HDFC Regalia Credit Card vs HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card: Which one to pick?

HDFC Regalia Credit Card and HDFC Bank Diners Club Premium Credit Card are two mid-level lifestyle credit cards by the bank. While the Regalia Credit Card is one of the most popular cards currently available in the Indian credit card market, the HDFC Diners Club Premium Card, although does not have as wide acceptance as the Regalia Card, also offers more or less the same features and benefits.

Both Regalia Credit Card and Diners Club Premium Credit Card offer a reward rate of up to 1.33% on normal spends and up to 10x reward rate on SmartBuy. The annual fee of both the cards is also the same- Rs. 2,500 per annum. It, therefore, makes sense to compare the features and benefits of HDFC Regalia and HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Cards. In this article, we will be giving you a pointwise comparison between the two credit cards by the HDFC Bank.

HDFC Bank Regalia Credit Card

As mentioned earlier, the Regalia Credit Card by HDFC is one of the most popular offerings in the mid-range segment in the Indian credit card market space. The card comes with a membership fee of Rs. 2,500 and apart from offering the Reward Points benefits, offers many additional benefits as well. Some of the key features of HDFC Bank Regalia Credit Card are-

• You get 2,500 bonus Reward Points as a welcome benefit on joining the card membership and every year the membership is renewed.
• The card earns you 4 Reward Points per Rs. 150 spent on normal purchases.
• You are entitled to a milestone benefit of 10,000 bonus Reward Points on spending a minimum of Rs. 5 lacs in an anniversary year and additional 5,000 bonus Reward Points on spending a minimum of Rs. 8 lacs in a year.
• The Reward Points earned on HDFC Regalia Credit Card are redeemable for AirMiles, booking flights/hotels, purchasing products and vouchers, or can also be adjusted against the card’s statement balance. The rate of redemption of Reward Points on various spends categories is as per the table below (a redemption fee of Rs. 99 is applicable on every redemption request)-

Monetary value of Reward Points on HDFC Regalia Credit Card
Product Catalog	Flights/Hotels on Smartbuy	Cashback	Airmiles
Rs. 0.35	Rs. 0.50	Rs. 0.20	0.50 AirMiles

• You also get 12 complimentary domestic airport lounge access (under the Visa/MasterCard lounge access program) and 6 complimentary international airport lounge access (with Priority Pass membership) per annum with HDFC Regalia Credit Card.
• You are entitled to complimentary membership of the Dineout Passport program on the expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 75,000 in a calendar quarter. With Dineout Passport, you get benefits like a minimum 25% discount at over 2,000 premium restaurants, 1+1 buffet at 200+ partner restaurants, etc. Click here for more information on the Dineout Passport program on HDFC Regalia Credit Card.
• The mark-up fee applicable on foreign currency transactions made with HDFC Regalia Credit Card (2% of the transaction amount) is lower than the forex mark-up fee appliable on most other credit cards (usually 3.5% of the transaction amount).

• You also get a complimentary comprehensive insurance cover including an air accident cover (applicable only in case of loss of life) worth Rs. 1 crore, an emergency overseas hospitalization cover worth Rs. 15 lacs and a lost card liability cover worth Rs. 9 lacs.
• You also get a complimentary 24×7 concierge service for assistance regarding flight/hotel bookings, table reservations at restaurants, gift deliveries, and many other services with HDFC Regalia Credit Card.
• The annual renewal fee of the card is waived off on a minimum expenditure of Rs. 3 lacs with the card in the preceding year.
• To be eligible for the HDFC Regalia Credit Card, the applicants must satisfy the following age and income-based criteria-

	Salaried Applicants	Self-Employed Applicants
Income	Minimum Rs. 1 lac per month	Minimum Rs. 12 lacs per annum
Age	21 to 60 years	21 to 65 years

• You may refer to this article for more details on HDFC Regalia Credit Card.

HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card

HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card is another mid-level lifestyle credit card by HDFC  Bank. Just as Regalia Card, Diners Club Premium Card also comes with a membership fee of Rs. 2,500 and offers a reward rate of up to 1.33%. Some of the key features of HDFC Bank Diners Club Premium Card are as under-

• You get 2,500 Reward Points as a welcome benefit on joining the card membership.
• The card earns you 4 Reward Points per Rs. 150 on normal spends (except on fuel) and up to 10x Reward Points via SmartBuy.
• The Reward Points earned on HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card are redeemable for flight/hotel bookings via SmartBuy, partner airlines’ AirMiles, product catalog and cashback. The monetary value of the Reward Points is different for each category of redemption (see table below for details)-

Monetary value of CashPoints on HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card
Product Catalog	Flights/Hotels on Smartbuy	Cashback	Airmiles
Rs. 0.35	Rs. 0.50	Rs. 0.20	0.50 AirMiles

• A lower mark-up fee of just 2% of the transaction amount is applicable on the transactions made in foreign currencies.
• You also get a complimentary comprehensive insurance cover which includes air accident insurance worth Rs. 1 crore, medical emergency insurance worth Rs. 25 lacs, insurance against baggage delay/loss worth Rs. 50,000 and a credit liability cover worth Rs. 9 lacs.
• HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card also entitles you to 6 complimentary airport lounge access across the world every year.
• You also get a 24×7 airport concierge service for booking tables at restaurants and for travel bookings related assistance.
• The annual membership fee of the card (Rs. 2,500 per annum) is waived off if a minimum of Rs. 3 lacs were spent in the previous membership year.
• In order to be eligible for HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card, salaried applicants must have a minimum gross monthly income of Rs. 60,000, while self-employed applicants must have a minimum annual income of Rs. 7.2 lacs.

Check here: HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card Review

Quick Comparision

The following table gives a quick comparison between HDFC Bank Regalia Credit Card and HDFC Bank Diners Club Premium Credit Card-

	HDFC Regalia Credit Card	HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card
Reward Rate	4 Reward Points per Rs. 150 on normal spends and up to 10x Reward Points via SmartBuy.	4 Reward Points per Rs. 150 on normal spends and up to 10x Reward Points via SmartBuy.
Reward Redemption	1 RP = Rs 0.5 for redemption against flights and hotel bookings, 1 RP = Rs 0.35 for redemption against products and vouchers, 1 RP = Rs 0.20 for adjustment against the card’s statement balance, 1 RP = 0.5 AirMiles on transfer of Reward Points to partner airlines’ frequent flyer program.	Monetary value of Reward Points same as that for HDFC Regalia Credit Card
Welcome/Renewal Benefits	2,500 Reward Points on joining the card membership and every year the membership is renewed (subject to realization of the joining/renewal fee).	Same as that for the Regalia Credit Card.
Milestone Benefits	10,000 Reward Points on spending over Rs. 5 lacs in the anniversary year. Additional bonus of 5,000 Reward Points on spending over Rs. 8 lacs in the anniversary year.	N/A
Additional Benefits	12 complimentary domestic airport lounge access every year with Visa/MasterCard lounge access program. 8 complimentary international airport lounge access with complimentary Priority Pass membership.	6 complimentary airport lounge access across the world every year.
Membership Fee	Rs. 2,500 per annum, waived off on annual spends of Rs. 3 lacs.	Rs. 2,500 per annum, waived off on an annual expenditure of Rs. 3 lacs.
Eligibility	Minimum income of Rs. 70,000 per month (salaried applicants) or Rs. 8,40,000 per annum (self-employed applicants). Age between 21 on 60 years (for salaried applicants) or 21 and 65 years (for self-employed applicants).	Monthly income of Rs. 60,000 for salaried applicants and annual income of Rs. 7.2 lacs for self-employed applicants. Age between 21 on 60 years (for salaried applicants) or 21 and 65 years (for self-employed applicants).

Bottom Line

Both HDFC Regalia Credit Card and HDFC Diners Club Premium Credit Card, as you can see above, are very similar not only in terms of the features and benefits that they offer but also come with the same membership fee of Rs. 2,500 per annum. The only major difference between the two credit cards is in terms of the number of complimentary airport lounge access that they offer. While Regalia Credit Card offers you 12 domestic and 8 international lounge access every year, you get only 6 complimentary airport lounge visits per year with the Diners Club Premium Credit Card.