In the Super-Premium or Premium sector of society, many high-end credit cards are curated specially for high-value individuals. As they are curated for the high-end lifestyle of individuals, they are equipped with the most beneficial perks and added offers. Examples of such Premium category credit cards are Kotak White Reserve Credit Card and HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card, and both the credit cards most favored in the industry. These two credit cards are both super-premium credit cards. But the way they have to offer rewards can be quite different from each other. Both these credit cards are very well-suited for shopping but the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card can also be a good option for traveling and dining as well. Both these credit cards help you get a massive range of benefits that may or may not be similar to each other.

People often get confused as to which one of these credit cards will be the best suited for them. In this article, we will look into these credit cards and compare them in order to determine the pros and cons of both credit cards. Further, this article will also help you in deciding as to which credit cards are more suited for you.

Kotak White Reserve Credit Card VS HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card Post

Kotak White Reserve Credit Card

The Kotak White Reserve Credit Card is an advanced version of the Kotak White Credit Card. The Kotak White Reserve Credit Card provides White Pass in order to provide the rewards. This Pass can further be redeemed against gift vouchers, flights, hotels, and much more. This credit card’s features and rewards are further explained in detail below –

Features and Benefits

There are many features and benefits which the Kotak White Reserve Credit Card provides to its user. These are mentioned below –

Reward Benefits

Kotak White Reserve Credit Card has a different way to unlock the rewards which are in the form of the White Pass. This White Pass gets unlocked once you have completed the total expenses of Rs. 3 lakhs in a year and after crossing the milestone, you earn the pass. After getting the White Pass, you are given the rewards as per the spends over 3 Lakhs, whose value is mentioned in detail below –

Spend Milestone White Pass Earns Total White Pass Value
Less than 3 Lakhs 0 0
3 Lakhs Rs. 5,000 Rs. 5,000
10 Lakhs Rs. 15,000 Rs.20,000
20 Lakhs Rs. 22, 000 Rs. 42,000
30 Lakhs Rs. 24,000 Rs. 66,000
40 Lakhs Rs. 26,000 Rs. 92,000
50 Lakhs Rs. 28,000 Rs. 1,20,000
75 Lakhs Rs. 63,000 Rs. 1,83,000
100 Lakhs Rs. 67,000 Rs. 2,50,000

As mentioned in the table, the Pass will only be enabled after an annual spend of Rs. 3 Lakhs. With the White Pass, following the table, you can earn up to Rs. 2,50,000 White Pass Value in a year.

Reward Redemption

  • You can redeem the White Pass on gift vouchers with premium brands, hotels, flight, curated travel expeditions by National Geographic , philanthropy,  etc.
  • The White Pass Balance is also redeemable against cash.
  • The redemption rate for 1 White Pass is equal to Re. 1 on White Pass Catalog for all the categories except Cashback, where for Cashback the rate is 1 White Pass is equal to Rs. 0.70.

Travel Benefits

  • With more than 1000 airports get unlimited complimentary lounge access all over the globe.
  • This benefit is available on both primary and the add-on cards as well

Dining benefits

  • 20% off on dining bills with the participating Marriot Hotels across the Asia Pacific Region

Membership Benefits

  • A 20% off across the Asia Pacific on all your food and beverages with the partnered restaurants for up to 10 guests.
  • This offer does not apply to Sunday Brunches.
  • 30% off on your bill for 2 nights in India with the help of 2 complimentary certificates.
  • On selected Spa treatments get 20% off in India.
  • On the best available rooms to rent in India you get a 20% off and the best available rates on weekends available in Asia Pacific Region.
  • Complimentary certificate offering 50% off on all your food/dining bills and 30% off on the beverage bill for no more than 10 of your guests with the all-day dining restaurants in the country.

Golf Privileges

  • The primary cardholder can enjoy 2 golf rounds every month at selected golf courses around the globe.

Fuel

  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel stations in India.
  • This offer is valid for all transactions ranging between Rs. 400 to Rs. 4,000.
  • The maximum waiver you can enjoy is Rs. 375 per month and Rs. 4,500 yearly.
  • Add-on cardholders are also eligible for this benefit.

Milestone Benefit

  • Upon spending more than Rs. 10 Lakhs in the previous year, the joining fee of Rs. 12,500 will be waived.
  • White Pass activation for those who spend over Rs. 3 Lakhs.

Fees and Charges

  • Joining Fee / Renewal Fee = Rs. 12,500
  • Foreign Currency Markup = 2% on all transactions made abroad
  • Interest Rates = 3.5% per month or 42% annually
  • Cash advance fee = Rs. 300 for every Rs. 10,000 or a part thereof.

The Kotak White Reserve Credit Card is a great competition for any super-premium credit card in the market. The White Pass, this credit card is very different from the other cards and has more monetary value present or visible. This credit card is very well suited for your Shopping, and traveling.

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HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card

The HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card is a Super-premium credit cards by the HDFC. In case you are most likely to spend your sum on apps or websites like Amazon Prime, Zomato, Ola Money, BookMyShow, etc., this card will help you the most in getting the best deals for you.

Below are the features of the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card.

Features and Benefits

This HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card has many subsequential benefits which can help you earn value back on each and every spend.

Welcome Benefit 

  • Complimentary annual membership of Amazon Prime, Club Marriott, Forbes, Swiggy One, MMT BLACK, and Times Prime upon spending Rs. 1.5 Lakhs with the initial 90 days of card issuance or upon realizing the joining fee.

Rewards 

  • On every Rs. 150 spent for retail transactions, earn 5 RPs
  • Up to 10X accelerated RPs on the SmartBuy portal.
  • 2X RPs on weekend dining
  • No RPs for fuel transactions.
  • A maximum of 5,000 RPs can be earned per day on insurance transactions
  • The RPs will remain valid for up to 3 years from the accrual date.

Reward Redemption 

  • The accumulated rewards can be redeemed against –
  • Flight, and hotel bookings on the SmartBuy portal
  • Airmiles at InterMiles, Singapore Airlines, and Club Vistara
  • 14 different airlines, including British Airways, Vietnam Airlines, etc and hotel loyalty points via the Rewards360 portal as well.
  • Towards the items present on the website’s redemption catalog.
  • cashback which can be adjusted against the card’s statement
  • This reward redemption rate for 1 RP –
  • flights and hotels on SmartBuy are = Re. 1
  • Airmiles is = 1 Airmile
  • Product Catalogue is = up to Rs. 0.50
  • Cashback is = Rs. 0.30
  • Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways, Etihad Airways, unite Mileage Plus is = 0.50 mile/loyalty points
  • Air Asia Rewards, Accor Live Limitless, Avianca LifeMiles, Finnair Plus, etc. is = 1 corresponding mile/loyalty point

Travel Benefits 

  • Complimentary lounge access at 1000+ airports in India and abroad

Dining Benefits 

  • 2x accelerated reward points on weekend dining

Membership Benefits 

  • Complimentary annual membership of Club Marriott and Swiggy One for 3 months
  • This benefit is renewed once the cardholder spends over Rs. 8 lakhs in the previous year.
  • The renewal fee of Rs. 10,000 is waived on spending more than Rs. 5 Lakhs in an anniversary year.

Golf 

  • 6 complimentary golf rounds every calendar quarter across the finest golf courses globally.

Fuel 

  • Fuel Surcharge waiver of 1% at all the fuel stations.
  • The waiver is valid for spend of Rs. 400 onwards
  • The waiver is capped at Rs. 1,000 per month.

Fees and Charges

  • Joining or Renewal fee = Rs. 10,000
  • Interest Rate = 1.99% monthly
  • Forex Markup fee = 1.99% of the total amount
  • Cash Advance Fee = 2.5% of the withdrawn amount or a minimum of Rs. 500

The HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card has low Forex and interest rates. This credit card also has a very decent rewarding system. Along with this, the accumulated reward points can also be further redeemed against a variety of options.

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Quick Comparison

Here is a quick comparison of between Kotak White Reserve Credit Card and HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card for an overview –

Basics Kotak White Reserve Credit Card HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card
Joining Fee / Annual Fee Rs. 12,500 + taxes Rs. 10,000 + taxes
Welcome Benefits N/A Complimentary annual membership of Amazon Prime, Club Marriott, Forbes, Swiggy One, MMT BLACK, and Times Prime
Rewards The White Pass is unlocked after a minimum spend of Rs. 3 Lakhs. On Rs. 3 Lakhs you get the White Pass of Rs. 5,000, On Rs. 10 Lakhs you will get a White Pass of Rs. 15,000 On Rs. 20 Lakhs you will get the White Pass of Rs. 22,000 On Rs. 30 Lakhs you will get a White Pass of Rs. 24,000 and so on.   On every Rs. 150 spent for retail transactions, earn 5 RPs

Up to 10X accelerated RPs on the SmartBuy portal.

2X RPs on weekend dining  
Reward Redemption You can redeem the White Pass on gift vouchers with premium brands, flights, hotels, philanthropy, curated travel expeditions by National Geographic, and cashback as well.

1 White Pass is equal to Re. 1 on White Pass Catalog For Cashback, 1 White Pass is equal to Rs. 0.70.  
The accumulated rewards can be redeemed against Flight, and hotel bookings, with different partnered airlines, and the cashback as well

The Accumulated rewards can be redeemed for –

flights and hotels on SmartBuy 1 RP = Re. 1 Airmiles is = 1 Airmile For Product Catalogue 1 RP = up to Rs. 0.50 Cashback 1 RP = Rs. 0.30 For Airmiles 1 RP = 0.50 mile/loyalty points to 1 corresponding mile/loyalty point  
Interest Rates 1.99% monthly 1.99% per month  
Dining Get up to 20% off on dining bills with the participating Marriot Hotels across the Asia Pacific Region   2x accelerated reward points on weekend dining  
Travel Unlimited Complimentary lounge access at 1000+ airports all over the globe.   Complimentary lounge access at 1000+ airports in India and abroad  
Forex Markup fee 2% on all foreign transactions   1.99% of the total amount  
Cash Advance Fee Rs. 300 for every Rs. 10,000 or a part thereof.   5% of the withdrawn amount or Rs. 500 whichever is higher  
Membership Benefits Complimentary Club Marriott Membership Complimentary annual membership of Club Marriott and Swiggy One for 3 months  
Golf The primary cardholder can enjoy 2 golf rounds every month at selected golf courses around the globe.   6 complimentary golf rounds every calendar quarter across the finest golf courses globally.  
Fuel 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel stations in India.   Fuel Surcharge waiver of 1% at all fuel stations.

Conclusion

Both the Kotak White Reserve Credit Card and HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card are very well sought after and are specially designed for the needs of high-value individuals. Both these credit cards provide reward points in their ways, such as the Kotak White Reserve Credit Card has White Pass which gets unlocked after a particular milestone but the benefits are massive. Next comes the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card with which you can see the value back as RP on every Rs. 150 spent.

The Kotak White Reserve Credit Card and HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card both have the best rewarding features and reward redemption rates as well. These cards come with a great deal of benefits for stays and vacations along with the daily expenses. The Kotak White Reserve Credit Card is recommended for shopping and traveling as it has great features for the same and the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card is recommended if you are an online shopper and likes to spend online. This credit card is also great for traveling.

Choosing between these two great credit cards can be difficult but it will all be worth it.

1 Comment

  1. Abhi Reply

    Interesting comparison! I’m currently considering between the Kotak White Reserve Credit Card and the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card. Can you elaborate more on the rewards structure and fees associated with each card? Which one do you think is better for frequent travelers?

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