Help to understand Smartbuy

[cardio_guycardio_guy is verified member.]

Hi friends,

Just trying to understand the Smartbuy world. So far I have been only using cashback cards with 1.5-2-5-10% cashbacks on various categories.
However, as we move up the card categories, all premium and higher category cards are reward point-based cards.
I might get into one of the premium cards of HDFC and I have some basic doubts about Smartbuy, please help to answer:

1. Is this the portal link, and we need to sign in using our registered mobile number?: https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/foryou

2. Under Privileges drop down menu, there are a few premium cards listed. (Infinia, Diners Club, Regalia, Regalia Gold, BizDeals, Corporate, and IRCTC)
Are these the only cards supported in Smartbuy? What about other HDFC cards?

3. Is there separate card-specific Smartbuy portal links for these cards? When I click these card names, it takes to these card specific portals. How is it different from the common Smartbuy portal?
Like for Regalia Gold - https://offers.reward360.in/v1/regaliagold
Diners Black - https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/diners
and so on.

4. Main question - Why do we use Smartbuy? Is it for the 3x/5x/10x accelerated reward points? Or are there some other additional benefits?

5. Lastly, Are the benefits on Smartbuy better than 5-10% that we get on cashback cards? Or is there any catch?

6. Finally alternatives - I see posts related to gyftr and cashkaro. How is it different from Smartbuy?

Also, in one discussion today, two comments caught my attention as they seemed to convey similar ideas:
• @malavkarkar: I'd even stick to Smartbuy and pick hotels based on price and location instead of brand.
• @Explorer: Bottomline is one needs to understand what is important to them and then decide which cards and its point system works best for them. Many in my circle, just put all on infinia and use it whenever they need to travel on flights/hotels. They are really happy to avoid the whole points/awards game.

Do these both essentially mean the same thing?

Smartbuy experts please help.

 

[Deepak_Shetty]

Hi friends,

Just trying to understand the Smartbuy world. So far I have been only using cashback cards with 1.5-2-5-10% cashbacks on various categories.
However, as we move up the card categories, all premium and higher category cards are reward point-based cards.
I might get into one of the premium cards of HDFC and I have some basic doubts about Smartbuy, please help to answer:

1. Is this the portal link, and we need to sign in using our registered mobile number?: https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/foryou

2. Under Privileges drop down menu, there are a few premium cards listed. (Infinia, Diners Club, Regalia, Regalia Gold, BizDeals, Corporate, and IRCTC)
Are these the only cards supported in Smartbuy? What about other HDFC cards?

3. Is there separate card-specific Smartbuy portal links for these cards? When I click these card names, it takes to these card specific portals. How is it different from the common Smartbuy portal?
Like for Regalia Gold - https://offers.reward360.in/v1/regaliagold
Diners Black - https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/diners
and so on.

4. Main question - Why do we use Smartbuy? Is it for the 3x/5x/10x accelerated reward points? Or are there some other additional benefits?

5. Lastly, Are the benefits on Smartbuy better than 5-10% that we get on cashback cards? Or is there any catch?

6. Finally alternatives - I see posts related to gyftr and cashkaro. How is it different from Smartbuy?

Also, in one discussion today, two comments caught my attention as they seemed to convey similar ideas:
• @malavkarkar: I'd even stick to Smartbuy and pick hotels based on price and location instead of brand.
• @Explorer: Bottomline is one needs to understand what is important to them and then decide which cards and its point system works best for them. Many in my circle, just put all on infinia and use it whenever they need to travel on flights/hotels. They are really happy to avoid the whole points/awards game.

Do these both essentially mean the same thing?

Smartbuy experts please help.

1. Yes
2 and 3. All cards will be accepted. Those are just for illustration purpose.
For points redemption, you can use certain cards smart buy portal.
4. Mainly for accelerated points. Few gift cards brand has certain discount/coupon offers.
5. Depends on brand and cards which we are using
6. You can choose either one. If you have HDFC cards offer for particular brands shopping, then you can choose smart buy. Or else Cashkaro is better.

 

[malavkarkar]

@malavkarkar: I'd even stick to Smartbuy and pick hotels based on price and location instead of brand.

Hey bro, I don't have any first hand experience with SmartBuy FYI, have never used it.

I said this in a sense that you don't necessarily have to stay loyal to any particular brand of airline or hotel if you're doing limited amount of travel. SmartBuy is a program that let's you cover 70% of your total flight and hotel cost by using points, so essentially you're getting 70% off on your vacation as long as you have enough points. You can basically pick any hotel here that is in a good location and is priced appropriately, instead of bothering with Accor or Marriott.

People prefer a specific chain of hotel only when they're getting membership benefits, and with limited travel, you generally don't get this. Hence I said that I'd rather use SmartBuy instead.

 

[cardio_guycardio_guy is verified member.]

Hey bro, I don't have any first hand experience with SmartBuy FYI, have never used it.

I said this in a sense that you don't necessarily have to stay loyal to any particular brand of airline or hotel if you're doing limited amount of travel. SmartBuy is a program that let's you cover 70% of your total flight and hotel cost by using points, so essentially you're getting 70% off on your vacation as long as you have enough points. You can basically pick any hotel here that is in a good location and is priced appropriately, instead of bothering with Accor or Marriott.

People prefer a specific chain of hotel only when they're getting membership benefits, and with limited travel, you generally don't get this. Hence I said that I'd rather use SmartBuy instead.

Got it. That's exactly what I also understood. Thanks.

 

[joell]

The number one USP of the card was 5% on railway but they reduced it to 1%. Flights are sometimes marked up comparable to points value for redemption. So it's usually much more expensive compared to booking directly with airlines. I use it for giftcards and buses all the time.

 

[PrateekAgarwal]

Hi friends,

Just trying to understand the Smartbuy world. So far I have been only using cashback cards with 1.5-2-5-10% cashbacks on various categories.
However, as we move up the card categories, all premium and higher category cards are reward point-based cards.
I might get into one of the premium cards of HDFC and I have some basic doubts about Smartbuy, please help to answer:

1. Is this the portal link, and we need to sign in using our registered mobile number?: https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/foryou

2. Under Privileges drop down menu, there are a few premium cards listed. (Infinia, Diners Club, Regalia, Regalia Gold, BizDeals, Corporate, and IRCTC)
Are these the only cards supported in Smartbuy? What about other HDFC cards?

3. Is there separate card-specific Smartbuy portal links for these cards? When I click these card names, it takes to these card specific portals. How is it different from the common Smartbuy portal?
Like for Regalia Gold - https://offers.reward360.in/v1/regaliagold
Diners Black - https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/diners
and so on.

4. Main question - Why do we use Smartbuy? Is it for the 3x/5x/10x accelerated reward points? Or are there some other additional benefits?

5. Lastly, Are the benefits on Smartbuy better than 5-10% that we get on cashback cards? Or is there any catch?

6. Finally alternatives - I see posts related to gyftr and cashkaro. How is it different from Smartbuy?

Also, in one discussion today, two comments caught my attention as they seemed to convey similar ideas:
• @malavkarkar: I'd even stick to Smartbuy and pick hotels based on price and location instead of brand.
• @Explorer: Bottomline is one needs to understand what is important to them and then decide which cards and its point system works best for them. Many in my circle, just put all on infinia and use it whenever they need to travel on flights/hotels. They are really happy to avoid the whole points/awards game.

Do these both essentially mean the same thing?

Smartbuy experts please help.

1. Yes. That is the portal.

2 & 3: They are for card specific portals, having something different than the other. Like I have Regalia Gold, which has an exclusive Gold Catalogue, has a voucher for milestones (INR 4.5 Lakhs a year and INR 7 Lakhs a year), Uber vouchers once you book flights through SmartBuy etc. The specific benefits of these cards will only be availed once you are on the dedicated portal for that particular card.

4. Yes. very important to get accelerated reward points. Its better to have more points for a transaction, like flights, stays (gives 10x), IGP (gives 10X) etc. They are available on other cards also, but has to be on the specific card portal.

5. Depends on the card offerings, like mentioned above in the case of Regalia Gold.

6. You can buy Gyftr vouchers through the Smartbuy portal or the dedicated portal.

In the end, its a medium to earn more points on your card. For me, a LTF Regalia Gold is the best card, as I am not a frequent traveller, an occasional one though, using milestone vouchers (INR 5K flat discount on flight tickets once you hit milestones), INR 300 Uber vouchers for the flight booked and most definitely using 70% of the reward points for making payments. I have used it regularly to get better options in terms of prices, like for eg., I can book 2 separate to and fro flight tickets instead of a return ticket, and get 5K discount on both the journeys. For a 20K return journey, you would end up paying around 3K only.

Of course, this is just 1 time utilization once you hit a massive INR 7 Lakhs spends a year. But I guess its worth it.

 

[Lobogris]

The number one USP of the card was 5% on railway but they reduced it to 1%. Flights are sometimes marked up comparable to points value for redemption. So it's usually much more expensive compared to booking directly with airlines. I use it for giftcards and buses all the time.

Infinia and DCB users rarely travel via train. Flights are almost always cheaper or the same price on Smartbuy.

 

[Sriim]

Infinia and DCB users rarely travel via train.

Why not? I know quite a few Infinia and DCB users who travel in trains. Not all places are connected with flights😅

Flights are almost always cheaper or the same price on Smartbuy.

Completely agree. Personally verified

 

[Sriim]

1. Is this the portal link, and we need to sign in using our registered mobile number?: https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/foryou

Yes

2. Under Privileges drop down menu, there are a few premium cards listed. (Infinia, Diners Club, Regalia, Regalia Gold, BizDeals, Corporate, and IRCTC)
Are these the only cards supported in Smartbuy? What about other HDFC cards?

All cards are supported. You can see the reward rate for each card in the following image

3. Is there separate card-specific Smartbuy portal links for these cards? When I click these card names, it takes to these card specific portals. How is it different from the common Smartbuy portal?
Like for Regalia Gold - https://offers.reward360.in/v1/regaliagold
Diners Black - https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/diners
and so on.

Yes. In my experience, these are the differences
1. You can learn about your card and milestones
2. You can redeem card specific benefits/redemption (Eg Gold catalogue for RG, Business catalogue for Biz black, milestone benefits, joining benefits etc)
3. You get contact information for the specific concierge for that card
You can alternate common smartbuy and card specific smartbuy for the following
A. Tracking your points
B. Using smartbuy for any merchant
C. Redeeming your points

4. Main question - Why do we use Smartbuy? Is it for the 3x/5x/10x accelerated reward points? Or are there some other additional benefits?

Accelerated reward is the absolute USP of HDFC cards. And that's why we use smartbuy

5. Lastly, Are the benefits on Smartbuy better than 5-10% that we get on cashback cards? Or is there any catch?

Yes. If you have infinia with base rate (3.3%) and get 5x or 10x rewards, you get 15-16.6% / 30-33% value back respectively

6. Finally alternatives - I see posts related to gyftr and cashkaro. How is it different from Smartbuy?

Gyftr is a website to purchase gift vouchers. There are multiple gyftr websites for different banks. If you purchase using HDFC gyftr (which you can either enter the URL directly or get redirected from smartbuy, you can earn 3x/5x/5% depending on your card.

Cashkaro is different and offers rewards for different purchases. The similarity to smartbuy is that you can redirect to different merchants but there have been many complaints regarding rewards not getting tracked properly. (not much personal experience, but i can't imagine it being a competitor for smartbuy, either in reward rate or convenience)

Also, in one discussion today, two comments caught my attention as they seemed to convey similar ideas:
• @malavkarkar: I'd even stick to Smartbuy and pick hotels based on price and location instead of brand.
• @Explorer: Bottomline is one needs to understand what is important to them and then decide which cards and its point system works best for them. Many in my circle, just put all on infinia and use it whenever they need to travel on flights/hotels. They are really happy to avoid the whole points/awards game.

Do these both essentially mean the same thing?

Yes. In smartbuy, you can redeem points to book flights/hotels and booking is pretty similar to how you book via OTAs like MMT, goibibo, i.e you see all the flights/hotels and choose whichever you wish.

It's more convenient for some/many than transferring points to a specific hotel/airline partner whose redemption can be hampered by
1. Availability of award flights/rooms
2. Lesser value in booking economy class seats rather than business class

 

[sonuJai]

Yes

All cards are supported. You can see the reward rate for each card in the following image
View attachment 76882

Yes. In my experience, these are the differences
1. You can learn about your card and milestones
2. You can redeem card specific benefits/redemption (Eg Gold catalogue for RG, Business catalogue for Biz black, milestone benefits, joining benefits etc)
3. You get contact information for the specific concierge for that card
You can alternate common smartbuy and card specific smartbuy for the following
A. Tracking your points
B. Using smartbuy for any merchant
C. Redeeming your points

Accelerated reward is the absolute USP of HDFC cards. And that's why we use smartbuy

Yes. If you have infinia with base rate (3.3%) and get 5x or 10x rewards, you get 15-16.6% / 30-33% value back respectively

Gyftr is a website to purchase gift vouchers. There are multiple gyftr websites for different banks. If you purchase using HDFC gyftr (which you can either enter the URL directly or get redirected from smartbuy, you can earn 3x/5x/5% depending on your card.

Cashkaro is different and offers rewards for different purchases. The similarity to smartbuy is that you can redirect to different merchants but there have been many complaints regarding rewards not getting tracked properly. (not much personal experience, but i can't imagine it being a competitor for smartbuy, either in reward rate or convenience)

Yes. In smartbuy, you can redeem points to book flights/hotels and booking is pretty similar to how you book via OTAs like MMT, goibibo, i.e you see all the flights/hotels and choose whichever you wish.

It's more convenient for some/many than transferring points to a specific hotel/airline partner whose redemption can be hampered by
1. Availability of award flights/rooms
2. Lesser value in booking economy class seats rather than business class

Thanks for detailed explanation I have tata neu card so will I get that 5% in neu coins? Or what's catch in it....

 

[Sriim]

Thanks for detailed explanation I have tata neu card so will I get that 5% in neu coins? Or what's catch in it....

I've not used tata neu on smartbuy. But i remember reading somewhere that it works.

Edit - Found it

Deals

SmartBuy is a platform only for display of offers extended by Merchants to HDFC Bank's Customers

offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com