Infinia LTF Regalia GOLD is better than Paid Infinia | Reward Points Calculations/Maths | INFINIA is OVERHYPED

[nits123]

Ref to my recent post, Thanks everyone for your suggestions on Infinia Metal. I considered all points and did some calculations...There are 2 scenarios

1. If Spend is around 7.5 Lac (In normal scenario, Infinia is offered with this much spend..I am not considering special cases of LTF Infinia):

(a) Regalia Gold:
RP's: 20,000
Bonus RP's: 10,000 (5 Lac milestone)
Bonus RP's: 5,000 (8 Lac milestone)
Total RP's: 35,000
A = Value of RP's @ 30 paise = Rs 10,500 (Considering average redemption and not special cases like Gold catalogue/smartbuy flight @ 1:0.5)
B = Quarterly vouchers of Rs 1,500 X 4 = Rs 6,000
C = Flight Vouchers of Rs 5,000 X 2 = Rs 10,000 (5k @ 5 lac and 5k @ 7.5 lac) (Not considering airport drop voucher)
Total Benefit = A + B + C = Rs 26,500

(b) Infinia Metal:
RP's: 25,000
RP's for annual fees = 12,500
A = Value of RP's @ 50 paise = Rs 18,750 (Considering average redemption and not special cases)
B = Annual Fees = Rs 14,750
Net Benefits = A - B = Rs 4,000
Infinia Metal is a BIG loser in this case

Even if you consider RP's value at 1:1 where you have very limited choice to redeem
A = Value of RP's = 25,000
B = Annual Fees RP's value = 12,500
C = Annual Fees incl GST = Rs 14,750
Net Benefits = A + B - C = Rs 22,750
Benefits of Infinia Metal is way below Regalia Gold despite the fact, you will be forced to you redeem infinia RP's only in flight booking or buying apple products

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2. If Spend is around 10 Lac

(a) Regalia Gold:
RP's: 26,666
Bonus RP's: 10,000 (5 Lac milestone)
Bonus RP's: 5,000 (8 Lac milestone)
Total RP's: 46,666
A = Value of RP's @ 30 paise = Rs 12,500 (Considering average redemption and not special cases like Gold catalogue)
B = Quarterly vouchers of Rs 1,500 X 4 = Rs 6,000
C = Flight Vouchers of Rs 5,000 X 2 = Rs 10,000 (5k @ 5 lac and 5k @ 7.5 lac) (Not considering airport drop voucher)
Total Benefit = A + B + C = Rs 28,500

(b) Infinia Metal:
RP's: 33,000
RP's for annual fees = 0 (Annual Fees Waived off)
A = Value of RP's @ 50 paise = Rs 18,750 (Considering average redemption and not special cases)
B = Annual Fees = 0
Net Benefits = A - B = Rs 18,750
Infinia Metal is a BIG loser in this case

Even if you consider RP's value at 1:1 where you have very limited choice to redeem
A = Value of RP's = 33,000
B = Annual Fees = 0
Net Benefits = 33,000
Only 4.5k benefit compared to Regalia Gold which is actually less (refer to point #2 in final conclusion)

MY FINAL CONCLUSION:
1. Infinia Metal is only beneficial if you redeem rewards to book flights through smartbuy or apple products else it is a BIG LOSER compared to Regalia GOLD.
2. 1:1 redemption is actually not a 1:1 as you buy the flight ticket or apple product at FULL value and forego discounts available..This ratio is 1:0.85 (As shared by other experts)
3. Infinia Metal will give you serious stress to spend only on Infinia metal card and you might miss out on other great offers on other cards. Example: Currently Amex is giving maximum offers on Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit etc.
4. Last but not the least, INFINIA is a OVERHYPED Card in my personal opinion. No offence to Infinia users.

I HAVE DECIDED TO DECLINE THE OFFER TO UPGRADE FROM LTF REGALIA GOLD TO PAID INFINIA.

I apologies if there is any error in my calculation...Kindly mention the same in the comments, I will correct it

 

[Pavan]

I respect every view here
if offered i will definitely take the upgrade offer (Any how HDFC will never do that )

Gyftr has many restrictions these days even on BB voucher there are limit and limit is 1500

Apay vouchers any time they might vanish, even with amex it happend in past at that time this card will have issue

Till then let's use

 

[rogerthat]

Refer #6 in screenshot....CC team told me that 750k milestone has 10k reward points..It will be credited in my next billing cycle.

But this 10000 points milestone benefit on spending 5L is a OG Regalia benefit, not a Regalia Gold benefit. Wonder how you got that! Do you hold both cards? Or is it a technical bug? HDFC turning into Axis?

 

[techt]

I respect every view here
if offered i will definitely take the upgrade offer (Any how HDFC will never do that )

Gyftr has many restrictions these days even on BB voucher there are limit and limit is 1500

Apay vouchers any time they might vanish, even with amex it happend in past at that time this card will have issue

Till then let's use

Well said ..

 

[rogerthat]

Nowhere does it mention that Regalia Gold gives milestone benefits in reward points on achieving 5L and 7.5L. It is only flight vouchers in addition to quarterly vouchers. Actually, in today's climate it makes no sense for a Rs.2500 card to give such high benefits in terms of RPs. Link to the T&C.

 

[pranjal1984]

In regalia gold card, they are offering flight vouchers only. Reward points are not mentioned. I am using it FYF.

 

[Zacobite]

I respect every view here
if offered i will definitely take the upgrade offer (Any how HDFC will never do that )

Gyftr has many restrictions these days even on BB voucher there are limit and limit is 1500

Apay vouchers any time they might vanish, even with amex it happend in past at that time this card will have issue

Till then let's use

True that.. but it will still remain higher for infinia as compared to other cards.. and proper manufacturing spends will struggle.. for all with normal / genuine default spends.. wont matter much as any discount is a discount.. eg. on a life insurance premium.. 3% itself is a great discount on a 1L premium.. without gyftr also..

 

[awara]

OP made it a habit of missing the point across this thread. Taking into account only base rewards is as flawed as it can get. DCB and Infinia are all about accelerated rewards. There is no way Regalia Gold is better than Infinia. DCB could be better than infinia for some people based on their use cases but Regalia Gold, no chance.
Although I hold Infinia LTF, but I would've happily taken even a paid Infinia over Regalia Gold LTF.

 

[nits123]

I respect everyone's opinion...So far i can only see subjective and emotional arguments in favor of infinia....I was expecting a quantitative argument backed with calculations proving that infinia is better....Unfortunately, i could see none.....I will wait for the same till then i rest my case...CIAO

 

[rogerthat]

Just confirmed with customer care that Regalia Gold offers no milestone benefits in terms of reward points but only flight vouchers. In which case your calculations are incorrect.

Regalia Gold on spends of 7.5 lakhs considerating no accelerated points will hence give only 20k RP and not 40k.

 

[awara]

I respect everyone's opinion...So far i can only see subjective and emotional arguments in favor of infinia....I was expecting a quantitative argument backed with calculations proving that infinia is better....Unfortunately, i could see none.....I will wait for the same till then i rest my case...CIAO

No one's got the time to give you detailed calculations. There are plenty of threads here that discuss how to maximize rewards using Infinia.
But just to give you an example, my total utility bills for a year that includes electricity, mobile, broadband, gas and insurance is around 2 lakhs. I buy amazon pay voucher from gyftr to pay these bills. 16.5% accelerated reward points and gyftr charges 2.5%+ gst just for amazon pay. Net value back is ~13.5%. So I'm getting a value back of 27k just on my bills on a spend of 2 lakhs. Other vouchers on Gyftr, we get 16.5% RPs.

 

[Dixit]

I load 50k per month on amz pay.. pay shopping / grocery/ insurance / gas/swiggy/ola/rapido/zomato/utilities/telephone/property tax /fast tag all my insurance premiums + buy gold.. at 13-15% discount.. do the math.. plus school fees, misc spends, travel main card 10 L easily achievable.. haven't paid more than 20 % of my airfare in many years now ( had a dcb earlier)..not counting any 10x..limited to 5x.. not counting lounge / itc / dineout as well

Isn't there a limit of 20k Amazon pay vouchers per month via smartbuy? How do you buy 50k worth of vouchers?

 

[awara]

Isn't there a limit of 20k Amazon pay vouchers per month via smartbuy? How do you buy 50k worth of vouchers?

Many people hold multiple cards in a family. I have 2 infinias in my family. Another friend I know, they have infinia and DCB between him and his wife.

 

[techt]

No one's got the time to give you detailed calculations. There are plenty of threads here that discuss how to maximize rewards using Infinia.
But just to give you an example, my total utility bills for a year that includes electricity, mobile, broadband, gas and insurance is around 2 lakhs. I buy amazon pay voucher from gyftr to pay these bills. 16.5% accelerated reward points and gyftr charges 2.5%+ gst just for amazon pay. Net value back is ~13.5%. So I'm getting a value back of 27k just on my bills on a spend of 2 lakhs. Other vouchers on Gyftr, we get 16.5% RPs.

If those points are redeemed as APAY it will 13.5*0.5 = ~6.5 right ?

 

[awara]

If those points are redeemed as APAY it will 13.5*0.5 = ~6.5 right ?

I don't redeem it to apay. That's waste of points. They're better suited to book flights/hotels. Every year in March, Vistara comes up with an offer where they give us bonus Club Vistara points if we transfer our RPs to them. That sorts our flights for the entire year. Best part is, we'd be paying these utility bills anyway even if there were no RPs but now we're getting rewarded for paying our bills. My calculation above didn't even include groceries and other expenses.
I also know, these rewards are not permanent, but that is true for every card out there. Milk it till you can.

 

[Dixit]

20k amz pay + 10k shopping voucher ( can be used for regular shopping and groceries) + 20k from another ph number / add on . limit is in one ph number.. or you can add more shopping voucher if u have planned shopping..

Good to know.

 

[nits123]

Just confirmed with customer care that Regalia Gold offers no milestone benefits in terms of reward points but only flight vouchers. In which case your calculations are incorrect.

Regalia Gold on spends of 7.5 lakhs considerating no accelerated points will hence give only 20k RP and not 40k.

Please read entire thread...I shared SS of 10k points received at 5 lac milestone...I will share for 7.5 lac milestone which will be credited in next billing....Others also have shared their SS of 10k RP's milestone..Do not go by Customer care, they don't know anything

 

[lightwaves]

Ref to my recent post, Thanks everyone for your suggestions on Infinia Metal. I considered all points and did some calculations...There are 2 scenarios

1. If Spend is around 7.5 Lac (In normal scenario, Infinia is offered with this much spend..I am not considering special cases of LTF Infinia):

(a) Regalia Gold:
RP's: 20,000
Bonus RP's: 10,000 (5 Lac milestone)
Bonus RP's: 10,000 (7.5 Lac milestone)
Total RP's: 40,000
A = Value of RP's @ 30 paise = Rs 12,000 (Considering average redemption and not special cases like Gold catalogue/smartbuy flight @ 1:0.5)
B = Quarterly vouchers of Rs 1,500 X 4 = Rs 6,000
C = Flight Vouchers of Rs 5,000 X 2 = Rs 10,000 (5k @ 5 lac and 5k @ 7.5 lac) (Not considering airport drop voucher)
Total Benefit = A + B + C = Rs 28,000

(b) Infinia Metal:
RP's: 25,000
RP's for annual fees = 12,500
A = Value of RP's @ 50 paise = Rs 18,750 (Considering average redemption and not special cases)
B = Annual Fees = Rs 14,750
Net Benefits = A - B = Rs 4,000
Infinia Metal is a BIG loser in this case

Even if you consider RP's value at 1:1 where you have very limited choice to redeem
A = Value of RP's = 25,000
B = Annual Fees RP's value = 12,500
C = Annual Fees incl GST = Rs 14,750
Net Benefits = A + B - C = Rs 22,750
Benefits of Infinia Metal is way below Regalia Gold despite the fact, you will be forced to you redeem infinia RP's only in flight booking or buying apple products

********************************************
2. If Spend is around 10 Lac

(a) Regalia Gold:
RP's: 26,666
Bonus RP's: 10,000 (5 Lac milestone)
Bonus RP's: 10,000 (7.5 Lac milestone)
Total RP's: 46,666
A = Value of RP's @ 30 paise = Rs 14,000 (Considering average redemption and not special cases like Gold catalogue)
B = Quarterly vouchers of Rs 1,500 X 4 = Rs 6,000
C = Flight Vouchers of Rs 5,000 X 2 = Rs 10,000 (5k @ 5 lac and 5k @ 7.5 lac) (Not considering airport drop voucher)
Total Benefit = A + B + C = Rs 30,000

(b) Infinia Metal:
RP's: 33,000
RP's for annual fees = 0 (Annual Fees Waived off)
A = Value of RP's @ 50 paise = Rs 18,750 (Considering average redemption and not special cases)
B = Annual Fees = 0
Net Benefits = A - B = Rs 18,750
Infinia Metal is a BIG loser in this case

Even if you consider RP's value at 1:1 where you have very limited choice to redeem
A = Value of RP's = 33,000
B = Annual Fees = 0
Net Benefits = 33,000
Only 3k benefit compared to Regalia Gold which is actually less (refer to point #2 in final conclusion)

MY FINAL CONCLUSION:
1. Infinia Metal is only beneficial if you redeem rewards to book flights through smartbuy or apple products else it is a BIG LOSER compared to Regalia GOLD.
2. 1:1 redemption is actually not a 1:1 as you buy the flight ticket or apple product at FULL value and forego discounts available..This ratio is 1:0.85 (As shared by other experts)
3. Infinia Metal will give you serious stress to spend only on Infinia metal card and you might miss out on other great offers on other cards. Example: Currently Amex is giving maximum offers on Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit etc.
4. Last but not the least, INFINIA is a OVERHYPED Card in my personal opinion. No offence to Infinia users.

I HAVE DECIDED TO DECLINE THE OFFER TO UPGRADE FROM LTF REGALIA GOLD TO PAID INFINIA.

I apologies if there is any error in my calculation...Kindly mention the same in the comments, I will correct it

I guess Infinia is loved because its hard to get and when someone finally gets it, its really difficult to let it go. Scarcity Premium I guess.

 

[nits123]

Many people hold multiple cards in a family. I have 2 infinias in my family. Another friend I know, they have infinia and DCB between him and his wife.

For calculations, we cannot include benefits of borrowed cards...Consider only one for apple to apple comparison

 

[nits123]

I guess Infinia is loved because its hard to get and when someone finally gets it, its really difficult to let it go. Scarcity Premium I guess.

Right...HDFC bank is taking advantage of this fact and trapping paid customers...If anyone get then they keep justifying by hook or crook that INFINIA is BEST....HDFC bank is smart, they don't allow to retain existing card with infinia upgrade and there is no option to go back except Cancelling the card

Infinia is ONE WAY, you enter and then there is NO EXIT

 

[awara]

For calculations, we cannot include benefits of borrowed cards...Consider only one for apple to apple comparison

Lol, what borrowed cards? I and my sister hold Infinia, we put our individual spends on our cards. My friend and his wife use theirs for their family expenses. Don't come up with dumb comments when you're losing the argument. Bottom-line is your calculations are flawed and no, Regalia Gold is not better than Infinia in any way.