Federal Bank
HDFC Infinia Metal Edition Credit Card and HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card are the top two super-premium credit cards by HDFC Bank. Both the cards offer you the same reward rate of 3.3% per annum (5 Reward Points per Rs. 150 spent). Both the cards also offer many additional privileges like unlimited complimentary airport lounge access, complimentary golf games, a lower foreign currency mark-up fee and many more.
Both Infinia and Diners Club Black Credit Cards used to come with the same membership fee of Rs. 10,000 per annum. HDFC relaunched the Infinia Credit Card in metal variant last month, and increased its fees to Rs. 12,500 per annum (existing users of the PVC variant of the card shall continue to pay the same annual fee of Rs.10,000 and will also get the additional benefits that the metal variant offers).
Before we do a detailed point-wise comparison between the Infinia and the Diners Club Black Credit Cards, it is a good idea to first go through some of the salient features of the two cards.
HDFC Bank INFINIA Credit Card Metal Edition
The HDFC Bank’s most premium offering in the market so far is the INFINIA credit card metal edition. This card targets high-net-worth individuals and is only available as an invite-only card. Such are focused on providing a luxurious lifestyle by offering privileges like access to premium golfing destinations, dining benefits, a 2% forex markup rate, rewards on every Rs. 150 spent, and much more.
Features and Benefits
Welcome Benefits
- A complimentary Club Marriott Membership for a year as a welcome gift.
- 12,500 bonus reward points upon realising the joining fee.
Rewards
- 5 RPs for every Rs. 150 spent.
- 10X RPs for bookings like bus, hotel, and flight through Cleartrip, EaseMyTrip, Redbus and Apple Imagine.
- 3X RPs upon shopping on portals like Flipkart on Rail Tickets.
- Accelerated rewards are capped at 15,000 points per month.
- Against hotel/flight bookings, DTH recharges, etc., 1 RP = Re. 1
- 1 RP = 1 Airmile
- For products and vouchers via netbanking1 RP = Rs. 0.50.
- Against Tanishq and Apple voucher 1 RP = Re. 1.
- 1 RP = Rs. 0.30
Movies and Dining
- Club Mariott membership – 20% off on food and beverage bills and 15% off on selected hotels.
- Good Food Trail Program – 25% off at 2000+ premium restaurants, 1 + 1 buffet at 200 + restaurants, and 1 + 1 food/drinks at selected restaurants.
- ITC Complimentary buffet – 1 + 1 complimentary buffet with participating ITC hotels
Travel Benefits
- Unlimited complimentary domestic and international airport lounge access across the globe with Priority Pass Membership.
- Club Mariott membership – 20% off on the best available rooms at participating Marriott hotels in the country.
- ITC Hotel Complimentary Stay Benefits – Complimentary 1-night stay after booking a 2-night stay at participating hotels.
Golf
- Unlimited complimentary golf games at leading destinations across the country and with selected ones across the globe.
Spend Based Waiver
- Renewal fee waiver upon spending over Rs. 10 Lakhs in a year.
Fuel
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver on all fuel purchases from Rs. 400 and Rs. 1,00,000 at all stations across the country.
- Benefit max capped at Rs. 1,000 per month.
Fees and Charges
- Joining Fee = Rs. 12,500 + Taxes
- Interest Rate = 1.99% per month or 23.8% annually.
- Forex Mark-up Fee = 2% of the transacted amount
- Cash Advance Fee = NIL
HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card
It is the second most premium offering by HDFC and the most premium Diners Club Credit in India. Diners Club Black Credit Card offers the same reward rate as the Infinia Credit Card (5 Reward Points per Rs. 150 spent) and also offers a plethora of add-on benefits. HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card has an annual membership fee of Rs. 10,000 per annum.
Features and Benefits
Some of the salient features of the Diners Club Black Card are as under-
Welcome Benefits
You get complimentary membership of loyalty programs and subscription services like Club Marriott, Amazon Prime, Forbes, Swiggy One, MMTBLACK and Times Prime as a welcome benefit on spending Rs. 1.5 Lakhs within 90 days of card issuance.
Milestone Benefits
- The subscriptions you get with the welcome benefit can be renewed on spending Rs. 8 Lakhs in the card anniversary year.
- On monthly spends of Rs. 80,000 or more, you get any 2 vouchers out of Cure.fit, BookMyShow, Ola Select, or Tata CLiQ.
Dining Benefits
- 2x reward points on weekend dining
- Complimentary annual membership to Club Marriott and 3-month membership to Swiggy One that is renewed on spending Rs. 8 Lakhs in the card anniversary year.
Travel Benefits
- Unlimited complimentary access to domestic as well as international airport lounges.
- You can redeem the reward points earned for Airmiles of partner airlines like Club Vistara, Singapore Airlines, Intermiles, etc.
Golf Benefits
Get 6 complimentary golf rounds per calendar quarter at some of the finest golf courses around the world.
Reward Rate
Just like Infinia Credit Card, Diners Club Black Credit Card also earns you 5 Reward Points for every Rs. 150 spent (except on fuel purchases).
You earn 10X Reward Points on flight/bus ticket bookings and hotel reservations via SmartBuy, 5X Reward Points on shopping at rail ticket bookings, 3X Reward Points on shopping at Flipkart.
You also earn 2X Reward Points on dining bills on weekends at partner restaurants.
Reward Redemption
The reward points earned by you with the credit card can be redeemed against –
- Flight/hotel bookings on Smartbuy
- Airmiles at Club Vistara, Singapore Airlines, InterMiles, etc.
- Items and products on the Diners Club exclusive reward redemption catalog
- Cashback adjusted against the card balance
Low Forex Markup Fee
Diners Club Black Credit Card offers a lower mark-up fee of just 1.99% on international transactions, compared with a higher mark-up fee of around 3.5% applicable for most other credit cards.
Insurance Benefits
You also get a comprehensive insurance cover with HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card including a cover against accidental death in an air accident, medical emergency cover, cover against the delay of check-in baggage and a credit liability cover.
Fees and Charges
The following are the fees and charges associated with the Diners Club Black credit card –
- You have to pay a joining and renewal fee of Rs. 10,000 for the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card is Rs. 10,000.
- This credit card charges an interest rate of 1.99% monthly on the overdue amount.
- The Diners Club Black Card charges a lower forex fee of 1.99% of the total amount.
- You have to pay a cash advance fee of 2.5% of the amount withdrawn, or Rs. 500, the higher of the two.
Redemption of Reward Points
The Reward Points earned on both Infinia and Diners Club Black Credit Cards can be redeemed against cashback (adjustment of Reward Points against the card’s statement balance), partner airlines’ AirMiles, hotel/flight bookings via SmartBuy and for purchasing products and vouchers from HDFC’s catalog of products and vouchers.
The rate of redemption of Reward Points is exactly the same for both Infinia and Diners Club Black Credit Cards, however, you get an additional option of redemption against Apple and Tanishq vouchers in the case of the Infinia Credit Card. The following table illustrates the rate of redemption of Reward Points earned on HDFC Infinia and Diners Club Black Credit Cards against the different spends categories-
| Category | HDFC Infinia Credit Card | HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card |
| Joining/Annual Fees | Rs. 12,500 plus taxes | Rs. 10,000 plus taxes |
| Welcome Benefits | 12,500 reward points and 1-year membership to Club Marriott | Complimentary annual membership to Club Marriott, Forbes, Times Prime, Amazon Prime, Swiggy One (3 months) on spends of Rs. 1.5 Lakhs within 90 days of card issuance |
| Reward Earning Rate | 5 RPs per Rs. 150 spent with the card | 5 RPs per Rs. 150 spent. 10x RPs on Smartbuy and 2x RPs on weekend dining |
| Reward Redemption | RPs can be redeemed against hotel/flight bookings, Airmiles, products and vouchers, Apple and Tanishq vouchers, and cashback. | RPs can be redeemed against hotel/flight bookings on Smartbuy, AirMiles, Diners Club exclusive reward redemption catalog, and cashback |
| Travel Benefits | Complimentary Club Marriott membership Complimentary 2+1 night stay at ITC hotels Complimentary Priority Pass membership with unlimited access to airport lounges | Complimentary domestic and international lounge access RPs can be redeemed against flight/hotel bookings on Smartbuy |
| Dining/Movie Benefits | Dining benefits with the Good Food Trail program 1+1 complimentary buffet at participating ITC hotels | 2x RPs on weekend dining |
| Golf Benefits | Unlimited complimentary golf rounds at select courses across India and abroad | Get 6 complimentary golf games per quarter at top courses around the world |
| Renewal Fee Waiver | Renewal fee can be waived off on spending Rs. 10 Lakhs in the card anniversary year | Renewal fee can be waived off on spending Rs. 5 Lakhs in the previous year |
| Forex Markup Fee | 2% of the transaction amount | 1.99% of the transaction amount |
Conclusion
Both Infinia and Diners Club Black are excellent credit cards in the super-premium category and are therefore also two of the most popular super-premium cards currently available in the market. Both cards have an identical reward rate of 3.3% (5 Reward Points per Rs. 150) and offer a plethora of additional privileges. While you get a 1+1 buffet benefit and a complimentary night stay at ITC hotels with the Infinia Credit Card, Diners Club Black Credit Card entitles you to a complimentary membership of the Club Marriott hotel loyalty program, and subscription to services like Amazon Prime, Times Now, etc. on a minimum annual expenditure of Rs. 8 lacs.
One major advantage of Infinia Credit Card over Diners Club Black Credit Card is, a maximum of 15,000 Reward Points can be earned in a given statement cycle at an accelerated rate via SmartBuy on the Infinia Credit Card, while the max cap on accelerated Reward Points via SmartBuy in case of Diners Club Black Credit Card is 7,500 Reward Points per statement cycle.
HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card is a better pick for you if you are actually going to avail of the Club Marriott membership of other subscription services like Amazon Prime, Swiggy One, etc. that the card offers, and you know for sure that your annual expenditure shall exceed Rs. 8 lacs (since you get these memberships/subscriptions only on spending a minimum of Rs. 8 lacs annually). An annual expenditure of Rs. 8 lacs would also mean a 100% waiver on the annual membership fee of the card (the annual fee of Diners Club Black Credit Card is waived off if the annual expenditure exceeds Rs. 5 lacs).
On the other hand, you should prefer the Infinia Credit over Diners Club Black Credit Card if the membership/subscriptions that you get with the Diners Club Black Credit Card (on spending a minimum of Rs. 8 lacs in a year) are not of much use to you as Infinia Credit Card allows you to earn more Reward Points (15,000 RPs per statement cycle) at an accelerated rate via SmartBuy.
Also Read: HDFC Infinia Vs Axis Magnus Credit Card
