Diners Club Closing Down in Australia

Diners Club is exiting the Australian market and will close all personal Diners Club cards early next year.

Diners Club has advised existing cardholders that they will no longer be able to use their cards after 31 January 2024. From the same date, Diners Club will also cease to offer associated card benefits such as complimentary travel insurance and airport lounge access. The company will then close all personal accounts completely on 30 July 2024, if the card member hasn’t already done so.

Customers with a Qantas Frequent Flyer Diners Club card will automatically have any outstanding points transferred into the Qantas Frequent Flyer accounts. But customers collecting Diners Club Rewards points will need to use or transfer them out by 30 July 2024 to avoid forfeiting them.

A full list of frequently asked questions is available on the Diners Club Australia website.

What about business and corporate cards?

Diners Club has not advised business or corporate cardholders that it will close their accounts. However, it appears that Diners Club may have stopped accepting new applications for business or corporate cards in Australia as there are no longer any working application links on the Diners Club Australia website.

Some AFF members with personal Diners Club accounts have tried to switch to business cards. However, Diners Club told them this wasn’t possible.

NAB acquired Diners Club last year

Until last year, Citibank issued Diners Club cards in Australia. However, National Australia Bank (NAB) acquired Citibank’s Australian retail banking business in June 2022. As part of that transaction, NAB also acquired Diners Club.

Diners Club already stopped accepting new personal card applications a little while ago. But it had kept existing accounts open (until now).

Diners Club airport lounge access

Many Australians owned Diners Club cards as a cost-effective way to access airport lounges. This was a great strategy because Diners Club cardholders gain unlimited free access over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide, including to Rex Lounges at Australian domestic airports. The annual fee on a personal Diners Club card was under $200 per year, so this was much cheaper than buying a Priority Pass or even a Rex Lounge membership!

There are still other Australian credit cards that provide airport lounge access, but they have higher annual fees.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.