HDFC Bank’s Infinia Credit Card, a dream card for every credit card enthusiast, is an evergreen super-premium credit card in India that has stood the test of time. If there is a single credit card that remains relevant even a decade after its launch, it would be HDFC Bank’s Infinia Credit Card.
The bank has recently launched a metal variant of the Infinia, named Infinia Metal Edition, featuring a metal form factor, while all other features remain the same. Here’s everything you need to know about the HDFC Infinia Credit Card in its current form.
Table of Contents
Overview
| Type | Super Premium Credit Card |
| Reward Rate | 3.3% – 33% |
| Annual Fee | 12,500 INR + GST |
| Best for | Regular spends, lounge access |
| USP | 5X/10X Rewards on Smartbuy Spends |
HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card is a feature-packed credit card offering multiple benefits including a good reward rate, lounge access, low forex markup fee & accelerated rewards on Smartbuy spends that can get you crazy returns, as high as 33% on select spends.
Joining Fees
| Joining / Annual Fee | Rs.12,500+GST |
| Welcome Benefit | 12,500 Points (12,500 INR value) |
| Renewal Fee | Rs.12,500+GST |
| Renewal Benefit | 12,500 Points (12,500 INR value) |
| Renewal Fee Waiver | Spend Rs.10L in the card anniversary year |
The good thing with HDFC Infinia Credit Card as compared to other super premium cards within the bank like Diners Black is that even if you don’t spend 10L a year, you’ll get the renewal benefit for the fee paid, which is good enough for all the benefits it comes with.
Design
Let’s talk about both the old and new designs, as shown in the above image: old(plastic) and new(metal), respectively.
When the bank transitioned to the metal variant a year ago, they introduced a new design, which, in my opinion, was one of the worst decisions ever made.
While designs are subjective, I don’t know anyone who likes the new design. It’s dark and dull, lacking any creative elements.
That being said, their old design is one of the best I’ve ever seen. The golden numbers and name embossed on the card used to look stunningly beautiful, just as you can see above.
Reward Points
| SPEND TYPE | REWARDS | REWARD RATE | MAX. CAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Spends | 1X 5 RP / 150 INR | 3.3% | 2L RP / Stmt Cycle |
| Hotels (Via Smartbuy) | 10X 50 RP / 150 INR | 33% | 15,000 RP / Shared (Max: 50K INR spend) |
| Flights / eVouchers (Via Smartbuy) | 5X 25 RP / 150 INR | 16.5% | 15,000 RP / Shared (Max: 1.14L INR spend) |
- Points Validity: 3 Years
- RP Capping on Grocery: 2000 RP / Calendar month
- RP Capping on Insurance: 5000 RP / day
- Capping on Smartbuy is on 9X/4X bonus points.
- EMI, Tax, Fuel, Rent & Wallet txns are excluded for Reward Points
- 1% fee on Rent Payments
While flights, hotels, and e-vouchers are popular areas of spends under SmartBuy, you can also earn accelerated 3X/5X/10X rewards on many other categories, as mentioned here.
If you’ve business spends like taxes on which you don’t earn rewards on Infinia, you might explore the newly launched HDFC BizBlack Credit Card as it not only gives you rewards on taxes but also offers attractive bonus points on select business spends.
Not to forget that HDFC Smartbuy T&C keeps changing quite often but have been largely stable in the past year or so.
Redemption
| Redemption Type | Redemption Ratio | MAX. Redemption (Calendar month) |
|---|---|---|
| Flights / Hotels | 1:1 | 1,50,000 RP (Shared Max. Cap) |
| Apple Products | 1:1 | 1,50,000 RP (Shared Max. Cap) |
| Tanishq Vouchers | 1:1 | 50,000 RP (part of 1.5L max cap) |
| Airmiles (airlines/hotels) | 1:1 / 2:1 | 1,50,000 RP (Shared Max. Cap) |
| Products/Vouchers | 1:0.5 | – |
| Cashback | 1:0.3 | – |
- Redemption Rule: 70% from reward points, 30% from Credit Card.
- You get 5X/10X points on the remaining 30% paid on card.
Usually flights & hotels are the best options to redeem HDFC Infinia Credit Card reward points.
For a short time however, airmiles used to be an amazing option as it allows one to transfer points at 1:1 for most partners including Accor/lifemiles. I hope that returns to Infinia or at-least Infinia Reserve in future.
Forex Markup Fee
- Foreign Currency Markup Fee: 2%+GST = 2.36%
- Rewards: 3.3% + 1%
- Net Gain: 4.3% – 2.36% = ~2% (gain)
Just like most other super premium credit cards, HDFC Infinia Credit Card also comes at a discounted forex markup fee of 2%.
And if you activate the Global Value Program you get 1% additional cashback thereby getting you a net 2% gain on forex spends.
Airport Lounge Access
| ACCESS TYPE | VIA | LIMIT | GUEST ACCESS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Lounge Access | Visa/MC | Unlimited | – |
| International Lounge Access | Priority Pass | Unlimited | – |
The Domestic & International airport Lounge access benefit is not only for the primary cardholder but also extends to all Add-on cardmembers as well.
Not to forget that the Priority Pass on HDFC Infinia is one of the very few cards in the country that can also give complimentary access to domestic lounges. It comes handy at times when other cards are not accepted in select lounges, like Mumbai Arrival lounge or even the new Priority Pass Lounge in Chennai.
Golf Benefit
- Complimentary Games/Lessons: Unlimited
- Coverage: 20 domestic / 140 international Golf Courses
- Only 1 booking can be held at a time
- Min. / Max. Advance Booking Period: 4 Days / 14 Days
The Golf benefit on HDFC Infinia Credit Card is quite decent as it not only covers most golf curses in India but also a good number of International Golf Courses.
Other Benefits
- Stay for 3-nights and pay for two at participating ITC hotels.
- 1+1 complimentary buffet at participating ITC hotels.
- Complimentary Club Marriott membership for first year that offers up to 20% discounts for Dining and stay across Asia – Pacific region
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: on transactions between Rs.400 and Rs.1,00,000
Infinia vs Infinia Metal
In the above image you can see: Infinia(plastic, old design), Infinia(plastic new design) and Infinia(Metal Edition), respectively
The primary difference between Infinia plastic & metal is it’s metal form factor that comes with an additional fee of 2,500 INR and a slightly higher eligibility requirement. All else remain the same.
If you’re on the plastic Infinia with old design and replace the card, you will get the plastic Infinia with new design as shown above.
If you need the Infinia Metal Edition, You’ll need to request your RM for an upgrade.
Is Infinia good in 2024?
It depends on who’s asking that.
- Airmiles fanatic? Then No!
- Prefer simple redemptions? Then Yes!
Their legendary Smartbuy 10X program is one of the best in the industry which has now become a standard feature across many super premium cards.
However, in 2024 it lacks the wow factor because the competition has been aggressive, like, Axis Magnus Burgundy Credit Card with sky high reward rates on high regular spends and Yes Bank’s Marquee Credit Card that has generous rewards on online spends.
However, the downside with Axis/Yes Bank cards are that they can’t be trusted for a long time as they keep devaluing often, which isn’t the case with HDFC Infinia.
My Experience
I’ve been holding HDFC Infinia Credit Card for well over half a decade and it’s certainly one of the best credit cards out there without a doubt.
While I’ve not been using Infinia much lately because of much higher returns on Axis Magnus, things are getting back to normal and I’ve started using HDFC Infinia again especially when I don’t prefer to look at Axis Bank’s long list of exclusions.
Eligibility
- Fresh Card: ITR: >45L p.a. (or) Imperia/Infiniti banking relationship with ITR close to what’s required.
- Upgrade: >8L Credit Limit with >7.5L spends in last 6 months
Above are the usual ways by which most get their HDFC Infinia Credit Card. Though, there are other ways like getting one through FD, by taking investment products, etc which keeps changing from time to time.
Overall, it’s not that tough to get HDFC Infinia in 2024 compared to how tough it used to be some 5 years ago.
How to Apply?
You may apply online if you’re applying for a fresh card and eligible via ITR route. Otherwise, you may visit the branch and apply with the help of RM/BM.
Bottomline
- Cardexpert Rating: 4.8/5
The HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card is undoubtedly one of the best credit cards available in the country for wealthy Indians.
From unlimited lounge access for the entire family to attractive rewards, low forex charges and golf benefits, it’s a must-have credit card in your wallet as long as you’re eligible for it.
That said, there is room for improvement, especially for reward seekers who have experienced the mind-blowing value of air miles. So, a 1:1 transfer ratio with points transfer partners like Accor and Aeroplan would be good to have, perhaps on the upcoming HDFC Infinia Reserve.
Did u all completed 3 Lakhs Target ?
What would be happening to reward points if they cancel infinia.
Should be converted to equivalent value of redemption as was done for upgrades.
Important thing to note here is that a downgraded card is not guaranteed. If you read the mail, it clearly says that at it’s discretion the bank may provide you with another card. This means that there is a possibility of the Infinia being withdrawn for a user without an alternate card being provided. While in case of an upgrade, you still have the possibility to retain your current card if the upgrade is not approved, in case of a downgrade you may lose the relationship entirely. So there is no guarantee here. My personal recommendation would be to try to use it up. I have started doing that.
Another thing to note is that this is more like a card cancellation. If you have excess money in the card, like if you paid a lil more than your bill amount, then that is not going to be refunded. And points will be junked. This situation is similar because here the Infinia is going to withdrawn/cancelled. An alternate card may be provided and there is no mention that it will be on the same account/relationship and that it is a downgrade. In situations like this, we have to read between the lines and stay proactive if we don’t want bad surprises later.
Spoke to my RM today and expressed my displeasure over the receipt of such an email. I conveyed that I had 2 other cards too from HDFC itself and my expenses are split across them. Immediate response was that the spend threshold must be reached on Infinia alone as that is essential for Infinia. I insisted that this won’t make sense as I have 3 cards from them and have been a customer for 16+ years. I also mentioned that this year I maybe able to reach it but from next year I can’t guarantee. She told me that she will check and update on what else can be done.
Given their track record, I don’t think anything is going to change. I mean I won’t hear back at all.
Does anyone know on the reward points given against renewal fee? It looks like they have removed 12500 rewards points also, HDFC site also no info on renewal points and checked with RM but no clarity
Were you ever getting reward points for payment of annual fees? For me during the DCB days, I never once got. Was told that there was no such thing as rewards for payment of annual fees from the bank while I knew people who were getting rewards for payment of annual fees. HDFC is always a mystery.
May land up paying fee and need to check . For Dcb not seen or heard RP against renewal fee or miss something
I have been asking around and what I came to know is kind of irritating me. Seems the ones who are already decently high on the spends are the ones that are mostly receiving this message that talks about mandatory 18L spends to retain the card. I know a person that has not used their card even once in 3 years. But I think that person has a hefty FD with a branch and so even got the card without even asking for it. Maybe they’re exempted. But what is surprising is that many people who don’t spend much also have not got this email. I am talking about people around 5L or even lesset per year. You might wonder how they even got the Infinia then. I have stopped wondering about such things because the bank is known for such things.
The number of people who I asked are not too many. But from what I know, most of them who have got this message are ones who have already spent enough to avoid renewal fees or are close to doing it. Alternately, the ones that didn’t spend a lot and also didn’t get the email, there maybe a possibility that the bank may have decided to revoke the card. Because the ones that received the message do seem to have some lenience like just spend 2L – 3L in the next couple of months and retain the card.
From the people who have received this email that you know of or you yourself are one of, is there anyone who is around the 5L range only or even lesser?
What happens to the reward points in the Infinia Card if and when it is withdrawn by the Bank?
You have to redeem before closing.
I believe that just like the ‘value’ of point remain preserved when one moves from say Regalia Gold to Infinia, in the same way ‘value’ of points will be preserved moving away from Infinia to DCB/Regalia Gold.
I have also received the mail and asking me to spend 3 lacs in next 2 months. Ridiculous.
Transition Window for FY 25-26:
As a special consideration for this year, you may continue enjoying uninterrupted access to Infinia Card by meeting either one of the following between 01st Mar, 2026 and 30th April, 2026:
Option Threshold
Infinia Card Spends (Mar, 2026 + April, 2026) ₹3 Lakhs
or
Relationship Value (RLV) for Mar, 2026 & April, 2026 ₹30 Lakhs
Ongoing Review and Support:
We encourage you to maintain the required card spends or relationship value to continue enjoying the exclusive privileges of the Infinia experience.
As part of our periodic review, the Bank may, at its discretion, withdraw the Infinia Credit Card if the required parameters are not maintained, and an alternate card may be offered in its place.
So this means ever year they would be doing such idiotic chaos things.
I’m getting icici emerald LTF from bank and axis is offering burgundy card. Would get that card as spending such amount on hdfc doesn’t make any sense while comparing the rewards on it.
Axis RM showed me the difference and found that better. Infinia is good till 5x for vouchers but there’s the limit and Amazon attracts extra charge
Even the hotel bookings on it is costly and marked above .
Total hype, not worth
Totally agree. I too am thinking of doing the same. I can reach the threshold set for me for the next 2 months. It was a little more reachable for me. But I don’t like my hand being forced to it.
Most of the Infinia holders (including me) have received the email.
I have already asked them to close my Infinia card ! A bank cannot force people or threat people to deposit their money (50 lakh plus and use their credit card for 18 lakhs and more per year) into their accounts. In India everything is possible because lawmakers are corrupt and so are the banks ! If they treat their customers like this what will happen in the case of emergency (war situation etc) …they can and will definitely hold our money for their benefit and won’t let us take our cash out when in need. I can’t trust such banks and will close all my relationship with them ( I get my salary from abroad through HDFC)
Is it just me or are others getting emails from HDFC Bank too stating that the min spend threshold to keep the Infinia card is 18L per annum or a RLV (relationship value: savings + FD etc.) equivalent to 50L. It says not meeting that will result in the card being withdrawn and an equivalent card being offered at the discretion of the bank. If this is true, then it is bad. I may not accept an alternate card and chose to find an alternate card from another bank. Anyway I have the Tata Neu Infinity and Swiggy credit cards too from them. Will see what to do when the situation arrives.
I also got the same email from HDFC
Suddenly I feel like there is a dearth of super-premium cards. All I thought was about the Infinia when I had the DCB. Then when I got the Infinia PVC first, I was waiting for the metal which happened in a year. Now that the bank is saying that they are going to revoke my card and provide me another if I don’t meet 18L per year, I am seriously looking for an alternate card from another bank and I feel a shortage of options. Only ICICI Times Black and SBI Aurum are probable candidates. Times Black seems fine but I won’t be able to meet the min spend to ward of the fee. With Infinia I am able to manage that but 18L for even keeping the card is way too much. Emeralde Private is invite only and my current relationship with ICICI is just their Amazon Pay CC. Have had Rubyx and Saphiro before the Emeralde days. Salary account is in Axis but they have no good offerings as I am not a Burgundy customer.
But I guess I won’t be too sad to let go off the Infinia if that situation comes. I am not too impressed with HDFC and their service. All along I felt like their policies are the most dubious. I know people holding Infinia with 5L credit limit while I didn’t get it till my limit reached 15L. This despite holding savings, FD and even a home loan from them.
But the most important factor for me is that I don’t need miles. And travel isn’t a thing for me. So I mostly get the points converted to Amazon vouchers and the value conversion is terrible right now and 2.5:1. So effective reward rate is ~1.3 only.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Axis Magnus Burgundy
HSBC Premier
ICICI Emeralde Pvt ‘Metal’
HDFC Diners Black
Are some of the card that can match up to Infinia (more or less).
Choose based on spend pattern and eligibility/reach.
I don’t have Axis Burgundy and so can’t get Magnus Burgundy. Similarly Emeralde Private being invite only, I don’t think I can get it. Same goes for HSBC Premier too. Leaving only DCB Metal. That maybe what HDFC might downgrade me to automatically. Then I would need a backup card because of acceptance issues.
I had SBI Aurum in mind but heard lots of horror stories about their customer care and so chose not to go for that. ICICI Times Black seemed good but looks like 2% will be only if I redeem against flight or hotel. For shopping vouchers the returns seems to be lower. Trying to figure out what is the conversion ration for shopping vouchers against points.
Conversion ratio for shopping vouchers against reward points on ICICI Times Black is terrible. The rate is 1:0.6 which on the outlook seems to be better than Infinia as it is 1:0.4 for Infinia. But the real catch is that only for flights and hotels we can use 90% points and 10% cash. For shopping vouchers, it is 50% points and 50% cash. If I were to get Amazon vouchers for Rs 1000, then in Infinia I will have to surrender 2500 reward points. But on Times Black it will be ~834 rewards points + Rs 500 cash. Ridiculous.
Dear Vikram,
Don’t get disheartened if you read ‘Invite Only’. Most of the cards are issued once you reach the right people. If you are serious, go to a big branch in your city, meet the credit card senior person and tell him your desire for the card.
If you try, you will get it.
Best Wishes.
Thank you Praveen. You just put some hope into me. Will try for the Emeralde Private then because Magnus Burgundy won’t be of any use to me as I don’t travel at all. I remember in the past when even the regular Emeralde was invite only, before they introduced the Private version that is, I walked into a branch and was told that they had no authority to get me the card. But that was many years back. I think I will try again in case HDFC downgrades my Infinia.
Received following update
We’re delighted to have you as part of the Infinia Experience – an exclusive programme reserved for clients who value recognition, access, and seamless service.
Your Infinia Credit Card isn’t just a product; it reflects a relationship – one built on trust, appreciation, and the shared pursuit of excellence.
Continuing with Infinia:
As part of our commitment to offering you a truly elevated experience, continued access to the Infinia programme will be aligned to a minimum Card spend or Relationship value as outlined below:
Requirement (For a Financial year) Threshold
Infinia Card Spends ₹18 Lakhs (Primary + Add-ons)
or
Relationship Value (RLV) ₹50 Lakhs
RLV = combined average monthly balances in your Savings, Current, Fixed and Recurring Deposit Accounts.
Financial year will be taken as 12 months period from 1st April to 31st March of subsequent year.
Hi Sid , I hear new Infinia spend criteria eligibility to keep the card is coming up ? Is it true ? So people who don’t want to spend 18 lakhs per year or keep the TRV of 50 lakhs etc can’t keep the card even if they are paying the annual fees ? And won’t be eligible to use the card benefits ?
Hi Sid, I heard more devaluations are coming to Infinia ? Especially when it comes to point redemption etc
Just checked, it’s showing 1:1 but can redeem only 70% of points per redemption and 50K per quarter.
what about the points on the remaining 30% paid by the card? they used to give 5x but later stopped. don’t know the status now.
5x credited for 30% payment during Nov’25.
Dear Sid,
Has the redumption options changed, i am no longer able to view Apple products with 1:1 and Tanishq vouchers with 1:1 options. could you confirm please.
Hi if we compare cards, there is a milestone for Infinia that is showing, get 10k points for 4L spends in quarter. Is it true? Then I will
Upgrade my ltf Infinia to metal Infinia.
Turns out that was a bug as per reddit. No milestones points like DCBM on Infinia.
They revoked for Infinia and updated their banner in Smartbuy Infinia page saying 5x will continue.
Hi Sid , just came to know that they are devaluing the Infinia card from 16 jan ? Is it true ? Can you share the details before they devalue the card and what should be done before 16 jan (they are changing the 5x value to 3x ) to utilise the card and the benefits before the change and is it still a good keep ?
Hi Sid
Few days back had got a call from HDFC Bank saying that my usage in Infinia is less and am not maintaining the TRV. If I don’t do any of them then I will be downgraded. Last year I spent around 9 lakhs. I thought it was just a gimmick. But I saw the same thing on google also. R they going to really implement spend of 18 lakhs or 1 cr TRV. Thank u in advance
It doesn’t seem to be strict as of now, but might eventually be enforced, as most of us are no longer using it as primary card yet still enjoying all the benefits.
Which are your primary cards now?
Can I use Infinia for ATM withdrawal in a foreign country? Will there be any withdrawal charges?
No w/d charges but finance charges would be applicable.
Can we still use priority pass in India?
No
As per policy priority pass usage in India is paid. I used it 2 month back in an indian lounge. I have not been charged yet on same.
Does this still hold good? I am planning to buy an iphone using my points. Do we get 5x/10x points on remaining x% paid using card ?
Redemption Rule: 70% from reward points, 30% from Credit Card.
You get 5X/10X points on the remaining 30% paid on card.
I booked hotel in payzapp app and it works. Hope it works for iphone too.
5x
In the month of september 2025 Statement i have noticed that 87000 points were gone from my diners black card. I have raised a complaint on this and awaiting reply. RM as usual useless said they cant do anything from branch and asked me to contact customer care. Whether anyone else experienced same 🙁
Hope they credit back my points.
Hi Sid
I am thinking of buying MacBook Air M4 from Imagine store. The points that I will get back is 15300. But Infinia shows that max points I can get is 15000 in a month. Could you please guide me through this
Thank you in advance
5X rewards for Apple via SmartBuy is indeed limited to 15K Points (Bonus Points) a month.
Is it same for DCB METAL also?
What is best way to use diners black points to airmiles transfer
have nearly 4L point dont know which is best airmile transfer partner is good
not have any trip nearby
Hi Siddharth. I am having Reg Gold since last 1.5 years which was upgraded from Regalia. Got a phone call today saying that HDFC will give me Diners Club Black Metal edition. With the present Reg Gold, I am able to get vouchers of Rs.1500/- every quarter for the milestone benefits. Any point in upgrading to Diners black ? Is Acceptability of Diners black still an issue ? I was told that once I get Diners black, getting Infinia will become easy. Any feedback would be helpful.
@surya
I have been using diners black since 2019 and there is no rule that you would get infinia easily. I have been spending a lot with dcb but still did not get. Got an upgrade to dcb metal because I spent 5 lakhs in 2 months but did not take it only because for fee waiver you should spend 8 lakhs per year.
If you spend 4 lakhs every quarter then get dcb metal blindly.
Also get dcb or infinia only if you fly a lot and use hotels or it’s waste.
Also infinia now downgraded their priority pass which means very less lounge in India you can use.
@Rohit how Infinia has degraded the lounge access. I use the lounge access frequently on it both in India and abroad.
Priority pass is no longer accepted within india and limited visa lounge access when compared to diners card.
Getting Infinia from Diners black is very difficult. In the books of HDFC both diners black and Infinia are same. Don’t move to diners platform if your ultimate goal is Infinia. Don’t get struck in diners platform if you want Infinia.
In Hdfc app I have offer to upgrade from LTF DCB to paid Diners Black Metal or FYF Infinia since quite long. But haven’t relented so far.
It is very difficult to get upgrade from diners to Infinia..
I got upgraded from diners black to infinia metal few years ago based on spending for last 6 months more than 10 lakhs.
what was your credit limit on Diners black card before it got upgraded to infinia metal
Credit limit has to be more than 8 lakhs.
@ Ramesh kumar
What is the procedure for upgrade if you spend 10 lakhs?
I have dcb since 2019. Planning to get dcb metal and then purchase a car.
Will it be possible to get upgrade from dcb metal to infinia with few months?
Send email to Infinia Service or write mail to HDFC CC Division Chennai, they’ll upgrade you if your spending are high and existing CL more than 8 lakhs.
Hi I am being offered Infinia metal card in lieu of HDFC life smart advantage plus investment of 150000 per year , is it advisable to go for it??
Absolutely not , you will end up losing more money on that investment plan than you can ever gain with the card
Is there any recent change for Infinia linked Priority pass usage in domestic lounges?
Removed wef 7 march 2025 , TnCs now say can only be used at airports outside india
who is from Surat and holding the infinia credit card?
Has the upgrade criteria changed ? is it still 7.5 lakhs in the last six months.. read somewhere it’s 9 Lakhs now
Do you have the infinia credit card i need to do some transaction with that card can we talk about this
Is bonus rewards capping per calander month or statement cycle?
Per month
DEVALUATION
The Hdfc INFINIA Credit card Rewards Portal has gone through yet again a massive devaluation, without even acknowledging the customers this time around. The value of the points for redemption towards e-vouchers, has been drastically reduced for most of the vouchers, along with Amazon pay vouchers being totally vanished from the portal to buy against the reward points.
Dont know now, which card to trust anymore, and the customers/users accumulate points having something in mind to use them for, but the bank break that dream by devaluating the card even further.
Friends, just wondering if card holders can use their Infinia credit card and priority pass at the same time and at the same domestic lounge. Will it be considered as 2 distinct swipes as Visa & PP are two different networks and both will be free by the virtue of accesses being unlimited? OR You would get charged for the 2nd swipe?
I had a situation where my spouse (add-on card holder) didn’t carry either of her cards but I chose not to experiment and used other cards for the purpose.
Grocery RP are shown as NIL in the transaction section. For Grocery RP are shown in the Rewards Program Points Summary at the last page of the statement.
Grocery is post on calender month cycle you will get in the next statment.
guys why is that i am getting no points for Grocery purchase with Diners black card ? I have also noticed that from begining i used to get no points for Dmart . Now I am not getting for any grocery purchase. Some code 5006 is mentioned for Dmart. Any one facing with Infinia too ?
Minimum monthly spends criteria made mandatory for Infinia:-
As a valued customer, we are delighted to serve you with the unmatched Infinia experience. We request you to maintain a monthly spend of ₹1.5 Lakh on your Credit Card.
This was conveyed in June 2024 to some of us & was advisory in nature. See Anujay’s comment of June 18.
Have you received something different now?
Hi Sid and all others kindly help.I got myself the new hdfc pixel play credit card but i am not able to pay the amount due neither via sbi unipay as it doesnt show this card on my name there,nor through payzapp as it doesnt support payment for this card,cant even see it on hdfc cards app, neither i can fetch its bill on amazon.Via cred also the transaction failed after making the payment .Kindly help me as card due date is fast approaching.
HDFC GyFTR has added processing fees for the popular ASV, FK GVs too
2.5% + GST on Flipkart
2.5% + GST on Amazon
Now inifinia is more devalued with this.
NOw its 3% with GST extra . I am feeling the heat with DCB card. Other than airport lounge not sure whether its worth if frequently we are not travelling.
Yeah, that’s true. This is the reason I am thinking of closing this card.
HDFC Bank has brought in new and even more stringent criteria for this card. You need to now have 5 L per month salary credit (of 60 L ITR) for Infinia! This makes it nearly impossible for any common people to get this card. Even DCBM needs 2.5 L and laughably Regalia Gold needs 1.5 L salary credit!
This move will massively curb the number of HDFC cards being issued. However, they don’t seem to be worried about losing market share and earnings. It almost looks like HDFC wants to quit the credit cards vertical.
They are trying to cut their losses.Simple.The rewards from these cards are a drag to their bottomline.
The HDFC Bank management should think of an alternate name for this card. The name Infinia doesn’t suits it now. A lot of restrictions on spending that can earn 10X oops sorry 5X and 70% limit on reward redemptions it should not be called as Infina 🙂
well said, i asked them about the Infinia card and lady straightaway said 5 lakh monthly limit, clearly, they want to limit their benefits to very few people, and then also they limited the rewards redemption too. No use calling it as Infinia, going further they would definitely limit the redemptions in points too ,i was developing false FOMO about this product and sometime feels unlucky missing it out earlier but, I guess I am better off away from this and stick to Amex.
Limitinia?
Can add on cards can be used for domestic lounge? Or only primary card holder can use it for domestic lounge?
Hi Sunil,
Add on card holder can use for domestic lounge using priority pass issued along with the add on card.
I’ve found that add-on cardholders can often utilise their cards to gain access to lounges at major domestic airports.
Hi Sid/everyone,
Now the rent transactions will levy 1% charge. Is this true?
Yes, They have started charging same. I was charged this month while paying the rent using Smartbuy and Redgirrafe.
Hi Sid,
Now that we know Club Vistara points will be migrated to AI Flying Returns, would you recommend transferring Infinia points to Club Vistara to ultimately get them into Flying Returns?
I wouldn’t do that, as getting value closer to 1 INR per point with AI FR is not easy.
But you can always use IndusInd Tiger Card to accumulate CV Points for this reason. However, unfortunately they recently reduced the monthly transfer from 25K to just 5K starting next month!
Has the monthly limit Amazon Gift and Shopping vouchers reduced to 10K? Any idea?
Early this month it used was 20k and 22k for Amazon GV and SV respectively.
The onlyway to get points on regular basis was Gytr with amazon pay and voucher and now max limit is 10k and flipkart is 7k is a joke.
With 3% service tax for amazon voucher DCB is waste at this point of time
Funny part is bigbasket 1.5k 🙂
Other than Airport lounge not sure if DCB is still worth
Yes till last month i.e Jul 24 it was 20K, from Aug-24 it is back to 10K.
Use your add on cards to purchase Amazon vouchers. Each add on card carries a limit of 10k Amazon pay + 10k Amazon shopping vouchers. So with one primary and 4 add ons, your quota rises to 50k of each, which should be enough I think
I’ve been doing this for 3 months now
Siddharth,
Can we purchase gift vouchers using add on cards? Previously cards were getting blocked for doing transactions with add on cards.
How to do that. When I try my payzapp to buy it’s not even allowing me to add to the cart.
Can you please explain step by step process.
Doesn’t add on cards share same number? How do you do that.
Addon card comes with a different number now. Also, you will need different PayZapp or smartbuy accounts to buy it.
Since as t&c the voucher limit is for each card number and registered mobile number.
How did you get 4 add on cards? HDFC provides max 3 add on cards.
They give a copy of your primary card as the 4th card.
Hi Sid, all,
I do not see 5X rewards for Amazon buys anymore. Has it been taken off?
No more direct rewards, you have to purchase Amazon shopping vouchers or Amazon pay vouchers and use them for bill payment, shopping etc. However, the quantum of vouchers we can buy are severely limited – 10k for both Apay and shopping
Hi Sid,
I have been a loyal hdfc regalia credit card user for past 9 years or so. Climbing the ladder from regalia first to regalia and then to business regalia. Was hoping for a diners black or inifinia upgrade. My credit limit is close to 12 lakhs. Now they are pushing me to take bizpower credit card fyf. Any ideas on how to push to diners black or infinia?
Hi. I currently have HDFC Diners Black Metal edition. I am planning to apply for the Infinia Metal edition. Do you have any idea on the conversion ratio of my current reward points if I upgrade to Infinia Metal? Thank you!
1:1
In case of FYF Infinia or, I believe, any other HDFC priced cards, when would be the fee charged and become visible in the statement next year precisely. For eg. If the card got activated on, say 5th Jul, 2024, when would the card holder be able to see the fee entry on the online statement like any other unsettled/unbilled transaction. Will it be 5th Jul, 2025 (on the card anniversary date) or it will be 45 days from the card anniversary date regardless of the bill cycle.
Sid, if yours is FYF would you like to help with this query
Haven’t really put effort on this as equivalent renewal benefit is anyway there. Isn’t Infinia support able to answer this?
Not really. They seem to be pretty confused with their answers :).
Specific to my card, there’s no annual fee date updated on my card as per Infinia support.
Not that I care about it as I chose to get myself upgraded to Infinia Metal regardless of its pricing as equivalent benefit is in place but just curious to know.
Infnia card is now giving one year of Swiggy one membership free to its customers
Just received the email yesterday , however Google put in promotions folders so better all check their 😂
Hi Sid,
Is it not better to use IDFC Wow card with zero forex markup fee than Infinia card ?
If these restrictions come, that I need to spend 1.5 lakhs per month then I will forfeit the card. Especially since I am coming close the renewal fees time and if they start these restrictions after I pay the fees I will be super pissed. Similar thing happened with Axis Magnus, as soon as I paid the renewal fees , 2 months after they devalued the card and now it is worthless. What do you say Sid ? Will they put restrictions on Infinia ?
I have been using Infinia and then Infinia Metal Card for a long long time. Is there an upgrade coming?
Same here, today I also received this message.
As a valued customer, we are delighted to serve you with the unmatched Infinia experience. We request you to maintain a monthly spend of ₹1.5 Lakh on your Credit Card.
Your satisfaction is of utmost priority! For any questions or assistance, please feel free to reach out to us at 18002663310.
Don’t know why they are sending this message.
Last 3 months average card usage and in 3 days it’s was 2.5 lacs and then came this message. WTH
I called and asked, it’s not necessary to maintain any spending requirement. It’s just an advice.
Infinia restrictions coming up???
I received an email on Infinia benefits with the following text at the end:
We request you to maintain a monthly spend of ₹1.5 Lakh on your credit card.
Anyone else got it? What is happening? What if spends are lower?
I received the below communication from HDFC Bank today. Does it mean that they expect a minimum spending of 1.5 lacs per month on Infinia going forward? Anyone else got such an email?
“As a valued customer, we are delighted to serve you with the unmatched Infinia experience. We request you to maintain a monthly spend of ₹1.5 Lakh on your Credit Card.”
Hi,
I have HDFC Diners Club Black LTF card. Could you please confirm if I can still receive Infinia Card without letting go of DCB LTF card?
There are mixed responses from HDFC on the above question. While the HDFC Premium customer care confirms that one can have both (though only way to apply is through RM/invitation basis), HDFC Credit card department when approached through the branch denied this possibility of having both Infinia and LTF DCB card.
Thanks in advance,
I have both Diners Black (LTF) and Infinia (With Annual Fees). Just talk to your RM and he will get them. I had 2 HDFC cards since year 2015 which were Regalia and Diners Premium and both LTF. They were eventually upgraded to Infinia which I took as First year free and Diners Black which continues to be LTF
Agreed with most points. But my experience has been mixed:
– smartbuy give 1 Rs. for 1 point which is great, but actually if you look at hotel and flight rates, makemytrip and other partners give more expensive rate on smartbuy compared to their own sites. so you end up paying 20-30% more. Thus the value of smartbuy points comes to 70 or 80 paisa.
– lately conscier service has been horrendous to say the least. had the time i cant even hear what they are saying.
– earlier points transfer was great but now Accor, British airways etc. gives 0.5 miles per point, so that been devalued quite a bit.
Overall, still a good card compared to some others, but its not my primary card anymore.
Does anyone know if we get the standard 3.33% rewards points on bills that we add to autopay?
Thanks
Vikrant
Hi Sid,
Awaiting your review for HDFC diners black Metal card with 5 lakh credit limit Got this recently after closing my ultimate card. Reversing my mistake of closing the diners black with credit limit of 10.5 lakhs three years ago and opting for the SCB ultimate card. Intending to upgrade to Infinia metal at the earliest.
Hi Sid, Good article.
If anyone holds primary and add on cards will they get 30K RP in Smartbuy? Or the max is just 15K
Max is 15K.
For the Add-on Cards,
Do we get accelerated reward points for transactions made by the Add-on card on smartbuy/gyftr platform?
Has anyone validated this in a monthly statement?
Hello Sid,
The content and Reviews are very good. Just wanted to know, Have you used “Airport VIP service (meet-and-greet)” for Infinia card if so what is your experience.
Thanks,
Satish G.
It’s not complimentary with Infinia.
kindly guide me–i pay around 20 lakhs of life insurance premiums every year but i do not get bany reward points–how to get the rewards on insurance premiums—my second query–if i use priority paass in india-will bank charge me
I got DCb in the year 2019 and in those days for everything we used to get 33%. Made more than 2 lakhs and then comes the devil (Covid) Bank degraded DCB and points . Even though I am HDFC customer from past 14 years plus and my limit is more than 10 Lakhs ,My spends almost comes to 6 lakhs odd .Bank still gives reason that I should spend 7.5 Lakhs. On the other hand regalia users got LTF Infinia during covid lockdown. I got so fed up that i pulled out all my money from preffered to 10k account 🙂 On the other hand my RM insists for 50 Lakh ITR. Biggest con is bank compares DCB with Infinia and says both are equivalent card. If i had regalia then I might have got Infinia is what they say.
it used to be like that earlier. But now infinia is better than DCB and i have both LTF :-).
Ya I know you . You are a very old user of card expert 🙂 I remember you gave me some tips on DCB in 2020 🙂
I was the last guy in 2019 Bank stopped giving dual cards and i missed Infinia since i just received DCB in october 2019.
Just got it issued LTF for my boss who is a senior government official.
Hi Siddharth,
Great reviews.
I did look around but couldn’t find any detailed review on what card you would now recommend to convert points for international airline miles?
This card you have said “no” and hence wondering what the best card currently would be for international airline miles.
Currently I still use citi premier miles, so was wondering what a good alternative would be.
Thank you.
Thank you
Regarding the Global Value Program, there’s a joining & renewal fee of Rs 199 + tax.
Max cash back is 1000 per month
I have read that global value program stopped ? How did you get it ?
Do we get extra 1% from general 3.3% What are the major advantages ? is it 1000 points on cashback on credit card statement.
Thanks for wonderful article. Ur blogs are always so helpful in making an informed decision. One question if you can help. Is 15k smartbuy points limited across all categories. For e.g if I buy 50k Amazon voucher then that will give me 6.6k bonus points then thus it mean that I can only earn 8.4k points on hotels i.e my hotel spend limit would be only INR 28k?
Any feedback with respect to point conversion as the great Vistara has been removed and even the other hotels like Accor had been downgraded to 0.50 points vs 1:1 points earlier.
goes to prove why HDFC is still the master of all cc. simple and reliable. I had diner black during days when there was not limit on 10x. thanks to Sid that I got infinia informed and got it. after significant devaluation of diners I again want to thank Sid n HDFC for a no nonsense premium card.
They should add never expire points to this card
There was some talk about GVP being discontinued, is it true?
Is there no rewards on tax at all or just not accelerated like BizBlack? Also any other feature differences from BizBlack except network?
If I decide to get BizBlack for GST and IT payments, is there a limit of the base reward rate (not the 5x multiplier)?
An article on Infinia v/s BizBlack might be good 😅.
i got it activated 2 months back, it is very much active.
good read
Hey Siddharth,
I think your numbers are off. 50K spends on hotels concludes 50K * 33% = 16500 RP while the max cap is 15K per month. The cap for hotels should be 45K and for flights should be 90K which is exactly double as the reward rage is exactly halved.
Keep up the good work
Cap is on 4X/9X
I saw this post last month especially maximum 1.14 spends can be done to gets 5x benefits and thus I had spent like 1.132L on my infinia but still got 15k rp. So are you sure about 5x capping?
My bad
Hi thala..
Hope you are doing well
Last month I used infinia in Kuala Lumpur for gold jewellery purchase however didn’t get any base rewards..MCC code mapped for grocery hence 2k points on grocery received along with GVP benefit of 1k..
I have the invoices
Will the simple complaint to customer care work
Need your support
Please send it to Infinia support. It’s upto the bank to decide, unfortunately.
Exactly the same thing happened to me for a gold coin purchase in Australia. I plan to complain to customer care after checking the next statement where I have paid off the bill.
One thing to note, earlier tanishq redemption route used to give 10x on the 30% part you pay using card. But not anymore. Got for Jan bit not for Feb. cc says they stopped from Jan itself! anyone else can comment?
Great at note, I have chance to upgrade to Infinia as my RM confirms that am eligible with FYF.
But am unable to take a decision to move from my current Dinners Club Black LTF.
I felt DCB LTF is worth enough for me instead of loosing LTF. Also the only vary I can see is smart buy cap rest everything is same.
I hope my decision is valid.
You and me in similar boat :). Am infact holding back from taking up LTF infinia , and still continuing with LTF DCB. Indeed smartbuy cap and gyftr vouchers at 5X make Infinia favorable but I rarely use Hdfc for those categories, and almost always hitting the monthly milestone with DCB and 2X weekend dining.
Hi Sid, I have been holding Infinia card for almost 6-7 years with a limit of ₹19.50Lacs. First I used to get RP on government/Muncipal tax paid through the card but from last year they have stopped giving points on these transactions, can you help on how we can get RP on spends done for government/Muncipal taxes on Infinia.
HDFC Bizblack Card is the solution for income tax payments.
Hey Siddharth,
In SmartBuy hotels spend, you wrote “10X 25 RP / 150 INR” it should be “10X 50 RP/ 150 INR”
Great article and hope you are well!
Updated, thank you. 🙂
Hi Sid,
Amazing review as always, getting a bit confused with regards to the cap on 5X/10X and overall cap, could you please clearly explain the caps
Thanks
The cap is 15,000 bonus RP and that’s excluding 1X of 5X/10X. Hope that helps.
Sir Can you explain in more detail
The cap is 15,000 bonus RP and that’s excluding 1X of 5X/10X. Hope that helps.
Not able to understand exclude part!!!
My understanding 15K RP per month when it’s come Flight and Hotel Transactions on SB portal
Sid,
Please review on HDFC black metal card also.
Its one of the best card still for travelling. I have LTF infinia with goo limit. I am accumulating points just for hotel booking though the options of hotel on smartbuy is less but still good. On my recent trips to Vietnam and then recently Philippines the points came in handy. Best part is unlimited lounge access for primary and addon though i hold Diners Black LTF too a killer combination for lounge access. Yesterday i went to lounge in Singapore at 1:20 AM for 15 minutes as we were hungry and very late in night, the reception person was also laughing as my boarding was at 1:50 AM.
But its a no nonsense card for daily spends and combined with global value program and best forex rates everyone should have it.
How do you get LTF Infinia Prashant.Any tips will be helpful i have limit of 8 L on my DCB
Isn’t Diner club black metal edition better as it has quarterly benefits of 10,000?
Yes, but at the cost of acceptance issues.
Infinia has higher Max Cap per month and per day (10000 for Diners black metal against 15000 for Infinia) on reward points limit on Smartbuy.
In general and Once in a while for bigger txn, higher limit helps.
Also on some categories (like Instant Voucher and Apple Imagine Tresor) Infinia gets 5x and DCB gets only 3x.
DCB-M doesn’t offer fuel surcharge waiver… a big no for me to upgrade. (HDFC wanted me to upgrade so badly 😛 )
Do you want to recalculate max spent amount for Smartbuy cap of 15,000 bonus points? It should be around 112K for flights and 50K for hotels.
Thanks for the find, just updated accordingly.
Hi Sid,
I have been holding Infinia for over half a decade. Best card till date. I need a help, I had taken this card via FD lien. I have spends of over 10L every year since issue. Any advice, how i can remove the lien, since my usage relationship is very good.
They did it in the past but not sure of latest updates. You may check with RM or escalate to Grievance/PNO to see if they can do anything about it.
How much lien did you put ? I tried many times, but guess my RMs weren’t interested Always got Infinia not possible)
Sid : I have a 2-year-old kid who will now be charged to access airport lounges. Any workaround to have an add-on card issued for her and thus a PP membership as well?
Get one more card on your name with PP (like Magnus/Marquee or even Regalia Gold) and you can use it for your kid.
Update: Unfortunately it doesn’t work everywhere. So it’s good to hold cards with complimentary guest access.
At international lounges (last week tried at Schipol Amsterdam, Warsaw Poland etc.) they don’t accept if the name on the PP card is not matching with boarding pass. So although I had multiple cards including my wife, we couldn’t get our son (7 years old) using the cards. So ended up adding him as guest so we will get billed for that.
Must be some disgruntled employees or racism at play. Or may be they were over crowded. All good lounges accept this adjustment.
That’s not true. No lounge in Europe or the US will make that adjustment.
Seems to be true in Africa too, no lounges were accepting PP of parent for kid.
Nice summary! Has anyone got the metal variant issued as LTF? Currently have the heavily downgraded LTF Regalia with 8L limit. After much deliberation, bank is willing to offer paid Infinia with FYF. Also holding LTF Emeralde (plastic ) with 10L Limit. So except for the 3+% rewards, wondering if it makes any sense to opt for the paid Infinia. Any thoughts?
FYF Infinia works fine for most, mine is FYF as well.
Yes there are a few who have LTF Infinia metal. It requires a solid RM who can pitch your case and get the approval from top mgmt.
But generally those who’re eligible for LTF (high ITR/NRV) can easily spend 10L a year, so there is no point in chasing LTF that hard IMO. 🙂
High spends on existing Hdfc cards certainly help in making the case, ideally in the range of 10Lpa (which is also the fee waiver requirement), and most of the LTF holders are upgrade cases.
Well they maybe able to spend 10l per annum but there us no reason why tgey shouldnt accept LTF,it means they csn chase rewards in other cards while this card is LTF.
I have got LTF metal version after nearly 4 years of try. RM nor my relationship value nor my ITR didn’t help.
Then early last year when their sales team approached my company by offering many benefits (viz. free card basis your College, if we switch to their bank’s acounts etc), despite my salary A/c already with HDFC, went and asked them to elevate my then Regalia. After a bit of hard bargain including despite my College listed in their free card issue, and statement that I am disappointed with their treatment regarding my long pending request for Infina, the sales team responded by taking all my details, and at last in about 6 weeks I was provided with the LTF Infinia Metal card. Even my RM was completely kept in dark all thru the 6 weeks and he was surprised.
Now thanks to their generous reward points, shifted all my expenses and enjoy the 70% free Air tickets.
Great! So your LTF also seems to be an upgrade case, from Regalia to Infinia. Just one doubt, did their offer of free card based on college include Infinia? I only know of diners black under that offer.
Yes they were offering only Diners against certain listed Colleges. But, I did not want to take Diners Black due to limited acceptance in Offline transactions. I insisted on Infinia basis my relationship, ITR to which the college was a minor + point.
Spending limit for emerald is 15 lacs .
Infinia plastic 8 lacs .
Big difference in two .
Hi Sid,
Great review post, as usual. Can you elaborate what you mean by “Redgirraffe works differently”. Do we get reward points on property/ rental transactions here? I have the Infinia plastic LTF.
For a long time, RG has been treated as insurance and so earns points, which I believe is intentional because of their strong tie-up and less cases of manufactured spending.
As of last month it seems to be working fine, but I can’t confirm as I don’t use it. The risk is upto the one who uses it, as it might as well attract 1% fee on rent anytime.
I use RG for rent payments but Since last 3 months, the points are not credited.
Hai Sid,
Thank you for the beautiful and simple crisp review, it become a habit to start my day with visiting ur blog for all my doubts. Happy to see the most awaited review on infina metal. Thank you for the insights and always grateful for your admiring efforts.
I am currently hold infina plastic, tata neu infinity and SCB ultimate and SBI simply save and SBI offered me a paid upgrade to Elite. please suggest is it worth taking or not keeping 10lakh annual spend
Glad to know that you’re loving the content. 🙂
SBI Elite is not worth it but SBI Cashback is LOT better. If they can’t upgrade to Cashback, then SimplyClick is relatively better. Pls do have a look at the review and decide.
Thank u
The super premium card users ( Assuming they are high spenders and have decent net worth) seeks one of the most important aspect when they invest in something, that is reliability and being consistent. That’s where the whole Infinia program succeed because still after some devaluation on the eyes of credit card benefit hunters, for average users, rewards are still good. Whereas other pop up super premium card issuers are whimsical on how to position and hold the status of a card. Users don’t know when the card program will become useless, the whole point of getting the card will feel redundant in few months (read Axis).
Infinia is one of the very few example when a flagship program remains flagship after so many year.
Well said. HDFC is very restrictive in granting infinia.
Curious, why you upgraded to Metal Sid? Any FYF or so?
I was inclined, didn’t do though, even customer care discouraged. Only concern, if they come up with next variant, will Metal folks be first in line in preference to PVC?
Yes, for all the reasons mentioned.
+
I did the upgrade when plastic came for renewal with fee (as spend for waiver was not met, thanks to Magnus). So essentially I saved 10K in the process by upgrading at the right time. 🙂
Awesome
Jul was renewal, so did the same, ty for the idea 🙂
Cool. 🙂
With recent changes, now domestic Longue access is also thru Priority Pass possible. After 1st April, at Ahmedabad airport international terminal, my Infinia master card was not eligible for longue access, but PP was valid. In infina, Domestic and International all Longue can be accessed thru PP without any charges.
Thanks Sid for bringing Infinia review, I’m holding it since Aug’2019, upgraded to metal (Complementary) in Oct’21.
But it’s more than 4 years now that no LE happened on the card. 6 months prior to that, LE was 250% in 4 steps.
Also like to add 1 point.
Domestic lounge access is also unlimited with Primary & add-on Priority Pass holders.
From what I see with many cardholders, auto LE stops as soon as you get into the 10L-15L credit limit zone.
Beyond that you would need much more spends to request for LE which I think is fair.
Oh ya, PP for domestic use is one of the wonderful benefit. Updated, thanks. But given the no. of Infinia users these days, I wouldn’t expect it to last long.
When you say that. What’s the count of people holding Infinia. Is it going to be devalued like magnus?