Which card to use? Diners black or Magnus

[GASAHU79]

Dear Experts
A month back HDFC upgraded my Regalia to Diners black . Recently I applied for Axis Magnus which is approved as well.
My average credit card expense would be 7-8 L per year. 1-2 times a year it may go above 1 L a month.
I was happy with Regalia , but Diners doesn’t work at some places. I have few international trips a year (mostly official) , so wanted a visa/mc as Diners could be a challenge.

So my question is should I make most of my expenses on Diners or Magnus. If i make most of expenses on Diners I can certainly waive off next year fee of Diners. There is no way that can happen with Magnus.

I see Magnus has good rate for transfer to airmiles , but I am in Hyderabad and may not get much options for Vistara. Airasia is good option but it limits travel to international only.

For Diners I primarily use points to book flight tickets.

In summary, I request your guidance on the following:
1. Which should be my primary card ( Diners black or Magnus) ?
2. If answer to above is Diners - should I use Magnus on those months where I know that my month aggregate will be 1L plus ( it can easily happen if I pay school fees by card) .
3. My primary concern - if Magnus is option suggested than in future I would have to cancel Diners as won’t want to pay its annual fee without any return voucher or points.

 

[GASAHU79]

I see some responses on other threads with preference to use Magnus. But unless we are using airmiles for vistara and other limited international flights, I believe that we get 3.33% on DCB compared to 1.2% on Magnus via traveledge. I shouldn’t be making my travel plans based on which card I have, rather I should use card which can support my travel plans. That’s the dilemma.

 

[Lord Of Darkness]

I would still say - make Magnus your primary card.

Logic is as below.

- for months where you know spends will cross 1 lakh it's a no brainer to use magnus. You get 25000 + 6000 points which even at 0.2 rupees will still be worth more than 6k !

- for all other months when spend is less than a lakh plan on what gives you better returns. I would still use magnus Ex: use gyftr coupons for all your purchases which has multiplier upto 10x with no limit on points. Ex : Yatra at 10x for all air travel booking, Amazon shopping voucher at 5X for all shopping purchases and swiggy once again for 5x etc. This itself boosts the reward rate from 1.2% to 12%.

The beauty of magnus is there is no limit or capping on points for now whereas DCB has daily limit of 2500 bonus points and 7500 monthly points plus most smartbuy are restricted to 3X only.

 

[GASAHU79]

Thank you . I do understand that i will earn higher returns on Magnus on most spends. But the major challenge is where to use these points of magnus.
Vistara is not a great option for me.

Airasia is very uncertain. I searched the forum and couldn’t find single person who has used it.
and couldn’t find a single person who has used it.

ITC way too expensive even to book through points.

Mariott seems to be one option. Still need to research, it more.

Traveledge reward resumption is @1.2% vs smartbuy flight booking on DCB @3.33% is the dilemma.

 

[Lord Of Darkness]

Thank you . I do understand that i will earn higher returns on Magnus on most spends. But the major challenge is where to use these points of magnus.
Vistara is not a great option for me.

Airasia is very uncertain. I searched the forum and couldn’t find single person who has used it.
and couldn’t find a single person who has used it.

ITC way too expensive even to book through points.

Mariott seems to be one option. Still need to research, it more.

Traveledge reward resumption is @1.2% vs smartbuy flight booking on DCB @3.33% is the dilemma.

I would say transfer to MB - it will be helpful if in case you do plan a foreign trip.
The Rs value of 1 MB point might vary from 0.4 to even upwards of 1.5 to 2 rs, if you explore and book.

But in case you dont have any travel plans at all, and see no value in MB/Vistara or any other Travel partners, then maybe you are better off with using DCB exclusively during months when u dont hit 1 lakhs. I would suggest you use Gyftr vouchers using SmartBuy so that you get upto 10% return (ex: Amazon vouchers/ Amazon pay etc). This will help you utilize your DCB points for domestic flights etc.

So think on those lines as to what would be more beneficial for you - based on your needs 🙂

 

[GASAHU79]

I would say transfer to MB - it will be helpful if in case you do plan a foreign trip.
The Rs value of 1 MB point might vary from 0.4 to even upwards of 1.5 to 2 rs, if you explore and book.

But in case you dont have any travel plans at all, and see no value in MB/Vistara or any other Travel partners, then maybe you are better off with using DCB exclusively during months when u dont hit 1 lakhs. I would suggest you use Gyftr vouchers using SmartBuy so that you get upto 10% return (ex: Amazon vouchers/ Amazon pay etc). This will help you utilize your DCB points for domestic flights etc.

So think on those lines as to what would be more beneficial for you - based on your needs 🙂

Fantastic !! That really helps @mayurnayak84 .
Thank you

 

[manzb]

If it helps. I just closed my DCB after using it for last 6 years. The benefits are trickle now. And the spend criteria are complicated (daily/monthly limits).

Magnus is a no brainer for almost all kinds of spends as of now.

First - It is on Visa and acceptability is not an issue. DCB is somewhat difficult with regard to acceptability.

Second- though bare minimum return with the worst redemption is 1.2% but can easily bump it with many ways (grabdeals, gyftr, traveledge) to 6% to 30-48% (Marks & spencer with 40X points). This is if we opt for the lowest redemption option @0.2 per point.

Third- Milestone benefit of 25K. It is easily can be managed for few months if not all in the metros via School +Bus Fees, NPS, Insurance, and any shortfall by buying vouchers of Amazon/Swiggy/ Zomato/Flipkart from Gyftr. I have mentioned metros as the school fees are typically high and consumption via Swiggy/ Zomato/ Amazon is quite common.

Fourth- If we know how to manage the hotel and airline loyalty, you can easily bump the return by 3-5 times if not more. Most Loyalty gives a value of 50ps to 1.5 rs. Conservatively you can take 75Ps. Valuation of Airline programs are normally better than the hotel programs.

I have already shifted 90% of my expenses to only this card. I do have paid version of Vistara Infinite, SC Ultimate and Amex Travel alongwith free ICICI Saphiro. But rarely use any of them.

 

[GASAHU79]

If it helps. I just closed my DCB after using it for last 6 years. The benefits are trickle now. And the spend criteria are complicated (daily/monthly limits).

Magnus is a no brainer for almost all kinds of spends as of now.

First - It is on Visa and acceptability is not an issue. DCB is somewhat difficult with regard to acceptability.

Second- though bare minimum return with the worst redemption is 1.2% but can easily bump it with many ways (grabdeals, gyftr, traveledge) to 6% to 30-48% (Marks & spencer with 40X points). This is if we opt for the lowest redemption option @0.2 per point.

Third- Milestone benefit of 25K. It is easily can be managed for few months if not all in the metros via School +Bus Fees, NPS, Insurance, and any shortfall by buying vouchers of Amazon/Swiggy/ Zomato/Flipkart from Gyftr. I have mentioned metros as the school fees are typically high and consumption via Swiggy/ Zomato/ Amazon is quite common.

Fourth- If we know how to manage the hotel and airline loyalty, you can easily bump the return by 3-5 times if not more. Most Loyalty gives a value of 50ps to 1.5 rs. Conservatively you can take 75Ps. Valuation of Airline programs are normally better than the hotel programs.

I have already shifted 90% of my expenses to only this card. I do have paid version of Vistara Infinite, SC Ultimate and Amex Travel alongwith free ICICI Saphiro. But rarely use any of them.

That helps .
For now my plan :
1. Use msgnus if I know 1L can be crossed
2. Use magnus/DCB based upon where to get accelerated points
3. Use DCB as default for rest
4. Heard magnus is not issuing add on so will need a card for wifey anyway. Hence DCB needs to continue.
5. Will see upon completion of 1 year , if my DCB is not getting renewal free due to shortfall of target, I have think beyond DCB.

 

[manzb]

That helps .
For now my plan :
1. Use msgnus if I know 1L can be crossed
2. Use magnus/DCB based upon where to get accelerated points
3. Use DCB as default for rest
4. Heard magnus is not issuing add on so will need a card for wifey anyway. Hence DCB needs to continue.
5. Will see upon completion of 1 year , if my DCB is not getting renewal free due to shortfall of target, I have think beyond DCB.

That is another issue with DCB.. less than 450k, u need to shell out 10k as fees with no renewal benefits. But Magnus even if paid, u get mostly the amount back via TataCLiQ voucher.

 

[Lord Of Darkness]

That helps .
For now my plan :
1. Use msgnus if I know 1L can be crossed
2. Use magnus/DCB based upon where to get accelerated points
3. Use DCB as default for rest
4. Heard magnus is not issuing add on so will need a card for wifey anyway. Hence DCB needs to continue.
5. Will see upon completion of 1 year , if my DCB is not getting renewal free due to shortfall of target, I have think beyond DCB.

I honestly think DCB is overpriced in today's competitive card market.

With so many devaluations in the recent past, lot of people wont see the value in paying 10k when you are getting nothing in return ( in terms of bonus points or vouchers).

HDFC needs to relook at their pricing strategy, especially now that the King Magnus is in full form 😉

 

[aniruddhaadhe]

I would say transfer to MB - it will be helpful if in case you do plan a foreign trip.
The Rs value of 1 MB point might vary from 0.4 to even upwards of 1.5 to 2 rs, if you explore and book.

But in case you dont have any travel plans at all, and see no value in MB/Vistara or any other Travel partners, then maybe you are better off with using DCB exclusively during months when u dont hit 1 lakhs. I would suggest you use Gyftr vouchers using SmartBuy so that you get upto 10% return (ex: Amazon vouchers/ Amazon pay etc). This will help you utilize your DCB points for domestic flights etc.

So think on those lines as to what would be more beneficial for you - based on your needs 🙂

Is there any limit specifically for ‘amazon pay’ vouchers on DCB? ( apart from 2500 per day, 7500 per month)

 

[CCUser_1999]

Is there any limit specifically for ‘amazon pay’ vouchers on DCB? ( apart from 2500 per day, 7500 per month)

20K points/card/month