Millennia to Infinia

[Swastik]

But the bigger question is why do you want Emeralde Metal. Its good only as a showpiece. Nothing more.

It's one of the only cards that gives Priority Pass with Unlimited Domestic and International lounge access for both Primary and Add on,

The joining/Renewal fee gets covered by Points every year(although i don't know if it's as good we've to use it to redeem mmt vouchers which can be used without any other discount ,i though ICICI might have a flight booking portal or something to redeem points directly)

It gives Taj stay on joining,

3% base reward rate ,

Unlimited Golf ,

Alll in all it might not be as good as Infinia but it's close enough

 

[Dobbiee]

You can still get DCB metal FYF as part of alumni offer.
Fill the form here: https://v.hdfcbank.com/htdocs/common/dinersblackinstitute/index.html
and wait for their call.
If you don't get a call in a week or 10 days then mail grievance team to upgrade to DCB metal FYF as part of Alumni offer. Mention your college name, attach your degree and last 3 month payslips.

Have tried it. It doesnt work. Grievances has clearly said that this offer of DCB Metal is also discontinued.
Even shared following link of Card Insider. Didnt work.

https://cardinsider.com/blog/hdfc-diners-club-black-alumni-offer-get-lifetime-free-upgrade/

 

[Dobbiee]

It's one of the only cards that gives Priority Pass with Unlimited Domestic and International lounge access for both Primary and Add on,

The joining/Renewal fee gets covered by Points every year(although i don't know if it's as good we've to use it to redeem mmt vouchers which can be used without any other discount ,i though ICICI might have a flight booking portal or something to redeem points directly)

It gives Taj stay on joining,

3% base reward rate ,

Unlimited Golf ,

All in all it might not be as good as Infinia but it's close enough

Try for Metal card of HDFC. Should get all these + rewards.
Emeralde Metal, if offered, should be taken as paid due to the joining benefits. After a year you can decide whether to continue it.

 

[Dobbiee]

@Swastik,
Bhai would suggest to keep only 1 credit card and spend full possible on it. This would not only help in upgrading, but would also make life simple and save your time from too much thinking on which card to use where.

As @SSV had said in one of his posts - there are 3 ways to increase wealth.
1. Increase earning
2. Save Money (Cost cutting)
3. Re-invest

Decide on which activity you want to spend time.

 

[Swastik]

Try for Metal card of HDFC. Should get all these + rewards.
Emeralde Metal, if offered, should be taken as paid due to the joining benefits. After a year you can decide whether to continue it.

No renewal benefits ,also difficult to get anything from HDFC ,though i know some prople have got it LTF

 

[Swastik]

Decide on which activity you want to spend time.

Thanks,
I know less cards = less headache
My Primary driver is Amex Plat Travel and then Axis Vistara Signature wherever Amex won't work ,Tata Neu for UPI

 

[Dobbiee]

No renewal benefits ,also difficult to get anything from HDFC ,though i know some prople have got it LTF

Make a plan on how to get it. With several cards in your pocket, you would always want to maximize rewards by checking offers and evaluating which one fits best to every situation.

I started with HDFC Millennia and now targeting DCB Metal. The plan is to explore DCB Metal fully to get 10000 bonus points every quarter. For this, I would be spending fully on DCB only. No other card. Have kept Tata Neu Infinity only for UPI and back-up of where DCB doesnt works. Beyond this I wont bother to see what extra benefits other cards give as that brings temptation to have several cards (specially LTF).

And incase your annual spends are not enough for renewal fee waiver than there is no point of having that card.
For my entire life, I never went to a lounge. Was not bothered also. Always bought food at airports or had it in flight.
Took Emeralde Metal only on the basis of joining benefit. Though after getting it, have used it over 20 times in lounges in the last 6 months.

 

[Swastik]

For my entire life, I never went to a lounge. Was not bothered also.
Though after getting it, have used it over 20 times in lounges in the last 6 months.

You know i used pass by these lounges and think it's just for Business Class Passengers and VIPs ,untill i got my first lounge card in 2017 (ICICI MMT) ,now i plan to leave early to the airport just to spend some time in lounge

As for the rest i get your point, concentrate more on cards i want to upgrade rather then divide my spends by Rewards

 

[Dobbiee]

Infinia - Infinia upgrade journey from Diners Club Rewardz

Hi All, Just wanted to share my journey over the years with HDFC credit cards and eventually getting Infinia Metal as it might be helpful for others who might be in a similar pursuit. May 2016 - First relationship of any sorts with HDFC in the form of HDFC Diners Club Rewardz CC [Now...

www.technofino.in

Just gone through this thread and found out statement generation doesn't count towards the spends, so network change and just check down how many days its been.

@bvc19296 @Vasuki

Did an exercise to calculate start date and spends on my current Millennia card.
Took out all bills and checked old sms to know card activation date.

Findings:

1. Millennia Diners was activated on 26th October 2023.
2. Changed the card to Millennia Visa and it was activated on 28th Dec. So it completes 6 months on 28th June 2024.
3. Spends were below 4 lacs on Millennia Visa, while I was fighting with HDFC for upgradation. But if Millennia Diners is also included then it was well above 4 lacs.

Had some discussions with customer services of HDFC. What I understood:

1. Transfer of network from Diners to Visa is not counted as upgradation. Time and spends on previous network card is also counted, as its same card account.
2. There is not much rigidity about 6 months waiting period. It can be waived off if fulfilling other criteria.
3. Whether billed or unbilled doesn’t matter. Total spends is seen.
4. Upgradation is done basis customer profile and offers (Backend team has different offers on their system). Was not able to get more details on what they mean by 'customer profile'.

Possible reasons that I think could have prevented upgradation of Millennia to DCB metal in May 2024:

1. I am a new customer for HDFC. Both bank account and credit card are new.
2. Upgradation being asked directly from Millennia to DCB Metal (bypassing Privilege and Regalia Gold).
3. The criteria for DCB Metal might be different from DCB PVC. As there is change in annual spends waiver criteria from 5 to 8 lacs compared to DCB PVC, there might be change in spends in last 6 months and minimum CL criteria for upgradation.
4. Number of upgrades they can do in a month. April/May might be a lower number target for them.

I would take another attempt of applying for upgradation to DCB in a couple of days. But not escalate. Don’t want to become an irritating customer for them. This time going to fill the Chennai wala form alongwith supporting documents and share with customer services on email to take action.
Will update soon.

 

[Vasuki]

@bvc19296 @Vasuki

Did an exercise to calculate start date and spends on my current Millennia card.
Took out all bills and checked old sms to know card activation date.

Findings:

1. Millennia Diners was activated on 26th October 2023.
2. Changed the card to Millennia Visa and it was activated on 28th Dec. So it completes 6 months on 28th June 2024.
3. Spends were below 4 lacs on Millennia Visa, while I was fighting with HDFC for upgradation. But if Millennia Diners is also included then it was well above 4 lacs.

Had some discussions with customer services of HDFC. What I understood:

1. Transfer of network from Diners to Visa is not counted as upgradation. Time and spends on previous network card is also counted, as its same card account.
2. There is not much rigidity about 6 months waiting period. It can be waived off if fulfilling other criteria.
3. Whether billed or unbilled doesn’t matter. Total spends is seen.
4. Upgradation is done basis customer profile and offers (Backend team has different offers on their system). Was not able to get more details on what they mean by 'customer profile'.

Possible reasons that I think could have prevented upgradation of Millennia to DCB metal in May 2024:

1. I am a new customer for HDFC. Both bank account and credit card are new.
2. Upgradation being asked directly from Millennia to DCB Metal (bypassing Privilege and Regalia Gold).
3. The criteria for DCB Metal might be different from DCB PVC. As there is change in annual spends waiver criteria from 5 to 8 lacs compared to DCB PVC, there might be change in spends in last 6 months and minimum CL criteria for upgradation.
4. Number of upgrades they can do in a month. April/May might be a lower number target for them.

I would take another attempt of applying for upgradation to DCB in a couple of days. But not escalate. Don’t want to become an irritating customer for them. This time going to fill the Chennai wala form alongwith supporting documents and share with customer services on email to take action.
Will update soon.

Great keep us updated if you land into something

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

@bvc19296 @Vasuki

Did an exercise to calculate start date and spends on my current Millennia card.
Took out all bills and checked old sms to know card activation date.

Findings:

1. Millennia Diners was activated on 26th October 2023.
2. Changed the card to Millennia Visa and it was activated on 28th Dec. So it completes 6 months on 28th June 2024.
3. Spends were below 4 lacs on Millennia Visa, while I was fighting with HDFC for upgradation. But if Millennia Diners is also included then it was well above 4 lacs.

Had some discussions with customer services of HDFC. What I understood:

1. Transfer of network from Diners to Visa is not counted as upgradation. Time and spends on previous network card is also counted, as its same card account.
2. There is not much rigidity about 6 months waiting period. It can be waived off if fulfilling other criteria.
3. Whether billed or unbilled doesn’t matter. Total spends is seen.
4. Upgradation is done basis customer profile and offers (Backend team has different offers on their system). Was not able to get more details on what they mean by 'customer profile'.

Possible reasons that I think could have prevented upgradation of Millennia to DCB metal in May 2024:

1. I am a new customer for HDFC. Both bank account and credit card are new.
2. Upgradation being asked directly from Millennia to DCB Metal (bypassing Privilege and Regalia Gold).
3. The criteria for DCB Metal might be different from DCB PVC. As there is change in annual spends waiver criteria from 5 to 8 lacs compared to DCB PVC, there might be change in spends in last 6 months and minimum CL criteria for upgradation.
4. Number of upgrades they can do in a month. April/May might be a lower number target for them.

I would take another attempt of applying for upgradation to DCB in a couple of days. But not escalate. Don’t want to become an irritating customer for them. This time going to fill the Chennai wala form alongwith supporting documents and share with customer services on email to take action.
Will update soon.

Post your update here.

 

[rogerthat]

Yes. Straight from Amazon Pay to Emeralde Private Metal.
Had high spends on Amazon card for several years and long relationship with ICICI.

This is what matters. I tried to get *any* update from Amazon Pay card and escalated until PNO but I was very clearly told that I will not be getting any upgrade as my profile does not suit their requirements. My savings account was dormant for nearly a decade though I had heavy spends on Amazon Pay card, but apparently co-branded cards are very low down in the hierarchy.

 

[Dobbiee]

@bvc19296 @Vasuki
I think all the confusion is happening due to the network change on Millennia card.
Today got connected to a manager on phone banking as the executive was unable to resolve.

Initially the manager also said that my card was upgraded in Dec end and it needs to complete 6 months. But then he realized that it was only a network change from Diners to Visa. After some thinking and hesitation he said that I can send a request form to Chennai for consideration.
Have sent the filled up form to Chennai and also marked an email to Grievances to consider spends and time on both the cards from October 2023.
Lets see if the message reaches the person who processes the papers.

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

Not sure how they consider for network change. AFIAK they consider spends on single card only and the card has to be six months old.

In your case on network change card number would have changed, so that might be causing an issue. You have to wait for six months from the exact date of Visa network issued and spends of more than 4L and 5L CL.

@rajantech So my guess might be right.

Anyways post the update so that outcome can be learnt.

 

[Dobbiee]

For the benefit of Community, sharing the new address of HDFC Chennai where courier should be sent for upgradation/limit increase going forward.

The Manager,
HDFC Bank Cards Division,
Door No 94 SP, Estate Bus Stand,
Wavin Main Road, Mogappair West,
Chennai 600058

HDFC Cards division has shifted to this new address.

 

[Vasuki]

For the benefit of Community, sharing the new address of HDFC Chennai where courier should be sent for upgradation/limit increase going forward.

The Manager,
HDFC Bank Cards Division,
Door No 94 SP, Estate Bus Stand,
Wavin Main Road, Mogappair West,
Chennai 600058

HDFC Cards division has shifted to this new address.

Make a post about it !

 

[Dobbiee]

Make a post about it !

Done. Chotu sa post hai. 😉

 

[Vasuki]

Done. Chotu sa post hai. 😉

Cool . .

 

[Sudip]

Thanks,
I know less cards = less headache

one hundred percent.

 

[Dobbiee]

@rajantech So my guess might be right.

Anyways post the update so that outcome can be learnt.

@bvc19296 @Vasuki

My Millennia card has been upgraded to Diners Black Metal today.
How I analyze my situation:

When I applied for upgradation in May 2024 (Rejected)
Spends on Diners Millennia – aprox 1.8 lacs (26th Oct – 27th Dec)
Spends on Visa Millennia – aprox 3.5 lacs (28th Dec – 15th May)

When I applied for upgradation in June 2024 (Accepted today)
Spends on Diners Millennia – aprox 1.8 lacs (26th Oct – 27th Dec)
Spends in Visa Millennia – aprox 5.3 lacs (28th Dec – 10th June)

The criteria of 6 months definitely applies. And since request was rejected in May 2024, means that they did not consider spends and time on previous Diners Millenia network.

As of today, the Visa Millenia is just 13 days short of completing 6 months. Think this is a small relaxation they would have done.
Additionally I think right now HDFC seems to be increasing credit card customers (offers appearing on HDFC website) and quite open for upgrades. That’s what I feel.

Other positive things that could have worked:

1. Paid full amounts due through bill pay before due date.​
2. Opened small RDs. One RD was with help of Phone banking (The executive requested. Seems like they are having targets).​
3. And ofcourse my salary justifies Infinia, and I was only asking for DCB.​

Other pointers:

1. No CIBIL check done. (Could also be because they already did that last month while increasing limit).​
2. The current outstanding balance of Rs 1.6 lacs has been transferred to new Diners card and the reward rate on these spends would be as per DCB Metal program. Checked this with Phone banking.​