as a lower forex fee than the other, movie ticket offers, Travel-related insurance covers up to Rs. 3 crores, and zero cancellation charges on hotel/flight bookings. Let us know in the comments section which one you would choose if you were to choose one card among these two super premium credit cards.
