The HDFC Infinia Credit Card is the best super-premium card available in the country in terms of value derived from spends. It is usually issued exclusively to existing bank customers and is targeted towards High Networth Individuals primarily to ensure client stickiness with the Bank. The top of the line benefits offered by the card does just that. Once you manage to get your hands on the card, the following benefits will be in store for you.
Note: The post has been updated with current card information.
HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card Overview
Currently, HDFC Infinia Credit Card is the best super-premium credit card in India in terms of what one can earn based on their spends. This card is available on the Visa Infinite or World Mastercard platform which means un-parallel acceptability of the card.
Who can benefit from HDFC Infinia card?
Short answer: High spenders.
Since HDFC Bank Infinia credit card is targeted towards the banks High Networth customers, it is quite understandable that more value can be derived from higher spends. The only issue is its not so easy to get ones hands on it. If you are an existing bank customer, one way is to request the Relationship Manager for the card. Another way is to check in the Bank’s website if you are eligible for the Infinia card upgrade, i.e. if you already are holding another card from the bank. Although its unofficial, but there are certain requirements for one to get hold of this card – a good relationship value with the bank upwards of 30 lacs, or if you have given some business to the bank by taking some of its products such as insurance, or an existing credit card line of >8 Lakh and finally an annual gross income > 40 Lakh. Let’s just say, its easier to get this card if you are High Networth.
What is the current Welcome Offer?
You get 10,000 reward points (equal to ₹10,000) as welcome benefit and renewal benefit only if the card fees (₹10,000+taxes) is paid. Generally this card is not issued Lifetime free or even first year free. If you achieve spends of ₹1,50,000 in the first 3 months of card issuance, you will not be required to pay the card fees and so you won’t get the welcome bonus. Likewise, if you achieve spends on ₹8 Lacs in a year, you will not need to pay the renewal card fees and so you will not get the renewal bonus reward points. So even though most get a paid version of the card, it does not really matter if you achieve the spends or not, you will be compensated with the same 10,000 rewards points (without the GST amount paid) for the amount you pay for the card fees. With 1 Reward point = 1 INR when redeemed on the Infinia Portal, what you lose is just the taxes paid. With the benefits offered, we consider it a very small price to pay.
Also, you get Club Marriott Membership however it is only for the first year. Even on card renewal, this membership does not get renewed. Although I must add that once you have the Infinia card up and running in the first year, you will not feel the need for the Club Marriott membership from the second year onwards anyway.
What kind of rewards can I earn?
One could call the Infinia card a spenders card, as you earn handsomely for your spends. Let’s look at how to maximize the value you can derive from this card:
- Normal rewards on all spends: The cardholder earns 5 reward points per ₹150 on all retail spends including Insurance, Utilities, Education and rent pay except spends on Fuel and wallet reloads. This converts to a default rewards return rate ~3.3% i.e. ₹3.3 for every ₹100 spent.
But the real deal is the HDFC Bank’s 2X/3X/5X/10X Smartbuy accelerated rewards programs.
- Dining: 2X Reward points (6.6% rewards rate) on dining at stand alone restaurants is presently capped at 1000 reward points per day. However, the default reward points accrued on Dining i.e. ₹5 reward points per 150 is with no capping. In addition to the above, the card holder also gets a complimentary Dineout Passport – All India Plan for the first year only. Payments made through the Dineout app gives the card holder additional 15% discount over and above the discounts available through the Dineout app.
- HDFC Bank’s Smartbuy portal: 3X reward points (9.9% rewards rate) on Flipkart & Compare & Shop and 5X reward points (16.5% rewards rate) on Amazon and Rail tickets.
Now this is where the card shines, i.e. for travel bookings and shopping:
- 10X reward points (33% rewards rate) on Flights, Hotels, Bus and Instant Vouchers: Whether it is the flights or the hotels you book, you effectively get 33% back as rewards points on your spends. Even when buying gift vouchers (known as ‘Instant Vouchers’ on Smartbuy platform) to use on Amazon and Flipkart or any other brand, you still get 10X reward points i.e. 33% back as reward points. There is a 5k purchase limit per month on the gift vouchers for Amazon and Flipkart with other brands having their own individual limits. There are a plethora of offers on instant vouchers available and you will surely find some brand of your liking.
Also, the maximum cap on 10X Smartbuy accelerated rewards program is 15,000 Reward points per month for Infinia card members. This limit makes Infinia card a notch above the the Diners Club Black Credit card. Our spend patterns don’t allow us to reach this limit but we are quite content with the card. The reward points will also be valid for 3 years.
What are HDFC Infinia card’s travel benefits?
Along with the best accelerated rewards return rate in the Indian Market, the Infinia card offers the following travel perks adding value for any kind of traveller:
- Travel Benefits: The Reward points are redeemable for flight and hotel bookings on HDFC’s exclusive Smartbuy travel portal. Presently there is a restriction as you can only pay 70% of the flight or hotel cost by redeeming the reward points and the rest with your Infinia card however you still get 10X reward points (33%) on the balance which you pay by using your card so its still a pretty good deal.
- Transfer points to Air Miles: There is another option to redeem points by transferring points to Club Vistara, Singapore Airlines (Kris Flyer) air miles or Intermiles with 1 reward points : 1 Air mile conversion rate. Unfortunately, at present this conversion is restricted only to Kris Flyer & Intermiles, with Club Vistara added to this list recently. I personally would choose to redeeming points (and get 10X reward points back on amount paid with card) than converting to air miles but if you have sufficient points, you may choose to convert them to air miles and not have to pay anything in cash. HDFC Bank’s Diners Black card does have more options than Infinia to choose for conversion of points to air miles although with Club Vistara added recently to the list, I have little to complain about. That said, there is no doubt in my mind to score Infinia a few notches above the Diners Club Black card.
- Domestic Airport Lounge Benefits: The card entitles you for 4 complimentary domestic airport lounge access per quarter i.e. 16 visits per year for the Primary card holder. So for the remaining family members we carry other debit and credit cards for lounge access. Our Axis Burgundy debit card, Axis Select Credit card, HDFC Platinum Debit card among others comes handy here for the airports which do not have Priority Pass tied lounges.
- Priority Pass – Unlimited lounge access at Domestic & International Airport for Self and add-on card holder: This is an amazing perk to have for family travellers like us. The Infinia card comes with a complimentary Priority Pass membership for the primary cardholder as well as the add-on cardholders. The Priority Pass membership cards are included in the welcome kit. This membership comes with unlimited lounge access at all priority pass lounges in airports across the world. This includes both International and Domestic lounges.
Following insurance covers are applicable for the Primary card member only however Not Applicable for NRI Infinia cardholders:
- Air accident insurance cover: ₹3 crore in the event of loss of life resulting from air accident only for the primary card member.
- Emergency overseas hospitalization: Up to Rs. 50 lakhs in case of emergency.
- Credit Shield Cover: Upto 9 lakhs. Covers the outstanding amount of the insured in event of Accidental Death or Permanent Total Disability.
- Card Liability cover: Upto 9 lakhs.
Related Reading: My Best Travel Credit Cards for 2020 in India
How can I redeem the Reward Points?
- Flight and hotels: You’ll be able to redeem 70% of the cost of flights and hotels with your reward points & the rest with your Infinia card on the exclusive HDFC Smartbuy site. The best part, 1 reward point is worth ₹1 making it the best option. You still get 33% reward points on the balance 30% of the hotel/flight cost paid by the card.
- Transfer reward points to Airmiles Partners: This is another great way to redeem points and perhaps a better option than as mentioned above. With 1 Reward Points : 1 Airmiles ratio, you get the best conversion rate for your points. Then, there is no restriction on the redemption as well. Only issue being the restriction on the number of Airline partners available. Presently only Intermiles, Krisflyer & Club Vistara are the available frequent flyer programs for transferring miles.
- Redeem from Product catalog & Vouchers : HDFC product catalogue and vouchers have a conversion rate of 1 Reward point : ₹0.50. Not a very great way to redeem points plus we haven’t found products suiting our personal tastes until now.
- Transfer points for cash: This is an interesting way to redeem points that is for Cash although we haven’t used this option until now. With 1 Reward Point : ₹0.30, it is certainly intriguing and tempting way to redeem points. As they say, Cash is King!
Is HDFC Infinia suitable for international spends?
With a low foreign exchange markup fee of 1.99% + Service Tax, Infinia is one of the best card available for international spends. When it comes to international spends, Yes First Exclusive and Yes First Preferred credit card offer a foreign exchange markup fee of 1.75% + Service Tax. However, we recently gave up our Yes First credit cards to avoid the Yes Bank mess and I am not sure I even want to go back to Yes Bank products in the future. After Yes Bank, HDFC Bank cards such as Infinia, Diners Black, Regalia, Diners Club Prestige & Premium including Club miles give a good foreign exchange markup of 1.99% + Service tax. Also, with the Global Value program, you get 1% cashback on HDFC bank cards with which you can even gain a little bit of value. But the card which stands out in this range is HDFC Diners Club Premium as it offers 10x Reward points (~13.33% reward rate) on international spends.
Related Reading: My Best Travel Credit Cards for 2020 in India
Which other cards compete with HDFC Infinia card?
Infinia is in a league of its own but the card which will come closest to it would be HDFC Diners Club Black card as there are a very few differences between them. The main difference being the limitation on points you can accumulate each month. For Infinia presently it is 15,000 points and for Diners Club Black it is 7,500 points. Infinia has more acceptance due to it being on Visa or Mastercard network than the Diners Club acceptance rate. Both score equally well when it comes to unlimited lounge access. Basically if you can get your hands on any of the above mentioned card, it would be best to get it. However if not, there are other travel cards you would want to pick from.
What’s not so good with HDFC Infinia card?
There is not much to complain about Infinia Card. It is a privilege to have it in your wallet. If we have to be really picky, we would want to have a card with a premium look as the Infinia card lacks a bit in this respect. Also, if more options could be available for air mile conversion, it would greatly add on to its power.
Bottom Line
The Infinia card, if you can get your hands on to it, is the best premium travel credit card you can have in your wallet. Being an Invite only card, the banks Relationship Manager is the best bet for getting you access for this card i.e. if you cannot get it upgraded through the banks website. Being a High net worth customer helps.
Once you have the card, there are one simple way to help you start collecting the reward points, i.e. route all your spends through this card and through the use of Instant vouchers as well. The satisfaction you get while using the points redemption options for flights and hotels, will make the effort to gain points (33% of spends) via use of Instant Vouchers bearable.
Check out more details here for the HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card.
How is your experience with HDFC Infinia card? Have you been able to get your hands on it? Do let me know in the comments section below!
