How to Use HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card for Maximum Benefit

The Diners Club Black Credit Card by HDFC is the second most premium offering by the bank after the Infinia Credit Card. As HDFC is the only card issuer in the country that issues credit cards on the Diners Club payment network, it is one of the very few Diners Club credit cards in India, and the only super-premium card offered on the Diners Club payment network by any card issuer in the country.

As it is a premium credit card, it comes with quite a high membership fee of Rs. 10,000 per annum and offers a plethora of add-on benefits like complimentary subscription of services like Amazon Prime, Zee5, Zomato Gold, and others and gift vouchers from popular brands like Ola, BookMyShow, TATA CLiQ and cure.fit on achieving the stipulated spend milestones. You also get complimentary lounge access at domestic airports across India.

Before we analyze how you can use your HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card so as to avail of the maximum benefit, it is a good idea to have a look at some of the offers that HDFC bank is offering for their Diners Club Black card members.

10X Reward Points at Partner Brands

It is a Diners Club exclusive and is applicable to all Diners Club credit cards. Under this offer, you earn 10X Reward Points on your Diners Club credit card on spends at partner merchants which include some of the popular names like Swiggy, Pepperfry, Zoomcar, Health and Glow, Clut.fit, Seiko and Birkenstock.

Complimentary Memberships and Subscriptions

With this offer, you get complimentary membership of the Club Marriott hotel loyalty program and complimentary subscriptions of services including Amazon Prime, Zomato Gold, Forbes, MMT Black and Times Prime on a minimum annual expenditure of Rs. 8 lakh with your HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card.

Complimentary Vouchers

You can choose any gift vouchers from any two of the following brands- Ola Select, BookMyShow, and TATA CLiQ, a cure.fit Live (worth Rs. 500 each) on minimum monthly spends of Rs. 80,000 with your Diners Club Black Credit Card.

Accelerated Reward Points via SmartBuy

HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card earns you 5 Reward Points per Rs. 150 spent on all categories of spends with the exception of fuel purchases. You also earn accelerated Reward Points at up to a 10X reward rate (i.e. up to 50 Reward Points per Rs. 150 spent with the card) on purchasing at select merchants via the SmartBuuy portal. However, the additional Reward Points earned via SmartBuy are capped at a maximum of 7,500 Points per statement cycle. It is a good idea to refer to one of our earlier posts on HDFC SmartBuy at this point for more clarity.

The following table demonstrates the number of Reward Points that you earn on your HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card on various categories of spends via SmartBuy-

Since the bonus Reward Points that can be earned on SmartBuy are capped at 7,500 Points per statement cycle, there is a certain amount that you need to spend on SmartBuy in a given statement cycle to maximize the reward rate. For example, if you shop for Rs. 56,250 from Amazon in a given month, you will earn 7,500 bonus Reward Points on your Diner Club Black Credit Card, which is the maximum that can be earned in a given statement cycle. The total number of Reward Points earned on your card (which includes the regular Points earned at 1X 3.3% reward rate) in this case is 9,375, taking up the reward rate of the card to 16.67%.

For more details on reward rate and maximum Reward Points that can be earned for spends via SmartBuy, you may refer to this post.

Now as far as other add-on benefits are concerned, as mentioned earlier, you get complimentary membership of loyalty programs and services like Club Marriott, Amazon Prime, Zomato Gold, etc. on an annual expenditure of Rs. 8 lacs with your Diners Club Black Credit Card. Also, if you spend a minimum of Rs. 80,000 in a month, you are entitled to complimentary gift vouchers from partner brands (see the Key Features section above).

Now let’s say you spend Rs. 9,60,000 in a year, such that the expenditure is equally distributed throughout the year- Rs. 80,000 each month, out of which Rs. 56,250 is spent on shopping at Amazon via SmartBuy, you earn the Reward Points as per the following table-

Monthly Expenditure	Bonus Reward Points Earned	Regular Reward Points Earned	Total Reward Points Earned	Net Reward Rate
Rs. 80,000	7,500	2,660	10,160	12.7%

Thus, on spending Rs. 80,000 in a year, you earn a total of 10,160 Reward Points with a net reward rate of 12.7%. On top of this benefit, you also get other privileges like gift vouchers from partner brands like Ola, BookMyShow, TATA CLiQ, etc. and complimentary membership of loyalty programs and subscription services like club Marriott, Amazon Prime, Zomato Gold, etc. The annual fee of Rs. 10,000 is also waived off in this case as annual expenditure exceeds Rs. 5 lakh.

Other Features of HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card

• 5 Reward Points per Rs. 150 spent with the card (reward rate = 3.3%, as the monetary value of 1 Reward Point is up to Re. 1).
• The Reward Points earned can be redeemed for booking flights/hotels via SmartBuy (1 Reward Point = Re. 1), partner airline’s AirMiles (1 Reward Point = 1 AirMile), product catalog (1 Reward Point = Rs. 0.50) and Cashback (1 Reward Point = Rs. 0.30).
• The Reward Points earned on HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card are valid for a period of 3 years from the date of accumulation.
• Unlimited complimentary lounge access at domestic and international airports across the world.
• A comprehensive insurance cover including an air accident cover worth Rs. 2 crores, emergency overseas hospitalization cover worth Rs. 50 lacs, baggage delay cover worth up to Rs. 50,000 and a credit liability cover worth Rs. 9 lakh.
• Exclusive discounts at spas, salons, gyms and other wellness retreats.
• 6 complimentary golf games at some of the leading golf courses across the country.
• A lower mark-up fee of just 1.99% on foreign currency transactions made with the card.
• 24×7 concierge service for assistance regarding flight/hotel booking, restaurant bookings and many other facilities.
• The annual membership fee of the card is waived off on a minimum annual expenditure of Rs. 5 lacs in the preceding year.

Reward Points Redemption and Reward Rate

The Reward Points earned on HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card can be redeemed against flight bookings, hotel reservations, partner airlines’ AirMiles, purchasing products and vouchers from the given catalog and cashback (adjustment against the card’s statement balance). The redemption rate (i.e. the monetary value of Reward Points) is different for redemption against different spends categories.

Bottom Line

As you can see, you can get a reward rate of 12.7% on your HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card, which is really high when compared with other credit cards in the market. But that’s not the only benefit you get. You also get unlimited complimentary airport lounge access and, comprehensive travel insurance cover, gift vouchers, complimentary subscriptions, concierge service and many other benefits with HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card. Although Diners Club credit cards are not as widely accepted in India and Visa and MasterCard credit cards, they do offer quite a high reward rate and other add-on previliges to their members. So, if you don’t mind the “not so wide acceptability” of Diners Club Credit Cards, and are looking for a card in the premium segment, HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card is certainly worth your consideration.