How i Bought a Brand New iPhone 7 for Just Rs.21,700 without EMI

By | December 16, 2016

I have been using iPhone 6 – 16GB for about an year or so and these days it often runs out of storage space as the latest IOS is filling up a lot of available space. On top of that, the apps store a lot of data so that i’m left with very few GB’s of space to store all Photos, Music and videos. Hence i decided to upgrade to iPhone 7 (Rose Gold) 32GB version.

iPhone 7 (Rose Gold)

Well, that all sounds good, but Rs.60,000 is an insane amount to think of buying one. At this point, my HDFC Diners Black credit card appeared like a God sent 🙂

Here’s how i Bought an iPhone 7 for Just Rs.21,700

Purchasing iPhone with HDFC Diners Black:

As you might know, Diners Club has an ongoing 10X promotion on Flipkart with which you can save upto 33% of the value as points which can then be redeemed for flights/recharges, etc. Read full review of Diners Black and its benefits here.

My HDFC Diners Club Black Credit Card (India)

So i purchased iPhone 7 on Flipkart @ Rs.60,000 with Diners Black Card

Reward points Earned: 19,800 = Rs.19,800 (worth)

Using the points might be tricky for most people, but if you travel often or have bulk Mobile/Broadband bills, its easy to burn the points. Worst case, consider that your new iPhone gave you ~7 Free Domestic Flight tickets (19800/3000 = 6.6)  and plan that never-happened trip now 🙂

Selling iPhone 6 on Cashify:

Now its time to sell the old mobile as i’ve nothing to do with it. One of my friend introduced me to Cashify, which solves this part. Cashify is a service (an iPhone app) that pays for your used mobiles.

Cashify – Sell your used iPhone

Just download the app, follow the testing procedure and it displays how much they can pay for your old mobile. They will visit your home, pick the mobile and give you cash.

My old iPhone 6 is valued at: Rs.18,500

So the effective cost of my New iPhone 7 after selling my old iPhone is,

= Rs.60,000 – Rs. 19,800 – Rs. 18,500

= Rs.21,700

And that is how i was able to buy the expensive iPhone at an inexpensive price. Simply put, upgrading your iPhone to the latest version at one third of its cost is nice thing. Isn’t it?

Infact, you could even save more by using cashback sites.

What’s your thoughts on above? Would you want me to share similar articles in future? Share your comments below 🙂

Author: Siddharth

Helping Indians to choose right credit cards, pick right offers and enjoy luxury vacations for less. Day & night exploring the spiritual reality of our human existence.

40 thoughts on “How i Bought a Brand New iPhone 7 for Just Rs.21,700 without EMI

  1. Saurabh

    Recently discovered your website, and man, its impressive, or atleast immersive (for a CC fan like me) 🙂

    How did you manage a Black variant? I have been using the Diners’ premium for a few months, and still waiting for the elusive call from the bank. Cust care reps don’t have a clue if I can get an upgrade

    Did you pull some strings, or the bank was nice enough to upgrade you on its own?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Thanks for your kind words Saurabh.
      If yo have more relationship value with the bank, they can’t deny.

      If you’re attempting upgrade, wait for 6 months.
      Higher limit = better 🙂

      Reply
      1. Saurabh

        Noticed HDFC Diners portal charges 75 bucks every time you try to redeem the points! Ain’t that a bummer? I have gathered a few points, and when I tried to redeem them on HDFC Diners site, I was asked to “Generate a voucher”, and each generation costs 75 bucks. Did you find a workaround to this? Or is there another way to redeem Diners points?

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          Somehow i’m not being charged this. However my dad’s premium variant is being charged.
          Well, simple way is to redeem all in one go.

          Reply
          1. Saurabh

            Where do you redeem it? Only on hdfcbankdinersclub[dot]in, or are you able to able at any other site/portal of hdfc?

  2. Anand

    Hey Sid,
    I have a life time free diners club premium credit card from August 2016. If I go for an upgrade will the diners black also be a life time free card?

    Also please tell me when to ask for an upgrade (I mean after how many months) and which way to approach for the upgrade (mail/call/netbanking login)?

    P.S You have an amazing blog man, keep it up.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Anand,
      Thanks for the kind words.

      Hold it for 6 months and request for upgrade via RM/branch.
      Higher the credit limit, easier the upgrade.

      Reply
  3. Anand

    What about the fees for the upgraded card?
    What credit limit did u had before the upgrade?
    Thanks

    Reply
  4. Rahul

    Hi
    I just started using Diners Premium and got my first statement. I am not able to work out the math for Rewards Point. Can you help me, if I share details or talk to you. Call center guys are of no use in this calculation (already tried).

    One more thing, can we pay HDFC Diners CC bill using debit card (I used to do this for SBI CC and got a lot of debit card points as well)? And how we put 14 digits in space of 16 digits for online payment of bill?

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  5. Rahul

    Ok .. now I have started, few more queries.

    Do add-on cards of Diners Premium have lounge access?
    The add-on cards have same card number as primary one, I am confused (even the CVV). It is common?
    Is there a more convenient method to change pin in HDFC? OTP generation and going to ATM is too much.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      For Pin, no other way.
      Lounge access, pls check diners premium article.

      Reply
  6. Abhay

    Hey Sid

    How are you? I have a question. If i purchase iphone or some other thing from flipkart which is a 10x partner on emi. The points will be accumulated every month or at the time of purchase only? Like if its a 12 month emi then points will come every mo th or first month itself?

    Reply
      1. Abhay

        Oh. Then i have to wait for next month as my 10 x limit has already been exhausted for this month.

        Reply
  7. Pavan

    Hi, if I upgrade my hdfc diners rewards card to hdfc diners premium will I loose my existing points ? If so any suggestions before upgrading?

    Reply
  8. Srikanth

    HI Siddharth,
    Thank you very much for this website. I couldn’t find this kind of information, available in this portal, anywhere else.

    I am using HDFC Regalia from the last 3 years or so. Recently my card limit is updated to 4.5L. I am planning to request for card upgrade to HDFC diners back.
    1. If HDFC gives me Diners Black credit card, will there be option for me to upgrade to HDFC Infinia card in future? (will there be any issue with visa vs diners network?)
    2. In what way HDFC Infinia card is better than HDFC Diners Black credit card?

    Thanks once again.

    Reply
  9. Suman Debnath

    Thanks Sid,
    This is awesome.

    I just have a very small query, I also have the same card you mentioned, Dinners Club Premium.
    My query is, if my iphone 7 price is 65000(as per Dinners Club Premium Card)
    I will get points roughly 17333 [( 65000 / 150 ) * 40 ] , it would be equivalent to Rs. 13000

    But I read on their site,

    That the limit is 10000 points per statement cycle, so i will get only 10000 points, or 10000 in the month i purchase the phone and remaining 3000 in the next billing cycle

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards,
    Suman++

    Reply
  10. Kush

    I received my Black card which was upgraded from regalia..
    I would like to know
    1)Is it possible that the New Black card is also free ? I am aware abt the 1lac 90 days formula for new card but does this apply to renewal also?
    2)What happens to 40k points in my regalia card? In what ratio will it be transferred to Diners Blk?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      1. Yes, 5L for renewal. Some are issued lifetime free as well.
      2. HDFC is not transparent in this. Your net-banking a/c should be able to answer this.

      Reply
    2. Varun

      Regarding point 2: You should get 60% of your Regalia points in Diners Black. Thats the conversion ratio. When I upgraded from Regalia to Black, they transferred only 40% and I have to do multiple followup to get the remaining points.
      Conversion ratio is given in Credit Card Upgrade form.

      Reply
  11. Sankar Bhowmik

    One quick question, you mentioned somewhere that airline rewards mile conversation ratio for black variant is 1:1, but jor jet airways, it seems like it is 1:0.70, did it change recently? Have you ever tried to convert points to miles?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      1:0.70 is an error displayed on their website. You need to transfer some miles to know the truth.

      Reply
  12. Eshwar

    Hi there,

    I have a rewardz card and and I wish to upgrade to a black card. Is it possible? My salary is below 10L per annum.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      First upgrade to premium and then try for Black 🙂

      Reply
  13. Priyank

    Hi Sid,

    Can you please suggest which credit cards out of the listed below credit cards have the minimum/ No preclosure charges of a merchant EMI (opted EMI from Amazon/ Flipkart):

    1. SBI Prime (I checked with them – it is 3% of the outstanding principal)
    2. RBL Bank Fun + card
    3. Yes Bank rewards plus card (I checked with the bank – it is 2% of the outstanding principal)
    4. HSBC Platinum card
    5. ICICI Platinum credit card
    6. HDFC Times Card
    7. Kotak Essentia card

    You may want to list out any other card company which has 0 preclosure charges as well.

    Please suggest. Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  14. DHAVAL

    HI SIDDHARTH
    I AM USING REGALIA CARD FROM PAST 5 YEARS AND RECENTLY MY CARD IS RENEW IN SAME MONTHS.AND I HAVE 113000 POINTS CAN I UPGRADE TO PREMIUM CARD NOW ?
    I WANT AN IPHONE 7 PLZ TELL ME WHAT SHOULD I DO ?

    Reply
  15. Siddhanth Sharma

    Strange. Cashify selling my iphone 6s 32gb for 9000 now and it gave you 18500 for your iphone 6. Strange..

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Because you are reading the article after 2 yrs

      Reply
  16. Kumar

    Diners is again running 10x offers from Aug to Dec ’19. 10x via smartybuy with a cap of 15k and partner stores 10x with a monthly cap of 25k.
    Is there anything else we can buy with these points other than flights? Any gift cards that are useful?
    I have a relationship with HDFC since 2013. It used to be my salary account but not anymore. I have a HDFC moneyback card that is lifetime free with a limit of 3.68L. My ITR 2 initial gross is 21.78L for the last financial year before HRA, 80C and other deductions. Am I eligible for this card and how to get a discount of the 5k fee?
    Current other cards: Yes first preferred, Citi IOCL, ICICI Amazon card, SBI Simpliclick and Amex MRCC

    Reply
  17. sai swaroop

    Hi sid,
    just came through your article….very impressive….just a small doubt:

    Point accrued for purchasing an iPhone will be (66000/150)*10 = 4400 points
    How did you get approx 19000 points?

    Reply
    1. Gaurav

      (60000/150)*5 = 2000, 1x reward points
      10x = 20000 Reward points.
      It is 10 times the normal reward points and not 10 reward points. Effectively it is 40 reward points(=Rs 40 for DCB and Infinia) for every 150 spent

      Reply
  18. Stalin

    Hi, Will i be eligible for 10X points for payment done directly on yatra website instead of smartbuy link?
    TIA

    Reply
    1. Gaurav

      If you have Diners Card, then pay via PayZapp on Yatra App. Payments via Payzapp qualify for 10x Reward points.

      Reply
    1. Tejas Ghongadi

      15K Capping is on 9X. In fact all the bonus points cappings are on 9X only.

      Reply

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