With the launch of the brand new iPhones and Apple Watches, many of you may be planning to get your hands on these latest releases from Apple. However, there is always a lot of buzz every year about how these devices are significantly more expensive in India compared to some other countries, and the usual calculations involving flight tickets, hotels, visa costs, and the price of the devices ensue.
If you are planning to buy these devices in India, do not worry. We have compiled a list of credit cards and websites that offer the most discounts on your purchases, and some of the results might even surprise you.
Imagine via SmartBuy using HDFC Credit Cards
Imagine is an Apple Premium Reseller. While they have their own website, they also have a partnership with HDFC SmartBuy. Purchases made via the SmartBuy website earn additional points or cashback, depending on the card you hold. Additionally, you also extra cashback on your HDFC credit cards for your Apple purchases.
The accelerated points earned on SmartBuy Imagine are as follows:
HDFC Credit Card | Multipler/Cashback |
---|---|
Infinia/Infinia Metal | 5x Rewards |
Diners Club Black | 5x Rewards |
Regalia | 5x Rewards |
Diners Privilege | 5x Rewards |
Tata Neu Plus | 1% Cashback |
Tata Neu Infinity | 1.5% Cashback |
Other Cards | 5% Cashback |
Capping
Keep in mind the per-day and per-month capping on HDFC Cards, which can limit the maximum points or cashback you can earn per transaction. If you are buying multiple devices, you might want to space them out across two or more days.
HDFC Credit Card | Daily Cap | Monthly Cap |
---|---|---|
Infinia/Infinia Meta | 15000 RPs | 15000 RPs |
Diners Club Black | 2500 RPs | 7500 RPs |
Regalia | 2000 RPs | 4000 RPs |
Diners Privilege | 2000 RPs | 4000 RPs |
Tata Neu (Cashback) | ₹ 1000 | ₹ 1000 |
Other Cards | ₹ 1000 | ₹ 1000 |
HDFC Cashback on Apple Purchases
As Imagine is an Apple Premium Reseller, you are eligible for additional cashback on Apple purchases from HDFC. The cashback/discount amount offered depends on the device purchased.
The table below shows the most current discounts available:
Device | Cashback |
---|---|
iPhone 15/15 Plus | 5000 |
iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max | 6000 |
iPhone 14/14 Plus | 4000 |
iPhone 14 Pro | 3000 |
iPhone 14 Pro Max | 3000 |
iPhone 12,13, 13 Mine | 2000 |
Macbook Air/Pro | 5000 |
iMac | 5000 |
Mac Mini | 4000 |
iPad Pro, Air & Mini | 3000 |
HomePod and Airpods Pro | 2500 |
Airpods (3rd Gen) | 1500 |
HomePod Mini | 1000 |
Note that the cashback is applicable on EMI as well as Non-EMI purchases.
💡 Pro-Tip: An easy way to bypass the HDFC per day capping on the reward points, if you are hitting the ceiling is to opt for a no-cost EMI. You get the 5X each month for the EMI component.
GST Input Credit on Business Purchases
This applies to business owners with a GST number. If you are purchasing an Apple device for business use, you can avail GST input credits on the same when purchasing from a premium reseller. Imagine allows you to provide your GST details during checkout.
Effective Price After Clubbing all Offers
Considering all the benefits mentioned above, let’s take a look at the effective price of the latest generation of iPhones. We will compare the prices when using either the Infinia or Diners Club Black credit card on Smartbuy Imagine. For the purposes of this example, we will only consider the base variants of all the devices.
For Infinia
Device | iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Plus | iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Price | 79,990 | 89,900 | 1,34,900 | 1,59,900 |
HDFC Card Cashback | 5000 | 5000 | 4000 | 4000 |
Total Rewards (Accelerated + Normal) | 12,475 | 14,150 | 19,360 | 20,195 |
GST Credit (optional) | 12,188 | 13,714 | 20,578 | 24,392 |
Effective Price (with GST credit) | 50,327 | 57,036 | 90,962 | 1,11,313 |
Effective Price (without GST credit) | 62,515 | 70,750 | 1,11,540 | 1,35,705 |
For Diners Club Black
Device | iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Plus | iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Price | 79,990 | 89,900 | 134900 | 159900 |
HDFC Cashback | 5000 | 5000 | 4000 | 4000 |
Total Rewards (Accelerated + Normal) | 4,995 | 5,330 | 6,860 | 7,695 |
GST Credit (optional) | 12,188 | 13,714 | 20,578 | 24,392 |
Effective Price (with GST credit) | 57,807 | 65,856 | 103,462 | 123,813 |
Effective Price (without GST credit) | 69,995 | 79,570 | 1,24,040 | 1,48,205 |
Note: The value of each reward point is calculated as 1RP = ₹1, since that is the redemption rate on the SmartBuy travel portal. However, for other redemptions, such as transfers to airline or hotel partners, your mileage may vary, both on the higher side as well as on the lower side. If you are a PointsDojo Discord member we are fairly certain that you will be able to squeeze a much higher value than ₹1 for each point.
If you have an HDFC card, especially the Infinia or the DCB, this is the best route.
Buying Apple Devices From Croma – Best Credit Cards
Croma is another popular website for buying Apple products. Here are some of our favorite ways to maximize purchases:
Instant Discount/Cashback on HDFC Card
Just like we covered above, you can get an instant discount (when purchasing online) or cashback (for offline Croma purchases) based on the Apple product you buy.
Device | Cashback |
---|---|
iPhone 15/15 Plus | 5000 |
iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max | 6000 |
iPhone 14/14 Plus | 4000 |
iPhone 14 Pro | 3000 |
iPhone 14 Pro Max | 3000 |
iPhone 12,13, 13 Mine | 2000 |
Macbook Air/Pro | 5000 |
iMac | 5000 |
Mac Mini | 4000 |
iPad Pro, Air & Mini | 3000 |
HomePod and Airpods Pro | 2500 |
Airpods (3rd Gen) | 1500 |
HomePod Mini | 1000 |
Buy using Croma Gift Vouchers Purchased off HDFC SmartBuy
HDFC offers either a 5x reward multiplier or a 5% cashback, depending on the card you hold, when you purchase Croma gift vouchers from the HDFC Gyftr Instant Vouchers website. These vouchers can be used both on the Croma website and at offline Croma stores. When using them on the Croma website, you can use a maximum of 5 vouchers together. You can use any number of vouchers in a single order for offline purchases.
Unfortunately, when using vouchers, you do not qualify for the HDFC Cashback offers. However, in some cases, you might be able to club the cashback offers with an offline purchase. This is because the cashback offers have a minimum threshold for the amount that must be paid using the card to get the cashback, and the remaining cost can be paid using gift vouchers. During my recent purchases, I have noticed that this threshold is usually high and often close to the product’s price anyway.
Buying gift vouchers is a great way to maximize your rewards if you hit the per-day cap on your HDFC Card. By spreading out the purchase of gift vouchers over multiple days, you can continue to earn rewards. For instance, if you have a Diners Club Black card and make a purchase of ₹37,400 via the SmartBuy portal, you will hit your daily limit of 2,500 reward points.
Purchase through Croma Gift Vouchers Purchase off Axis Gyftr
Just like HDFC, you can also buy Croma gift vouchers from the Axis Gift Edge website. The only difference is that Axis offers a 2X reward multiplier on Croma vouchers.
Purchase from Croma using HDFC Tata Neu Credit Cards
If you hold the HDFC Tata Neu Plus or Infinity Credit Card, you can avail the HDFC Cashback offer on Apple products mentioned earlier, as well as receive 2% cashback in the form of NeuCoins on the Tata Neu Plus Card and 5% on the Tata Neu Infinity Card. Additionally, you can receive an extra 5% through NeuPass, capped at ₹750 per transaction.
Let’s look at the value by clubbing these offers for the Tata Neu Infinity Credit Card on Croma
Device | iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Plus | iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | 79,990 | 89,900 | 1,34,900 | 1,59,900 |
HDFC Instant Discount | 5,000 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
Tata Neu Infinity 5% Cashback | 3,750 | 4,245 | 6,545 | 7,795 |
NeuPass 5% Cashback | 750 | 750 | 750 | 750 |
GST Credit (optional) | 12,202 | 13,714 | 20,578 | 24,392 |
Effective Price (with GST credit) | 58,288.50 | 66,191 | 1,03,027 | 1,22,963 |
Effective Price (without GST credit) | 70,490.50 | 79,905 | 1,23,605 | 1,47,355 |
Neu Coins are valued at ₹1 per coin.
If you are a business owner Croma will also allow you to add your GST number to your order to avail the GST Input credits.
Amazon or Flipkart
If you are purchasing Apple devices from Amazon or Flipkart, you can use the following methods to maximize your rewards.
Instant Discount/Cashback on HDFC Cards
Once again, we see the same discounts and cashback offers that were shared earlier when using an HDFC card to purchase Apple products from Amazon or Flipkart. A few other alternatives would be:
Purchasing Amazon/Flipkart Gift Vouchers from HDFC SmartBuy
HDFC offers a 5x multiplier or 5% cashback when purchasing Amazon Pay, Amazon Shopping, and Flipkart Gift Vouchers.
There is a limit on the maximum value of gift vouchers you can purchase per brand:
- Amazon Pay Gift Vouchers: ₹20,000 per month
- Amazon Shopping Gift Vouchers: ₹10,000 per month
- Flipkart Gift Vouchers: ₹10,000 per month
Please note that there is a processing fee of 2.50% + GST on Amazon Pay Gift Cards and 1.75% + GST on Amazon Shopping Vouchers.
On Amazon, you can combine both Amazon Pay and Amazon Shopping vouchers together.
For business owners, if you have an Amazon Business account, you will be able to obtain GST credits for your purchases. Flipkart allows you to enter your GST details during checkout.
Purchasing Amazon/Flipkart Gift Vouchers from Axis Gift Edge
Axis Bank offers a 2x multiplier on Amazon Pay, Amazon Shopping, and Flipkart Gift vouchers purchased from the Axis Gift Edge portal. A maximum of ₹20,000 worth of Amazon Pay vouchers, ₹10,000 worth of Amazon Shopping vouchers, and ₹10,000 worth of Flipkart vouchers can be purchased in a calendar month. Unlike HDFC’s SmartBuy portal, there are no processing charges here.
Purchasing Amazon/Flipkart Gift Vouchers from American Express Reward Multiplier
American Express offers anywhere from 2x to 10x multiplier on Amazon Pay and Amazon Shopping vouchers purchased from the American Express Reward Multiplier Portal. A maximum of ₹20,000 worth of Amazon Pay vouchers, ₹10,000 worth of Amazon Shopping vouchers can be purchased in a calendar month. Unlike HDFC’s SmartBuy portal, there are no processing charges here.
Apple Official Website & other Apple Premium Resellers
If you are purchasing from the official Apple India website or any other Apple Premium Reseller, either online or offline, you can avail the HDFC cashback offer on EMI or non-EMI purchases made through an HDFC card. For business owners do bear in mind that the official Apple India website does not issue B2B GST Invoices, so you will not be able to avail GST Input credits on your purchases.
Conclusion
It goes without saying that holding an HDFC Credit Card offers excellent value when purchasing Apple products in India, especially if you have an Infinia, DCB, or Tata Neu Infinity Credit Card.
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A jack of all trades, master of none. With over 200+ award night stays across a myriad of hotel chains and 50+ flight redemptions and counting his mantra in the game is “earn and burn”. Owing to his inherent laziness Jay firmly believes in simplifying the award game for all and focuses on simple, straightforward, practical yet memorable redemptions over outlandish RTWs and other complicated terminologies.
4 Replies to Best Credit Cards to Buy Apple Products in India
This is incorrect calculation
It is 5X rewards.. Not 5X bonys
You will get 15K points net for Rs 90,000. Anything beyond that, you get 1X.
I have called HDFC and confirmed it
Feel free to verify the exact points you will earn here: https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/v1/savings_calculator
Just HDFC? This is monopoly…
Yes, HDFC largely dominates the apple deals.
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