Diners Club Charge Card Review (Old Product before September 2014)
Updated August 3, 2014. For the new U.S. Diners Club Cards starting September 2014, please see our review here.
The Facts
The Math
For the existing Diners Club card members in the U.S., it makes sense to keep paying the $95 annual fee if you make use of airport lounge access program and/or primary rental car coverage. In addition, even without any category bonus, many card members find the card to be an excellent alternative to some of our favorite miles/points cards for general spending, such as Amex SPG, Amex EveryDay Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Citi Prestige.
The Conclusion
If you are in the U.S., you can't get a new Diners Club Charge Card, and there are reasons why many existing Diners Club card members continue paying the annual fee year after year.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $95 for primary card member, and $35 for an additional card member.
- Signup Bonus: none
- Rewards: 1x everywhere
- Best Use of Club Rewards Points: Club Rewards points are earned through spending with Diners Club cards. Club Rewards points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, cash, travel, etc., at up to 1 cent per point. However, the best redemption option is to transfer points to frequent traveler accounts, mostly at 1000:1000. The current transfer partners include British Airways, Air Canada, Eva Airways, SAS, South African Airways, Thai Airways, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air, Alaska Airlines, El Al Airlines (1000:20), Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Iceland Air, Southwest Airlines (1500:1200), Virgin Atlantic, Best Western (1250:3300), Choice (1250:2400), Hilton (1250:2000), Hyatt (1250:750), IHG (1250:1500), Marriott (1250:1500), Starwood (1250:750), and Amtrak. Please see our featured review SPG vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY about the four popular programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler programs. The reason why we don't cover Club Rewards is because Diners Club hasn't accepted new personal applications for years.
- Other Benefits: Complimentary access for card members to over 500 airport lounges worldwide, though with limited presence in the U.S. Primary rental car collision coverage - note while most credit cards provide rental car insurance, they are secondary, meaning your personal insurance's collision damage coverage kicks in before the credit card's. Please see our featured review on credit cards that come with primary rental card insurance for details. Car rental discount for Avis and Budget. All these benefits are available to additional card members.
- Other Facts: While in many regions in the world you can still apply for a new Diners Club personal card, in North America, Diners Club has discontinued accepting personal applications since early 2000s.
- History: Diners Club International used to be a major credit card company with its own payment network, just like American Express. In 1981, Diners Club International was purchased by Citi, which eliminated Diners Club network's presence in North America while keeping it for the rest of the world. In 2004, Citi made a deal with MasterCard so that Diners Club cards could be accepted not only in its own network but also in MasterCard network. In 2008, Citi sold Diners Club International to Discover which later combined its own network (mostly in North America) with Diners Club network, so that Diners Club cards issued outside North America would be accepted anywhere Discover is accepted. In 2009, Citi sold Diners Club's North American portion to Bank of Montreal, and Diners Club cards issued in this region continue to be accepted anywhere MasterCard is accepted.
The Math
For the existing Diners Club card members in the U.S., it makes sense to keep paying the $95 annual fee if you make use of airport lounge access program and/or primary rental car coverage. In addition, even without any category bonus, many card members find the card to be an excellent alternative to some of our favorite miles/points cards for general spending, such as Amex SPG, Amex EveryDay Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Citi Prestige.
The Conclusion
If you are in the U.S., you can't get a new Diners Club Charge Card, and there are reasons why many existing Diners Club card members continue paying the annual fee year after year.