• Hey there! Welcome to TFC! View fewer ads on the website just by signing up on TF Community.

MRCC vs Regalia Gold

kaykayporty

TF Select
I've had the AMEX MRCC for about 6 months now. The thing is I also have the Plat Travel and I hate the monthly nonsense I have to do with Gift cards for the MRCC.

I much rather prefer the yearly milestone with the Plat Travel.

I also have a LTF Regalia. I'm wondering if it is worth upgrading to FYF Regalia Gold.

My yearly expenses would around 7 lakhs on combined on credit cards. My only comparison would be value derived from these cards - nothing else.

---

GYFTR is quite a hassle with multiple minimum INR 1500 transactions and then the 20K milestone as well.

The milestone for Plat Travel is 4L in a year. I gotta pay the fees anyway. Might as well get amazing AMEX points.
70%
I'm obviously going to cross the fees threshold for the MRCC, but not sure if I'll be able to for the Regalia Gold.

Who's points are more worth it? Assuming 70% value for Amex points and Smartbuy redemption for Regalia Gold.
 
I also have a LTF Regalia. I'm wondering if it is worth upgrading to FYF Regalia Gold.

My yearly expenses would around 7 lakhs on combined on credit cards.

--
Regalia Gold LTF is easily given to a lot of people, but the card is itself is useful only for few specific use cases.
If you do have big expenses in last 6 months, I suggest, show them to HDFC and try/negotiate/escalate/haggle for DCB/DCB metal.
 
If you have regalia/regalia gold then MRCC/Gold Charge just for the 4 transactions on GYFTR doesn't make sense to me. If you use regalia for the same exact transactions you would get equivalent if not more value.(Factoring in the cost of the cards as well)
 
Regalia Gold LTF is easily given to a lot of people, but the card is itself is useful only for few specific use cases.
If you do have big expenses in last 6 months, I suggest, show them to HDFC and try/negotiate/escalate/haggle for DCB/DCB metal.
Regalia is just sitting in the drawer because the reward rate is horrendous. The only reason I haven't cancelled it is that it's my first card and I got priority pass with it.

I've shifted all non-AMEX expenses to ICICI Amazon card.
 
If you have regalia/regalia gold then MRCC/Gold Charge just for the 4 transactions on GYFTR doesn't make sense to me. If you use regalia for the same exact transactions you would get equivalent if not more value.(Factoring in the cost of the cards as well)
The base reward rate on Regalia is absolute garbage. How would the value be equivalent unless I only use it on smartbuy?
 
The base reward rate on Regalia is absolute garbage. How would the value be equivalent unless I only use it on smartbuy?
You answered your own question.
Even to get better reward rate in Regalia you need to go through SmartBuy.
Stick to Amex and hit the 20k milestone per month on MRCC for the additional expenses
For situations where Amex isn't accepted, use Apay for 1% CB

About reward point value
Amex points being worth ₹0.7p according to you, you get 1.4% return where as Regalia it is 1.33%
Amex has an upper hand because of milestone benefits, which are easier to achieve unlike 1.5L in quarter in Regalia

On the contrary, if you spends are of travel nature, flights/hotels booked through third party then regalia will defnitely give you better value 5x/10x on flights/hotels
 
The base reward rate on Regalia is absolute garbage. How would the value be equivalent unless I only use it on smartbuy?
The base reward rate on the amex cards is also garbage. The comparison would be LTF Regalia on Smartbuy/Gyftr vs Paid MRCC/Gold being used just for milestone.
On 144k Gyftr Spends you should get around 19,200 points on regalia which if transferred to accor would provide a higher value return.
 
You answered your own question.
Even to get better reward rate in Regalia you need to go through SmartBuy.
Stick to Amex and hit the 20k milestone per month on MRCC for the additional expenses
For situations where Amex isn't accepted, use Apay for 1% CB

About reward point value
Amex points being worth ₹0.7p according to you, you get 1.4% return where as Regalia it is 1.33%
Amex has an upper hand because of milestone benefits, which are easier to achieve unlike 1.5L in quarter in Regalia

On the contrary, if you spends are of travel nature, flights/hotels booked through third party then regalia will defnitely give you better value 5x/10x on flights/hotels
My regular spends aren't travel.
 
You answered your own question.
Even to get better reward rate in Regalia you need to go through SmartBuy.
Stick to Amex and hit the 20k milestone per month on MRCC for the additional expenses
For situations where Amex isn't accepted, use Apay for 1% CB

About reward point value
Amex points being worth ₹0.7p according to you, you get 1.4% return where as Regalia it is 1.33%
Amex has an upper hand because of milestone benefits, which are easier to achieve unlike 1.5L in quarter in Regalia

On the contrary, if you spends are of travel nature, flights/hotels booked through third party then regalia will defnitely give you better value 5x/10x on flights/hotels
I wish MRCC wasn't such a pain to use. I'm trying to simplify my life.

I was hoping Regalia Gold would help me out here.
 
The base reward rate on the amex cards is also garbage. The comparison would be LTF Regalia on Smartbuy/Gyftr vs Paid MRCC/Gold being used just for milestone.
On 144k Gyftr Spends you should get around 19,200 points on regalia which if transferred to accor would provide a higher value return.
The math for Regalia sounds do-able. I do actually like Accor honestly.

Let me look into this.
 
The base reward rate on the amex cards is also garbage. The comparison would be LTF Regalia on Smartbuy/Gyftr vs Paid MRCC/Gold being used just for milestone.
On 144k Gyftr Spends you should get around 19,200 points on regalia which if transferred to accor would provide a higher value return.
ok...regalia gold, you can get maximum 4000 points per month on smartbuy...that is maximum expenditure of rs. 30000 per month in smartbuy and 3.6 l per year
suppose, we do 2.4L expenditure both on regalia gold on smartbuy and amex MRCC and mrcc also using amex reward multiplier
Then, with MRCC point is 24000+2*2400 = 28800 which in cash is rs.7200 (1 point = 0.25) or in amazon Rs. 10000 and Marriot and taj max Rs.15000 value
with regalia gold point is 32,000 which in cash or amazon is Rs.6400 (1 point = 0.2) BUT in accor hotel cash value is Rs. 28,000 (32000 point = 16,000 accor point, 1000 accor point = 20 euro = Rs. 1850)

Hence, if accor is the target and you can do expenditure solely on smartbuy, Regalia gold is still better

with Regalia gold, use of smartbuy is possible for Rs. 20000 per month as I can buy bigbasket, More, reliance, zomato, nykaa, myntra, jockey, amazon shopping voucher (without any fee for general shopping in amazon), amazon pay coupon (with fee), flipkart, fabindia, spencer, restaurants, irctc train ticket, flight. hotel etc etc....

With regalia gold, it is doable to do the essential normal expenditures through smartbuy...
 
For axis atlas the calculations are as follows.. @drsel can check
As now the option of giftr portal is gone for atlas
two scenario can come
1) Booking hotel and flight either on their portal or directly from the company will give 5% point
2) Normal expenditure like in amazon, all other online, offline shopping 2% point

Now if your expenditure of rs, 20000 does not include hotel or flight booking, then for 2.4 Lacs of expenditure atlas will give 4800 points which in cash value = Rs. 1200. in accor point 9600 which will have cash value of Rs. 17500,,,But you have to give Rs. 5900 yearly fee as 2.4L is not enough to waive it off. i.e net Rs. 12000 (which is way less than Regalia gold)

Now if you only use atlas for hotel and flight booking (either direct or from their portal) you will get 12000 point = 24000 accor point = Rs. 40000 value - 6000 rs. annual fee = 34,000 value ( which is only Rs. 6000 more than Regalia gold)

The point is while Regalia gold can be used for normal day to day expenditures and get good enough value, Atlas requires only hotel and flight expenditure that also with t&c and with few hassles like keeping screenshots, vouchers ready in case of investigation and making you feel like a criminal.

And with AMEX biggest issue is acceptability..if you get the places to swipe the card or online websites to use...but amex Giftr portal is also useful....Amex have another advantages,, it have few list of exclusions...

Now you decide based on your requirement and set of criteria....

For me AMEX and Regalia gold both will work but Big no to Axis Atlas...
 
I think I am in the same boat as you. Just thinking of consolidating all cards into one or two for all expenses.

My cards are as below, but as of now I am using only Amazon Pay ICICI and Swiggy HDFC for all expenses.
All my other cards are just there dormant. I am thinking of deactivating all of them. (All are LTF though)
  1. ICICI Amazon Pay (LTF, 10L)
  2. ICICI Sapphiro (LTF, 10L)
  3. ICICI Coral Rupay (LTF, 10L shared)
  4. HDFC Swiggy (500, 1.5L)
  5. IDFC First Wealth (LTF, 4L)
  6. Federal Celesta (LTF, 5L)
  7. Federal Wave Rupay Virtual (LTF, 5L shared)
Now, I am getting Regalia Gold LTF from HDFC. I am also exploring Amex.

But like you told above, if 1500*4 is getting difficult each month for MRCC, then Platinum Travel would be a better choice where monthly spend requirement is not there. So basically, it will be HDFC Regalia Gold v/s Amex Platinum Travel.
Now, I haven't started exploring more on Regalia Gold features and benefits. I will see that. After that, my cards will be:
  1. ICICI Amazon Pay: for Amazon 5% cashback spends.
  2. HDFC Swiggy: for Swiggy 10% cashback spends
  3. Regalia Gold or Amex Platinum Travel: for everything else
  4. HDFC Tata Neu Infinity: for Rupay UPI scans
I believe this will make my life simpler and less cluttered.
 
Last edited:
I think I am in the same boat as you. Just thinking of consolidating all cards into one or two for all expenses.

My cards are as below, but as of now I am using only Amazon Pay ICICI and Swiggy HDFC for all expenses.
All my other cards are just there dormant. I am thinking of deactivating all of them. (All are LTF though)
  1. ICICI Amazon Pay (LTF, 10L)
  2. ICICI Sapphiro (LTF, 10L)
  3. ICICI Coral Rupay (LTF, 10L shared)
  4. HDFC Swiggy (500, 1.5L)
  5. IDFC First Wealth (LTF, 4L)
  6. Federal Celesta (LTF, 5L)
  7. Federal Wave Rupay Virtual (LTF, 5L shared)
You should keep one of the ICICI core cards. AFAIK Sapphiro has bookmyshow offer as well.
Or keep the Coral Rupay for UPI.
 
ok...regalia gold, you can get maximum 4000 points per month on smartbuy...that is maximum expenditure of rs. 30000 per month in smartbuy and 3.6 l per year
suppose, we do 2.4L expenditure both on regalia gold on smartbuy and amex MRCC and mrcc also using amex reward multiplier
Then, with MRCC point is 24000+2*2400 = 28800 which in cash is rs.7200 (1 point = 0.25) or in amazon Rs. 10000 and Marriot and taj max Rs.15000 value
with regalia gold point is 32,000 which in cash or amazon is Rs.6400 (1 point = 0.2) BUT in accor hotel cash value is Rs. 28,000 (32000 point = 16,000 accor point, 1000 accor point = 20 euro = Rs. 1850)

Hence, if accor is the target and you can do expenditure solely on smartbuy, Regalia gold is still better

with Regalia gold, use of smartbuy is possible for Rs. 20000 per month as I can buy bigbasket, More, reliance, zomato, nykaa, myntra, jockey, amazon shopping voucher (without any fee for general shopping in amazon), amazon pay coupon (with fee), flipkart, fabindia, spencer, restaurants, irctc train ticket, flight. hotel etc etc....

With regalia gold, it is doable to do the essential normal expenditures through smartbuy...
Just for context - I have the following cards

1. Amex Plat Travel
2. Amex MRCC
3. Apay
4. Regalia LTF

---

Current expenses:

1. MRCC - both milestones for regular expenses like groceries, cabs etc [Total 2.4L]. GYFTR only for 1500x4 milestone. The rest are normal expenses.
2. Plat Travel - If there's a major expense like flights or after I cross 20K on MRCC [Total 4L]
3. Apay - wherever AMEX isn't accepted [Total 1.5L easily]
4. Regalia - In the drawer.

Total ~10L in one year.

I want to keep Amex Plat Travel (I want one amex card).

I want my main redemption to be flights or hotels (whichever is easier) as I'd like to use my points only for that. In that case, would a Marriot transfer from AMEX or an Accor transfer from HDFC be better?

Both from an earning points perspective and using these points also. Where does AMEX fit? I'm clueless with redemption options.

Can you advise given my expenses?
 
This is not an answer, but I hope you have considered the following points:
• American Express offers a 30% bonus on points when converting to Marriott during their promotion period (typically in November-December).
• HDFC conducts a similar campaign once a year for Accor points transfers. (mostly in June-July)
• Marriott occasionally runs promotions where you receive bonus points when purchasing points directly.
Additionally, HDFC has a co-branded Marriott Bonvoy card that provides tier status and accelerated rewards for frequent Marriott property users.

Please refer to the threads below for more details.





 
Last edited:
This is not an answer, but I hope you have considered the following points:
• American Express offers a 30% bonus on points when converting to Marriott during their promotion period (typically in November-December).
• HDFC conducts a similar campaign once a year for Accor points transfers. (mostly in June-July)
• Marriott occasionally runs promotions where you receive bonus points when purchasing points directly.
Additionally, HDFC has a co-branded Marriott Bonvoy card that provides tier status and accelerated rewards for frequent Marriott property users.

Please refer to the threads below for more details.





Sort of, yeah. I have only done redemptions via smartbuy.

I have never transferred anything to either Marriot or Accor or any miles program.

This is my first entry into this. At this moment, I'm focused on earning points which can be redeemed later down the road.

Earn now and redeem them later.

---

also, HDFC has an expiry of 3 years on their points, right? So stupid.
 
Sort of, yeah. I have only done redemptions via smartbuy.

I have never transferred anything to either Marriot or Accor or any miles program.

This is my first entry into this. At this moment, I'm focused on earning points which can be redeemed later down the road.

Earn now and redeem them later.

---

also, HDFC has an expiry of 3 years on their points, right? So stupid.

Reward points will lapse if your card is inactive or dormant for more than 365 days

Reward points expire two years after they are accumulated. For example, if you earn points in May 2019, they will expire in May 2021
 
Back
Top