HDFC has relaunched its Millennia credit card. All the changes directly address the issues which the earlier version had. The major issue with the earlier version was expiry of points in just 1 year has been changed to 2 years. This is one of the few cards which simultaneously gives 5% cashback on both Flipkart and Amazon.
This review is valid for all cards issued after 2nd October, 2021.
Eligibility
Gross Monthly Income> ₹35,000 (salaried)
ITR > ₹ 6 lacs (self employed)
Fees
Joining/Renewal Membership Fee – Rs. 1000+186 (taxes).
Renewal membership fee waived off by spending ₹1 lac in a year.
Lounge Access
8 Complimentary Domestic Lounge Access per calendar year (2 in a quarter).
No International Lounge Access is provided by this card.
Reward Program
5% Cashback on Amazon, BookMyShow, Cult.fit, Flipkart, Myntra, Sony LIV, Swiggy, Tata CLiQ, Uber & Zomato
Earlier there was a minimum transaction limit of Rs 2000. Now, there is no limit. This in itself is a big upgrade. Monthly cashback limit is Rs 1000 i.e for spends upto Rs 20,000.
Beware: you will get 1% CashPoints if you do a transaction through SmartBuy/ PayZapp which includes transaction from 10 online merchants mentioned in above point. So you can still book flight and train tickets at 5% cashback via smart buy. (any user pls confirm).
1% CashBack on all offline spends as well as wallets too. Only Fuel spends are excluded. Monthly cashback limit is Rs 1000 i.e for spends upto Rs 20,000.
Nowadays, paytm is charging 3% for wallet loading making the 1% seem to be quite small. You can still load up Amazon wallet, but it is not as liquid as Paytm.
Cash points expire within 2 year. This alone makes this card a much superior version of its former version.
Reward Redemption
For redemption you need to only go for statement credit option where each Cash Point = Rs. 1.
The other options consider 1 Cash Point = Rs 0.3 which you should ignore.
Minimum points required for redemption is 500 only. Another cool feature.
Fuel Surchare waiver
Fuel surcharge will be waived off upto Rs 250 per month. Each transaction size should be between Rs 400 to Rs 5000. Since petrol has already breached the Rs 100/ litre mark, even two wheeler owners can now meet this criterion.
Milestones
Rs. 1000 Gift Voucher on spends of Rs. 1 Lakh in a calendar quarter. And yes Amazon vouchers can be chosen.
The defined quarters are January to March, April to June, July to September, October to December.
This benefit gives another 1% savings.
Savings Calculator
Use the savings calculator given below to calculate your total savings as per your own expenses.
Just add in your expenses and press calculate!
If the Calculator doesn't run, click here and run again.
If you spend more than Rs 10000 in the selected merchants you can expect a return greater than 2%.
2% used to be the defining criterion to say if the card was good enough for you, but Axis Ace has come and changed the game.
Rating
This is a good card to hold.
3.5/5
Similar or Better cards
The best alternative is HDFC Regalia which is much more user friendly in its terms. Amazon pay ICICI credit card if you are more inclined towards Amazon as it has no monthly cashback limit. On Similar lines Axis Bank Flipkart credit card has no cashback limit on Flipkart spends.