HDFC Infinia & DCB devaluation - airline/hotel partners transfer ratio reduced

[hritiksakshi]

HDFC Bank has indirectly devalued their Infinia and DCB credit cards by reducing the conversion ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 for some partners, namely - Accor, Lifemiles, and Turkish. This change will take effect from 15th January 2024.

Therefore, the last date for a 1:1 transfer to the aforementioned partners is 14th January.

 

[mojo_jojo123]

I have around 50k points in DCB .. is it wise decision to send to Accor ( not much travel in next 1-2 year ) ? or use them in flight bookings ( common )

 

[anirban.choudhury]

I have around 50k points in DCB .. is it wise decision to send to Accor ( not much travel in next 1-2 year ) ? or use them in flight bookings ( common )

Accor seems a good decision.
If you have plans of exploring SEA , then you can continue keeping your points with HDFC for kris flyer transfer as it remains 1:1.
But since you don't have any immediate plans , parking them in Accor is good value , also Accor has a soft expiry of 1 year but any activity of points earn via transfer extends the validity by another year

Accor also allows 1:1 conversions to Qatar via Iberia and there are quite a few 2:1 conversions too, so overall it's a safe bet..

 

[Harry1]

Accor seems a good decision.
If you have plans of exploring SEA , then you can continue keeping your points with HDFC for kris flyer transfer as it remains 1:1.
But since you don't have any immediate plans , parking them in Accor is good value , also Accor has a soft expiry of 1 year but any activity of points earn via transfer extends the validity by another year

Accor also allows 1:1 conversions to Qatar via Iberia and there are quite a few 2:1 conversions too, so overall it's a safe bet..

For krisflyer economy, where do you get value close to 1 rs per mile?

 

[svs_23]

For krisflyer economy, where do you get value close to 1 rs per mile?

Bali, New Zealand

 

[anirban.choudhury]

For krisflyer economy, where do you get value close to 1 rs per mile?

Its difficult to get value in economy for any FFP unless you leverage their promo offers
Like say in Oct kris had a 30% off offer where it provided Flights to Bali at 15k or 32.5 k to ANZ or 27k to Perth.
Generally you get return fares to AnZ at 65-70k so 32.5k was a very good deal

 

[Harry1]

Bali, New Zealand

Bali is 20K miles +4K INR.
Cheapest in Cash is 15-20K. Round trip around 25K. So, around 50 paise per mile only.

Newzealand is 43K miles plus 6K INR.
Cheapest in cash is 50-60K. Round trip is 80-90K. So, this seems okay at around 80-90 paise per mile.

 

[Harry1]

Its difficult to get value in economy for any FFP unless you leverage their promo offers
Like say in Oct kris had a 30% off offer where it provided Flights to Bali at 15k or 32.5 k to ANZ or 27k to Perth.
Generally you get return fares to AnZ at 65-70k so 32.5k was a very good deal

Are u referring about their monthly spontaneous escapades offer? I thought that's only for singapore direct flights.

 

[anirban.choudhury]

Are u referring about their monthly spontaneous escapades offer? I thought that's only for singapore direct flights.

No monthly spontaneous escapes are different.
I was referring to the 30% off promotion that they had in Oct 2023.

I hv booked my Bali return at 30k during that offer.

 

[R@J]

No monthly spontaneous escapes are different.
I was referring to the 30% off promotion that they had in Oct 2023.

I hv booked my Bali return at 30k during that offer.

@anirban.choudhury : I have a relatively immature/beginner question:
I'm an occasional traveler, with no so fond of branded luxury hotels (choose the premium ones that are available at Aggregator sites).

I have around 20K DCB points, and around 20K in Accor as well since last 3-4 months.
I dont have an upcoming trip, can make one either for Vietnam or Bali in 2024. Have some 50K in Clulb vistara.

Is it suggested to convert some/all of the DCB points to Accor....or let it be in DCB, and use for hotel booking at Smartbuy? Since my points pool is not so great, I'm fine with budget/mid range Accor hotels (provided they are good) or some premium unbranded hotel...

Do you think it is suggested to use pool them in Accor? 20K DCB would be too less for Kris/turkish for starting.

thanks in advance

 

[anirban.choudhury]

@anirban.choudhury : I have a relatively immature/beginner question:
I'm an occasional traveler, with no so fond of branded luxury hotels (choose the premium ones that are available at Aggregator sites).

I have around 20K DCB points, and around 20K in Accor as well since last 3-4 months.
I dont have an upcoming trip, can make one either for Vietnam or Bali in 2024. Have some 50K in Clulb vistara.

Is it suggested to convert some/all of the DCB points to Accor....or let it be in DCB, and use for hotel booking at Smartbuy? Since my points pool is not so great, I'm fine with budget/mid range Accor hotels (provided they are good) or some premium unbranded hotel...

Do you think it is suggested to use pool them in Accor? 20K DCB would be too less for Kris/turkish for starting.

thanks in advance

Accor would be the best for your use case.
Since it's just 20k , transferring to Turkish or Lifemiles won't make any sense.

 

[R@J]

Accor would be the best for your use case.
Since it's just 20k , transferring to Turkish or Lifemiles won't make any sense.

Thank you soo much for addressing my question @anirban.choudhury.
From your posts, I read about Turkish promo fares, got interested and then checked it online....it really looked damn attractive with destinations in Europe (even as far as Helsinki) at very reasonable miles. Maybe I'll start using my Atlas/M4B, with an eye to accumulate Turkish Miles for a trip at end of 2024/early next year

 

[anirban.choudhury]

Thank you soo much for addressing my question @anirban.choudhury.
From your posts, I read about Turkish promo fares, got interested and then checked it online....it really looked damn attractive with destinations in Europe (even as far as Helsinki) at very reasonable miles. Maybe I'll start using my Atlas/M4B, with an eye to accumulate Turkish Miles for a trip at end of 2024/early next year

Turkish is a beautiful FFP , one of the very best.
But there are issues with Turkish tech side
Issues such as

1) Not all award seats are available on search. For star alliance awards you need to search in United and Aeroplan and then might use the call and book facility to book your award seats.

2 ) You cannot book award seats for others online unless you have booked 1 award seat on Turkish airlines itself.

3) You might need to wait on call for hours to connect with someone.

 

[R@J]

Turkish is a beautiful FFP , one of the very best.
But there are issues with Turkish tech side
Issues such as

1) Not all award seats are available on search. For star alliance awards you need to search in United and Aeroplan and then might use the call and book facility to book your award seats.

2 ) You cannot book award seats for others online unless you have booked 1 award seat on Turkish airlines itself.

3) You might need to wait on call for hours to connect with someone.

@anirban.choudhury Ohhh......that must be frustrating issue for the customer. Hopefully, I can keep an eye on it and by the time I reach, these issues are resolved. Can take the final call then, but as you mentioned, the FFP looked really attractive. Thanks a lot for the useful info

 

[anirban.choudhury]

@anirban.choudhury Ohhh......that must be frustrating issue for the customer. Hopefully, I can keep an eye on it and by the time I reach, these issues are resolved. Can take the final call then, but as you mentioned, the FFP looked really attractive. Thanks a lot for the useful info

Yes Virgin Atlantic, Lifemiles , Aeroplan & Turkish are few of my favourites.

 

[svs_23]

Bali is 20K miles +4K INR.
Cheapest in Cash is 15-20K. Round trip around 25K. So, around 50 paise per mile only.

Newzealand is 43K miles plus 6K INR.
Cheapest in cash is 50-60K. Round trip is 80-90K. So, this seems okay at around 80-90 paise per mile.

don’t compare with airasia fares since they don’t include baggage, seat selection, food, and have cramped leg room.
And price differs city to city as well, from Blr, Bali gives nearly a rupee a mile and more than a rupee for New Zealand during peak year end travel but ofcourse effort has to be put in to travel and find dates nearly an year earlier

 

[Harry1]

don’t compare with airasia fares since they don’t include baggage, seat selection, food, and have cramped leg room.
And price differs city to city as well, from Blr, Bali gives nearly a rupee a mile and more than a rupee for New Zealand during peak year end travel but ofcourse effort has to be put in to travel and find dates nearly an year earlier

I was checking from Bangalore only, but Air Asia.

Are you checking round trip fares, as revenue international bookings are at much lower price, when booked as round trip.

 

[narendrakm]

I have not received my monthly DCB milestone benefits yet. I have also qualified for annual benefits as per monthly statement. Anyone else facing this issue? Spoke to HDFC customer care they asked me to speak to concierge helpdesk as its been processed from HDFC side. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks and glad to be part of this forum. This is my first post!

 

[mojo_jojo123]

I have not received my monthly DCB milestone benefits yet. I have also qualified for annual benefits as per monthly statement. Anyone else facing this issue? Spoke to HDFC customer care they asked me to speak to concierge helpdesk as its been processed from HDFC side. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks and glad to be part of this forum. This is my first post!

same for me .. not received monthly as well as annual milestone benefit .. Statement shows I am eligible

 

[_ayush]

Maybe try logging in on poshvine and check there. Last time I didn't get any mail/message for that but on poshvine the vouchers were available.

 

[padmanabhamb]

I mean is it so bad that everyone is panicking? There is 1:1 on flight tickets and hotels.
Apple, tanshiq vouchers too. Singapore airlines stay too

I am unable to see Tanishq vouchers with 1:1 benefit. Could you help me how to get these vouchers?