HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card is a good choice for people looking for lifestyle benefits across everyday spend categories like dining, shopping and movies. Users can earn accelerated rewards on popular brands like Zomato & Swiggy, quarterly milestone benefits from Decathlon and Marriott, and Buy One Get One offer on BookMyShow. Additionally, with features like low forex markup of 2% and 10X rewards on SmartBuy, the card slightly touches the premium segment as well, making it a suitable choice for people looking for ‘premium’ benefits at an affordable fee. With such all-round benefits, the card competes with HDFC Regalia and HDFC Regalia Gold.
| HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege Credit Card Overall Rating: ★★★ |
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| Reward Benefits | Travel Benefits | Dining Benefits | Other Benefits |
| ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★ |
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HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege Credit Card came to limelight after the devaluation of HDFC Regalia Card, and turned out to be a comparatively better card than Regalia, at a similar fee of Rs. 2,500. However, with the launch of HDFC Regalia Gold, possibly an improved version of HDFC Regalia, HDFC Privilege and Regalia Gold were considered as competitors. The cards drew similarities with each other for similar types of benefits offered around complimentary memberships, accelerated rewards and travel. Now with the latest feature update on Diners Club Privilege, this comparison is in question.
Read on to know if HDFC Diners Club Privilege still outperforms the devalued HDFC Regalia, and matches the value back benefits with HDFC Regalia Gold.
The following review has been updated as per the latest features on HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card, with effect from August 1, 2023. Click here to check the change in features.
Quick View: HDFC Diners Club Privilege’s Features (Video)
Complimentary memberships as welcome benefits: At a joining fee of Rs. 2,500, the card offers complimentary Swiggy One and Times Prime annual memberships as welcome benefits. This is subject to spending Rs. 75,000 within the first 90 days of card issuance.
The value back offered through these memberships clearly justifies the joining fee charged. A one-year Times Prime membership alone costs around Rs. 1,199, whereas a Swiggy one can cost you a minimum of Rs. 899 to up to Rs. 2,999. The good part is that, these memberships can offer you benefits around everyday brands and categories. While you can use Swiggy One to save on online food delivery and dining, Times Prime membership comes with all rounder benefits across food, travel, healthcare, entertainment etc, via vouchers on multiple brands and online platforms like EatClub, Pizzahut, Uber, PharmEasy, SonyLiv,YouTube Premium, Hotstar, and many more. The only drawback here is that the activation benefits come with a higher spend based requirement. However, if you are a high spender who can put most of his/her expenses on this credit card, you can attain these easily.
*Swiggy One subscription value may vary from the ones mentioned above. Price may vary from time to time and user to user as per ongoing special offers by Swiggy.
Up to 10X rewards on your spends: With the HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card, you earn rewards as follows:
- 4 reward points on every Rs. 150 spent on retail spends
- 20 rewards (5X) on every Rs. 150 spent on Swiggy & Zomato
- Up to 40 rewards (10X) on every Rs. 150 spent on SmartBuy
Transactions not eligible for reward point earning: fuel, cash advances, payment of outstanding balance, payment of card fees and other charges, Smart EMI/Dial an EMI.
There is no capping on the earning of reward points on this credit card, except on the 5X reward category. The reward capping is as follows:
- For all other categories: Unlimited rewards
- For 5X reward on Zomato & Swiggy: Out of 5X rewards, capping for 4X rewards is maximum 2,500 in a month, while the remaining 1X rewards are eligible for unlimited rewards
What is the value of reward points?
Reward points earned via this card are valid for two years from the date of accumulation. They can be redeemed as follows:
| Redemption Category | Value of 1 reward point |
| Flights and hotel bookings via SmartBuy | Rs 0.5 |
| Exclusive Privilege dining catalog on select restaurants via SmartBuy | Rs 0.5 |
| Product catalog | Rs. 0.35 |
| Cashback | Rs. 0.2 |
With effect from August 1, 2023, the redemption against Air Miles has been replaced by reward redemption against dining vouchers, at the same value of 1 RP= Rs 0.5. While this could be a beneficial deal for those looking for dining benefits, no redemption on airmiles can be a drawback for frequent travelers.
5X rewards as offered on Zomato & Swiggy can be a great benefit for those frequently ordering food online. Additionally, redemption of reward points against dining vouchers, Swiggy One membership on card activation, and up to 20% off via the good food trail programme, make this card one of the best suited cards for dining privileges.
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Brand voucher as milestone benefit: Instead of an annual milestone benefit, the card offers quarterly milestone benefits to your advantage each quarter. On spending Rs. 1.5 lakh in a quarter, you get a voucher worth Rs. 1,500 from your choice of brands from Marriott, Decathlon, Barbeque Nation, O2 Spa or Lakme Salon.
Thereby, on annual spends of Rs. 6 Lakh, you can get a benefit of Rs. 6,000. Besides, considering the annual fee waiver crietria (on spending Rs. 3 Lakh), you can get a total benefit of Rs. 8,500 on meeting the spend criteria each quarter.
If you compare this with HDFC Regalia & HDFC Regalia Gold, you get the following benefit on spending Rs. 6 lakh in a year:
| Diners Club Privilege | HDFC Regalia | HDFC Regalia Gold | |
| Total Spends | Rs. 6 Lakh | Rs. 6 Lakh | Rs. 6 Lakh |
| Benefit | (i) Rs. 1,500 voucher each quarter = Rs. 6,000 (ii) Annual fee waiver= Rs. 2,500 |
(i) Bonus 10,000 reward points on 5 lakhs= Rs. 5,000* (ii) Annual fee waiver=Rs. 2,500 |
(i) Rs. 1,500 voucher each quarter = Rs. 6,000 (ii)Rs. 5,000 worth flight voucher= Rs. 5,000 (iii) Annual fee waiver=Rs. 2,500 |
| Annual Value Benefit | Rs. 8,500 | Rs. 7,500 | Rs. 13,500 |
*Based on maximum redemption value of 1 reward point= Rs. 0.5
Thus, clearly, in terms of offering the milestone benefit, HDFC Regalia Gold > HDFC Diners Club Privilege > HDFC Regalia- based on the presumed value of spending Rs. 6 Lakh in a year.
Note that the above benefits are taken into consideration for annual spends of Rs. 6 Lakh in a year. The actual milestone benefit on these cards is:
- HDFC Regalia : Bonus 10,000 reward points on spending Rs. 5 lakhs and additional 5,000 reward points on spending Rs. 8 lakh in an anniversary year.
- HDFC Regalia Gold: Rs. 1,500 worth vouchers on quarterly spends of Rs. 1.5 lakh; Rs. 5,000 worth flight vouchers on annual spends of Rs. 5 lakh and an additional voucher of Rs. 5,000 on spends of Rs. 7.5 lakhs.
On that basis, the maximum value back you can avail with these cards via the milestone benefit, is as follows:
| Credit card | Maximum value back |
| HDFC Diners Club Privilege | Rs. 8,500 on spending Rs. 6 Lakh in a year |
| HDFC Regalia | Rs. 10,000 on spending Rs. 8 Lakh in a year |
| HDFC Regalia Gold | Rs. 18,500 on spending Rs. 7.5 Lakh in a year |
Travel benefits: HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card comes with the following travel benefits:
- 2* complimentary airport lounge access every calendar quarter worldwide, thus, 8 lounge access visits in a year
- Low forex markup fee of 2%
*Complimentary lounge access is applicable upon spends of Rs. 15,000 in previous calendar quarter.
HDFC Bank has devalued the overall travel benefits on this card, by limiting the frequency of lounge access from 12 in a year to 8, and removing the air miles redemption option. Not only is the frequency low in comparison to HDFC Regalia & HDFC Regalia Gold, but you also don’t get a complimentary Priority Pass Membership. However, if looked upon generally and not in comparison with other cards, the benefits are decent, if not great.
Other features of HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege Credit Card:
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At a Glance: HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card
Card Comparison: HDFC Diners Club Privilege vs. HDFC Regalia Credit Card vs. HDFC Regalia Gold Credit Card
| Particulars | HDFC Diners Club Privilege | HDFC Regalia Credit Card | HDFC Regalia Gold Credit Card |
| Joining Fee/Annual Fee | Rs. 2,500 | Rs. 2,500 | Rs. 2,500 |
| Welcome Benefit | Complimentary annual memberships of Swiggy One and Times Prime |
NA | Complimentary Club Vistara Silver Tier and MMT Black Elite membership; Gift voucher of Rs. 2,500 |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Waived off on annual spends of Rs. 3 Lakh | Waived off on annual spends of Rs. 3 Lakh | Waived off on annual spends of Rs. 4 Lakh |
| Milestone Benefit | Rs. 1,500 worth Marriott, Decathlon & more vouchers on quarterly spends of Rs. 1.5 lakh | Bonus 10,000 reward points on spending Rs. 5 lakh and additional 5,000 reward points on Rs. 8 lakh in an anniversary year |
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| Rewards |
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4 reward points on every Rs.150 spent on retail spends including insurance, utilities and education |
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| Redemption |
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| Movie | ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ on movie/non-movie weekend tickets via BookMyShow | NA | NA |
| Dining Discount | Up to 20 % off via Swiggy Dineout |
Up to 20 % off via Swiggy Dineout | Up to 20 % off via Swiggy Dineout |
| Lounge access | 2 complimentary airport lounge access every calendar quarter worldwide |
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| Foreign currency markup fee | 2% |
2% |
2% |
| Fuel |
NA |
1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations across India | NA |
Is HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card still a good option?
(i) HDFC Diners Club Privilege Credit Card has an edge over HDFC Regalia in offering welcome benefits, since the later offers no activation benefit even at a similar joining fee.
(ii) HDFC Regalia Gold also offers justified benefits as per the fee charged, but at a higher spending limit than Diners Club Privilege, of spending Rs. 1 Lakh within 90 days.
(iii) Accelerated rewards on Zomato & swiggy, two most popular everyday brands, make Diners Club Privilege a great fit for millennials and GenZ’s, who frequently order food online.
(iv) With the Privilege card you get access to an exclusive redemption programme- Dining Catalog on select Restaurants via SmartBuy.
HDFC Diners Club Privilege vs. HDFC Regalia vs. HDFC Regalia Gold- Which card should you choose?
Since these cards come at a similar fee, choosing the best card among these, on the basis of fee charged, can not be a viable option. To choose the best suited card, you must indeed check the if benefits align with your spending patterns and needs.
(i) You must choose HDFC Regalia Credit Card, if you would like to use your card majorly for international travel and would want to earn rewards on insurance, utility bill payments and education.
(ii) Similarly, Regalia Gold can be a good option if you would like to avail benefits around travel and shopping, especially if you frequently use your card for shopping at Marks & Spencer, Myntra, Reliance Digital, and Nykaa.
(iii) On the other hand, Diners club privilege can be a good option for travelers, who would also like to save a lot on their dining spends.
Drawbacks of HDFC Diners Club Privilege?
- The card comes with a higher spend requirement to avail the welcome benefit. Thus, you need to spend around Rs. 25,000 each month, during the first three months.
- Unlike earlier, now the card does not offer any redemption benefit across air miles. This is a big setback, especially when the card claims to offer ‘premium’ type benefits. Besides, it fails to fulfill the usual combination of ‘a low forex markup fee+decent lounge access+air miles redemption’. Thus, it slightly lags behind in offering the overall travel benefits.
- Additionally, the cashback redemption value on this card seems fairly low, especially in comparison with other entry level cards by HDFC, such as HDFC Millennia. At an annual fee of Rs. 1,000, Millennia offers a cashback redemption value of 1:1.
- Even at a fee of Rs. 2,500 the card offer no fuel surcharge waiver and golf access.
