HDFC Smartbuy Rewards Revised (Terrible news for DCB Holders!)

Knight11 wrote:

No, that isn’t right. I remember that it mentioned like June 2020 as start date last month. Even now I downloaded the Terms and conditions from hdfc website and it says the same.

https://d157777v0iph40.cloudfront.net/unified3....

I was not talking about the PDF link.

I was talking about the smartbuy offer page:
https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/offer_deta...
HDFC always updates the dates as the current month range in:

Delight with exclusive and assured bonus saving on all transactions on SmartBuy.
Starts On: 2022-02-01
Expires On: 2022-02-28

Any change in flight booking capping of 70% with rewards point ?

Kellyjelly wrote:

I’m charged 750/- for my debit card how can I stop that

Others can confirm but I think HDFC Savings Max Account waives off annual charges on Platinum Debit Card.

Or fulfill eligibility for Preferred Banking, opt for it when prompted in internet banking and that charge will be waived off.

sahil1033 wrote:

I have mastercard

I have mastercard and it’s times point not platinum

Now regalia and privilege card is better than DCB on smart buy vouchers

Seinfeld wrote:

I was not talking about the PDF link.

I was talking about the smartbuy offer page:
https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/offer_deta...
HDFC always updates the dates as the current month range in:

Delight with exclusive and assured bonus saving on all transactions on SmartBuy.
Starts On: 2022-02-01
Expires On: 2022-02-28

Can be cross verified from desidime deal page if you search well enough:
eg. https://www.desidime.com/deals/smartbuy-delight...

It doesn’t mention the start date here. So, I think they just change the expiry date every month and keep start date unchanged, unless there is actual change in terms. As I do remember seeing that June as start date last week even on the smartbuy page itself.

shriAyodhya wrote:

Now regalia and privilege card is better than DCB on smart buy vouchers

The gyfter portal is not reflecting it correctly for regalia. It is 5x reward points. So, for 10000 rupees it is 1320 reward points, which is equivalent to 660 for flights. But they are showing as 1320 cash, which is wrong.

Actually, in other credit/debit cards, u still get 500 rupees cashback (plus 1% card rewards for Millenia), which is worth more than 660 for flights.

In cashback terms, I see Regalia/diners privilege at 4.5%, Millenia credit  at 6%, Millenia debit at 10%, , Diners black at 6.5%, Infinia at 10% and Other credit/debit cards at 5%.

Knight11 wrote:

The gyfter portal is not reflecting it correctly for regalia. It is 5x reward points. So, for 10000 rupees it is 1320 reward points, which is equivalent to 660 for flights. But they are showing as 1320 cash, which is wrong.

Actually, in other credit/debit cards, u still get 500 rupees cashback (plus 1% card rewards for Millenia), which is worth more than 660 for flights.

In cashback terms, I see Regalia/diners privilege at 4.5%, Millenia credit  at 6%, Millenia debit at 10%, , Diners black at 6.5%, Infinia at 10% and Other credit/debit cards at 5%.

What’s the max benefit for millenia debit for amazon GV 10%? Also will it credit after 3months/ 90 days?

try_me wrote:

What’s the max benefit for millenia debit for amazon GV 10%? Also will it credit after 3months/ 90 days?

Yes 10%. 5% card reward capped at 400 and 5% smartbuy reward capped at 1000. Both are 90 days after transaction month.

Knight11 wrote:

.

Knight11 wrote:

Yes 10%. 5% card reward capped at 400 and 5% smartbuy reward capped at 1000. Both are 90 days after transaction month.

So 8000 amazon GV @ 10% – 5% card reward (400) and 5% smartbuy reward (400)
And 12000 amazon GV @ 5% – 5% smartbuy reward (600)

try_me wrote:

So 8000 amazon GV @ 10% – 5% card reward (400) and 5% smartbuy reward (400)
And 12000 amazon GV @ 5% – 5% smartbuy reward (600)

you can’t buy more than 10k in a month, so 8k at 10% and 2k at 5%. Remaining 500 cashback can be used on amazon smartbuy for goods purchase, but not for Vouchers.

anyone can please suggest best use of millennia credit card for maximum benefits?

Knight11 wrote:

The gyfter portal is not reflecting it correctly for regalia. It is 5x reward points. So, for 10000 rupees it is 1320 reward points, which is equivalent to 660 for flights. But they are showing as 1320 cash, which is wrong.

Actually, in other credit/debit cards, u still get 500 rupees cashback (plus 1% card rewards for Millenia), which is worth more than 660 for flights.

In cashback terms, I see Regalia/diners privilege at 4.5%, Millenia credit  at 6%, Millenia debit at 10%, , Diners black at 6.5%, Infinia at 10% and Other credit/debit cards at 5%.

infinia is 16% if you redeem for airlines.5x (25 points per 150) which comes and 16.67%

vasanth_ece wrote:

infinia is 16% if you redeem for airlines.5x (25 points per 150) which comes and 16.67%

I mentioned in true cashback terms for apple to apple comparison. It is a long and complicated thing. Don’t read further, if u don’t like Maths😁.

Say when u spend 100 and get 10% cashback, u are spending 90 only. So, true discount percent stays 10% here.

But when u spend 100 and get 10% reward point, u are spending 100. Here true discount percent becomes 10/110 = 9%.

For 16.67, this is 16.67/116.67 = 14.2%.

Further, u don’t get any discount on flights on smartbuy, but in most other sites, u can get 15-25% discount depending on flight price, various offers and cards available. So, reduce that by a factor of say 0.8 making it 11.3%.

Now for redeeming these points on flights, u need to pay 30% by card (say 3500*0.3=1050). Here if you would have booked the ticket via usual 20% offer, u would have to pay 20% less, but with smartbuy u r only getting 5x reward point (which is again around 12% and not 16.67). So, for redeeming (3500*0.7=2450 points), u r spending 1050*8% = 84 extra than usual. Now 84/2450 = 3.4%.

This reduces overall discount to about 11%. Now for accumulation of all those points will take a lot more time, but cashbacks are instant (or 90 days). So, consider about 5-10% interest on that. This makes it 10%.

All calculations are rounded and there are several assumptions. But for a typical or average use case, the 10% value from Infinia on 5x is just right. Even the earlier 10x is just about 17-18%.

Knight11 wrote:

I mentioned in true cashback terms for apple to apple comparison. It is a long and complicated thing. Don’t read further, if u don’t like Maths😁.

Say when u spend 100 and get 10% cashback, u are spending 90 only. So, true discount percent stays 10% here.

But when u spend 100 and get 10% reward point, u are spending 100. Here true discount percent becomes 10/110 = 9%.

For 16.67, this is 16.67/116.67 = 14.2%.

Further, u don’t get any discount on flights on smartbuy, but in most other sites, u can get 15-25% discount depending on flight price, various offers and cards available. So, reduce that by a factor of say 0.8 making it 11.3%.

Now for redeeming these points on flights, u need to pay 30% by card (say 3500*0.3=1050). Here if you would have booked the ticket via usual 20% offer, u would have to pay 20% less, but with smartbuy u r only getting 5x reward point (which is again around 12% and not 16.67). So, for redeeming (3500*0.7=2450 points), u r spending 1050*8% = 84 extra than usual. Now 84/2450 = 3.4%.

This reduces overall discount to about 11%. Now for accumulation of all those points will take a lot more time, but cashbacks are instant (or 90 days). So, consider about 5-10% interest on that. This makes it 10%.

All calculations are rounded and there are several assumptions. But for a typical or average use case, the 10% value from Infinia on 5x is just right. Even the earlier 10x is just about 17-18%.

Convenience fee is lower I think. It’s overall not per passenger
And interest 10% is exaggeration

avgn wrote:

Convenience fee is lower I think. It’s overall not per passenger
And interest 10% is exaggeration

Yeah, that’s right. But my point still holds, as major reduction is just from “cashback vs reward points” and flight discounts. Maybe that will make it about 11%. 

Knight11 wrote:

I mentioned in true cashback terms for apple to apple comparison. It is a long and complicated thing. Don’t read further, if u don’t like Maths😁.

Say when u spend 100 and get 10% cashback, u are spending 90 only. So, true discount percent stays 10% here.

But when u spend 100 and get 10% reward point, u are spending 100. Here true discount percent becomes 10/110 = 9%.

For 16.67, this is 16.67/116.67 = 14.2%.

Further, u don’t get any discount on flights on smartbuy, but in most other sites, u can get 15-25% discount depending on flight price, various offers and cards available. So, reduce that by a factor of say 0.8 making it 11.3%.

Now for redeeming these points on flights, u need to pay 30% by card (say 3500*0.3=1050). Here if you would have booked the ticket via usual 20% offer, u would have to pay 20% less, but with smartbuy u r only getting 5x reward point (which is again around 12% and not 16.67). So, for redeeming (3500*0.7=2450 points), u r spending 1050*8% = 84 extra than usual. Now 84/2450 = 3.4%.

This reduces overall discount to about 11%. Now for accumulation of all those points will take a lot more time, but cashbacks are instant (or 90 days). So, consider about 5-10% interest on that. This makes it 10%.

All calculations are rounded and there are several assumptions. But for a typical or average use case, the 10% value from Infinia on 5x is just right. Even the earlier 10x is just about 17-18%.

I had a hard time explaining this stuff long back…feels go to see your post 😄
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/hdfc-infin...

Knight11 wrote:

I mentioned in true cashback terms for apple to apple comparison. It is a long and complicated thing. Don’t read further, if u don’t like Maths😁.

Say when u spend 100 and get 10% cashback, u are spending 90 only. So, true discount percent stays 10% here.

But when u spend 100 and get 10% reward point, u are spending 100. Here true discount percent becomes 10/110 = 9%.

For 16.67, this is 16.67/116.67 = 14.2%.

Further, u don’t get any discount on flights on smartbuy, but in most other sites, u can get 15-25% discount depending on flight price, various offers and cards available. So, reduce that by a factor of say 0.8 making it 11.3%.

Now for redeeming these points on flights, u need to pay 30% by card (say 3500*0.3=1050). Here if you would have booked the ticket via usual 20% offer, u would have to pay 20% less, but with smartbuy u r only getting 5x reward point (which is again around 12% and not 16.67). So, for redeeming (3500*0.7=2450 points), u r spending 1050*8% = 84 extra than usual. Now 84/2450 = 3.4%.

This reduces overall discount to about 11%. Now for accumulation of all those points will take a lot more time, but cashbacks are instant (or 90 days). So, consider about 5-10% interest on that. This makes it 10%.

All calculations are rounded and there are several assumptions. But for a typical or average use case, the 10% value from Infinia on 5x is just right. Even the earlier 10x is just about 17-18%.

And if reward points cannot be used for flights then redeeming reward points for gift voucher gives only 50 % value

It is totally useless breaking our heads for that extra 4-5 % for DCB or infinia reward points.
Just now compared a flight ticket for 2 adults and below is total price at final payment page for 2 passengers…
Smartbuy Yatra : 9744
Yatra Only : 8922
Diff : 822 which means 9.2 % more in smartbuy for same ticket .

It is better to shift spends to other cards which gives instant discount on case to case basis and close infinia / DCB when it comes for renewal if it is not LTF.

Knight11 wrote:

The gyfter portal is not reflecting it correctly for regalia. It is 5x reward points. So, for 10000 rupees it is 1320 reward points, which is equivalent to 660 for flights. But they are showing as 1320 cash, which is wrong.

Actually, in other credit/debit cards, u still get 500 rupees cashback (plus 1% card rewards for Millenia), which is worth more than 660 for flights.

In cashback terms, I see Regalia/diners privilege at 4.5%, Millenia credit  at 6%, Millenia debit at 10%, , Diners black at 6.5%, Infinia at 10% and Other credit/debit cards at 5%.

I was wondering, why many people are saying that Regalia and privilege card are better than DCB. I get it now …

chai_lover wrote:

don’t know bro..i had DCB LTF, have recently got regalia as dual card…now both devalued

How you got DCB life time free, please suggest.

Dimer777 wrote:

It is totally useless breaking our heads for that extra 4-5 % for DCB or infinia reward points.
Just now compared a flight ticket for 2 adults and below is total price at final payment page for 2 passengers…
Smartbuy Yatra : 9744
Yatra Only : 8922
Diff : 822 which means 9.2 % more in smartbuy for same ticket .

You are bang on target.. 
Basically redeeming points on Flight/Hotels will be 1RP = 0.9 ₹

That should be our thought process for DCB/Infinia.
Decrease 10% for the rest cards’ reward rates too.

I guess similar for AGV, since we can get AGV at discounts or buy from amazon at least 5% discount, so its valuation for infinia or DCB will be 1RP = 0.47 ₹ (5% further decrease).

aneelg wrote:

How you got DCB life time free, please suggest.

alumni offer

smartgeek wrote:

I am getting millenia upgrade offer from regalia first
should i opt it or wait or other upgrade ?

Any advice guys?

smartgeek wrote:

Any advice guys?

Go for it. Millennia is better than Regalia First in nearly all use cases (depending on your spending patterns).

BlueFlash wrote:

Go for it. Millennia is better than Regalia First in nearly all use cases (depending on your spending patterns).

My usage is mainly online shopping

smartgeek wrote:

My usage is mainly online shopping

Then definitely go for Millennia