Credit Card - Help & Recommendations

[Bird Bird Bird]

3 hours ago, psinide said:

This is the biggest problem with HDFC, even the smallest task requires a visit to the branch. You can try and get someone on the phone and get info, they have all their forms online, but they need to be printed out and either snail mailed or dropped at the branch.

 

Yeah. Stupidest sh*t ever. 

Otoh, my salary account is with ICICI. Branch is now in another city. Haven't even seen the branch or talked to RM for over 10 years. iMobile or netbanking pretty much solves all problems. 

 

Edit: Once I had to call their international remittance service and they were absolute sh*t. Lost 50USD due to their foolishness. Never again. 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Bird Bird Bird

[KunjanPSD]

When are the bonus points from the Smartbuy platform credited?

With the regular reward points or after some 90 days?

[funjabi]

27 minutes ago, KunjanPSD said:

When are the bonus points from the Smartbuy platform credited?

With the regular reward points or after some 90 days?

 

Used to be 90 days but from Feb '22 - they are being credited in 3 days of settlement along with regular points

[KunjanPSD]

53 minutes ago, funjabi said:

 

Used to be 90 days but from Feb '22 - they are being credited in 3 days of settlement along with regular points

Did they give a memo?

I booked tickets via Smartbuy using Regalia. I got the regular points but not the bonus.

On website they still say 90 days.

 

Also how are bonus points calculated?

Say I book tickets for 50k then my regular points will be (50k/150) *4 = 1333

And 5x is the reward multiplier, so will I get 1333*5 (including regular rewards) or 1333 (regular) + 1333*5 (bonus), upto the respective monthly+daily cap which is 4000 and 2000 respectively for Regalia.

Edited February 28, 2022 by KunjanPSD

[funjabi]

2 hours ago, KunjanPSD said:

Did they give a memo?

I booked tickets via Smartbuy using Regalia. I got the regular points but not the bonus.

On website they still say 90 days.

 

Also how are bonus points calculated?

Say I book tickets for 50k then my regular points will be (50k/150) *4 = 1333

And 5x is the reward multiplier, so will I get 1333*5 (including regular rewards) or 1333 (regular) + 1333*5 (bonus), upto the respective monthly+daily cap which is 4000 and 2000 respectively for Regalia.

 

I am no HDFC card expert as I only manage my father's Infinia card as he finds it too confusing. I have got an Infinia add-on card for myself this month for my unlimited lounge access  So, based on my knowledge so far - I will summarize my observations:

 

1) No, they didn't send any memo. But, I used my father's card for buying some vouchers from Smartbuy (3X rewards) and he got a message in 2-3 days that the reward points have been credited (used to get this credit after 90 days).

2) You will get 1333 normal points  + 1333*4 bonus points (5X is total rewards and includes 1X of normal rewards). However, the cap is applicable only for the bonus points (4X) and not on normal points.

[KunjanPSD]

39 minutes ago, funjabi said:

 

I am no HDFC card expert as I only manage my father's Infinia card as he finds it too confusing. I have got an Infinia add-on card for myself this month for my unlimited lounge access  So, based on my knowledge so far - I will summarize my observations:

 

1) No, they didn't send any memo. But, I used my father's card for buying some vouchers from Smartbuy (3X rewards) and he got a message in 2-3 days that the reward points have been credited (used to get this credit after 90 days).

2) You will get 1333 normal points  + 1333*4 bonus points (5X is total rewards and includes 1X of normal rewards). However, the cap is applicable only for the bonus points (4X) and not on normal points.

Thanks a lot.

I haven't received any msg yet so I guess I might get it later. Maybe for Infinia they are processing early. Website still states 90 days.

This monthly and daily cap is not enough though. Just by this transaction I should have exhausted the monthly 4000 points limit (1000 regular) but 2000 daily cap.

 

Need to work upwards to that Infinia or maybe some other card.

Edited February 28, 2022 by KunjanPSD

[funjabi]

Just now, KunjanPSD said:

Thanks a lot.

I haven't received any msg yet so I guess I might get it later. Maybe for Infinia they are processing early. Website still states 90 days.

This monthly and daily cap is not enough though. Just by transaction I should have exhausted the monthly 4000 points limit (getting 1000 regular) but 2000 daily cap.

 

Need to work upwards to that Infinia or maybe some other card.

 

Yeah man. Monthly is still okay but this daily cap is a dick move from HDFC. Most of my purchases are high value ones and not that frequent. This type of usage totally negates benefits of infinia. 

My dad's infinia is LTF else there is no value anymore to pay 12,500 plus taxes for this card (unless your expenditure is on very high side and can result in waiver of fees). They have stopped giving free infinia cards anymore.

[KunjanPSD]

27 minutes ago, funjabi said:

 

Yeah man. Monthly is still okay but this daily cap is a dick move from HDFC. Most of my purchases are high value ones and not that frequent. This type of usage totally negates benefits of infinia. 

My dad's infinia is LTF else there is no value anymore to pay 12,500 plus taxes for this card (unless your expenditure is on very high side and can result in waiver of fees). They have stopped giving free infinia cards anymore.

Rewards points are given out of the affiliate fees these banks earn from merchants. Given business slowed down a lot especially travel, they found a great time to reduce the rewards.

 

Does not even make sense to go for Diners, only thing going for it over Regalia is higher cap. 

 

Infinia is still good if LTF and that unlimited lounge visits is a great perk but again I feel Axis Magnus is better card for high spenders especially who frequently hit 1L mark every month. Other than that a combination of Regalia + ICICI and possibly Amex works well.

 

Also remember that daily cap is based on settlement date, so always wait 3-4 days between each transaction.

And month is calendar month, not bill month even if rewards are credited later.

Edited February 28, 2022 by KunjanPSD

[Root]

On 1/16/2022 at 11:45 AM, Root said:

What is the process to upgrade CC? I have ICICI Platinum which is as basic as it gets how should I approach for upgrade? And should I request for specific cc I want or they will tell me based on my eligibility?

 

I am sure I shouldn't entertain those random cold calls for CC

 

Thank you guys I received ICICI Rubyx and wife upgraded to HDFC Regelia which is surprisingly LTF.

 

Now figuring out how to make most of these cards. Plus any idea which airport lounges are access for us in Mumbai and Delhi airport?

[KunjanPSD]

2 hours ago, Root said:

 Plus any idea which airport lounges are access for us in Mumbai and Delhi airport?

Just do a Google Search, will come right up.

[KunjanPSD]

If my HDFC CC is expiring and I receive a new card, will the points from the old, transfer to the new one?

I know they don't transfer or partially transfer in case of an upgrade but what about if the card is the same but just a different numbered card?

[SuperT]

10 minutes ago, KunjanPSD said:

If my HDFC CC is expiring and I receive a new card, will the points from the old, transfer to the new one?

I know they don't transfer or partially transfer in case of an upgrade but what about if the card is the same but just a different numbered card?

It will transfer to the new card, that was the case last year when my old card expired. They usually send the new card a month before the expiry. But do check with the customer care team because they keep changing the terms and conditions often.

 

They transfer the points in case of an upgrade as well if I am not mistaken but it will be basis the new cards point redemption values and pro-rata basis. 

[texthulk]

On 2/17/2022 at 3:02 PM, Bird Bird Bird said:

 

Yeah. Stupidest sh*t ever. 

Otoh, my salary account is with ICICI. Branch is now in another city. Haven't even seen the branch or talked to RM for over 10 years. iMobile or netbanking pretty much solves all problems. 

 

Edit: Once I had to call their international remittance service and they were absolute sh*t. Lost 50USD due to their foolishness. Never again. 

True same here, never even once had to visit ICICI bank for any kind of banking needs. Phone/internet /mobile app offer everything i need. I'm quite satisfied with its service. I even receive a feedback call like every 6 months. And i just tell them that am very satisfied with service no demands whatsoever

[KunjanPSD]

Lately I have seen many people going for cards like Slice, Uni, Dhani etc. They are quite attractive because of the discounts they offer and also the ease of the application/approval process.

 

But hardly anyone knows that these aren't exactly, credit cards.

These are pre-paid cards.

 

The difference is that a credit card provides you with a line of credit from the issuer's own funds while these pre-paid cards instead take out a loan in your name from one of the banks or nbfcs. Mostly use IDFC.

 

This important detail is not conveniently omitted from their websites.

This is especially harmful because these loans are taken out as Unsecured personal/consumption loans which negatively affect your credit score.

 

Not only these pre-paid cards but also offerings like Amazon Pay later (almost every BNPL) do the same thing.

 

Just wanted to let everyone over here be aware of this key difference.

Have seen cases where credit score has dropped by 50 points because of one of these services.

[gecko89]

Need some suggestion . .

I have a FK Axis CC, got it solely for the unlimited 5% cashback on everything.

 

Now I keep getting call from Axis asking to upgrade saying its free upgrade, all features retained + no annual charges + Fuel surcharge cashback. FK clearly says 5% cashback on FK Axis CC only, so if it gets upgraded to something else, I'll lose the cashback I think. Anyone else got these calls for upgrade ?

[TheMonark]

I am trying to book a hotel at Booking.com but all my credit cards are being declined citing RBI mandate. Has anyone used their CC on booking.com recently? Would really appreciate the help.

[LordSpymaster]

Booking may be routing you to international gateways, maybe your CC doesn't have international transactions enabled yet?

[TheMonark]

23 minutes ago, LordSpymaster said:

Booking may be routing you to international gateways, maybe your CC doesn't have international transactions enabled yet?

 

It is enabled. But every time, I am getting declined messaged citing RBI recurring transaction guidelines. I even talked to the customer of HDFC and IDFC but it was of no help. They directed me to talk to the merchant.

[Snake]

Guys, I currently have a LTF Regalia card and got an offer for LTF millenia card. Does it make any sense to get that or should I stick with Regalia? 

[Snake]

22 minutes ago, Mr. Comingle said:

Milenia is a downgrade. 

Will stick with Regalia thanks