How To Get HDFC Bank Infinia & DCB Credit Card Easily - New & Upgrade

[TechnoFino]

HDFC Bank Infinia is the best credit card available in India for frequent air travellers. HDFC Bank market this credit card as an invite only card, but in reality you can actually apply for this card.
Official Eligible Income Criteria For HDFC Infinia- 43L ITR (depends on location)
DCB - 24L ITR
If you don't have ITR of 43L/24L you can still get HDFC Infinia/DCB, you have to fulfil some other criteria.
This information is not available publicly on HDFC Bank website.
Hidden Criteria For "New HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card" - You can apply for new HDFC Bank Infinia credit card using "Card To Card" method, you need a minimum 1 year old other bank credit card with minimum 10 lakhs credit limit for this.
"New HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card" - You can apply for new HDFC Bank DCB credit card using "Card To Card" method, you need a minimum 1 year old other bank credit card with minimum 5 lakhs credit limit for this.

If your already have a HDFC Bank credit card, then you have to upgrade your existing card to Infinia/DCB,
For Upgrade To Infinia-
1. You need minimum 8 lakhs credit limit on your existing HDFC Bank Credit card
2. Send an email to- grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com & request for card upgrade, fill up and attach credit card upgrade form with the email.
*Credit card upgrade form (New Version) - attached with this thread.

For Upgrade To DCB-
1. You need minimum 5 lakhs credit limit on your existing HDFC Bank Credit card
2. Send an email to- grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com & request for card upgrade, attach card upgrade form with the email.

Update- HDFC Bank asking for 10 lakhs limit on your existing credit card for infinia upgrade.



So, don't be surprised if hdfc bank ask you for 10L limit. 😃

 

[Vbhoj74]

Nope nothing but the Filled out form attached to the first post of this thread along with the latest CC statement from my Regalia
no other docs were asked or provided

Great thanks. They have sent me the same form, but I think for me upgrading to Infinia with 10L spending target does not makes sense, unless I am earning much more than the annual fee. Besides, smartbuy earning difference from 9% to 16%, I dont see any other way to increase the earning, or am I missing something?

The problem with DCB is acceptance, I am not able to use the same in some of the websites that I would like to.

 

[Pr@k]

Great thanks. They have sent me the same form, but I think for me upgrading to Infinia with 10L spending target does not makes sense, unless I am earning much more than the annual fee. Besides, smartbuy earning difference from 9% to 16%, I dont see any other way to increase the earning, or am I missing something?

The problem with DCB is acceptance, I am not able to use the same in some of the websites that I would like to.

Honestly some of the perks with Infinia and some offers ive seen with it recently is why i went
I have shifted all my spends to Magnus for now to secure miles but in the long run Axis will devaluate it.

Plus with the 12.5k points for the annual fee i'll keep paying it.. IF i cant get them to waive it via someother method

 

[Vbhoj74]

@Prakhar So, they would credit 12.5k points on annual fee realization ?

 

[Pr@k]

@Prakhar So, they would credit 12.5k points on annual fee realization ?

i belive i read that somewhere, I'll try to find it

 

[Vbhoj74]

i belive i read that somewhere, I'll try to find it

Yep here https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/pay/cards/credit-cards/infinia-credit-card/fees-and-charges
I think that feature is not there on DCB, now I'm thinking again.

 

[Pr@k]

Yep here https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/pay/cards/credit-cards/infinia-credit-card/fees-and-charges
I think that feature is not there on DCB, now I'm thinking again.

Another think to keep an eye out for is deals

A lot of white goods/mobile/apple deals come on HDFC. Last time i bought a mackbook air i was effectively getting quite a chunk off.

It will need to be evaluated VS say miles on Magnus to see the immidiate benefit VS miles for larger transactions

 

[caabhi]

Update!!!

Card approved and will be dispatched soon!

I can tell you I was sceptical of this process after my RM denied but in 4 days & 2 emails later it’s been approved

Thank you all for your guidance

Cheers

Congratulations!!!

 

[787]

Nope nothing but the Filled out form attached to the first post of this thread along with the latest CC statement from my Regalia
no other docs were asked or provided

Same in my case too.

 

[eatpepsi]

@Prakhar So, they would credit 12.5k points on annual fee realization ?

yes, only after fee realisazion ...

 

[lucknowrox]

Need a suggestion. Recently got upgraded to DCB (Dec 22) and have a limit of 10.53 Lac. Purchases past 2-3 months have been more than 6.5 lacs and expected to increase in March.

Kindly suggest whether it would be the right time to apply or should I wait out till April/May before sending the upgrade form ?

 

[Wealth is my birth right!]

Need a suggestion. Recently got upgraded to DCB (Dec 22) and have a limit of 10.53 Lac. Purchases past 2-3 months have been more than 6.5 lacs and expected to increase in March.

Kindly suggest whether it would be the right time to apply or should I wait out till April/May before sending the upgrade form ?

Better if u do it in April imo

 

[Diptajit]

This thread is pure gold.

A bit of background: I have been using DCB since 2018. It was a LTF card, and to be honest during those early years it was even better than Infinia as it had great 10X merchant offers. But with a series of devaluations, especially after the pandemic, DCB started to feel like any other card - it was getting hard to extract value from it. While Infinia too had gone through similar devaluations in the meantime, it was still way better than DCB (especially with 5X on Smartbuy vs 3X and 15k monthly limit vs 7.5k).
Hence, around 2021 end, I started to feel like I needed the Infinia. Of course, the criteria were too stringent, and I was not matching most of them. Late last year after a salary increase, I started really pushing my RM for it, and I learnt that if they had to apply from their end, they had 2 criteria:

1. Spend > 7.5 lakh in the last 6 months
2. In hand salary > 2.5 lakh per month

If you satisfy the above criteria, you can simply approach your RM and get the card (they never mentioned about credit limit). I did not, as I was holding the Magnus already and had shifted most of my spend to it. So I was not able to apply for it.

Anyway on Feb 21, I saw this thread. Sent an email to grievance redressal on the same day requesting for upgrade to Infinia. I mentioned that DCB had acceptance issues and I was enjoying using a Visa card like Magnus without worrying about acceptance. On 22nd, I received an email saying my request had been accepted. On 23rd, I received a mail with the card PIN. On 25th, I received the Metal Infinia that I had been desiring for so long.

Thanks to this thread. I now plan to spend with Magnus till I reach the monthly 1 lakh. Most spends thereafter would be on Infinia. I prefer the Infinia from quite a few perspectives:

1. To extract top value from Magnus, you need to spend top dollar. Meaning, you have to travel Singapore airlines and Vistara and stay in IHG, Marriott, etc. What if you want to fly Indigo, which is probably 80% of all Indian flights operating these days? My regular flight route has no Vistara flights. What if you travel to Coonoor where there is no Marriott/IHG property (I haven't checked if there is one lol) ?
2. I love the 1:1 Apple and Tanishq redemption offers that Infinia offers.
3. Among the new mile transfer partners, Accor ALL seems very promising, especially for booking hotels in Europe. Doesn't seem great in America, and average in India and South East Asia.

I love the Magnus too, and plan to rack up points for an almost fully paid holiday to Maldives or to Thailand.

 

[Pr@k]

This thread is pure gold.

A bit of background: I have been using DCB since 2018. It was a LTF card, and to be honest during those early years it was even better than Infinia as it had great 10X merchant offers. But with a series of devaluations, especially after the pandemic, DCB started to feel like any other card - it was getting hard to extract value from it. While Infinia too had gone through similar devaluations in the meantime, it was still way better than DCB (especially with 5X on Smartbuy vs 3X and 15k monthly limit vs 7.5k).
Hence, around 2021 end, I started to feel like I needed the Infinia. Of course, the criteria were too stringent, and I was not matching most of them. Late last year after a salary increase, I started really pushing my RM for it, and I learnt that if they had to apply from their end, they had 2 criteria:

1. Spend > 7.5 lakh in the last 6 months
2. In hand salary > 2.5 lakh per month

If you satisfy the above criteria, you can simply approach your RM and get the card (they never mentioned about credit limit). I did not, as I was holding the Magnus already and had shifted most of my spend to it. So I was not able to apply for it.

Anyway on Feb 21, I saw this thread. Sent an email to grievance redressal on the same day requesting for upgrade to Infinia. I mentioned that DCB had acceptance issues and I was enjoying using a Visa card like Magnus without worrying about acceptance. On 22nd, I received an email saying my request had been accepted. On 23rd, I received a mail with the card PIN. On 25th, I received the Metal Infinia that I had been desiring for so long.

Thanks to this thread. I now plan to spend with Magnus till I reach the monthly 1 lakh. Most spends thereafter would be on Infinia. I prefer the Infinia from quite a few perspectives:

1. To extract top value from Magnus, you need to spend top dollar. Meaning, you have to travel Singapore airlines and Vistara and stay in IHG, Marriott, etc. What if you want to fly Indigo, which is probably 80% of all Indian flights operating these days? My regular flight route has no Vistara flights. What if you travel to Coonoor where there is no Marriott/IHG property (I haven't checked if there is one lol) ?
2. I love the 1:1 Apple and Tanishq redemption offers that Infinia offers.
3. Among the new mile transfer partners, Accor ALL seems very promising, especially for booking hotels in Europe. Doesn't seem great in America, and average in India and South East Asia.

I love the Magnus too, and plan to rack up points for an almost fully paid holiday to Maldives or to Thailand.

Can you please explain point 2… I seem to have missed something on apple ( which drains my spend every year like mad!)

 

[spicedlatte]

This thread is pure gold.

A bit of background: I have been using DCB since 2018. It was a LTF card, and to be honest during those early years it was even better than Infinia as it had great 10X merchant offers. But with a series of devaluations, especially after the pandemic, DCB started to feel like any other card - it was getting hard to extract value from it. While Infinia too had gone through similar devaluations in the meantime, it was still way better than DCB (especially with 5X on Smartbuy vs 3X and 15k monthly limit vs 7.5k).
Hence, around 2021 end, I started to feel like I needed the Infinia. Of course, the criteria were too stringent, and I was not matching most of them. Late last year after a salary increase, I started really pushing my RM for it, and I learnt that if they had to apply from their end, they had 2 criteria:

1. Spend > 7.5 lakh in the last 6 months
2. In hand salary > 2.5 lakh per month

If you satisfy the above criteria, you can simply approach your RM and get the card (they never mentioned about credit limit). I did not, as I was holding the Magnus already and had shifted most of my spend to it. So I was not able to apply for it.

Anyway on Feb 21, I saw this thread. Sent an email to grievance redressal on the same day requesting for upgrade to Infinia. I mentioned that DCB had acceptance issues and I was enjoying using a Visa card like Magnus without worrying about acceptance. On 22nd, I received an email saying my request had been accepted. On 23rd, I received a mail with the card PIN. On 25th, I received the Metal Infinia that I had been desiring for so long.

Thanks to this thread. I now plan to spend with Magnus till I reach the monthly 1 lakh. Most spends thereafter would be on Infinia. I prefer the Infinia from quite a few perspectives:

1. To extract top value from Magnus, you need to spend top dollar. Meaning, you have to travel Singapore airlines and Vistara and stay in IHG, Marriott, etc. What if you want to fly Indigo, which is probably 80% of all Indian flights operating these days? My regular flight route has no Vistara flights. What if you travel to Coonoor where there is no Marriott/IHG property (I haven't checked if there is one lol) ?
2. I love the 1:1 Apple and Tanishq redemption offers that Infinia offers.
3. Among the new mile transfer partners, Accor ALL seems very promising, especially for booking hotels in Europe. Doesn't seem great in America, and average in India and South East Asia.

I love the Magnus too, and plan to rack up points for an almost fully paid holiday to Maldives or to Thailand.

Were you able to retain LTF status from your DCB with the upgrade?

 

[Pr@k]

Can you please explain point 2… I seem to have missed something on apple ( which drains my spend every year like mad!)

found it!

 

[Diptajit]

Were you able to retain LTF status from your DCB with the upgrade?

No, I did not. But I think they have a good renewal offer of equivalent points, and I don't mind paying the GST for such a card. I'm sure there will be 10X promotions during the festive season.

 

[Wealth is my birth right!]

This thread is pure gold.

A bit of background: I have been using DCB since 2018. It was a LTF card, and to be honest during those early years it was even better than Infinia as it had great 10X merchant offers. But with a series of devaluations, especially after the pandemic, DCB started to feel like any other card - it was getting hard to extract value from it. While Infinia too had gone through similar devaluations in the meantime, it was still way better than DCB (especially with 5X on Smartbuy vs 3X and 15k monthly limit vs 7.5k).
Hence, around 2021 end, I started to feel like I needed the Infinia. Of course, the criteria were too stringent, and I was not matching most of them. Late last year after a salary increase, I started really pushing my RM for it, and I learnt that if they had to apply from their end, they had 2 criteria:

1. Spend > 7.5 lakh in the last 6 months
2. In hand salary > 2.5 lakh per month

If you satisfy the above criteria, you can simply approach your RM and get the card (they never mentioned about credit limit). I did not, as I was holding the Magnus already and had shifted most of my spend to it. So I was not able to apply for it.

Anyway on Feb 21, I saw this thread. Sent an email to grievance redressal on the same day requesting for upgrade to Infinia. I mentioned that DCB had acceptance issues and I was enjoying using a Visa card like Magnus without worrying about acceptance. On 22nd, I received an email saying my request had been accepted. On 23rd, I received a mail with the card PIN. On 25th, I received the Metal Infinia that I had been desiring for so long.

Thanks to this thread. I now plan to spend with Magnus till I reach the monthly 1 lakh. Most spends thereafter would be on Infinia. I prefer the Infinia from quite a few perspectives:

1. To extract top value from Magnus, you need to spend top dollar. Meaning, you have to travel Singapore airlines and Vistara and stay in IHG, Marriott, etc. What if you want to fly Indigo, which is probably 80% of all Indian flights operating these days? My regular flight route has no Vistara flights. What if you travel to Coonoor where there is no Marriott/IHG property (I haven't checked if there is one lol) ?
2. I love the 1:1 Apple and Tanishq redemption offers that Infinia offers.
3. Among the new mile transfer partners, Accor ALL seems very promising, especially for booking hotels in Europe. Doesn't seem great in America, and average in India and South East Asia.

I love the Magnus too, and plan to rack up points for an almost fully paid holiday to Maldives or to Thailand.

Being a frequent traveler nowadays I add few cents here:
1.yes ooty/Coonoor has no options for hotel loyalty so I used to pick coorg where ITC Ayatana there but a bit costlier
2.Being an apple fan I used to hear in my circle friends that hdfc is giving free iPhones reason is this 1:1
3.Accor redemption worthy in India nowadays due to existence of ibis and Novotel
Thanks for your post

 

[ManasG]

Great to see @Prakhar and @Diptajit ’s success stories with Infinia! My timelines are somewhat similar- I had first reached out to them on 21st Feb. Following that they did agree to review my request FYF and said that they would get back by today (28th Feb), but unfortunately I haven’t yet heard anything from them. ☹️ Not sure if my request really will be accepted.

 

[suhailmz]

I Need Help!
I have a long way to cover before reaching Infinia. HDFC is my oldest card, currently using Regalia. Until last week, I had no hopes of even getting closer to Infinia, but HDFC doubled my Credit limit to 6.9 Lakh & made my Regalia LTF as well My spending in the last 8 months is around 5 Lakh.

I need a suggestion from the experts here: Do I wait for the Regalia limit to go up to 10 Lakh & request Infinia? Or do I ask for an upgrade to DCB right now & use it for 6 months before asking for an upgrade to Infinia ( I meet the income criteria for DCB).

@Diptajit @Wealth is my birth right! @787 @Prakhar @TechnoFino

 

[Diptajit]

I Need Help!
I have a long way to cover before reaching Infinia. HDFC is my oldest card, currently using Regalia. Until last week, I had no hopes of even getting closer to Infinia, but HDFC doubled my Credit limit to 6.9 Lakh & made my Regalia LTF as well My spending in the last 8 months is around 5 Lakh.

I need a suggestion from the experts here: Do I wait for the Regalia limit to go up to 10 Lakh & request Infinia? Or do I ask for an upgrade to DCB right now & use it for 6 months before asking for an upgrade to Infinia ( I meet the income criteria for DCB).

@Diptajit @Wealth is my birth right! @787 @Prakhar @TechnoFino

No point applying for Infinia. It will be rejected. 5 lakh spend in 8 months is too less for them to even consider the upgrade. You could apply for DCB, and spend 7.5 lakh in 6 months and then try to apply. However, the income criteria should be in range, otherwise chance of rejection increases again.