Hack to get Infinia Metal/DCB LTF

[myUser1878]

Is there a hack where we can submit account closing request for our credit cards (Infinia/DCB) that would then result in them giving us the card for LTF ? I've seen it work with SBI Credit Cards. Has anyone tried it ?

 

[jatinkrmalik]

I don't think anyone has been issued a LTF Infinia Metal card yet?!

 

[mojo_jojo123]

7 months

Nice ,, upgrade in 7 months itself. ..

 

[dilbersha]

I agree, dont understand why people want LTF when points = fees is given.

We can redeem points to starment cash credit?

 

[infinia_finally]

This is one valuable user feedback, but 7.5L for last 6 months maybe too much. Think they are only trying to generate more business out of you in exchange of Infinia lollypop.

Banks do get away with such things as people at times do their best to chase this illusion of a higher variant credit card and incur unnecessary expenses to attain them.

Totally agree. It's actually weird that AF waiver needs 10L annual spends, but qualification needs 7.5L in past 6 months.

A good influential RM/BM can get waiver on this criteria though, provided other 2 (income and current credit limit are met)

 

[infinia_finally]

I agree, dont understand why people want LTF when points = fees is given.

There is a slight difference. When buying a flight tkt/hotel, you are using up let's say 30k points (including the one you got by paying annual fees of 12.5k).
Instead if it were LTF, you wouldn't have those extra 12.5k points, and you would pay that 12.5k via Infinia for your booking (which you didn't pay for annual fees). But unlike annual fees, this 12.5k earns you 5x (flight) or 10x (hotel) RPs. That's opportunity loss to earn 4150 RPs on next hotel Booking. So total opportunity loss is 4150 + 2250 GST = 6400.

RPs(current discount) reduces future discount. That's why cards prefer to give high RPs and not high cashback directly.

I had suggested this another way to look at Infinia RPs below.

Infinia vs Magnus vs Atlas

Considering your travel spends like 1.5 to 2L the best travel card for you will be Axis ATLAS for sure. And combination of Amex MRCC + ATLAS is just amazing. You should start your travel CC journey with this winning combination without any hesitation. With Amex MRCC 1500 x 4 per month, you need...

www.technofino.in

 

[knight]

Smartbuy has partnered with
1. Yatra
2. Cleartrip
3. Easemytrip

So the rates will be competitive

The reality differs.

Here's an example.
DEL - GOI flight costs 8984 on Smartbuy. (via Yatra)
The same flight costs 8177 on Yatra (using Citi/HSBC discount.
The same flight costs 7917 only on MakeMyTrip with Kotak discount.

That's 13% higher than the best price available. And I have only considered reliable well-known sites.
I've seen this multiple times with flights/hotels. Smartbuy doesn't really have discounts/coupons afaik.
Smartbuy redemption value is more like 0.9/point. That's another 1250 - 1000 rupees lost on fees.

 

[mojo_jojo123]

The reality differs.

Here's an example.
DEL - GOI flight costs 8984 on Smartbuy. (via Yatra)
The same flight costs 8405 on Yatra (using Citi/HSBC discount.
The same flight costs 7917 only on MakeMyTrip with Kotak discount.

That's 13% higher than the best price available. And I have only considered reliable well-known sites.
I've seen this multiple times with flights/hotels. Smartbuy doesn't really have discounts/coupons afaik.
Smartbuy redemption value is more like 0.9/point. That's another 1250 - 1000 rupees lost on fees.

yes 100% agree smartbuy is always 1250-1000 extra .. but there is no better option for hdfc points .. for dcb / infinia ..

 

[knight]

yes 100% agree smartbuy is always 1250-1000 extra .. but there is no better option for hdfc points .. for dcb / infinia ..

True, for high spenders and bulk bookings, it still gives a great return.

The only caveat being "we only pay GST for Infinia" is a bit more complicated than it sounds.

 

[Souvik]

The reality differs.

Here's an example.
DEL - GOI flight costs 8984 on Smartbuy. (via Yatra)
The same flight costs 8405 on Yatra (using Citi/HSBC discount.
The same flight costs 7917 only on MakeMyTrip with Kotak discount.

That's 13% higher than the best price available. And I have only considered reliable well-known sites.
I've seen this multiple times with flights/hotels. Smartbuy doesn't really have discounts/coupons afaik.
Smartbuy redemption value is more like 0.9/point. That's another 1250 - 1000 rupees lost on fees.

Correct! This has been the case for several years now, I noticed this first during 2019 while trying to book a flight ticket on smartbuy via my Regalia card and noted that the smartbuy portal is essentially a trap for people going for travel points. Ticket prices are marked up and then you have some nominal discounts, not sure if they still charge convenience fees nowadays to heighten the level of heist. It's good to see someone taking the effort and making the cost comparison apparent. Even luxury hotel stays are effectively being sold via credit card points/MDR, which else people may not have bought into by their own money.

 

[knight]

Ticket prices are marked up and then you have some nominal discounts, not sure if they still charge convenience fees nowadays to heighten the level of heist.

Smartbuy was charging 399 as conv fee for the flight i compared. It's included in the final price shared in the post.

Yatra also charges 399 if we book directly. Conv fee can also increase (599) with some offers that give 800-1000 discounts(still overall profitable).
Yatra was charging atrociously high when I redirected from Google Flights (850).

The front page prices look similar on most platforms, the (often substantial) difference comes once we apply discounts.

Even luxury hotel stays are effectively being sold via credit card points/MDR, which else people may not have bought into by their own money.

Absolutely true.
It also makes some sense to take 3-10% rp and spend it on hotels/experiences, rather than taking 1-3% cashback.

 

[vprajnya]

The reality differs.

Here's an example.
DEL - GOI flight costs 8984 on Smartbuy. (via Yatra)
The same flight costs 8177 on Yatra (using Citi/HSBC discount.
The same flight costs 7917 only on MakeMyTrip with Kotak discount.

That's 13% higher than the best price available. And I have only considered reliable well-known sites.
I've seen this multiple times with flights/hotels. Smartbuy doesn't really have discounts/coupons afaik.
Smartbuy redemption value is more like 0.9/point. That's another 1250 - 1000 rupees lost on fees.

things do change.
its been 1.5yrs since i posted that.
sometimes you might get a decent deal.
i have not bought a flight ticket since that time.
Just been using up my miles.