Thoughts- Should I upgrade to HDFC Dinner black or Get Axis Magnus?

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

Hi, everyone.

Currently I am using HDFC Regalia LTF and Amex platinum travel credit card. I spend roughly around 80k per month(including rent) on credit cards.

Usually I spends as follows,,

1. Rent 24000 p.m. by regalia(no rewards points earned). Reason Amex is not suppported or too expensive.
2.Around 35 to 40000 on amex. For online spends such as Amazon, groceries, medicines etc. Goal is to complete 4 lacs spend milestone to earn maximum bonus rewards points this year.
3. Remaining around 15000,I use regalia ,whenevever Amex is not supported such as local shops.

Now I am thinking to get Magnus.
Reasons to consider Magnus
1.Pay rent and earn rewards.
2. After 4lacs milestone on amex, shift all expenses to Magnus. Some months I may cross 1 lac limit as I have to buy new things.
3.Travel planning. As I love to travel.


Reasons not to consider Magnus
1. Got an upgrade offer to DCB. 1st year free.
2. Spend 5 lacs on DCB (which is easily achievable) and get renewal free waived off.
3. May not get maximum benefits of Magnus as my expenses are under 1 lacs.
4.Renewal fees is expensive.
4.Difficult to get add on card.

Reasons to consider DCB
1. Unlimited lounge access to primary and add on card
2.Future hope of Infinia upgrade.
3.Miles transfer(as recently HDFC has increased miles partner) and Smartbuy travel to book flights and hotels.

Reasons not to consider DCB
1.Not much rewarding.
2. Acceptance issue.

So guys please help and guide me.Should I get DCB or Magnus.

 

[WhoU]

Not reliable as in ?
You mean to say the overall service of SpiceJet in general , or is their something wrong with their frequent flyer program ??

I said spiceclub - the frequent flyer program

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

I said spiceclub - the frequent flyer program

Ok
Haven’t heard anything on that , my colleague is part of the program , he seem to be quite ok with it.

 

[gauravbaha]

Magnus anyday, Diners black is not much useful it has lower caps on all things

 

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

Following thread since am in the same situation now 🙂

So please share your toughts also.

 

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

Ok
But if we calculate the the reward, then also I think Magnus will be better than dcb

As per my undertakes , dcb gives 5 points per 150 rs spend

And Magnus gives 12 points on 200 Rs spend

So for a spend of 5 lakhs without any accelerated or milestones

We can get 30k RP for magnus and 16667 and is converted to Air milestone for Magnus we get straight 24k miles

And in DCB best case will be 1 RP = 1 miles , max that can be 16,667 miles

Also the annual charge we pay for Magnus is well compensated by the 10k voucher , which makes effective annual charges of some 3k .


Let me know if my understanding is correct

You don’t have to convert to miles for dcb points. You can directly redeem flights for the reward points you have with 1 point = 1re. You need to pay 30% in cash and 70% in points but that 30% will get you 5x points too.

Only vistara gives 1:1 ratio for mile: price. That might not be true always though. For example, bangalore to hyderabad flights are for rs 2500 and vistara points are 4000.
If you were to redeem it via DCB, you would require 1750 points and pay 750 on top of it and get 125 rp for that 750 too.
If you were to redeem via Magnus by converting to CV points, you would require 5000 points (5:4 ratio) and pay 500 over it for which you will get 24 points.

Magnus airmiles is only for you if you have a vistara flight in your regular route and the flight is relatively expensive, more than 5k.

Now I am really understanding Airmiles value.

 

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

Ok
But if we calculate the the reward, then also I think Magnus will be better than dcb

As per my undertakes , dcb gives 5 points per 150 rs spend

And Magnus gives 12 points on 200 Rs spend

So for a spend of 5 lakhs without any accelerated or milestones

We can get 30k RP for magnus and 16667 and is converted to Air milestone for Magnus we get straight 24k miles

And in DCB best case will be 1 RP = 1 miles , max that can be 16,667 miles

Also the annual charge we pay for Magnus is well compensated by the 10k voucher , which makes effective annual charges of some 3k .


Let me know if my understanding is correct

I got your point. Nicely elaborated.
Will you or anybody can share the airmiles booking experience of Magnus. Because few threads are mentioning that getting a award flight is tricky. Most of the times we have to book well in advance,even then it's difficult to get an award flight seats.
As per my understanding, with DCB we can book a flight directly through smartbuy portal with accumulated points(70% of total value),no need to convert to airmiles.
Till date I have never used any of the above method. But sure I will try this year.
It's very confusing.

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

I got your point. Nicely elaborated.
Will you or anybody can share the airmiles booking experience of Magnus. Because few threads are mentioning that getting a award flight is tricky. Most of the times we have to book well in advance,even then it's difficult to get an award flight seats.
As per my understanding, with DCB we can book a flight directly through smartbuy portal with accumulated points(70% of total value),no need to convert to airmiles.
Till date I have never used any of the above method. But sure I will try this year.
It's very confusing.

I have never used smartbuy so I am not sure , also for direct flight bookings there are other Websites which can provide better deals like kayak or Skyscanner etc.

Now coming to airmiles , there are 2 kinds of bookings that can be done from airmiles that are
1 ) Award Saver - this are seats that are released from airlines which can only be booked though miles , airlines offer those seats as loyalty for their frequent fliers , as availability of such tickets are less so you need to be a bit proactive in booking those and should be flexible with your dates , mostly 1 or 2 tickets are awarded on business class and around 5 to 8 in economy.

2) Miles + Rs - this are normal tickets which can be booked using some miles and Rs .


There is another option in which you can buy revenue ticket and then on counter you can upgrade your ticket using miles

 

[gauravbaha]

with HDFC Smartbuy you are right the process is much simpler & smooth, and you can book any flight ( ie no award seat lafda )
for Magnus, i haven't done it either but reading from other, it's not that simple

 

[sv004]

Hi, everyone.

Currently I am using HDFC Regalia LTF and Amex platinum travel credit card. I spend roughly around 80k per month(including rent) on credit cards.

Usually I spends as follows,,

1. Rent 24000 p.m. by regalia(no rewards points earned). Reason Amex is not suppported or too expensive.
2.Around 35 to 40000 on amex. For online spends such as Amazon, groceries, medicines etc. Goal is to complete 4 lacs spend milestone to earn maximum bonus rewards points this year.
3. Remaining around 15000,I use regalia ,whenevever Amex is not supported such as local shops.

Now I am thinking to get Magnus.
Reasons to consider Magnus
1.Pay rent and earn rewards.
2. After 4lacs milestone on amex, shift all expenses to Magnus. Some months I may cross 1 lac limit as I have to buy new things.
3.Travel planning. As I love to travel.


Reasons not to consider Magnus
1. Got an upgrade offer to DCB. 1st year free.
2. Spend 5 lacs on DCB (which is easily achievable) and get renewal free waived off.
3. May not get maximum benefits of Magnus as my expenses are under 1 lacs.
4.Renewal fees is expensive.
4.Difficult to get add on card.

Reasons to consider DCB
1. Unlimited lounge access to primary and add on card
2.Future hope of Infinia upgrade.
3.Miles transfer(as recently HDFC has increased miles partner) and Smartbuy travel to book flights and hotels.

Reasons not to consider DCB
1.Not much rewarding.
2. Acceptance issue.

So guys please help and guide me.Should I get DCB or Magnus.

U can get rewards for rent payment on regalia. Register ur self on redgiraffe on payzapp and make payment from that. Its counted as insurance payment and u earn rewards.

 

[WhoU]

U can get rewards for rent payment on regalia. Register ur self on redgiraffe on payzapp and make payment from that. Its counted as insurance payment and u earn rewards.

When did you do this last?

 

[sv004]

When did you do this last?

In jan

 

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

U can get rewards for rent payment on regalia. Register ur self on redgiraffe on payzapp and make payment from that. Its counted as insurance payment and u earn rewards.

I am used the same method earlier also. If I am not wrong, rewards on payzapp rent payment is mentioned in the last section i.e. rewards point summary. Where it's mentioned as a insurance transaction. Both in December 2022 and Jan 2023 I got rewards.

 

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

I have never used smartbuy so I am not sure , also for direct flight bookings there are other Websites which can provide better deals like kayak or Skyscanner etc.

Now coming to airmiles , there are 2 kinds of bookings that can be done from airmiles that are
1 ) Award Saver - this are seats that are released from airlines which can only be booked though miles , airlines offer those seats as loyalty for their frequent fliers , as availability of such tickets are less so you need to be a bit proactive in booking those and should be flexible with your dates , mostly 1 or 2 tickets are awarded on business class and around 5 to 8 in economy.

2) Miles + Rs - this are normal tickets which can be booked using some miles and Rs .


There is another option in which you can buy revenue ticket and then on counter you can upgrade your ticket using miles

As mentined in point no. 2, can we book any company's , both domestic and international flights? Can Magnus points will be used,which can save money?

All I am trying to get a descent benefit from any card for flight booking. If magnus seems to be good and not much troublesome, I will sure gona get it.

At some time I have a feeling that, Magnus is all trying to create a big show, which can get over sooner or later. Anyways, creating this tread is improving my knowledge a lot. Let's continue the discussion.

 

[NikTravelEnthusiast]

You don’t have to convert to miles for dcb points. You can directly redeem flights for the reward points you have with 1 point = 1re. You need to pay 30% in cash and 70% in points but that 30% will get you 5x points too.

Only vistara gives 1:1 ratio for mile: price. That might not be true always though. For example, bangalore to hyderabad flights are for rs 2500 and vistara points are 4000.
If you were to redeem it via DCB, you would require 1750 points and pay 750 on top of it and get 125 rp for that 750 too.
If you were to redeem via Magnus by converting to CV points, you would require 5000 points (5:4 ratio) and pay 500 over it for which you will get 24 points.

Magnus airmiles is only for you if you have a vistara flight in your regular route and the flight is relatively expensive, more than 5k.

Lastly you mentioned Magnus gives maximum benefits on Vistara flights booking.

I maximum times use Indigo, thats the only company which is available in my route. And what about international route,is Magnus is good for that?

 

[WhoU]

Lastly you mentioned Magnus gives maximum benefits on Vistara flights booking.

I maximum times use Indigo, thats the only company which is available in my route. And what about international route,is Magnus is good for that?

Magnus is not at all good for indigo. It is worse than even axis flipkart or amazon pay icici which has 5% or 2% additional cashback.

International yes, magnus is quite good.

 

[sv004]

I am used the same method earlier also. If I am not wrong, rewards on payzapp rent payment is mentioned in the last section i.e. rewards point summary. Where it's mentioned as a insurance transaction. Both in December 2022 and Jan 2023 I got rewards.

Yes its mentioned in the last

 

[kredit]

U can get rewards for rent payment on regalia. Register ur self on redgiraffe on payzapp and make payment from that. Its counted as insurance payment and u earn rewards.

In that case, shouldn't rent payments made through redgiraffe also be considered for the 1 lac milestone on Magnus?

 

[sv004]

In that case, shouldn't rent payments made through redgiraffe also be considered for the 1 lac milestone on Magnus?

I dont have magnus so no idea abt that