KunjanPSD

Maybe but they will lose a lot of transactions. Amex, HDFC and Axis, no way people are gonna convert to Amazon directly.

That's exactly why Amazon pulled out, lol.

Yes, it will. Also, you will also get extra 750 special discount in addition (depends when the promotion is running).

Amazon ICICI is still not that great. Come ICICI sale, it is never eligible for the discount. But yes, most probably the best option left for Amazon, which bitch Amazon wanted to do. DCB works mostly on all big box stores, Zepto/Blinkit no idea.

@hannibal09 Do you think a portfolio of LTF DCB, Citi PM (hopefully Prestige later on) and possibly Amazon ICICI be best going forward for airmiles value add? I was planning to add almost every purchase on DCB but with Amazon gone, now planning to add most expenses on Prestige if I am able to get it and then only the purchases which can still provide bonus points will go on DCB. Other options I considered: StanC Ultimate has lower fees but not much when if comes to airlines partners, not sure how good their redemption value is on normal booking. Axis Magnus only has Club Vistara as far as I know. 1L milestone is pretty sweet though. Amex, will consider when bans lifts.

Not true. Bridging can be done without static IP. But I am not sure if there is any restriction from Airtel's end. They setup weird gateways.

Called Smartbuy Concierge and was told the same thing. From 1st Amazon won't be a Smartbuy partner. Bahut bada dhakka laga. Although Smartbuy still has decent options for flights/hotels/products but with removal of Amazon, DCB/Infinia advantage has been greatly reduced with this. I don't think anyone wants to transact on Flipkart, lol. So in case your use case was only limited to Amazon and not other merchants on Smartbuy. StanC Ultimate starts looking good because of the similar reward rate and lower fees, not many airmiles partners though. Citi Prestige has better base reward rate but high fees and quite a few exceptions. I didn't transact that much on Amazon via Smartbuy because I had Regalia, was looking forward to use DCB but I guess not.

All of this might go in vain. People aren't able to buy Amazon Vouchers and hit/miss on Amazon transactions. Not sure how many people will be able to take advantage of Smartbuy without Amazon. Amazon being shitty, Amz icici doesn't qualify for their own ICICI discounts. Milennia might just end up being good option for Amazon now. Such a shitty move.

https://www.technofino.in/community/threads/bad-news-for-smartbuy-and-other-amazon-affiliate-purchases.1318/ Any info about this? Because this pretty much kills SmartBuy if true. Will finally get Amazon ICICI card if true, Sad.

I know that but sometimes their bonus points credit don't make sense. Only if they give details about bonus points credit for individual transactions and not just a lumpsum credit. They should also do it when the transaction is posted on the card and not days later. Still trying hard for DCB, need to make an Apple transaction and SB is the best option.

Amex can't mitigate the ban fast enough. With an Amex, I would pretty much be sorted with the rest of my cards.

@hannibal09 Need some clarification regarding HDFC Smartbuy Points cap. Does the daily cap include base RPs or only Bonus RPs for a Smartbuy transaction? Let's say I make a purchase of 54000 on SB using DCB which has 2500/day cap and 3x multiplier. Will I get: 1) 54000/150 = 360*5 = 1800*3 = 5400 but capped to 2500, so 2500 in total (cap on both base+bonus RPs) 2) Base RPs = 54000/150 = 360*5 = 1800 Bonus RPs = 54000/150 = 360*5 = 1800*3 = 5400 - 1800 = 3600, capped to 2500 = 2500 (cap only on Bonus RPs) Total RPs = 1800 + 2500 = 4300 Will really appreciate the help.

I own both but I already have backlog on PS5 otherwise would have upgraded to extra.

Yeah, even extra doesn't make sense to me right now as I have a backlog. Will upgrade later if I need.

Showing me 1150 bucks for Extra and 1582 for Deluxe for the remainder of 210 days, is deluxe worth it?

Nope. He is from IIT too, so I am sure I can find some people who works in the company he was placed.

Kidhar lgi? PM me and I'll try to see if I can find out someone who works there.

Base RPs remain the same. Bonus RPs will increase as Infinia has 5x SB multiplier. Bonus Daily Cap for Infinia is 7500/day and 15k/month. In case of Infinia, SB is almost always the better choice. Just think what kind of value SB used to be before, multiplier used to be 10x for Infinia and DCB with NO cap. Card Abusers ruined it for everyone.

HDFC just capped RPs for rent payments at 2k/month i.e. 60k rent payment. Genuine people bearing the brunt.

Standard practice, they reduce their liability but don't offer the benefits.

Depends on the amount you are spending and the value you can get out of the RP on DCB. Let me take an example: Sony WF1000XM4 = 16990 (post 2k discount on all cards) on Amz. Option 1: DCB on Smartbuy Amount Paid: 16990 Base RPs: 16990/150 = 113*5 = 566 Bonus RPs: 566*3 (3x SB multiplier) = 1699 - 566 = 1133 Total RPs: 566 + 1133 = 1699 Total Cost: 16990 - 1699 = 15291 (1RP = 1RE) Option 2: Amz ICICI on Amz Base Amount: 16990 Special Amz ICICI discount: 750 Amount Paid: 16240 Cashback (5%): 812 Total Cost: 15428 In this example DCB comes ahead. But there are some limitations: 1) DCB has max bonus RP cap of 2500/day, 7500/month and post that you will only get the base RP while Amazon has 5% unlimited cashback. 2) Assumed 1RP = 1RE as that is the redemption ratio for Flights/Hotels on Smartbuy and 1RP = 1 Air Mile, if you don't have this redemption use case then RP value is lower. 3) 750 special discount for Amz ICICI is under offer period and shared among all the transactions in the offer period. If you do the above transaction outside the offer period then DCB will look even more attractive. So it really depends on: 1) How much you are spending in 1 transaction and if 5% flat cashback ends up making sense over 2500+Base RPs. 2) How many transactions you are doing in a month i.e. in case you exhaust 7500/month RPs. 3) How you want to use the RPs, if you don't want any travel redemption or airmiles, Amz cashback makes a lot of sense. One more use case can be utilities payment. Smartbuy allows 5k Amz voucher/month but charges 150 as processing fee, so 5150 but offers 495 total points after bonus, hence a return of almost 9.5% over 5150. But Amz ICICI only gives 2% cashback over utility payments. So all in all, depends on how you cut it. I am trying to get DCB + Citi (Backup) and then Amz ICICI, which should cover all of my expenses. Will evaluate when Amex comes back or maybe 6-8 months down the line I can try for Infinia/next best.

Depends on your use case i.e. how do you use your Reward points. Amz ICICI is a good option because it's LTF or maybe you can look at Standard Chartered Ultimate because it gives flat 3.3% reward rate and you can buy hotel vouchers. Ideally only smallers merchants should not be accepting DCB. How often do you face this problem? Because if it's frequent then it makes sense to get a paid card otherwise Amz ICICI.

DCB and Infinia. DCB has lesser acceptance so a backup card is needed.

Grievance.Redressalcc@hdfcbank.com No idea about Amex.

Trying to get PM and then convert to Prestige to get extra kick out of the welcome points. I have a few doubts though, can I immediately apply for Prestige upgrade after getting PM? Also what about the card fee, I assume I will only get 10,000 PM miles after I pay PM's fee, so once I upgrade I will have to pay full Prestige fee even though I will be upgrading asap?