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

 

[credit_explorer]

@nits123 you have taken best points of Regalia Gold. By this logic, Platinum travel is much better as it gives 48k reward points (not considering the reward multiplier additional points) on 4L spend and also a 10k Taj voucher.
Not to forget MRCC which gives 24k bonus reward points + 4.8k base reward points for 2.4L spend (if done properly).
So combining both these cards give you around 77k points on 6.5L spend.
If you convert to Marriott points, that's flat Rs 77k + 10k voucher. If Taj, then that's around Rs 38.5k.

 

[ak93]

Thanks, asking because I couldn't find these two in milestone spend tracker and haven't crossed both milestones yet. So not sure if it is applicable for all regalia gold card holders

The screenshot someone shared says its anniversary spend offer, could be just first year offer.

 

[praveensudhakaran]

Does this calculation applicable for Regalia as well?

 

[Deleted member 27665]

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

********************************************
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

 

[rajantech]

Hi friends, this is a very interesting conversation. I have been holding Inifinia since Oct-2022, and I would like to share my experience for the last year.
The amount spent from April '23 to Mar '24: 13.8L.
Points received: 75525.
Points reward value: 5.5%.
I have converted most of these points to Accor and have enjoyed several hotel stays since they provide 1.8 times the value. Unfortunately, there has been a devaluation for Accor since January!!!
I hold memberships with Accor, Marriott, and ITC.
From now on, I would like to use these points to book hotels in some small towns where I don't find Accor or other big hotels available.

Also would like to add more points which we enjoyed.
Took 2 additional add on cards for my family members and had visited multiple airport lounges in last few months. Had a great experience at Bangalore 080 lounge.

Didnt you consider to also keep Millenia credit card and spend around 30k per month (around 4 lacs per annum) you could have got Rs 16k cash into account in the year.
In Infinia conversion to cash is 1 point to 30 paise. So these Rs 16k cash on Millenia are worth 3 times points of Infinia.
And rest of the spend could have been on Infinia.

 

[JAM]

Didnt you consider to also keep Millenia credit card and spend around 30k per month (around 4 lacs per annum) you could have got Rs 16k cash into account in the year.
In Infinia conversion to cash is 1 point to 30 paise. So these Rs 16k cash on Millenia are worth 3 times points of Infinia.
And rest of the spend could have been on Infinia.

He got almost 10% return on converting to Accor. Which is what most people with infinia did prior to Jan. Even after the devaluation he's beating this 16/400k scenario of yours.

 

[rajantech]

He got almost 10% return on converting to Accor. Which is what most people with infinia did prior to Jan. Even after the devaluation he's beating this 16/400k scenario of yours.

Agree. He did make the best out of it.
As per maths of Infinia, 48k points are worth 16k cash. (probably they calculate based on their investment in the redemption process). So this would be like 48/400k scenario.
The only issue in milking high value out of the reward points is that we end up travelling and spending more. And at times at hotels not of choice.

 

[JAM]

Agree. He did make the best out of it.
As per maths of Infinia, 48k points are worth 16k cash. (probably they calculate based on their investment in the redemption process). So this would be like 48/400k scenario.
The only issue in milking high value out of the reward points is that we end up travelling and spending more. And at times at hotels not of choice.

Infinia is not a cashback card. 48k Points were worth 86,400 for him. Do you understand the difference between 86k and 16k.
They want people earning above 30 lakhs for a reason. There is no scenario where Millenia is more rewarding because everywhere you would use Millenia Infinia will give you more.

 

[rajantech]

I am sa

Infinia is not a cashback card. 48k Points were worth 86,400 for him. Do you understand the difference between 86k and 16k.
They want people earning above 30 lakhs for a reason. There is no scenario where Millenia is more rewarding because everywhere you would use Millenia Infinia will give you more.

I am saying that incase some customers wants to encash reward points on Infinia, then his 48k points would give 16k as cash back.
Do correct me if I am wrong. Also incase you know how Infinia calculates rate of cash conversion, do enlighten all. Why are they unable to give 1:1 as cashback.

 

[sidp]

I am sa

I am saying that incase some customers wants to encash reward points on Infinia, then his 48k points would give 16k as cash back.
Do correct me if I am wrong. Also incase you know how Infinia calculates rate of cash conversion, do enlighten all. Why are they unable to give 1:1 as cashback.

Taking value of 48k points as 16k is very wrong. The card is targeted to those who spend considerable amount in travel/lifestyle category. And redeeming as voucher is win win scenario for all parties.

Let's say with the 16k cashback if someone wants to book a hotel. They will get a small hotel. But if the 48k points is redeemed on partners like Accor, he will get much better experience With no extra cost.

With this deal the partners have lower vacancy. So increased revenue for them.

cost of partner vouchers are much lesser than face value for to hdfc. So lower cost for them. So everyone is happy.

And how do suggest hdfc to give 1:1 conversion for cashback when the reward rate is much higher than mdr? Do you realize hdfc is a for profit business not a charity?

 

[hema220]

IMO Infinia is loved because of the Accelerated RP on Smartbuy/Gyftr and Unlimited Lounge Access program. Same with DCB.

agreed with this. This completely ignored in the calculation

 

[nits123]

agreed with this. This completely ignored in the calculation

Just to check have you gone through the calculations...1:1 RP is considered in the calculations...90% members replied to thread without going through calculations.

 

[hema220]

Where are you seeing this?
I use My cards and the netbanking website but didn't see milestones anywhere..

you can see milestone benefit progress in smartbuy 360rewards portal also

 

[hema220]

Just to check have you gone through the calculations...1:1 RP is considered in the calculations...90% members replied to thread without going through calculations.

I am not talking about reward point value. it's about smartbuy 10x/5x/3x reward rate, which is ignored

 

[shadow]

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

Why do you have additional reward points for groceries?

Its 5000 more for spending 8L. There's no additional points on 7.5L spending. They give like 1 point for 6L, 7.5L milestones. Haven't found the reason for that.

Do you get additional reward points on insurance and groceries?

 

[Sriim]

Why do you have additional reward points for groceries?

Do you get additional reward points on insurance and groceries?

Since rewards points on insurance and groceries have capping, they calculate then separately. No additional points

 

[xpankaj]

Long time lurker, first time posting.

I have had a LTF DCB since 2016. Unable to get Infinia LTF and not sure if paid Infinia makes sense. Must have earned close to 6 lac points in these 8 years. Used it for multiple travels, hotel bookings, gift cards etc. My 2 bits on this topic:

What everyone is pointing out and you are unwilling to consider as a key differentiator is Smartbuy. On Infinia, you get 5X the points, so 16.67%. You can earn up to 15000 points in a month, so that is a spend of 113000 per month. I have literally stood at the billing counters of Lifestyle, Westside etc. and bought gift vouchers and paid using them. Many a times, there is a discount on gift vouchers and the deal becomes even sweeter.

If you have these kind of spends, you earn at least 200,000 points in a year and of course get the annual fee waived. Now comes what to do with these points. As others have mentioned, to summarize,
- Travel - direct booking through Smartbuy, while you pay 30% cash, it is better than paying 100% cash. Plus, you earn 5X points on this 30% also. Also, I have never seen price variance between Smartbuy and other OTAs. If you see a difference, wait for an hour and check again, it would have matched. What you lose in bank offers, you more than make up in points.
- Travel option 2 - convert points to air miles or hotel points and if you can do it during a bonus points windows, all the better. For example, Bangalore Delhi Vistara is 7500 points + 590 bucks or so. Cancellation is 15% points and seat selection is free. Singapore Airlines, one way ticket is 14000 miles under their monthly offers.
- Buy Tanishq vouchers and sell it in market or gift jewelry to wife/mother/gf/sister/yourself
- convert to gift vouchers at 0.5
- convert to cash - worst option ever at 0.3

The worst case is to convert to cash, you still get 60,000 cash credit in your card statement. If you eat out, you can save another 1000 a month on Dineout, so that is 12000 more in savings.

Points utilized on my recent trip to Dubai from 1 year of collecting points on DCB, let me know if I could have done this on Regalia Gold.

	Points	Card	Total
Flights	74,027	31,726	105,753
Hotel	46,662	20,000	66,662
	120,689	51,726	172,415

I hope this has enough analysis and less emotions

 

[narun2001]

This thread has been going on for much longer than necessary. Relax everyone. Here's a detailed calculation. I've assumed even if annual spends is 3 lakhs, it's done over 2 quarters and quarterly vouchers are received. First image with regalia/infinia point values as .3 and .85, second with .5 and 1 respectively. DCB metal might be better than even infinia if we're not hitting the cap of 15k 5x per month on infinia because of the milestone benefits 10k if 4 lakhs per quarter.

 

[CardsHoarder]

OP, I dont know what is being achieved with clickbaity thread title. It should be:

INFINIA is OVERHYPED for base reward points​

Currently it is bad representation because your calculation do not consider accelerated reward points which is the reason many, me included, want Infinia.

 

[Swastik]

I think it's the frustration of not being able get Infinia forcing some of us to look for other alternatives(not pointing any fingers because I'm one of them).

Imho Infinia is a great card but HDFC has made it quite difficult to get and has been very inconsistent in who gets it and who doesn't(i know many from this blog and reddit who got it easily without meeting eligibility criteria, even LTF one's) ,this ultimately adds to the frustration.