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Enjoy 10X Membership Rewards® points on booking

T&C Apply*

Offer Summary:

Enjoy 10X Membership Rewards® points on booking Air India Flights with American Express Platinum & Centurion Cards.

Terms and Conditions for  American Express® RewardsXcelerator Program.

• This Offer is open to only American Express Centurion and Platinum Cardmembers whose accounts are valid and in good standing. An American Express Cardmember for the purpose of this Offer means a person holding an American Express® Centurion Card or American Express® Platinum Card, issued by American Express Banking Corp. in India. 
• The Offer is not valid for American Express Corporate Cards issued by American Express Banking Corp. in India or Cards issued by a third party bearing the name or trademark or service mark or logo of American Express ("Network Cards ") issued in India.
• In case the Card account is cancelled before the time of offer fulfilment, Cardmember will not be eligible for the offer benefit. 
• The offer in this program will be fulfilled by American Express. 
• The offer would be valid on above mentioned Cards issued in India only. 
• This offer is being made purely on a “best effort” basis. Cardmembers are not bound in any manner to participate in this offer and any such participation is purely voluntary. 
• American Express is only responsible for the crediting of the Membership Rewards® Points into the linked Card account. The redemption is not limited or cannot be held against American Express. 
• American Express & Air India reserves the right at any time without prior notice to add/ alter/ modify/ change all of these Terms & Conditions or to replace wholly, or in part, the Offer by other Offers, whether similar to this Offer or not, or to withdraw it altogether.
• This program is being offered by the participating service establishment only and shall be valid for the period mentioned in the offer.
• American Express is neither responsible for availability of services nor guarantees the quality of the goods/services and is not liable for any defect or deficiency of goods or services so obtained/availed of by the Cardmembers under this Offer. Any disputes with regard to the quality of goods/services availed shall be taken up with the merchant/service establishment directly. American Express shall have no liability whatsoever with regard to the same. 
• American Express reserves its absolute right to withdraw and/or alter any of the terms and conditions of the Offer at any time without prior notice.
• Nothing expressed or implied in the Offer shall in any way waive or amend any of the terms and conditions of the existing Cardmember agreement with the Card issuer. 
• Any disputes arising out of and in connection with this program shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in the state of Delhi only.

This offer is subject to partner Terms and Conditions mentioned below.

RewardXcelerator Terms and Conditions

Promotional offer: get 10x membership rewards points on each spend on your card at participating merchants. .

• Centurion Card : Cardmember will receive 6 Membership Rewards points (Standard American Express Membership Rewards) and additional 54 Bonus Membership Rewards points for every INR 200 Spent on Centurion Card.
• Platinum Card : Cardmember will receive 1 Membership Rewards point (Standard American Express Membership Rewards) and additional 9 Bonus Membership Rewards points for every INR 40 Spent on Platinum Card.
• Eligible Cards: American Express Centurion and Platinum Cards only
• Validity*: This offer is valid from 28th February’2024 – 6th December 2024(both days included) 

The above-mentioned Bonus Membership Rewards Points is for illustration purposes only.

Steps to avail the offer:

• The Cardmember transacts on their eligible American Express Card and with participating merchants to make a purchase during offer period.
• The Standard and Bonus Membership Rewards® Points will get credited to Cardmember’s account by American Express as per regular American Express process.
• The offer will be applicable on the transactions taken only on Air India website & mobile application. 

Offer Terms and Conditions:

• There is no minimum spend required to be eligible for/avail the offer.
• There is no maximum capping on the number of Membership Rewards points that can be earned by the Cardmember under this offer.
• The offer with Air India is applicable only on the INR transactions made with Air India official website and/or Air India mobile app and it’s not valid for transactions made via travel agents, Online Travel Agent , any Air India offline counter and/or via any other available channel(s). Transactions made on a currency other than INR will not be applicable for this program.
• The offer can be availed multiple times during offer period.
• The offer is also applicable on transactions taken with Supplementary Card(s).
• Standard and additional Membership Rewards points are awarded to the Basic Card Account only. Eligible spending made on all Supplementary Card(s) will be considered as the cumulative spend of the respective Basic Card Account. 
• To qualify for the additional Membership Rewards points, the Card Account must be in good standing, not cancelled for any reasons and enrolled successfully in the American Express Membership Rewards Program. 
• The base Membership Rewards points earned on any transaction shall be governed by the product specific Membership Rewards construct and Membership Rewards terms and conditions. To view Membership Rewards terms and conditions, click here. https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/en-in/benefits/rewards/membership-rewards/membership-rewards-terms.pdf
• In case the merchant accepts payments via third party establishment or aggregator or any change in the Merchant’s payment acceptance or settlement process, American Express cannot guarantee the credit of Bonus Membership Rewards points on Cardmember’s account. 
• There might be instances wherein the Bonus Membership Rewards points are credited late or are not credited at all and American Express shall not be held liable in such cases.
• The offer is not applicable on payments done via digital wallets.
• Any queries pertaining to awarding the Membership Rewards Points will be entertained till 30 days from the date of transaction.
• Refund(s)/reversal(s) initiated (during the offer period) for transactions taken prior to the offer period with participating merchants will result in reversal of Membership Rewards points as per the RewardXelerator Program’s offer Earn rate (i.e., 10X or 20X).
• In case of any queries, Cardmembers can reach out at amex.in/contactus.
• Membership Rewards points will be awarded as per regular American Express process. In case there is a refund/cancellation of the order, the Membership Rewards Points (along with additional Membership Rewards points, under this program) will be reversed back from the Cardmember’s Account in future credit cycle(s). 
• The Membership Rewards points will be calculated based on transaction amount billed to eligible American Express Card. 
• The Net Cart Value is the total cart value arrived at after all applicable discounts including coupon code. 
• In an instance where the partial payment is done by the Cardmember via Membership Rewards Points / cash / wallet / any other method, the additional Membership Rewards Points will be granted only on such part of the payment which is made using an eligible American Express Card.
• Offer can be combined with any other offer/promotion running on the partner site/store.
• In an instance where the full payment is done by the cardmember via Membership Rewards Points, there will be no additional Membership Rewards Points extended to the card member on that transaction.
• Any person availing this offer shall be deemed to have accepted all the terms and conditions.
• Product warranty will be regulated by the Terms and Conditions mentioned on the Warranty Card of respective product/manufacturer.
• Any defects in goods or deficiency in services or any claims, issues, damages or losses arising therefrom with respect to the Product/Services shall be the sole responsibility and liability of the manufacturer/Seller or the Service Provider.
• Pictorial representation of product(s) in communication(s) sent to the customers is purely representational.
• American Express/ Partner reserves the right to cancel an order in case of any fraudulent activity Upon cancellation, the order will not be reinstated.
• It is not mandatory for the American Express cardholders to participate in the offer. Participation in the Offer by the card holder is voluntary and free. Participation in the Offer by the Cardholder will be construed as acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of the Offer and Cardholder is advised not to participate in the Offer if such Terms & Conditions are not acceptable.
• American Express shall determine, from time to time at its discretion, those transactions which are eligible for credit of additional Membership Rewards Points (as part of this offer) and the number of additional Membership Rewards Points which Cardmember shall earn upon completion of a successful transaction on participating merchant website/store.
• The Offer is valid only in India. 
• American Express is neither responsible for any deliveries, refunds & exchanges and any additional costs related to deliveries, refunds and exchange. This is to be managed between the Merchant and the Cardmember.
• All Bookings made under this Offer shall be subject to Air India’s  conditions of carriage available at  www.airindia.com

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The best ways to fly to India with points and miles

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here .

India is a top destination for many travelers. You can occasionally find flight deals to India, especially if you are patient and have flexible travel dates. If you find a good flight deal, you may want to use a credit card travel portal to book your flights .

Otherwise, you may want to redeem points and miles for flights to India . This guide will discuss some of the top airline loyalty programs to use when booking award flights between the U.S. and India.

Whether you are booking paid flights or award flights, remember to consider booking positioning flights in the U.S. and India. Doing so may unlock more award options or better pricing. Let's get started.

Related: Best credit cards for airport lounge access

ANA Mileage Club

If you're looking to book a round-trip award, booking with ANA Mileage Club may be a good option. ANA is a member of the Star Alliance but also partners with some airlines outside Star Alliance, including Etihad Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

You can redeem ANA miles to fly round-trip between North America and Asia (which includes India) at the following rates:

• Economy : 55,000 to 70,000 miles on ANA-operated flights; 80,000 miles on partners.
• Premium economy : 84,000 to 99,000 miles on ANA-operated flights; not available on partners.
• Business : 100,000 to 115,000 miles on ANA-operated flights; 136,000 miles on partners.
• First : 195,000 to 210,000 miles on ANA-operated flights; 240,000 miles on partners.

You'll still pay these rates even if you fly one-way. So you'll only want to consider ANA Mileage Club if you plan to book a round-trip award.

For example, here's an economy round-trip award operated by Singapore Airlines that you can book for 80,000 ANA miles plus 84.30 Singapore Dollars (about $64):

However, taxes and fees are a lot higher on ANA-operated awards. Here's a premium economy round-trip award operated by ANA that you can book for 94,000 ANA miles plus 817.90 Singapore dollars (about $618):

If you need to earn ANA miles to book your award, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio or Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio (with 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred).

Related: Quick Points: Book mixed-cabin awards with ANA Mileage Club to stretch your miles

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is another option for flights between the U.S. and India.

You can redeem for flights on Virgin Atlantic, although the taxes and fees are often too high for this to make sense. For example, consider the following off-peak awards from New York to Mumbai via London:

The award costs jump higher for Virgin Atlantic-operated awards on peak dates, though. Combined with the high taxes and fees, these awards won't appeal to most travelers.

You can also redeem Virgin points according to off-peak and peak zone-based charts for long-haul flights operated by Air France and KLM. Here's the pricing you should see for one-way awards between the U.S. and India operated by Air France or KLM:

• Economy : 28,000 points off-peak to/from eastern U.S., 38,000 points peak to/from eastern U.S., 31,000 points off-peak to/from central or western U.S. and 41,000 points peak to/from central or western U.S.
• Premium economy (only on Air France): 56,000 points off-peak to/from the eastern U.S., 76,000 points peak to/from the eastern U.S., 62,000 points off-peak to/from central or western U.S. and 72,000 points peak to/from central or western U.S.
• Business : 110,000 points off-peak to/from eastern U.S., 120,000 points peak to/from eastern U.S., 122,500 points off-peak to/from central or western U.S. and 132,500 points peak to/from central or western U.S.

But in practice, the rates you'll see for awards operated by Air France and KLM on the Flying Club website may not match the award chart rates. For example, these awards operated by Air France and KLM cost 27,000 points (1,000 points less than we'd expect).

If you want to earn Virgin points , you can leverage the following transferable currencies:

• American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio.
• Citi ThankYou Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio (if you have the Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees) or the Citi Prestige® Card , which is no longer open to new applicants).
• Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio.
• Bilt Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio.
• Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio (with 5,000 bonus points for every 60,000 points transferred).
• Capital One miles at a 1:1 ratio (to Virgin Red ).

The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: When and how to book Delta awards with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Flying Blue

The Flying Blue program is another option for award flights between the U.S. and India. One-way awards between the U.S. and India start at 35,000 miles in economy, 65,000 miles in premium economy and 95,000 miles in business.

For example, we could book the one-way KLM-operated economy award that costs 27,000 Virgin points plus $219 (see the previous section) for 35,000 Flying Blue miles plus $125.

Finding business class awards at the starting rate of 95,000 miles can be challenging. But you can easily check award pricing by cabin around your desired travel dates by looking at the bar above the results. Unfortunately, as you'll see in the one-way business class award example below, the taxes and fees are rather high on business class awards.

If you want to earn Flying Blue miles , you can transfer any of the following transferable currencies:

• Capital One miles at a 1:1 ratio.
• Citi ThankYou Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio (if you have the Citi Premier Card or the Citi Prestige Card ).
• Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio (with 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred).
• Bilt Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to either Air France or KLM (both of which use Flying Blue as their loyalty program).

Related: This month's Flying Blue Promo Rewards

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada Aeroplan award prices follow region-based award charts . The U.S. is in the North America region and India is in the Atlantic region. However, most one-way awards between the U.S. and India have a distance of 6,001 to 8,000 miles and hence are priced as follows:

• Economy : 55,000 to 80,000 points for Air Canada-operated flights; 55,000 points for partner-operated flights.
• Premium economy : 70,000 to 100,000 points for Air Canada-operated flights; not offered on partner-operated flights.
• Business : 85,000 to 200,000 points for Air Canada-operated flights; 90,000 points for partner-operated flights.
• First : 120,000 to 225,000 points on Air Canada-operated flights; 130,000 points on partner-operated flights.

However, if you combine Air Canada-operated flights with flights operated by partner airlines, you may see different pricing.

Aeroplan's rates are higher than what you'll find with other programs, especially once you consider the partner booking fee.

But, if you want to add in a stopover or have inflexible travel dates, you may find that the Aeroplan program is best for your trip to India. I had little trouble finding partner awards pricing as expected from major cities in the U.S. to major cities in India.

If you need to earn Aeroplan points for an award, you could use the Aeroplan® Credit Card . However, if you need points more urgently, you could leverage the following transferable currencies:

Related: Complete guide to Aeroplan's stopover and routing rules

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles can be a good way to book Star Alliance awards between the U.S. and India. You can book round-trip promotional awards on Turkish Airlines or its partners between the U.S. and India at the following rates:

• Economy : 68,000 miles.
• Business : 105,000 miles.
• First : 154,000 miles.

You can also book a one-way promotional award for half the cost in miles of a round-trip award. There's plenty of economy award availability on Turkish Airlines-operated flights from the U.S. to India for 34,000 miles plus $128.80 one-way.

You can also find some availability on Star Alliance partners. For example, here's a one-way business class award on an Air India-operated flight from New York to Delhi for 52,500 miles plus $277.90.

If you want to earn Turkish miles to book an award, you can transfer Capital One miles at a 1:1 ratio, Citi ThankYou Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio (if you have the Citi Premier Card or the Citi Prestige Card ), Bilt Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio and Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio (with 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred).

Related: 10 things to know about flying Turkish Airlines

Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca LifeMiles is another option you could use if you want to fly Star Alliance airlines between the U.S. and India.

You'll usually find one-way Star Alliance awards between the U.S. and India for 47,000 miles in economy, 90,000 miles in business and 120,000 miles in first.

But one interesting part of the Avianca LifeMiles program is how it prices mixed cabin awards. For example, you could pay just 3,330 miles more to fly Air India business class instead of economy class from Hong Kong to Delhi on the following award.

If you want to earn Avianca LifeMiles, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One miles at a 1:1 ratio, Citi ThankYou Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio (if you have the Citi Premier Card or the Citi Prestige Card ) and Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio.

Related: Can't find award availability with Avianca LifeMiles? Don't give up until you try this trick

United MileagePlus

United MileagePlus offers reasonably priced economy awards between the U.S. and India on most dates. On most dates, you'll find one-way economy awards for 46,800 miles plus modest taxes and fees. For example, here's a calendar view of economy awards from Austin, Texas, to Delhi:

You'll likely end up on Air India if you're looking for the least-expensive one-stop routing:

But keep an eye out for other Star Alliance carriers, such as LOT Polish:

United MileagePlus awards between the U.S. and India are often expensive in premium cabins. So unless you have a lot of United miles , you'll likely want to utilize other programs if you want to fly in premium cabins. Here's an example of some of the least expensive business and first class awards I found between New York and Delhi:

If you want to earn United miles , you have multiple options. For example, you can use a United credit card or transfer rewards from Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1.1 ratio (with 5,500 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred) and Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.

Related: 6 things you need to know about United Airlines MileagePlus

Alaska Mileage Plan

Alaska Mileage Plan provides some nice options between the U.S. and India. Based on Alaska's new simplified award chart , you'd expect to see one-way awards starting at the following rates between the U.S. and India:

• Economy : 42,500 miles
• Premium economy : 55,000 miles.
• Business : 65,000 miles.
• First : 80,000 miles.

But in practice, you may find less-expensive awards when you search on Alaska's website. For example, here's a Japan Airlines-operated economy award from Seattle to Bangalore for 35,000 miles plus $31.

And here's a Japan Airlines-operated business award from New York to Delhi for 60,000 miles plus $30.

Alaska Mileage Plan may be very appealing if you want to build a stopover into your one-way award. For example, you can book the same Japan Airlines itinerary shown above with about a week stopover in Tokyo for the same number of miles and just slightly higher taxes and fees.

The primary downside of redeeming Alaska miles is the difficulty you may face in earning Alaska miles . That said, you can earn miles through Alaska credit cards , the Alaska Mileage Plan shopping portal and by transferring rewards from Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio (with 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred).

Related: Maximizing redemptions with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

American AAdvantage

Finally, American Airlines AAdvantage provides some good options between the U.S. and India. You can fly one-way awards that involve American's partners between the U.S. and India at the following rates:

• Economy : 40,000 miles.
• Premium economy : 62,500 miles.
• Business : 70,000 miles.
• First : 115,000 miles.

You'll usually see reasonable taxes and fees if you avoid British Airways-operated flights. Also, American's large network within the U.S. makes it easy to connect within the U.S. at the start or end of your award.

It's relatively easy to find economy awards involving American's partners for 40,000 miles each way. For example, here's a one-way economy award on Qatar Airways-operated flights from Los Angeles to Bengaluru for 40,000 miles plus $41.80:

And here's a one-way business class award on Finnair-operated flights from Dallas to Mumbai for 70,000 miles plus $12.30:

The biggest downside of American Airlines AAdvantage awards is that it can be difficult to earn American miles . But you can earn miles through American Airlines credit cards , Bask Bank and the AAdvantage shopping portal . Plus, you can transfer rewards to AAdvantage from Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 ratio and Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio.

Related: Maximizing redemptions with American Airlines AAdvantage

Bottom line

This guide discussed various ways to redeem points and miles for flights to India. The best program for you will depend on various factors, including award availability, what points and miles you currently have and how you want to fly.

Booking flights is just the start of your trip planning. Luckily, you can also redeem hotel points in India — and there are some excellent properties to consider. For example, Hyatt's Alila Fort Bishangarh near Jaipur is spectacular. You can stay at the world's only Category 1 Park Hyatt in Chennai . And the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra offers views of the Taj Mahal from its roof-top infinity pool.

If you don't want to plan what to do in India once you book your flights, Elsewhere (owned by TPG's sister brand, Lonely Planet) may be able to plan the perfect trip for you.

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This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money .

The Big Travel Guide to AMEX Membership Rewards Points: Part 8 – Best Ways to Fly to India and Middle East

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money .

Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

You get lots of travel flexibility with AMEX Membership Rewards points.  Because if you don’t have set travel plans for a future trip, these transferable points give you the option to choose from multiple airline and hotel partners when the time comes.

Folks in the miles & points hobby know earning transferable points, like AMEX Membership Rewards points, are the best way to get  Big Travel.   This can mean a  First Class adventure around-the-world,  a  family trip to Europe , or so many other options!  And it’s easy to earn AMEX Membership Rewards points from some of the  best American Express cards .

The AMEX Membership Rewards points program has  many direct airline and hotel partners.  

Plus, you’ll get access to other indirect partners as well, which gives you choices for flights to the  India , which an amazing travel destination!  And you’ll have great options for travel to  the Middle East  too!

Or you can keep it simple and use  AMEX Pay With Points  to book flights through the Membership Rewards travel portal and get a fixed amount per point.

We’ll show you the best ways to use  AMEX Membership Rewards Points for flights to India & the Middle East !

The Ultimate Guide to American Express Membership Rewards Points:

• Part 1 – Transfer Partners
• Part 2 – How to Transfer Points
• Part 3 – Best Ways to Fly Within Continental US
• Part 4 – Best Ways to Fly to Hawaii
• Part 5 – Best Ways to Fly to Canada & Alaska
• Part 6 – Best Ways to Fly to Caribbean & Mexico
• Part 7 – Best Ways to Fly to Europe
• Part 8 – Best Ways to Fly to India & Middle East
• Part 9 – Africa
• Part 10 – South America

AMEX Membership Rewards Points for Flights to India & Middle East

AMEX has several direct airline transfer partners that are great for flights to India & the Middle East.

India is an amazing favorite travel destination .  And Mumbai is one of Emily’s top international shopping destinations.

If you’re planning a trip to India, you can read tips and experiences in our trip reports .

When you’re  transferring AMEX Membership Rewards points to an airline partner  for flights to India or the Middle East, consider:

• Destination you’d like to visit
• Which airlines fly from your home airport
• Your airline & alliance preferences

Keep in mind there are a limited number of non-stop flights from the US to India or the Middle East.  So you’ll likely have to  connect via Europe or Asia .

If you’re planning a trip to India or the Middle East, we recommend  setting aside some time to plan your award flights .

These flights  typically  require a lot of points or miles.  So you’ll want to  confirm all the details with the airline partner  before transferring AMEX Membership Rewards points.

1.   Air Canada

You can transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points to Air Canada Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio to use for flights to India or the Middle East!

Air Canada is part of the Star Alliance.  This means you can redeem Air Canada Aeroplan miles for award flights on partner airlines like:

• Brussels Airlines
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines

Keep in mind, you’ll  pay fuel surcharges when you redeem Air Canada Aeroplan miles on certain airlines .  These charges can range from ~$50 up to several hundred dollars.

From the US to India, one-way award flights cost:

• 50,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in coach
• 65,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in Premium Economy
• 75,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in Business Class
• 105,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in First Class

If you’re looking for non-stop flight options from the US, Air India flies these non-stop routes:

• Chicago and New York (JFK) to Delhi
• Newark to Mumbai
• San Francisco to Delhi
• Washington, DC to Delhi

And United Airlines flies non-stop to Delhi and Mumbai from Newark.

Air Canada also flies non-stop between Toronto and Delhi and Mumbai, and between Vancouver and Delhi.  So you can connect from the US through one of these cities to India.

Keep in mind, it is  very unlikely  you’ll find Business Class or First Class award seats available on the non-stop flights.

For folks not in the non-stop departure cities or who would like better Business Class options, you’ll have to connect through Europe or Asia.

As an example, you can fly SWISS Air Business Class from New York (JFK) to Delhi with a layover in Zurich.  You can book this one-way award flight online through Air Canada Aeroplan for  75,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles .

And from the US to the Middle East, one-way award flights cost:

• 40,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in coach
• 67,500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in Premium Economy
• 82,500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in Business Class
• 115,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles  in First Class

These are the destinations Air Canada includes in the Middle East region:

• Canary Islands (Spain)
• Saudi Arabia
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates

As an example, you can use 82,500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles for a one-way, non-stop Business Class award flight between New York (JFK) and Cairo on partner airline Egypt Air.

To  find available award seats to India or the Middle East on Star Alliance partner airlines , we recommend searching the United Airlines website for “ Saver ” level awards.

2.   ANA

ANA is also part of the Star Alliance, which means you can book award flights to India or the Middle East on partners like Air India or United Airlines.

You can NOT book one-way award flights using ANA miles.

For a round-trip award flight to India, you’ll pay:

• 80,000 ANA miles  in coach
• 136,000 ANA miles in Business Class
• 240,000 ANA miles in First Class

And to the Middle East, you’ll pay:

• 65,000 ANA miles  in coach
• 104,000 ANA miles in Business Class
• 195,000 ANA miles in First Class

Keep in mind, ANA adds significant fuel surcharges (up to ~$1,000) on certain partner award flights.

For example, we found a sample round-trip itinerary from San Francisco to Delhi.  You’ll pay  80,000 ANA miles plus ~$839  in taxes and fees.  You’re likely better off paying cash for the same flight, but you’ll want to run the numbers.

But the sweet spot using ANA miles is for  award flights to the Middle East,  because the airline has a partnership with Etihad.  And unlike other ANA partners, there are  no fuel surcharges  when you use ANA miles for Etihad award flights.

You can fly non-stop on Etihad to Abu Dhabi from:

• Los Angeles
• New York (JFK)
• Washington, DC

Then connect from Abu Dhabi to other destinations in the Middle East or India.

You’ll need to call ANA at  800-235-9262  to book Etihad award flights.

3.   Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is another Star Alliance airline.  So you can transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points to Singapore Airlines to book award flights on partner airlines like Air Canada or Air India.

You can also redeem Singapore Airlines miles for award flights directly on the airline.

Here are the prices for one-way Star Alliance partner flights using Singapore Airlines miles from North America to India:

• 45,000 Singapore Airlines miles in coach
• 69,000 Singapore Airlines miles in Business Class
• 90,000 Singapore Airlines miles in First Class

And for one-way Star Alliance flights to the Middle East, you’ll pay:

• 55,000 Singapore Airlines miles in coach
• 110,000 Singapore Airlines miles in Business Class
• 145,000 Singapore Airlines miles in First Class

Singapore Airlines has different prices for their own award flights to India and the Middle East depending if you’re departing the US from the East Coast or West Coast.

From the West Coast to India, one-way award flights  on Singapore Airlines cost:

• 46,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in coach
• 98,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in Business Class
• 138,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in First Class

And from the East Coast to India, one-way award flights on Singapore Airlines cost:

• 55,000 Singapore Airlines  miles in coach
• 110,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in Business Class
• 145,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in First Class

One-way award flights from the West Coast to the Middle East  on Singapore Airlines cost:

• 52,000 Singapore Airlines  miles in coach
• 102,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in Business Class
• 143,000 Singapore Airlines miles  in First Class

For award flight prices from the East Coast to the Middle East, you’ll have to call Singapore Airlines because the prices vary by route.

The good news is Singapore Airlines award flights are usually  easy to book online .  But if you plan to fly the airline to India or the Middle East, expect a lengthy flight itinerary.  Because you’ll likely be connecting via Singapore to get to your final destination.

For example, I found a one-way Business Class award flight from Los Angeles to Delhi.  But you’ll have 2 layovers, including in Tokyo and then in Singapore.  The total travel time is 30+ hours.

Keep in mind, you’ll pay high taxes on Singapore Airlines award flights, which can be in the hundreds of dollars.

So it might not be worth redeeming miles for a coach ticket.  But it could make sense to pay taxes for a Business Class or First Class seat, which might otherwise cost thousands of dollars!

4.   Delta

Delta  does not publish an award chart .  So you’ll need to search specific award flights to find prices.

From our research, we found the cheapest one-way award flights to the Middle East cost:

• 35,000 Delta miles  in coach  
• 85,000 Delta miles  in Business Class

And to India, the cheapest award flights we found cost:

• 40,000 Delta miles  in coach  
• 100,000 Delta miles  in Business Class

Delta does occasionally offer award sales with even better prices, so watch out for those!

Keep in mind, you might find limited available Business Class award seats, especially when using Delta miles for partner airline flights.

Delta is part of the SkyTeam Alliance, so you can fly to India or the Middle East by connecting through Europe or Asia on partner airlines like:

• Virgin Atlantic

The best departure options are from Delta hub cities:

• Minneapolis
• Salt Lake City

Although redeeming Delta miles is not always the cheapest option for award flights, there are some advantages.

For example, the award calendar is easy to search.  And you can book award flights quickly online.

5.   Flying Blue

Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM.  You can transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points directly to the program at a 1:1 ratio.

Folks planning to travel to  Israel  can find amazing deals using Flying Blue miles.

That’s because each month Air France and KLM discount award tickets on certain routes to Europe by  25% to 50%.  

Flying Blue now has an award calculator tool to allow you to see how many miles a flight will cost, but you need to log into your Flying Blue account to get to it.  And keep in mind, the taxes and fees vary by flight, but usually range from ~$200 in coach to ~$500 in Business Class.

Save Time (and Possibly Points) Using AMEX Pay With Points

If there are no award flights available for your desired travel dates, or you just can’t find an itinerary that meets your requirements, you can always redeem points for airfare using Pay With Points through the Membership Rewards travel portal.

When you use your AMEX Membership Rewards points towards air travel, you’ll get  1 cent per point  towards your ticket.   And folks with The Business Platinum Card® from American Express  can effectively get ~ 1.54 cents per point  using the Pay With Points perk to get 35% of their points back when they book coach seats on their selected airline, or Business or First Class seats on any airline.

For example, we found a round-trip United Airlines coach flight from Newark to Delhi in May 2019.  This flight costs ~$771 or ~71,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points.

You could book this same flight by transferring points to AMEX airline partners Air Canada or ANA.  Assuming award flights are available on the same dates, you’d pay:

• 80,000 ANA miles 
• 100,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles

That means that booking through AMEX Travel is cheaper AND you can earn frequent flyer miles when you fly!

Folks with the AMEX Business Platinum can get an  amazing deal  using Pay With Points if the flight is on their selected airline or for a booking any airline in First or Business Class.  These flights will get 35% of points back!  So in this example, the net cost for a round-trip flight between Newark and Delhi would be ~50,155 AMEX Membership Rewards points (77,161 points – 35% rebate).

Bottom Line

For  award flights to India & the Middle East , you’ll get the most options by transferring AMEX Membership Rewards points to Star Alliance partner airlines like  Air Canada, ANA, and Singapore Airlines .

If you’re looking to fly  Business Class , you’ll have  more options if you connect through Europe or Asia , instead of flying non-stop.

Don’t forget certain airlines add fuel surcharges on partner award flights to India & the Middle East.  So run the numbers to make sure you’re getting the best deal!

That said, you can find  good deals without any fuel surcharges  thanks to certain partnerships.  For example, you can  use ANA miles to book Etihad award flights  to Abu Dhabi.  But you’ll have to call ANA to book these flights.

If Israel is in your travel plans, keep an eye out for monthly  Flying Blue Promo Rewards .  During certain months, you can book a round-trip flight from designated US cities for as few as  25,000 Flying Blue miles  plus taxes and fees, which is an amazing deal!

Or you can use AMEX Pay With Points through the Membership Rewards travel portal to book cheap coach airfare.  This can be an  amazing deal  for folks with the AMEX Business Platinum booking a flight their selected airline or any Business or First Class flight because you’ll get 35% of your miles back!

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Million Mile Secrets features a team of points and miles experts who have traveled to over 80 countries and have used 60+ credit cards responsibly to accumulate loyalty points and travel the world on the cheap! The Million Mile Secrets team has been featured on The Points Guy, TIME, Yahoo Finance and many other leading points & miles media outlets.

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American Express Platinum Charge Card Review (India)

American Express is known for their premium credit card services across the globe. If you’re looking forward to experience the most premium credit card offering from such an elite credit card issuer, you’re at the right place.

American Express Platinum Card which is issued as a “metal” card in India is an Ultra Premium Credit Card known for its premium lifestyle and travel benefits. It’s a “charge” card, hence it comes with no pre-set credit limit.

Here’s everything you need to know about this prestigious metal card that comes with a status symbol,

Table of Contents

Annual Fees

Credit limit, reward points, redemptions, forex spends, airport lounge access, birthday benefit, travel spend benefit, hotel elite tier benefits, golf benefits, dining benefits, travel concierge, lifestyle concierge, american express invites®, airport fast track, companion card, supplementary cards, is it worth 70,800 inr.

American Express Platinum Charge Card is one of the very few cards in India like  Axis Reserve , the value of which has to be decided based on the lifestyle benefits it offers and not just by looking at the reward rate.

Apply through the above link & you’ll be rewarded 10,000 Referral Bonus Membership Rewards ®  points (spend INR 5,000 within 90 days) + stay vouchers worth INR 45,000 *  from Taj [Limited Period Offer].

With 100K points one can get a value >50K INR by transferring them to Marriott Bonvoy , among other options. While only Taj vouchers are available as regular welcome benefit there is a way to still get 100K points, more on that shortly.

Note that, every once in a while American Express also sends targeted upgrade offers for the platinum card with lucrative welcome bonus, upto 135K MR points like the one we recently got in Jan 2024.

These upgrade offers are usually sent to existing cardholders with good spends. You’re lucky if you get one.

• Minimum Credit Limit: 10 Lakhs

Even-though its a charge card and comes with no-preset limit , it still has internal limit or shadow limit which is more like a credit limit, except that it keeps increasing based on your re-payments.

Usually the limit starts at north of 10 Lakhs, however that will be usually available for use only post ~3 months of card issuance as the system needs some time to get in line with your spend pattern.

The Amex Platinum Charge Card carries the iconic design all over the world with minor changes to the design elements then and there.

In real life this card provides a genuine metal feel that sets it apart from other metal credit cards issued in India, thanks to its authentic metallic colour.

• Earn Rate: 1 MR Point per Rs.40 Spent
• MR Point Value: ~50Ps to 1Rs
• Reward Rate: 1.25% to 2.5%

The above reward rate is calculated based on the “minimum point value” that one can get with Marriott Bonvoy Points Redemptions.

If you’re exploring new properties (or) those located in not-so touristy/business locations (or) then the value could be in the range of 1 INR/point.

On top of that, if you’re Marriott Bonvoy Platinum or above, you also get breakfast & lounge access, which changes the game altogether.

While there are very many ways to redeem Amex MR points, I’ve personally redeemed them mostly for Marriott.

I have got a value of well over 1 INR / point at times, like my recent redemption at the beautiful Westin, Himalayas as you can see below:

But most of the time I’ve got 1 INR / point like those at JW Marriott Prestige Golfshire, Bangalore (or) Sheraton Grand, Mahabalipuram and its tough to put a static value on it as even the above keeps changing.

That said, most Platinum cardholders transfer the points to Marriott to extract maximum value out of them, as you can as well transfer MB points further to Airlines and get a better value through airmiles, among which United is quite popular.

• Forex Markup Fee:  3.5%+GST = 4.13%
• Reward rate on Intl. Spends:  3.75% – 7.5% (3X rewards)
• Net gain:  ~3.3% (only if you can get 1 INR per 1 MR)

It’s a decent credit card for international transactions as you gain over 3% of the spend. However, this is only for those who can extract a value of 1 MR = 1 INR as mentioned in above examples.

It’s not for everyone! I personally prefer to use other cards for international transactions unless the merchant is new & of low profile.

Having said that, considering the peace of mind that Amex gives you with their Zero lost Card liability, it maybe better to swipe Amex over other cards when in foreign land.

• Domestic Lounges: Both primary and supplementary card holders get unlimited lounge access to most of the domestic airport lounges located in India. These are affiliated lounges and not owned by Amex.
• Amex Lounges: You get unlimited lounge access to the Amex lounges across the globe like Mumbai Amex Lounge . You also get access to the Centurion lounges across the globe.
• Priority Pass Lounges: You get unlimited access to the 1200+ priority pass lounges across the globe. Note that only one supplementary cardholder can be enrolled for priority pass lounge access benefit.
• Delta Lounges: Apart from the regular lounges, the additional advantage of this card is, you can also access Delta lounges when you fly with Delta Airlines. This may come handy if you’re flying inside USA.

Note: You may need to request for a Priority Pass after getting the card. However, I was told that a digital priority pass will be available instantly, if required.

• 10,000 INR Taj Voucher

Since 2021 American Express has been sending out 10K Taj voucher on the cardmember’s birthday. This is a wonderful benefit which I’ve been enjoying since past 3 years.

The voucher is sent a month prior to the birthday month, ideally sent by the end of the previous month.

• Spend 1L on International travel and get 15,000 INR Taj Voucher

This travel benefit is applicable every year and they keep shifting it between 30K/15K vouchers from time to time. Quite lucrative for those doing revenue travel spends on cards.

The American Express Platinum Charge Card gives you grand set of elite tier benefits that you can enjoy as long as you hold the platinum card. To avail the tier benefits,

• Login to your Amex a/c
• Visit this URL
• Signup for respective benefits

Marriott Bonvoy (Gold):

This is the most important benefit that you can get with the platinum card. The combination of Gold Elite status & 100K welcome bonus points makes this card highly valuable.

Considering you stay 10 nights a year with 5 successful upgrades, you can get minimum of 20K INR value out of Marriott Gold tier but there are many who could get more than 50K INR a year just with this single benefit.

I enjoy this benefit quite often as you can see it on my Marriott hotel reviews . This usually gets me upgrades, breakfast and few other benefits.

Hilton Honours (Gold):

This is yet another amazing hotel loyalty program which I recently explored at Austria & Ireland. The complimentary breakfast benefit has a good value especially in countries like Europe where the breakfast rate is easily like 50 EUR for two.

If you do 5 nights a year, you can easily get over Rs.20k value with breakfast benefit alone. If you put a value on upgrades, then you could save much more.

Taj Epicure :

It’s usually beneficial for those who avail the Spa and Salon services at Taj properties as the services are discounted at 20% on the bill.

The enhanced version of Taj Epicure membership now in 2024 also gives you 1 birthday cake & 2 access to the Taj Club Lounges which alone is well worth of over 5K INR.

Radisson Rewards

If you’re someone who’s already loyal to Radisson it does help you with room upgrades & more.

The gold tier helped me to request for an upgrade at Radisson Blu Guwahati but well no one cared about the tier at Radisson Blu Bangalore Outer Ring Road , so it all depends.

• Complimentary Games : 4 per month
• Complimentary Lessons : 2 per month

Enjoy complimentary games and lessons across 30+ domestic Golf Courses in India. Limiting lessons to 2 per month along with many other restrictions is actually not so good for a card that costs this high.

• EazyDiner Prime
• Taj Epicure

Eazydiner Prime is a solid benefit to have without a doubt as it could help us save ~45% on the bill easily when coupled with PayEazy offers.

Platinum Concierge

American Express Concierge service is one of the most under-rated and under-utilized benefit on this card.

Nope, you don’t need to use it for collecting sand from the sea. It can also be used for all the regular day-to-day needs. But the new challenge is that we need to call them for all requests, previously they used to handle over email which used to be so handy for me.

Amex Concierge Service is broadly divided into travel & lifestyle. More about the respective services here:

Typically all concierge requests related to travel goes through this team. The services includes but not limited to:

• Visa Services
• Travel Itinerary Planning
• Complimentary First Class Upgrade on Etihad

They can do pretty much anything under the sun with their Do-Anything Platinum Concierge. In most cases you need a lifestyle of its own to get value out of it.

However, you can also use them to delegate small tasks that could save you time. That’s how I use them.

My Concierge experience: I’ve sent them over 100 requests in last 3 years and what I’ve noticed is that they under-perform during peak travel season.

A unique programme that gives Platinum Cardmembers a chance to purchase tickets to some of the most popular events, often before they go on sale to the general public.

Apart from this, Amex also occasionally invite the cardmember+1 for a “complimentary meal” at ITC/Taj hotels located in metro cities. Here’s the recent one:

These kind of dining experiences are great, except that I wish that they could do it more often and in more cities.

American Express Platinum cards issued in certain countries comes with the ability to access the fast track security lanes in respective countries and fortunately this applies to all American Express Platinum cards issued globally as well.

If you’re interested in this benefit, do check out the Amex landing pages in these respective countries: Amex Canada, Amex Italy , Amex Sweden. This benefit is also applicable at Austria & Belgium airports.

That’s not a great coverage indeed but if you’re flying to these countries, it’s worth knowing.

With Amex Platinum, you can choose one of the other Amex credit cards as a companion card which remains free for life as long as you hold the Platinum Card. 

Usually Amex Reserve is given as a companion card but if you would like to maximise the value, Amex Platinum Travel card is the best one (assuming you like plat travel card benefits).

• 4 Supplementary cards
• 1 additional card for Business Expenses

You can get up to 4 supplementary cards, which are also metal cards with your American Express Platinum charge card.

Supplementary card holders can also enjoy most of the above benefits that a primary cardholder enjoys, including the hotel privileges.

Don’t forget to apply supplementary cards during the offer period as they run some wonderful offers like: you can get Rs.1000 – Rs.2000 Amazon Voucher per Supp. Card on the Platinum Card.

I’ve unboxed 2 Amex Platinum cards, one in 2019 (supp. card) and the other in 2020 (primary card) . Feel free to check out both the links for the detailed unboxing. The packaging remains the same even now in 2024 as well.

The welcome benefit for the first year takes care of the fee without a doubt. But from 2nd year onwards, it depends on the renewal/retention offer you receive.

As of early 2024, the retention benefit on Plat Charge with moderate spends of 5-10L a year can get retention benefit anywhere between 30K Taj vouchers to 80K MR points but of-course with higher spends there could be even a better offer.

So now we’re coming to the tricky question!

Tricky because I’ve spoken to over 50+ Amex Platinum Cardholders in the past 7 years during my credit card consultation sessions and each one has their own reason to hold on to the card because it has given them memorable “experiences”.

While we can’t put a value on those experiences as it’s different for each, let’s see what the card can offer with it’s primary benefits.

Let’s analyse the total value of the card by placing an “average” price on each of the benefit we saw above. Here we go,

• Total Value: 75,000 INR + Lounge + Golf + Concierge

So you get bit more than what you pay, assuming you make use of the Marriott Bonvoy Gold benefit (or Hilton for that matter) just as most other card holders do.

Travel spend benefit is also another lucrative benefit to look at.

And then if you play golf 10 times (or) use lounge 10 times (or) avail concierge services often, that’s another 20K INR savings easily for “each” of the services mentioned.

If you avail all these services, then the overall value you get is huge!

To sweeten this deal, you can also get another 10K Referral Bonus Points by applying through the link below. That’s 5K INR value (or) one extra night at select Marriott hotels!

Apply through the above link & you’ll be rewarded 10,000 Referral Bonus Membership Rewards ®  points (spend INR 5,000 within 90 days) + stay vouchers worth INR 45,000 *  from Taj [ Limited Period Offer].

• Cardexpert Rating: 4.2/5

Overall, it’s a nice card for someone who loves luxury experiences in life. The downside is that the joining benefit shown publicly is restricted to Taj Vouchers, which not everyone would like.

However, do note that you may request for 100K points instead of 45K Taj voucher after receiving the card simply by calling the support. They “mostly” approve such requests from what I’ve seen. But remember that it has to be done before activating the card.

That aside, it’s not only a card for you, but also for the entire family, as you may share 4 supplementary cards with your family & friends so they too can enjoy almost all the benefits as you do.

So if you love Amex and want to experience this metal at-least once, then nothing gonna stop you from getting it. Enjoy the Platinum Life!

What’s your take on the American Express Platinum Charge card? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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405 thoughts on “ American Express Platinum Charge Card Review (India) ”

Isn’t it excessive even for upper-middle class credit card users to pursue this card? I personally feel paying a high joining fee to get this card makes a lot of sense for entrepreneurs who can afford to write off the joining fee as an expense and those who get reimbursed for corporate travel wherein they can rack up nights with one of the international chains at the their employer’s cost. This is just my two cents. I am sure that others would view this card from different perspectives.

Totally depends on one’s lifestyle.

It does work for Salaried too. You can consider like paying for a vacation and you get the card for free, as a super premium card member would anyway spend 70K a year on hotels if they do 2/3 short vacations. Again, yes, its only for very small target group.

How to use the card as in case of booking Hilton properties from India ?? Is there any hidden charges that are needed to take care of??

I guess no offical renewal offer ? What offer people got give some idea Thank You & Good Day

Dear Poornith, How can the joining fee on American Express be written off as an tax deductible expenses, have you personally done this? I would like to add it to my ITR if this is possible!

Thanks in advance.

Well, i got welcome points of 1,25,000 points. I transferred 80k points to marriott. I got Rs 1,12,000 value in 80k points. I booked in Dubai. During new year time, dubai hotels get extremely costly, but NOT when you book in points. In point booking, rate remains the same for a hotel. I still have 45k points left. It totally depends on timing, tours you do etc.

how did you get 125K welcome points? Any specific referral link?

Sometimes such offers do come for people who are already having American Express cards. I got such an offer too, but I did not take it as I do not find this card worthwhile for me. HDFC Infinia is enough for me.

Additional value drivers: Golf lessons – This can fetch you between Rs 1500 to Rs 3000 in value per month (if you were to avail the two complimentary lessons). Green fee waivers can increase the value a lot.

Taj Innercircle is actually Gold, as you can status match with Shangri-La Golden. Also you will get Silver status in Singapore Airline (with a promise of Gold after three flights with them).

Adding to your note on ITC culinaire membership. This comes with a set of vouchers (typically 50% off on buffett, 25% to 20% off on a-la-carte, and some more vouchers for Wills Lifestyle). What more the ITC membership gets you 25% as ITC Green points for dinning at ITC and 37.5% points on Fridays, and your birthday week. You can get at least Re 1 value of the ITC Green Points, or can convert to Marriott Bonvoy and get 1.5 Marriott points. Additionally you will get Rs 4000 worth discount codes at Wills LifeStyle for your birthday and anniversary months (not sure what happens if they are in the same month). That’s not all, you will often get 5X points on your purchases at WLS. That is 25% off. Last Diwali I used this to get 58% off on fresh merchandise (5X from ITC, and 33% from HDFC DCB for shopping between 5 pm and 9 pm).

Also there are dinning benefits: ‘Taste of Platinum’ that has been discussed before and IAP (Amex Guy has great documentation on the same)

Thanks for additional inputs. Looks like you’re visiting ITC often. 🙂

wow! amazing list of benefits of ITC. Thanks

I just paid my son’s education fee through this card and enjoyed 2x the points. Had initially faced a lot of hiccups with this card and had escalated it….Issues were resolved to an extent. Used this card to get a 25% discount on Taj Room Nights and the offer is still valid till 30th Sept 2019

Big jackpot for you to get all the elite hotel and dining membership benefits as a supplementary card holder 🙂 Would be a huge benefit since you travel a bit.

Yet, I prefer only Marriott where I’m already Gold Elite. So not a big benefit unless I stop being loyal to Marriott. Let’s see 🙂

Sid, you may want to expedite to BonVoy Platinum by calling the helpline & taking up the Plat challenge. 16 nights in 3 months gets you to BonVoy Platinum.

Yes, thinking about it for a while.

Pretty sure supps do not get dining memberships. Taj is for main card holder only, and ITC is for main card holder and his/her spouse (doesn’t have to be a supp). EazyDiner/Taste of Platinum/Amex Network Dining are for everyone.

Considering how hard it is to review this card, great job! While some things that I’d like to add:

1. Taste of Platinum is very handy and does add a lot to the already decent dining options — ITC + Taj + EazyDiner. 2. Shang Jade is much more valuable than I initially thought. 3 welcome drinks, and those things are expensive at their hotels! Shang hotels are great outside India. 3. You completely missed FHR. On average, Plat members save $550 a year. But essentially, guaranteed room upgrade, $100 credit/dinner, guaranteed late checkout and early check in at an insane collection of upper end hotels. They also have a hotel collection that gives $75. 4. Accelerated *A gold. You can match Shang to Singapore Air and get silver status. Take 3 flights and you have gold. 5. I would not value Bonvoy status at 20K anymore. Personally, Hilton Gold is far more valuable than Bonvoy. It used to be much more valuable with SPG still around. 6. There are a lot of interim offers. Currently they have 25% off (up til 1.5 lac per transactions) at 29 luxury brands. Depending on your lifestyle, that’s a lot of cash value. 7. The new dining reservation program with concierge is great, especially if you’re booking high demand places. 8. Plat Emergency services. If you are traveling, this includes emergency airlift, legal advice and counsel support, $8K emergency medical cash, $1K emergency cash anywhere. On top of that if you withdraw cash and call amex that it was an emergency, they bill it as spend not cash advance. You also get travel insurance 5 times a year (pointless if one also has Prestige). 9. Priority Pass, unfortunately, does not allow free usage domestically. Which is why I never carry it. It is, though, issued directly by PP and is not bank managed, so you can download a digital version on Apple Wallet and always have a backup card on you that way. 10. Discounts with Platinum Travel are available on economy and PE as well, not just business and first. Depends on airline. It’s on the website. 11. Golf program has a minimum flight of 1 on weekdays. Which means on weekdays you do not need to know a member to book. A glaring difference between Amex and others. 12. Emergency home services. Amex covers two home repair visits, up to 1500 INR in case of broken appliances, repairs or other home emergencies.

That’s just of the top of my head.

Yes indeed. It needs a shift in mindset to review this card 🙂 Thanks again for adding valuable points.

3. I’ve been exploring this during my last trip to Vietnam but couldn’t find much of a value, and so I skipped. Will probably add it. Do you have any specific hotels in mind where you get exceptional value in SE Asia with FLR? 5. But I find a lot of options with Marriott in the places I travel over Hilton and so I’m sticking to Marriott. 8. Emergency services applies even if we don’t book flights on the card? 12. This is surprise. Never even heard of it. Have you tried it?

Thanks again!

It is there in the Card Agreement document. And for item #12 it is 1,200 INR. It is available online and I had read the card agreement end to end before signing up..:-)

I need to print this in bigger text to read all of it. 😛

3. Yes, it is a hit and miss on revenue comparison. Usually you derive lesser value on FHR in Asia because hotels are cheaper and offer a dinner instead of $100 property credit. But it’s still always worth checking. I use it now to book St. Regis Mumbai for example. FHR rate is usually 700-800 more, but I get a breakfast for 2, dinner for 2, upgrade to suite and late checkout, none of which Bonvoy Gold any longer fetches me. So a win there. I do have some options in mind, which city are you looking into?

5. It depends on loyalty, yes. But Gold status itself is not much valuable. It does not give you guaranteed 4 PM (it did with SPG), guaranteed breakfast, guaranteed upgrade to next cat(it did with SPG) nor the exec lounge access. All of which Hilton Gold does. So, status to status comparison, Bonvoy Gold doesn’t have inherently as much value as Hilton, which is more comparable to Bonvoy’s Platinum now.

12. Have not tried it. Waiting for summers and the AC to do it’s thing lol. Here is how one learns about all emergency protection Emergency services are insane. If you’re traveling alone and need medical supplies, they are there. If you get hospitalized or seriously injured, they can fly your family member to your bedside, or your doctor in extreme cases. If your trip delays due to sickness, they cover a hotel room up to $200 a night.

Amex also just went in partnership with CPP which insures every card in your wallet, not just Amex. The usual plan you can buy for fraud protection up to 3 lacs (for 3K a year). The one you get with Plat is up to 25 lacs. They also have emergency cash and more India related services. Haven’t explored or activated it yet.

3. Okay, I get it. Any city. If the hotel is good enough, with good tourist attractions around, I’ll go there 🙂

12. Interesting, will check them out.

Amex Guy that’s a helpful link regarding the emergency platinum assist. Is it the same concierge folks who will handle these requests, or is there a dedicated team for this or is it outsourced?

Hello Amex Guy, like sid; I just got the plat charge card. Could you give your take on this versus ICICI’s Emeralde card?

PS: Sid, you should do a new comparison with such exclusive cards. I feel ICICI Emeralde is a good card with respect to cost benefit ratio.

I’d love your and Amex guys take on this.

Hi Amex Guy,

Thanks for the valuable inputs. Could u clarify that if one books a Marriott hotel(say St. Regis Mumbai) through FHR, does one accrue Marriott Bonvoy Points? Also, the same question for the Hotel Collection.

I too enjoy Marriott service and being a Platinum member since last 3 years able to retain it. Luckily during lockdown they extended my Platinum status till Dec 2021.. They always upgrade to suite and also give complimentary BF or welcome drinks/platter with personal hand written note by Hotel manager. They really make you feel special.

In south east asia, hotels are dirt cheap. So save the points for exotic locations. Mauritius LeMeridien ile maurice, St Regis..Dubai year end, Maldives, Moscow St Regis

Hi Sid/Amex Guy,

thanks for the review. I was/am considering getting the amex plat just noticed that trf partners both airlines and hotels for the India card have far poorer transfer ratios than the US e.g. US Amex MR trf to airlines at 1:1 and to hotels like hilton at 1:2. For India,apart from fewer options, ratio is 2MR:1mile and hilton at 1MR:0.9. Only MR>Marriott is 1:1 both places. This probably makes redemption of MR for airline mile fairly poor value (half of the US values). Wondering how best to utilize the MR rewards that I will get since I’m a leisure traveller and will never stay in a cat1 hotel anyway (probably cat5 or higher). Also seems shangri-la, taj epicure and taj warmer welcomes gold tie ups/ cascading benefits are due to end by 1apr21? How does one then get any value from the card?

Ah, was waiting for your comments..:-)

I had the platinum charge card for two years. Cancelled it and staying loyal to my Infinia. Hands down the Infinia is better. While I do travel a lot and stay in many of the hotels Amex has tie ups with, upgrades and deals are “subject to availability”. I have been a victim to this and booked a stay at St.Regis abroad but didn’t get the upgrade as planned. With Infinia I know that my returns are guaranteed in my kitty, with Amex there is a lot of ambiguity. I am averaging close to 8% rewards every month on Infinia by utilising 10x,5x sort of offers regularly. Moreover, whenever I had checked with Amex concierge for hotels and flight deals, I found that my travel agent had better deals and if I evaluated smartbuy 10x it also beat it hands down.

Plat is definitely not for rewards game but for experiences that are generally out of our reach. Leaving aside the returns you mentioned, it is sad to see that Amex is not consistent is providing those experiences to all customers.

I purxhased Marriott Bonvoy 1 lakh points for USD 1250. I got 50k bonus points. If you are planning to go on exotic locations, Marriott Bonvoy is best. But dont always use points. Use it on year end etc.

I have to agree. I use the Infinia and the Platinum and the rewards I get out of the Infinia give me much better value. My Amex is up for renewal this month for the 3rd year and I am wondering if I should renew it at all given that no specific benefits are provided for the renewal and some of the benefits I received when I signed up initially (Vistara Gold Tier and ITC Culinaire) are no longer available.

Would you recommend getting the corporate version since that gives points for utility spends as well ? Assuming benefits would remain the same except for the earning rate

You can get points on utility (or insurance spends for that matter), by just paying through PayTM (or other wallets that accept Amex). Amex sees it as a PayTM expense and gets you the points. You don’t even have to load PayTM beforehand – just use the PayTM gateway. Also you can do the same trick to get MRs for fuel transactions too.

Hey amexguy,

I have been following you and Sid for a while. Really have come to strongly dislike the amex plat. After your advice on using the plat charge as my primary card I was hoping their conceirge improves. Yet again they delivered …. absolute utter failure. Ask wasn’t astronomical. Just a few tickets to Avengers that too 2 weeks in advance.

The conceirge lady called me up and explained why she could not book tickets on book my show!!! Obviously there weren’t any and hence the request. Request remained unfulfilled.

I am definitely not renewing it next year. Prestige and diners provide far better value and service.

‘ targeted upgrade offers for the platinum card’ – the link is of Platinum Travel Card and not the Charge card. You’ll have to update.

Changed. Thanks.

“The only reason that you need to consider is the new soft rule by Amex that don’t let you be eligible for the Amex spend based offers once you’re a Plat Card holder.” – Are you sure about this one?

Yes. But this may change anytime as a lot of cardmembers don’t like it.

Due to many indirect benefits, I guess this is one of most complicated card to consider and review.

I personally don’t think would be able to take advantage of this card much due to my lifestyle and considering that I more often than not book via OTA with discounts.

But i am sure for many others, this gives insane value.

Anyway, loved the review..

I bought this card and gave it back in less than a months time, I was misinformed by the sales manager about the card features, I was told that if I go for the 100k points I can book flights and hotels worth 45k, what i was not told that only 25k can be used for international air tickets and hotels while 45k is for domestic use. When I called the concierge sercive for a hotel while I was in Kashmir, I need a room in Gulmarg and they gave me an option of ₹ 1.2 lacs per night at Khyber property in Gulmarg, I mean are you really serious? Can someone spend 1.2 lacs on one night stay? It’s a very hyped card from Amex and their service network is poor as compared to their boasting on the same. The ideal fee of the card should not be more than 15-20k. 60k + taxes could be someone’s one year salary folks, why would anyone waste their hard earned money even if you are a rich? The metal card is all a gimmick and it fools you. I hold Amex platinum and Amex reward card. Also they bluffed me about the 100k points by saying that it would be credited to my Amex card account after first swipe, I waited for a week and called them back and they said that after I spend 25k it will reflect within 45 days, i mean what did you charge me the fee for? Which means I pay them 60k + gst which is 70,200 then an additional 25k which makes it 95k almost a lac and they i will get maximum benefit worth 45k? Where is the remaining 45k gone? 45k fee for a piece of metal and hopeless service promises? Just to inform you ICICI bank has launched similar card with 90% same facilities and it’s called the Emerald card with a joining of just 12k which you can pay 1k monthly as an EMI. I took this up with senior manager of Amex and they didn’t have a word to say as my above points were valid. It’s only a big name so please don’t get fooled by the metal card gimmick please. Just not worth it.

I got the card and thanks for enlightening everyone here about the 25k swipe required. I realized the same when I saw the application popup asking me to spend 25k within a month or 45 days. I do feel this is a downer!

Sid whats your take on this?

It used to be on first swipe, but the 25K requirement has been on the website for over 6 months now. It is also the first sentence on the new paper application, followed my a disclaimer that if you have any other charge cards, they will be cancelled.

You don’t have to book the first hotel they tell you. They have booked even OYOs and FabHotels for me, which they technically cannot, but were courteous enough to call the hotel and book because I wanted to not spend much. Ask. It’s your travel desk, they will help you.

It is also a really bad idea to burn MR points on Amex travel vouchers. You could have booked 1 lac worth of Marriott hotels at the very minimum, especially if booking within India, thanks to GST. Ideally, you should look for 2 years worth of fee back with bonus. Even basic business hotels like Courtyards in India will give you 1.5 INR/MR point.

I can appreciate the fact that Emarald might be a better card for your situation, but you cannot seriously compare Emerald with Plat. It appears to me that you signed up without looking, and are now ready to give it up without looking. The God is in the details. 🙂

Card being metal is not a factor by anyone I know who seriously uses this card. This card could be made of cardboard and I’ll still pay for it every year.

What Amex desperately needs is more training for Plat. Both with sales as well as service teams. Citi has this nailed pretty well. Prestige simply isn’t sold, but sought after with a dedicated team, which also provides service. Amex is making a deep mistake of letting Plat handling in wrong hands.

Kudos your love for Amex and I say that respectfully. Maybe the card has been immensely useful for you. and I’m happy for that. Could you guide others on how you’ve maximized from the card?

I liked this part : “You don’t have to book the first hotel they tell you. They have booked even OYOs and FabHotels for me, which they technically cannot, but were courteous enough to call the hotel and book because I wanted to not spend much. Ask. It’s your travel desk, they will help you.” — This is functional statement providing applied guidance as opposed to theoretical one. I’ve asked Sid in other thread to collaborate with you to give everyone on this platform a more comprehensive use case for plat charge card.

I must apologise and respectfully disagree with your statement about: “Amex is making a deep mistake of letting Plat handling in wrong hands.” While income is one criteria, it is up to the applicant to understand the benefits of the card and prudence of the sales representative to guide the customer (this can be enforced by Amex). What is for sure is that there is lack of clear applied guidance on how to best use this card. I’ve read blogs where people have claimed they saved ~4,00,000 INR using this card or they have ~2,50,000 accumulating points on their spends. What they easily and sadly purposely miss out is “how”?

I got my plat charge card 2 days after the article went online, I was given an upgrade from Gold Charge and Jet Airways card as I wished to close Jet and consolidate. I have E-Mail from Amex representative who is now my account manager explaining in writing benefits of the cards. He does mention 1,00,000 MR points but has no where mentioned a swipe of 25,000 to get those points. While it is subjective as to on whom does the responsibility fall for checking criteria, I personally in my humble opinion feel Amex rep should have told me about it in the interest of transparency, given the premium placement of the card. Is this a downer for me, personally? No. I had to spend for predefined reasons and I did. Just my two cents there.

Lastly, when Sadiq Dastagir mentioned his experience with Amex plat and pointed towards ICICI Emralde (I am not sure and intrigued as to why ICICI has misspelled it) card, I read up on it. Now based on my limited knowledge (especially in comparison to hobbyist like Sid and passionate person like you) I found Emeralde a more useful “ROI” card. Maybe I’m wrong, heck; let us assume that I am wrong but how do general population who’re getting in to the nick of points, travel and credit cards understand this?

I’d deeply love your and Sid’s views on this. Also, if I may humbly ask Sid to add your points to his review, it may make it more comprehensive.

I think this needs a separate article, as you’ve mentioned and that only “Amex Guy” can write more in detail. Will do comparison article too shortly. In my perspective, If you’re a “real spender” especially on luxury travel & Dining, you’ll get a lot of value.

Reg. 25k spend criteria, Even-though it shouldn’t be a problem for those who are eligible for this card, it’s Amex mistake indeed and they should probably fix that. Infact they can better remove it or, I’ll be more than happy if they give 200k points on 2L spend in 90 days 🙂

Hey Sid, I hope I’m not being interpreted incorrectly. I meant an article by you and Amex guy in conjunction and did not wish you directly or indirectly imply that he should be writing it solely. 🙁

Noted, noted!

Dear Sid, my only concern is that when you pay a hefty joining fee of Rs 70,200 what is the value we as customers are getting from it, at least we should get the entire joining fee back in some form which justifies that kind of amount.

I hold Citi prestige for 3 years now. Never saw a better service. They beat Infinia guys hands down. Magnus guys don’t even stand a change in customer service.

I’m yet to explore Reserve (just ordered in July’23) & Platinium.

After reading this I won’t even think of going for it. Unless you are filthy rich, fee of 60k plus GST doesn’t make sense at all. In these days of COVID 19 when travelling anyway is at an all time low, MRCC is the best card of Amex. Once things normalise, we can go for travel card. Platinum card may be ok for show off or if you travel abroad frequently in business class and stay in five star super deluxe hotels.

I m self employed and going to file my ITR for this year above 6 lakhs.. Now I m planning to apply Amex cards since the eligibility is 6 lakhs for self employed.. do they go with this year Itr or will they ask for prev years too ? I don’t have 6 lakhs itr for previous years… btw I have few more credit cards since couple of years..

Latest would do.

Should I apply for Amex Platinum Charge Card and I want to know it’s eligibility and I already hold Diners Club Black( Life Time Free), ICICI Diamant Credit Card and recently got ICICI Emeralde for free. So would Amex give me this card at discounted annual fee or regular annual fee…..

The only way to get Plat free is if you have a private banking relationship with one their partner private banks. Usually the ones who requires 25-30 crore minimum are their partners. If you have a really large portfolio with IL&FS you can try for IL&FS cobranded Plat. Not sure if they will waive the fee, but worth a try.

Other than than, you will be paying the first year fee. Reconsideration will happen on at least 40-60L spend in the first year, depending on their mood. Over 60L, they usually always waive the fee. But there are no promises.

Amex Guy – how do you get so much inside info? Not that I am complaining about all the knowledge that you share so generously, but sometimes I just wonder..:-)

My company is on Amex Corporate, just know too many RMs within Amex. Also, Amex HQ is next to my office in cyber city, too many friends there. Can’t say more than that publicly. 😛

Seems amex is withdrawing boingo benefit for plat cards.

That’s enough to do some serious OSINT on you. :p

PS: light humor and in good faith.

@kiran: Indian issued personal Plat never had it. Boingo was always on Corp Gold and Corp Plat.

Can you please comment on LTF for diners black (apparently being Imperia doesn’t cut it). And how do you obtain icici emeralde LTF, (high nrv with ICICI?)

Sidharth.. how stringent is Amex on the eligibility parameters for charge card? I would have income to the tune of 22L this ITR. Would that suffice, or are they stringent on the 25L eligibility factor?

It’s strict for fresh applications. But you could pass through if you get an upgrade offer.

Thanks. I did apply as an upgrade to my existing plat travel card and they approved the card without any documentation.

Please tell how did u get upgrade offer ? I am using Platinum travel credit card from 1 year . Any chances that I can upgrade offer for PLATINUM CHARGE CARD

Got an email. You could call them and ask.

Just call them on customer care and request , they will be more than happy to give you

Amex considers an annual income of above 15 Laks or if you open any of super premium cars . I have the list with me I’ll mail to sid!

What are the renewal benefits on this card. Do we get 100k points on paying renewal fee. If not, how does it make sense to renew by paying 60k plus tax.

Hey Sid, could you please confirm which memberships will continue to be at elite tier until we hold the card? Will it be all of them (six) which are offered as part of the registration page?

I have asked this to Amex, and they said all of them will continue to be at Elite tiers as long as one holds the card.

Not many would know but Amex has this “One Annual Fee” policy (not sure if feature is available for India) where Platinum Charge cardholders will only pay one annual fee of Rs 70.8K and hold a maximum of 3 cards –2 credit and 1 charge. In other words, there is no annual fee for up to 2 more cards so long you pay the annual fee of Platinum Charge card. MRCC+Plat Travel + Plat Charge for Rs 70.8k! Not bad at all especially during renewal where we don’t get any renewal benefits. 🙂

It is there in India as well.

You cant hold Plat Travel with Plat charge and MRCC unless one is a companion card.

Amex allows one companion card with Plat Charge. In most occasions it is the Reserve one, but for some folks (me included) it is Plat Travel. So I don’t need to pay Plat Travel fee as long as I hold the Plat Charge. They refunded the fees on pro rata basis once I got the Plat Charge. Not sure about the second card (MRCC) that you have mentioned. What is the source of your info?

Did you get it with companion card offer? Or, you get got Plat and later added Plat Travel as companion?

Doesn’t matter, Sid. Amex sends companion offer to everyone once a year, if you were not given one on onboarding. Wait for it to pop up in online account if not already given. Or, as in my case, an absolutely useless Reserve card will show up in the mail without asking. (Wasn’t the worst thing though as I got it without CIBIL hit)

If you get it on onboarding, they always ask which card you’d like as companion. Has to be a platinum variant, gold cards like MRCC and Everyday cannot be a Plat companion.

Got it. Btw, I never got the companion card offer till date and I was said once that it was because I’m already holding 2 Credit + 1 charge card.

The companion is only for Primary Plat holder (not add on holders). Also if you have exhausted the 2+ 1 quota, you can still chose one of the existing plat credit card to be complimentary for you.

In that case, you can ask Amex to make Plat travel card you already hold to be free (as long as you hold Plat Charge card). Please pardon me if I sounded foolish, bcoz I am novice in the world of Amex cards, as I can’t get one here.

Whats the benefit of the Plat travel as a companion card ..only Taj vouchers i guess ?

That and the 7.5k and 10k bonus MR at 1.9 lac and 4 lac spend level respectively. Additionally the Amex spend based offers, and lounge access (one every quarter).

They have the concept of companion card. No offer needed. Platinum travel fee reversed on pro rata basis.

I had the Plat travel card but as soon as fees got charged I asked them to cancel it as had moved all my spend to the Plat Charge Card…They very politely reversed the fee and cancelled the card. I hold the Plat Jet card and the person also told me as Jet is no longer operational we would come out with a new offer as well and the team would help me cancel the card as and when the expiry is near or I can cancel it right away. His ending statement was a little surprising. “As long as you have the Plat Charge Card you do not need any other card”

Does anyone have any data points on how they managed to make use of the International Airline Program with the Platinum card? While the programme has plenty of top-flight airlines in the US, the ones listed for the Indian version of the card aren’t all that hot, if my memory is correct.

I hold the US version of the Amex platinum charge card, I also hold the Diners club Black and Standard Chartered Ultimate cards and the Amex platinum travel card, in India.

To be really honest, the Amex platinum charge card in India is a terrible deal compared to what the card offers in other parts of the world. I hold on to the US version of this card just for that reason, despite being based largely out of India for the last couple of years. For instance, the same card in the US has

1. Travel expense credit on a major airline of choice, up to $200 2. Monthly Uber credits, totaling up to $200 every year 3. Saks 5th avenue credit of $100 per year 4. Reimbursement for TSA global entry membership: about $100 5. Unlimited lounge access: Amex Centurion and Priority pass 6. Doubling manufacturer warranty on all purchases up to an extra two years 7. Purchase protection for damage or theft for up to 120 days after a purchase 8. Primary rental car insurance for all rentals 9. A generally excellent concierge service which has even managed last minute bookings in Michelin starred restaurants booked out months in advance 10. Amex offers on a wide variety of brands and stores 11. Amex FHR benefits 12. Gold status on Hilton and Marriott 13. Free Boingo Wifi 14. Free Shoprunner 2day shipping membership 15. 5X points on travel 16. Zero foreign transaction charge 17. Signup Bonus of around 60k to 100k points etc.

The fee for the card is $550, but this is routinely offset a bit on calling, as a statement credit for around 250-$300 or so, making the cost around $300 or approx Rs 20k. If you count the benefits, you easily make thousands of dollars on the card every year.

The Indian version of the card though is almost criminally overpriced and offers only a tiny fraction of benefits the same card offers in the US and other parts of the world. I have tried asking AMEX India about the disparities and never really got a satisfactory response.

The differences are so massive that it seems pretty fair for discerning Indian credit card users to boycott the card completely till AMEX India gets its act together, reduces price and increases benefits on its most premium offering to Indian customers. I also hope Indians who have the card already, call out AMEX India and pressure them into making the card better.

That is not quiet right. Here is what the Indian version has that is missing from the US version:

1. Golf benefits 2. Shang, Taj, Hilton, Radisson statuses 3. ITC and Taj dinning programmes 4. Add on cards up to 4 for no additional cost

The IAP and FHR are there for the India version as well.

You can get a lot of benefits from the first four items by strategically using them.

Free Boingo wifi is cut in US.

I agree that the fees are higher in India, and the airline transfer ratio is half of that in US. But if you are transferring to Marriott then the transfer ratio is double that of US. In am saying because here you get 2.5MR for every Rs 100 spend.

But overall with all the credits (travel, Uber etc) the actual cost of holding the US version is significantly lower. But there are pockets of values in India as well.

Hi SH, How valuable is the FHR on the Indian card? I was researching hotels in Tokyo for an upcoming vacation & found FHR was listing hotels which I had already eliminated due to the budget :P. Also, are there any preferential airline fares for non-business class tickets for airlines not part of IAP? Looking forward to your inputs on the same

Yet to use FHR. May be others can comment on that. There are preferential rates for non-business class tickets as well. Discount range is between 5% to 25%, and for SkyTeam carriers the range is up to 30%. Remember discounts will increase as the cost of ticket goes up. From what I know expect 5% to 10% discount on non-premium tickets.

I held the US version too for years before global transferred to India, it used to be $450 then. I think Indian version is better, and I currently hold Aspire Hilton which has been fantastic.

— Indian variant comes with 4 supplementary cards free. You need to pay $175 extra for 3 supplementary members. So the fee of equivalent offering is $725. That’s 50K INR. And you’d still be 1 supplementary and 1 A/C card short. –All status benefits are same. Indian one is better here actually. — Indian version comes with 24 golf lessons every year. — Much stronger service. You know what I’m talking about, Plat line in US has become unbearable now. Concierge in US uses Expedia to book travel. It’s an absolute joke. In India, they are savvy and use a real GDS. — 52 green fees waivers on golf every year, with minimum flight of 1. — There is no $39 booking fee for taking advantage of IAP bookings on flights. If you book even 10 flights with Amex to get IAP discounts, you need to add $390 to your annual fee. –Every card in Amex offerings come with TSA..could never take advantage of it but I can’t imagine this being special to anyone who has Plat. –There are additional status on Indian card — Taj Gold, Shangri-La Jade, Radisson Gold. This should alone be worth the extra 10K in fee. –There is practically no dining advantage of US plat anymore. There is enough free wine in India for Indian variant. — Indian version gets 3X on forex. 5X on airlines would be super though. — Car rental advantage of US version has been the highlight feature for me, except that CSR simply has better offering for over 2 years now. And Amex didn’t change anything. –Out of express cash and emergency cash, all Plat emergency services are withdrawn from US card. A sure sign that in US, Amex sees it as a mass market card.

Honestly, I’d rather keep CSR (present version) + Amex Gold (new one) + Hilton Aspire as my personal fav US trifecta. The reality is that to compete with CSR, Amex Plat is now just another card in US when it comes to offerings and service. And the benefits they provide are not for lifestyle, but to entice people who should not have the card in the first place. And the customer service reflects that attitude.

For what Plat is meant for, Indian version is more value offering than US. At least for me.

Re the $39 fee for booking via the Platinum Travel desk, I think they’ve just introduced an online portal for these IAP bookings, which does not involve the fee, and importantly, the hassle of calling the travel desk and feeding them itineraries one by one as they check them out.

And don’t forget the list of airlines you have access to via the US IAP is far better than here in India. The Indian list is heavy on Skyteam and Star Alliance carriers, which, apart from SQ, are not worth shouting about in business class. The US version has top-line One World airlines like JAL, QR, CX and QF, plus the usual *A suspects.

As far as Centurion lounges go, in India, you have just the two, if I’m not wrong, and one in HKG. Unlike in the US, where there are plenty.

The 5x on travel spends is also a massive benefit.

Add it all up and it’s hard to see how the Indian Amex plat is better value at over twice the annual fee, unless you’re maxing out the supplementary card benefits and golf benefits all the time. I guess I’m not considering them a whole lot because they’re not benefits I personally would make much use of.

> Re the $39 fee for booking via the Platinum Travel desk, I think they’ve just introduced an online portal for these IAP bookings, which does not involve the fee, and importantly, the hassle of calling the travel desk and feeding them itineraries one by one as they check them out.

While limiting IAP discounts to only 2 redemptions per year for US Plats. Indian Plat, like US Cent is unlimited redemptions without any fee. But hey, they got Saks socks for free 🙂

>> While limiting IAP discounts to only 2 redemptions per year for US Plats. <<

I don't think this is the case. I've looked at the IAP pages and the Amex Plat t&c for IAP and it does not seem to say this anywhere.

The IAP has 3 faces:

1. BOGO on First/Business class. 2. Auto upgrade to first/business on buying business or premium economy. Usually second to highest fare. 3. Discount ranging from 10-25% on base fare, on flights originating (including round trips) from one’s issuing country.

On US personal plat, option 1 is not available to begin with. Option 2 is available only to be used twice a year with $39 booking fee per ticket (not per use), and in practice always unavailable to plats die high number of cents. Option 3 is available to be used any number of times and also has an option to book online to save $39 fee.

On US Cent, all options re available, with no booking fee, any number of times.

On Indian Plat, all options are available, with no booking fee, any number of times.

You are only looking at option 3 documentation, which only became a part of IAP in mid-2017, and most Plats and Cent who actually had the card before 2017 even associate IAP with it.

One thing I’d want to come to India is bonus points on booking through Amex. Can’t believe they don’t have that yet.

my amex account has been suspended for financial review..been 3 days..review still to be finalized..any idea how much time they take and what is the general outcome?

@Amex Guy, Hi

Can you kindly guide towards BOGO offer, couldn’t see it anywhere on the IAP page or the membership page of platinum. Travel desk doesn’t know about it too.

Aside, can you also please help with the difference of fraud protection of Amex platinum form other premium cards like DCB and Infinia. apart from amount they cover is there any other difference

Thanks in advance

Hello AmexGuy!

I would like your inputs if Amex Plat India has any trip interruption benefits. travel insurance, baggage delay, lost baggage, delayed flights etc etc. Trying to determine if I should be putting flight charges on Amex Plat India vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Sid & Amex Guy, After reading your reviews, opted and went in for AMEX PLAT. But within few days, I realized that it’s a much over-hyped card. The true sense of value is somewhat missing. Like I tried booking through FHR, but the prices on FHR were far more expensive than regular travel sites like Yatra. Please shed some light on this .

How do you book some less expensive hotels??? FHR shows only the luxury premium hotels.

Along-with the card came two forms. One for primary card holder and one for spouse. When the primary one asks us the spouse details then why a separate form?.

The priority pass is valid only for Primary holder & 1 additional supplementary card holder.

Further, the sales rep is not at all interested in clarifying or giving information. He considers as deal done and please call customer support.

P.S. The card does feel premium in it’s metal avatar but still 60k + for metal ?????? Think one has to really crack the puzzle to reap the benefits. For me, I am going to return. A tough nut for me to crack !!!!

I also got the upgrade offer and in dilemma whether to go for it or not ?,what is FHR? Even if you return the card now,will you get back the joining fee?

Received invite to apply for amex platinum charge card, with 1.25 l reward points, any suggestions , I’m not sure if I can apply.

Personally I see lot of people being invited for platinum charge card. I dread to say this but Amex Guy is right that American Express is selling it blindly. Unless you can find good return on investment of 70000 service fees, DO NOT go for the card. There is no point going for something with enthusiasm only to regret it.

Personally, I have gone for it and working on capitilising on the service fees.

@amex guy , BOGO on any airline any sector any biz/F fare ?

ITC club culinary is going way from June 22

amex guy, : is BOGO available even if you book for others like your parents

I got invited with 125K point and 4×2000/- amazon vouchers for supplementary cards.

My review after using the card.

Only for the people 1. Business people, who spend at least 60lakhs per year 2. Travelers, who travels abroad or across India and stayed in hotels at least 4 trips per year 3. Luxury people, who can enjoy the amex platinum status at airports, golf and hotels etc.

Monthly on avg I used to spend more than 50lakhs to my business with credit cards, In this spends I shared 10 lakhs per month to amex platinum which are large spends more than 3lakhs at single swipe.

The reward rate good, but acceptance of this card is very limited.

My personal suggestion anyone If annual spends more than 50lakhs Amex platinum card

If annual spends more than 20lakhs SBI air India Signature card

If annual spends more than 10lakhs SBI elite card

If annual spends above 5 lakhs there are many cards , but choose wisely as per your nature of spends Amex platinum Travel card (best rewards 20 thousand flight tickets+10k Taj hotel voucher) SBI Prime card ICICI Shappiro Card HDFC Business First Amex Gold charge

The above cards have best reward rate as per the usage, remaining cards like, Axis, Yes, HSBC, Citi, RBL, IndusInd all are best on special offers SBI and HDFC has more online shopping offers compared to the remaining banks.

Recently I used the Home Assist service of Amex Plat. For those who are not aware, Amex, through the Platinum Concierge, offers Home Assist for repair works like AC, fridge, plumbing, electrical works etc. They also allow a credit of Rs 1,200 for repair services. My AC needed a repair, so I triggered the Home Assist. The Concierge team got back to me the next day with a list of vendors available for the repair work. Then I randomly picked one vendor and asked them to liaise with them to get the repair work done – with a note saying that per my understanding service worth up to Rs 1,200 was to be paid for by Amex.

This is when the stuff hit the fan. What followed was a frantic series of calls from the Concierge Manager trying to understand where I got the notion that up to Rs 1,200 of the cost was to be borne by Amex. I told them that it is part of the card holder agreement and that information is publicly available. However she asked me to have the documentation sent to her – which I did. There was radio silence for a day – then after almost 36 hours they called me to say that they had spoken top their marketing team and that they would reimburse me for up to the said amount that I was eligible for.

They they took two days to schedule an appointment with the vendors. They called one vendor, and that vendor asked why the client cannot call them directly (“is he such a big shot?”). So they struck that vendor out. Finally they got hold of one and asked me to pay the service charge to him, which Amex would then transfer to my account. The date was set (and I was ready with the flower and the wine), but the vendor failed to show up, and was not reachable over phone.

I escalated the matter , and Amex came back to me requesting me to get the repair done from anyone and they would reimburse anyway. So I got UrbanClap to do the repair. My repair cost was over Rs 6K (I had to get the condenser replaced and refill the gas). I sent Amex the invoice copy, and after seven days the Rs 1,200 popped up in my account.

I am a tad dismayed that Concierge team is not conversant with all the services that Amex has promised in the card holder agreement.

A big thanks to you for sharing this information.

I wish they had higher limit, say Rs.3K & trained employees.

That is news to me…

Is it only for the Platinum Charge or is it applicable for the Platinum Reserve as well?

Thanks SH, I think you & Amex Guy can hold a refresher training course for the Amex plat team to understand the card benefits in great detail 🙂

Hahahha.. I fully agree and upvote it..

So much hassle for the 1200 credit with the so-called super-premium card. Thanks for sharing your experience, SH. You are probably the first person in the whole country to have used this benefit.

😀 😀 😀 😀 ! Good one! Was considering the plat, now i’m reconsidering…

Hi Guys, Great review and comment. Really helpful. I recently got an upgrade offer to the AMEX Plat. I negotiated the fees and got it at INR35K+Tax. But instead of reward points i’m going for INR30K of Taj Vouchers. I travel extensively but most of my travel is corporate business class so lounge access comes along with that. I am planning to evaluate it for 1 year from the perspective of intangible services that they offer. I have one question: What all privileges are extended to the Supplementary card holders i.e Do they get the same lounge access, do they get Hotel privileges? Can they use the concierge services? It would be great if you can shed some light on the above or point me to any documentation where i can find more information. As an aside: when traveling abroad, me and my wife will get access to lounge courtesy AMEX Plat. Do i need to pay for my 4 yr old kid or is there a way to get that access complementary as well

Many Thanks

35k + tax on upgrade from a non jet airways variant card ? Or from a jet variant card ? And even at this price , you were offered 125k bonus points or a 30k taj voucher and all benefits of the card ? , 35k for first year or 35k as long as you hold the card ?

I had cancelled my jet airways card long back, but for extending this offered they reactivated it and upgraded it to Platinum. Post that they cancelled the Jet card again. 35k+taxes is locked as long as I hold the card. After negotiating they only offered 30k Taj voucher

I too took the 35k offer and plan to evaluate it for a year. I hold the Citi Prestige card as well, so a few of the benefits like priority pass, more points on international spends and Taj membership are similar for both cards. I look forward to the Platinum Travel Services and FHR. The metal card is really nice no doubt.

@GGM, from what I know, supplementary card holders do get all the hotel membership and lounge access to the Amex lounges (including Centurion lounge). Priority Pass is limited to one supplementary card holder.

I also think that if you or you wife visit an Amex Centurion lounge, you can each bring along two guests.

Did you negotiate or were your offered this fee?

I was offered this fee.

I negotiated it, having said that I’m a heavy user of Amex travel Platinum for almost last 10 years

So I understand that it is only possible with Centurion Lounge. For other priority pass enabled lounge it would be accessible for just 2 of us.

I think you got a great offer in terms of fees.

As per your question, all the supp cards get concierge access and hotel statuses. But only one supp card gets the Priority Pass access. So this means that all supp cards can get lounge access within India for free. But only the primary and one supp card holder (who has the PP) will get overseas lounge access for free.

I also received the Plat charge card upgrade offer however, couldn’t negotiate discounted fees. I already own SBI AI Signature, Vistara Infinite & DC Black – All reward points are largely accumulated on these cards. I don’t see a real world benefit for Platinum Concierge for a regular Joe like me and FHR is practically useless since I’m a Bonvoy Amb Elite & IHG spire. I only value the Golf Lessons which I’ve been waiting for since DC Black removed this feature but in Mumbai the only Golf Course they have registered for lessons is the one in Thane which isn’t so great and so so far! Considering my travel patterns, I barely use the Amex India lounges and I don’t see myself using the Centurion lounges more than a couple times during a year. Also, I don’t see spending 60L or more in a year to be even considered for the renewal waive off ! However, I can’t deny the sheer joy of holding this metal card, it’s more than a subtle flex!

What do you guys suggest I do, should I go ahead nonetheless and try it out for a year or continue my spending on the DC Black?

Not related to your question, but what’s your strategy for the DCB apart from the 10x and 5x partners? Do you put most of your spends on it? Personally, I find earning and transferring to CV points via the DCB a better proposition than earning CV points through the Vistara Infinite directly. Although the Gold and milestone benefits do help with the Vistara Infinite card.

Nikhil, I use the CV Infinite only for Gold Status benefits. Since 9W grounding, I’ve been left low and meagre ;/

I understand your pain! I’ve been looking to use up my JP miles at the base redemption value of 8500 on Indigo or Air India whenever I can

I have used twice the target amount and when I had requested for fee waiver they plainly refused it stating they haven’t given the waiver to anyone till date and she also challenged that it’s a recoded line and I wouldn’t tell something bluntly.

So as far my expierence they would not waive the fees for the 2nd year onwards you have to pay ₹70,800.

Cheers, Kiran

If you get the 35k offer (for still holding an Amex Jet Airways card) that fee is locked in, meaning your renewal fee will be 35k every year.

For the welcome bonus, you only get 30k of Taj voucher, no points. You do get all the other benefits.

Hi, Just wondering, what happens if you get the card & decide to cancel it say, 2-3 months down the line ? is the full fee refunded ? Also, what happens to elite hotel status? Do we lose that as well.

Is it possible to use the Plat Charge to make a discounted booking at Taj hotels and then use a voucher from the Plat Travel offer to make partial payment?

Also, the Plat Taj offer is for the room-only-rate, right? What is the best deal on breakfast/meals?

That 10k voucher can be setoff against room charges and charges to room(room service,spa,etc) except taxes… they dont really care which amex card you book the room through , I suggest using your Plat charge , take a deal on the taj booking , then at reception counter , present the plat travel gift card at the reception , enjoy best of both worlds

Thank you!!

The upgrade process was quite quick.

Accepted the 125K offer on Aug 1. Got no email/sms confirmation so checked with them on Aug 2. They said my offer had expired 30/6, and I had to forward them the email that had the offer valid till 30/9. They approved it on Aug 2. Received the card on Aug 7. Didn’t see a CIBIL hit.

It seems enrollment to the hotel programs is going to take forever in comparison 🙂 The official turnaround, I’m told is upto 6-8 weeks, although apart from Radisson, others are expected to come sooner.

Typo: *Did* see a CIBIL hit. On Aug 5

Hilton Gold and Shangri-la Jade upgrade was indeed fast, and was reflected in 5 days (Aug 9 — Aug 14) on the respective membership pages, not updated on the Amex status page yet. Radisson not processed yet.

Radisson took 2.5 weeks (Aug 9 — Aug 27).

Hi Siddharth,

I recently got a request to upgrade my gold charge card to platinum charge card since my spends in a year exceeds 25 lacs across my three amex cards. I am really skeptical of taking the upgrade offer for 125k bonus points with 60k+ GST as joining fee.

dont upgrade if you are skeptical… i have received upgrade to Plat Charge on my Amex Plat Travel card with hardly 5-6 lakhs spend annually….they keep renewing the offer every month….only take when you feel you can take advantage of the vast perks the Plat Charge offers

I think they are randomly sending upgrade offers, not based on spends. I already hold a plat, and got an upgrade offer to plat based on my plat reserve (which is an LTF companion to plat) on which I have spend Rs. 15 till now.

I hope the offer stays till renewal time. Then I’ll actually take it, and get 125K bonus points for essentially paying the same renewal fee. 😀

I see that many of the Amex (and in particular, plat charge) offers expire around september. Is this a usual trend? Do these typically renew in the next year, or do they change year to year?

(looking at taj, air india, some of the wellness benefits, etc.)

I just received my primary and supplementary platinum cards.

I want to find out that can I (primary card godler) and the supplementary card holders all get the Morriot Bonvoy Gold Membership?

-Primary Card holder -Supplementary card holder 1 -Supplementary card holder 2

It says above the supplementary card holders will receive the hotel benifits too, So i suppose this should be the case?

Thanks for your help.

I got instant discount of Rs. 10,000/- from Tanishq yesterday upon purchase of gold jewellery. Tanishq informed that they were running this scheme from 06th September itself but the value of jewellery should be minimum Rs. 1,10,000/-. Two pieces of jewellery were purchased and separate billing was done and paid vide Amex Platinum Charge card and Amex Platinum Reserve Card and got discount of Rs. 10,000/- on each card i.e. totaling Rs. 20,000/- . Happily sharing with you. Thanks. 🙂

I have an upgrade offer to Amex Platinum with 125K points. So I called up the customer care to ask about the benefits that are extended to the supplementary card. Apparently, it’s only the lounge access and priority pass(1 additional) that the supplementary cards get. I was hoping that the Dining benefits, Taste from Platinum would be available on the supplementary cards as well. Can someone who’s already using a supplementary card comment?

i am currently working in Brunei where AMEX does not operate . is it possible for me to apply for this card as an NRI ? anyone who is an NRI and holding this card ?? i am currently holding a HDFC infinia.

What happens at the renewal ? No renewal mr points? Your hotel statuses go away if you haven’t met the criteria?

No renewal MR points , statuses stay as long as you hold the card

I recently got the Amex Plat card after using the Reserve for a year. I got the 125k targeted offer and the 50% Marriott transfer seemed really good, plus I have upcoming travel to the USA and Asia. Thanks to this blog and comments for enlightening me on the card benefits.

Aside from the excellent marriott conversion offer, my experience has been nothing short of harrowing:

1. I emailed concierge on how to get to the Centurion lounge in SFO considering that my flight might be in a different terminal. Concierge told me that plat card holder doesnt have access to centurion lounge. What!? I was directed to travel desk, who transferred me to card customer care, who also told me plat doesnt have centurion access. Additionally, they couldn’t be bothered to research whether I can traverse between different SFO terminals to get to the lounge. Can anyone add to this? 2. I called the travel counsellors to book flights and cruise in Asia and requested Visa details, he sounded very annoyed/disinterested about my request and said he is on leave for next two days, and would respond after 3 days. I requested him to expedite if possible, since tickets fluctuate. I never heard back from him. I ended up having to book on my own 🙁 Travel planning is stressful and a lot of work. This is one area I hoped the famed “Senior Travel Counsellors” would be able to help. It was a major let down. 3. I asked travel desk to research for me hotel quotations for Marriot, hilton etc and the points required, so that I can plan my stay accordingly. Travel desk simply gave me link to Fine hotels and Resorts without doing any of the research. I had to email concierge, who only responded after 4 days, despite multiple follow ups, and did not deliver on my request. Is there no SLA to respond to member emails? 4. Many more unfortunate experiences: concierge, travel team and customer care keep passing the buck amongst themselves. What a waste of my time.

Can other readers share their stories here regarding the Amex customer service, travel and concierge respectively? At this point, I don’t see it as a lifestyle card, it seems to be more of a high end rewards card, with excellent Marriot rewards points with Marriott Gold and ofcourse other great tangible perks.

I don’t understand why American express is heavily compromising on service standard. Perhaps I expected too much from the “Do Anything” concierge and famed travel counselors and need to temper my expectations.

Anonymous, That is true, Amex Platinum’s travel desk is just premium for namesake. Last night I gave them a call for price check between DEL and Munich just to test the waters. There is an ongoing offer on Etihad from some time now where you get upto 10% off on the fare for Amex card holders (not just Platinum). However the travel desk did not have any clue about that and they were just repeating general fares which you can beat with any OTA. One time I requested if they can help me to book a cab between 2 cities in Europe and right of the bat they told me to check at the taxi stand of the airport for fares and booking!…….. … …. Enlightening isn’t it?

These are just few instances where Amex team has shown complete lack of knowledge for any offers which can reduce the fare or provide any other benefit. Somehow most of the the time I end up calling them around midnight, I am not sure if that could be one of the reason for such kind of service.

There is a big disconnect between the Amex offers/promotions and the knowledge of the same with Amex line, you have to go extra mile if you want any benefit with this service. Unfortunately Citi Prestige is on the same page with Amex but at least it has a better ROI for the fee you pay. Best option is google, the first few results will give you a complete pictures if there is any offer worth going for.

PT, thanks for the insights. Calling at midnight shouldn’t be a problem. I recommend you try emailing them too, and escalate if responses are unsatisfactory, there is a paper trail as evidence.

Regarding Citi Prestige, my experience has actually been great. I’ve been using their concierge very regularly and frequently for close to a year now. With citi you have to be very specific with your request and they will get it done. What I like is that they respond very promptly to emails, they do not drop the ball on any request. They don’t seem to have airline or hotel offers(except 4th night free) so they aren’t great for booking flights or hotels. But they are excellent with unconventional requests, things I would expect a concierge to do. Researching hard to get items for me, research hotels or cruise based on specific requirements, things requiring multiple phone calls to research. Granted these services aren’t “discounts” or “offers” most people look for, but for me its my favourite perk of the card, saves me a lot of time and it’s great to know that there’s concierge that you can actually rely on to do most things, much unlike the Amex plat card.

Citi and Amex, Mailing them I feel is actually too much of a hassle for simple things like flight booking where prices can change any minute.

With respect to the concierge service of Citi Prestige , I think citi do not have a separate desk for concierge and travel desk, they are all rolled into single line unlike Amex. It is absolutely a hit or miss with citi, I have had instances where they provided me a list of possible hotels where I can stay during a short vacation based on my inputs and there were also cases where they outright told me that they cannot help me in finding hotel and I have to look in Hotels.com and then inform them (Yes this happened with me during last week itself) for availing 4th night free offer. The person on the other end was very sure that they only help in booking and not shortlisting.

Citi concierge have also sent me incorrect quotations (which were very low from the market price, a clear red flag) and then blatantly refused to accept that they were wrong arguing that prices are dynamic and all the pries increased by 50% in a span 15 hours. This was when I absolutely lost faith in concierge service as you can not rely on them for the accuracy of information.

The above cases does not mean that Prestige is a bad card by any means, it is still one of the best cards in my arsenal in terms of services it provides, same goes for Amex albeit with Amex it becomes a zero sum game as I do not travel with business or first class.

my only disappointment is :

no invites / events in my email since 10 months of joining

rest I am enjoying everything

They have started advertising this on TV, first for Amex in India?

Whenever a super premium product is advertised in general media , its exclusivity is downgraded … there was a full page ad in TOI a few days back in mumbai also… amex is now trying to sell it to masses… lets see if they bring Optio to India

At Delhi airport, they are telling everyone, who presently holds amex card, to apply for platinum charge card.

I don’t think these promos would do any good, as those who can get this card will anyway know about it.

But anyway it will serve as a good overall branding though.

I don’t think market for 70K card can be increased here much by advertising

Today I received an email for upgradation. Now i am ready for the 70k fee but unsure of the value. As i already have Diners black and most Pvt bank cards..

Does anybody have experience with the Visa assistance services?

OK. my experience:

I asked them for help with getting visas for my family; they sent me a checklist, forms. I filled them up. I then called them again and they said they’ll send someone for document pickup. I anticipated a travel agency rep would come, check the docs and take them; instead last minute a courier company agent came to pick up docs. So i had to hurriedly package them in an envelope. Then next day, I got an email saying I need to send the docs again — the checklist had said I should cross-sign on the photo on the application form, but they said I should send it again without the cross sign. I asked why is the instruction different from the checklist, and they said the checklist was for Delhi-based processing, whereas my processing happened in Mumbai. Anyway, resent the docs by the same courier pickup mechanism,. The visas then arrived within 2 days.

So, overall good experience, but I would have appreciated more communication from them as to what the process entails, and a more targeted checklist of documents.

If i opt for amex platinum charge , can i give addon cards to my father in law and brother in law ?

Yes, you can give it to anyone.

I got an offer of 20k in Taj vouchers on renewal of PlatCharge, although.. my renewal is due faaaaar away.

The offer showed up in the mobile app.

Amex sent out invitations for 2 front-row seats to one of their plays, for 5000MR each seat; those seats were otherwise selling for ₹9440 on bookmyshow. Thought it was a great redemption rate.

Here is one more example that shows how complacent the travel desk/concierge team has become that they are not able to cater even to the most basic requests. I was in Europe last week and somehow ended up on a connecting flight with 8 hours layover in Porto (Portugal). Airport lounge wasn’t descent enough to spend 6 hours so I emailed Amex travel desk one day before to find me a accommodation in a day hotel or in a hotel close to airport with a early check-in request (Since I already had idea that there are few nice hotels just outside airport, I was assured that this booking will be done in a jiffy). Amex executive responded with a single Marriot property 13 Kms away from airport.

Not happy with the results I again asked them to look close to the airport on which they told me that do not have nearby hotels in their reservation system, I even went ahead to request them to call the hotels and check if bookings can be made. Received a straight denial, not even an assurance that they will try to help.

Hugely disappointed I called up “Do anything” concierge and this time I gave them the hotel name too where I wanted to book a room, this time the guy was descent enough and instead of straight no he said that accommodation was not available the next day and reiterated the Marriott property availability, but showed hesitance to call the hotel once which was close to the airport.

Finally I decided to do the booking myself and went to the hotel website and was able to book it promptly, however I found that in a hurry I booked the hotel for the same day instead of the next day, so just sent out a mail and the booking was modified in a matter of minutes.

Amex has completely failed me this time (not the first time), I am not sure if they were this useless from the beginning or this is a new stride.

My annual salary is 5 lakh, will be increased to 6 lakh from March.I am a heavy user of Citi premier miles credit card for past 3 years and have never defaulted on a single payment. My credit score is above 800. Will I be eligible for Amex platinum as it states the income eligibility is 15L p.a. And is it worth getting with my income level ? If approved,can I netogiate on the annual fees prior to joining. If not platinum what would be the best card for me in Amex ?

Why would you want to spend 12 of your annual salary as Credit Card Fee.

Platinum card absolutely makes no sense at this price point unless you travel a lot and use most of the hotel membership benefits regularly.

If you do want an Amex, I suggest going for Amex MRCC.

Vignesh, I will be shocked if you are talking about going for a platinum charge card. With your financial position you will be spending close to 2 months of salary just on the credit card fee. Even if you are in a job where you have been travelling 100% of the time, staying in hotels and it is all payed by your organisation I would not recommend this card to you with your income level. But if you are talking about Platinum travel card then you can give it a try, it’s a decent card to hold provided that you hit milestone spends.

To sid and Amex guy, Have you used the upgrade to first class on the Amex plat via Etihad? If yes, how does it work? And how many times can you get upgraded? It’s for the primary user only? Or can the supplementary user get this Benefit as well? I saw on the website it says valid till 31 dec’20

Amex the minimum eligibility is 6 Laks , you can start with Amex membership rewards credit card .

Hi Vignesh,

You have not mentioned your expenses categories or how much would you spend on card. Do you travel and would be able to use Platinum benefits ? This the question only you can answer.

For staring into Amex, you can apply for Rewards or Platinum travel card.

For the accelerated Star alliance gold status for the card , is BOM – SIN – DPR , DPR – SIN – BOM counted as 4 flights or 2 flights on Singapore airlines ?

4 since they will be different flight nos

I’m doing the same route for Gold Match. Have written to KF but haven’t received a response yet

Taj Epicure membership enrollment ends on 31st January,2020

It seems they have extended the Taj Epicure membership till 31’st Mar.

@Siddharth, I have applied the Amex platinum card through your referral and received it today. Thanks for all the information/support you provide on cards benefits.

Hi Sid, Amexguy

I just got an 125k points upgrade offer. How can I maximize this card from 2nd year onwards?

Hi sid and Amex guy. I’m a self employed professional with a small business. I travel around 4-6times an year internationally and once a month domestically. I usually stay in Marriott or Hyatt properties. Was contemplating to apply for plat charge. So needed your opinion on two things 1) would I be able to use plat card to max with above situation 2) is there any advantage of taking corporate plat charge instead of personal. Does it help if I have a SME business

Due to current situation.. no way to use Taj vouchers or MR points for Marriot conversion !!

What are the odds to get atleast 50% fee waiver on this card ?

And their so called Concierge is of no usage even during Valentine’s day..they were unable to deliver a bunch of flowers citing high demand ! but those are the times they were needed more .. isn’t it ?

I have heard of people getting 80k points on renewal. You can negotiate for an offer.

Any update what are they offering now for renewal?

Does the Amex Platinum IAP give discount on Intl economy flights too ?. If it does what would be the range of discount in % terms ?

Today i got amex platinum card . Lets hope for use benefits of rs 70800 fees yrly 😂

I want to know about platinum charge card as I want this card if I spend 20 lakhs in a year on electricity bill thru this card is it beneficial for me to take this card as for other expenses I use diners black card which very good in reward rate as u know will I get extra benefit from amex platinum charge card

Thanks for the blog and all commenting here. It’s been a great insight. I am self-employed and earn almost four times more than what platinum charge card needs for the self-employed. I held AMEX cashmagnet in the US and have been using MRCC in India since last year. My spend on MRCC is about 2 lacs annually, and AMEX sent me upgrade offer to platinum for 115K points recently, though catch is I have to spend 50K in two months to get those points. Joining fee is same as normal – 60K+GST. I occassionaly travel, and I know my situation is probably same as 60% or more folks who got such an upgrade offer. I am not going for it, as I occassionaly travel and benefits don’t make much sense. On the other hand, I have saved about 10K across offers on MRCC within a year, and fee also got waived off automatically due to card rule than if you sepnd 1.5 lac or more then it comes free for renewal.

People going for upgrade just for elite tier, I feel shouldn’t do it unless you really can get most out of it. Everyone’s credit needs and spending patterns are different. If you really want a metal card, then OneCard is a good option now. I hold about five cards so far, including Regalia from HDFC, ICICI amazon card, and OneCard. I like Amex MRCC the most in India for regular online/offline purchasing needs. Ah, and Amex service is really good. give them a call and they solve it one way or other.

Moment Amex adds purchase protection, warranty extension, and similar benefits (outside hotel and travel), I will go for Platinum card.

Nice!! Thank You

Hi Sid & Amex guy, I received the upgrade offer from Amex for the Platinum Charge Card today. I currently have the Platinum Travel Card. My annual salary is INR 8L. I’m very confused whether I should accept the offer or simply ignore. The offers are very tempting but at the same time I’m hesitant about the annual fee of INR 60k (which can be paid monthly as well – INR 5k). Please let me know your thoughts.

I have applied for AMEX Platinum Charge Card today in ₹ 5,000 per month offer. I do not know if I will be able to get the full benefits out of it so as to justify the high fee. But one thing I know, I will get the joy of owning the platinum and that itself compensated for the high fees. Some things are priceless and the pride of owning the platinum far far outweighs the annual fee. From now on, I will assume that my earning is less by ₹ 70,800.

I think the 125k offer is back. Has anyone received this offer?. Only change is: “Spend ₹50,000 and get 1,25,000 Membership Rewards® points# within the first two months of your Platinum Cardmembership.” But no offer on renewal this time.

I have received this offer. Still confused whether to go for it or not

Me too. But expiring on 30th Nov. No sure to let it go or to take it. Travel looks difficult in most of 2021 as well. Any other benifit looks unlikely for me.

Don’t think they give renewal offers beforehand. I know folks who have negotiated aggressively with Amex for their plat renewals. But its all when the renewal fee hits the account.

Hi Siddharth, Just wanted to drop a note to let you know, that your indepth research really helped me to choose this card, thank you very much for putting this on the internet.

You’re most welcome, Venkatesh. Check back after a month to have even more details on this card, especially on the concierge service 🙂

Subscribed & look forward to the same.

Its been long since you committed concierge review… somehow you keep pushing it any NDA ? 😀

You’ll find the reason along with it 😉

I checked Amex Reserve Card & Amex Platinum Card These cards there any renewal MR points offer… MR points only offered at the time of sign-up.

Understanding is correct? =========================== From this blog…

Many card members that renewed during Covid-19 got very good retention offers which makes sense to hold on to the card. ============================ Does Amex offer renewal benefits or Renewal Retention offer people received?

What’s the typical benefit in using IAP? I currently hold the Plat Travel card, and called up the IAP helpline to enquire on flight prices (to see if the upgrade to Plat Metal Card is worth it). But unfortunately they don’t even tell you the prices if you’re not a Platinum Card holder! So as an example, a Del-Syd business class flight in September shows 40-50k for economy and 1.6 lakhs for business class on MMT. Mum-Tokyo is 30k for economy and 1.3 lakhs for business. Can a current Platinum holder tell me what’s the price for these flights on the IAP portal? Thanks in advance!

Ayush, IAP is only available on select airlines, the list is here americanexpress.com/in/benefits/the-platinum-card/international-airline-program.html AIR INDIA is listed on the site but has been discontinued which is a bummer and also a bit misleading to have it listed there. If you are looking for business class fare on any of these airlines listed, you’ll get average of 10% discount. Premium and economy is not discounted for few flights i’ve checked on SQ AND UA Hope that helps. For those who fly business class, nothing can beat this card.

Too many hotel tieups and not sure if people will use it really. This card has high renewal fee with nothing guaranteed. Rewards points have less value if I compare with Infinia or Indusind Indulge. Lounge access is there with so many cards at a very low fees. Infinia is anytime better.

A golden question for myself to ask you guys

Should I retain my Amex plat charge for 1 more year

Got onboard the amex plat in Jan 2020, got 1.25L points after making the 90k spend within 3 months , booked a trip to Singapore via amex concierge (discounted business class) and bam , Lockdown

Amex helped me get back the refund within 2 months of SQ announcement of them willing to refund tickets(score amex concierge) , since then used all cashback schemes which came along for grocery purchases , blew up 1.25L points on double value cashback scheme (bad decision in hindsight, but when i redeemed on the last day in july , seemed valuable as i had decided to shut down the plat) , come november , used the Taj innercircle Gold for fabulous discount at Taj bekal and also got upgraded to their highest suite pool villa (valued 43k+ in my calculation) , since then just used 3 times for dining cashbacks/discounts in mumbai under 2 schemes

Spend on card in last year has been just short of 8 lakhs in a year since most expenses were put on HDFC infinia , axis ace, Stan C ultimate

Now with Shangrila Jade status going away on 31.3.2021 which in turn will mean losing the Taj Gold status post april

My business also doesn’t warrant travel , so basically its just down to 1-2 vacations a year

Please suggest whether I should consider continuing withe card or shut it down

I renewed it myself for a second year despite the pandemic. I calculated that I got back almost 3 lakhs in value in first year so the 2nd year fee is also as good as waived. Travel is going to open up later in 2021 so this card will come in handy for sure. Plus the constant 100% cashbacks

Last year they gave half of fees as cashback , this year also half of fees is offered as cashback , so i am not expecting more cashback offers as such

I have a Reserve and now it feels less of a asset and they denied me Gold Charge card as a companion card and pushed MMRC instead. Still at 2.5lac limit and resubmitting ITR for LE of more than 5k LE has hit me bad. Additionally the Mumbai Amex lounge was closed so could not use it there too. I hope that AMEX does some reshuffling for the Reserve card since in its current state its not great at all.

@Siddharth kindly do a Reserve card review when possible since you now have one and that one review from earlier needs an update.

Can people share renewal benefits Amex offered for the metal card in the last few months?

If you are already a gold bonvoy do you get upgraded to platinum bonvoy with the amex platinum card?

Does the limit in my Reserve card matter to get an upgrade email “1.25lac points” for the platinum?

CC says the upgrade email for the platinum does not depend on lower cards limit which for me is 2.55lac on Reserve card and 2.90lac on MRCC “Companion”.

Also can anyone clear up the limits of MRCC “Companion” & Reserve conjoining in case of one of the companion card being cancelled.

Avoid AMEX card very poor distribution and merchant affiliation. Even customer care knows this and suggests payment to other wallet to each purchase limit utilisation.

Is the 25 lac minimum income requirement for the Platinum Charge card based on Net Income or Gross Income? Also, can we pay the fee in 12 monthly installments?

Hi Sid and AmexGuy

I am already having Amex Platinum Travel card and having offer for upgrade to Amex Platinum for sometime now. Have been waiting around for few months now, but now I have a reason, its unusual reason though.

The thing is I am planning to move to Germany for 1.5 Years, and I will travel to India at least 2-3 times in this period and my shopping will be done from India mostly. Does it make sense to have this card and use it for travel bookings and shopping etc there. I see usually there is 3X foreign spends offer, does that offset at least the forex transaction+Conversion fee at least. And please suggest if there are some other benefits along the way as well. At the end of the day, will I be recovering part of my 60K annual fee.

The thing is I do not see any good cards over there, and credit card scene in Europe in general is pretty weak IMHO. They cards there hardly have any rewards, and no offers etc.

PS: I know Amex people will not issue me card if I disclose that I will be OOO for 1.5 years may be, but I want to keep this card for its benefits.

@Sumeet – Try to take Amex Payback Credit Card once you get to Germany. It has pretty sweet cashback offers on and off along with a sign-up bonus.

Thanks Shivi, will check this option

3X is good as long as you know how to redeem those points for a good value. So totally depends on your spends & redemption capabilities I could say.

Generally speaking, if you cannot convince yourself after looking at the benefits, Plat charge is mostly not a right card for you.

Thanks a ton Sidharth.. I would not go for it then may be.. Most of the benefits are not applicable in Europe and Marriott group presence in EU is low for redemption of Amex points

@sumeet check the Citi prestige for international spends

Thanks Mohnish, yes it makes sense in someway.

Prestige will be beneficial to him only if he wants to play the miles game & also open the high NRV account with CiTi

My upgrade offer is: a) 1,15,000 Membership Rewards® Points OR b) Rs.50,000 + Rs. 5000 worth of vouchers from Taj, SeleQtions & Vivanta Hotels as Welcome gift for 1st year and Rs. 25,000 worth of Taj Voucher on 1st renewal.

Received renewed epicure card from amex , thing to note is gols status validity is mentioned as 31/03/2021 , while epicure plus validity is mentioned as 31/01/2022

thanks for the review. I was/am considering getting the amex plat just noticed that trf partners both airlines and hotels for the India card have far poorer transfer ratios than the US e.g. US Amex MR trf to airlines at 1:1 and to hotels like hilton at 1:2. For India,apart from fewer options, ratio is 2MR:1mile and hilton at 1MR:0.9. Only MR>Marriott is 1:1 both places. This probably makes redemption of MR for airline mile fairly poor value?. Wondering how best to utilize the MR rewards that I will get since I’m a leisure traveler and will never stay in a cat1 hotel anyway (probably cat5 or higher). Also seems shangri-la, (>taj gold) tie ups/ cascading benefits are due to end shortly? How does one then get any value from the card?

Hi, My situation is exactly the same as you, I am also confused about whether to get this card or not. What you have thought, are you taking this card?

Have decided to put this on hold for now. Would like to so what they do to make up for the loss of shangrila jade. Besides travel plans look highly uncertain anyway with second wave so…fwiw rm told me he couldn’t assure that mrcc and travel plat fee would be waived if I held a plat charge, said would be case by case and not up to him to assure.

Hi Siddharth, Thanks for great article.

Any insights on the renewal fee on the metal card. Are they giving any discount/waiver / renewal bonus due to pandemic?

Not sure how to ask for a waiver?

No fee waiver/discount on fees , low spender like ne got 20k taj voucher if i paid full fee at one go , high spenders have their renewals according to their business given to amex ..only option is to split fees in 5k x 12 if you ask them

Coming soon : another 2,500 cashback on apple and google store spends , 10k cashback on truefit and hill/oberoi hotel salon , recd in mail as unlock platinum benefit , timeline yet to be announced

My card is due to renewal in 2 days and all they are offering is 20000 voucher with Taj and payment of INR 60k plus taxes as a monthly scheme, anyone got the same? Any workaround to that? Seems almost nothing.

Hi guys Can anyone elaborate on the etihad first class upgrades? is it always given or its circumstantial?

One quick query,..

Could anyone link Golden circle with TIC recently? No luck for me..

Yea , but took 15 days and follow up on helpline , still 1 more pending , will update on that as well

I got it done through GC website. It went smoothly and the linking was done with a week. Do make sure to choose GC as the primary status.

@Sudheep, @MT Couldn’t link my Golden Circle account to TIC. The link on the Taj Hotels website is broken. I called Taj multiple times but no luck. They always ask me to call Shangri La. Shangri La always asks me to call InnerCircle. It’s a mess. @MT, who exactly did you contact? Any additional help will be appreciated.

Taj innercircle did it for me , though application was made on warmer welcomes website

Sir, can you explain about the ‘1 additional card for business expenses’ you have mentioned in this article because my major expenses are for business and as far as I know there is no mention for this on the website. This additional card would be very helpful to me for flight miles and marriot bonvoy.

It’s a separate card to differentiate the expense. Easy to take the stmt and submit for reimbursement from the company.

You may also use it just for one type/category of spends like fuel/travel.

Can you please take some time out and respond one of my questions in above thread from February.. just search with my name Sumeet Roy on this page

Better to take HDFC DCB, along with the Global Value program. Effective forex rate reduces to 1.35%, combined with the regular 3.3% reward rate gives you +2% rewards. Amex gives 7.5 MR points under 3x, but charges 4% as forex rate, so the reward rate is negative. Not worth the additional 60k in fees.

Part of the problem with HDFC is it keeps a check on foreign POS spends if done for longer duration. Amex don’t care much AFAIK.

If you spend more than 7 lakh in foreign currency on a card, the card company has to deduct tds and pay to IT department. Also if total transactions cross 10 lakh mark, they get automatically reported to IT department. Tread carefully and spend as per your declared income and what you can make up for. Spending money just cause of 2 or 3% return without substantiation is ITR, will result in tax notices and actions.

I got a call from amex for Platinum Charge Card. I was told that : 1) Spending on 1 lac on travel gives 30k tab vouchers 2) Annual Spends of 12 lacs will lead to annual fee waiver of 60k as the company would want to retain its premium customers.

So are the above things true ? Please share your views. Thanks 🙂

1. Ref: Amex Plat Offer: Taj Vouchers worth Rs.30,000 on travel spends of Rs.1 Lakh 2.Checked on annual spends thing and I was denied about that by the annual fee handling team.

If I decide to cancel the card for any reason within 1-3 months, will they reverse the charged fees and also take back the sign up bonus points?

They generally cancel with pro-rata fee refund (on best effort basis)

No. They won’t refund the fees to start with. No bank will. It’s part of TnC

After receiving my platinum card, i am planning a vacation as taj with family (expected booking amount 1.5lakh). Can i utilize the 40k taj vouchers and still take benefit of kaizen offer with 30k taj vouchers award?

Easy way is you can split the booking into two: 1L(travel desk)+50K(self – use vouchers here)

To use vouchers, you have to make the booking directly with Taj.

Amex has again come back with Platinum offer with 125k MR points for April. It does not seem to be targeted offer but can also be received through customer care (who will connect with sales personal) and they will offer. Applied my Plat charge today!!

In March, I received 115k points offer or Rs. 55K Taj Voucher Offer for Upgrade. Now I have received this 125K points Upgrade offer over email.

What I understand from the terms & conditions is that the upgrade will automatically cancel my LTF AMEX MRCC card. This is the only thing that’s stopping me from taking a plunge.

Clever hook by Amex.

@siddhartha Tiwari, You can apply for a new card with any referral link . You get 100k + 20k for referral. You get to keep the existing cards .

I think that MRCC & Plat Charge Card are incompatible together. Can anyone here confirm holding them together.

I hold MRCC, Gold Charge Card and Platinum Charge Card together.

Yes, I have had plat charge, reserve and MRCC together.

Thanks for confirmation guys.

Just one more query, are Reward points accounts same for Platinum Charge & MRCC?

For MRCC and Travel card, even though login is same, points are separate

Thanks for confirmation

I hold Plat charge, Plat Travel, Gold Charge & MRCC…

The main issue I face with Amex cards is that it is barely accepted anywhere in South India, for eg. Kerala. I agree that the Platinum card is awesome, however it is a bit jarring when you realise you cannot use it at all even for basic purposes in most parts of India. If you travel mostly within India you cannot depend solely on this card – it is absolutely necessary to have another non Amex credit card which is disappointing when you pay a high fees.

This is a review of the Amex Concierge Service:

With the ongoing pandemic, I required some medicines that were not available at any chemists in Delhi. I called up HDFC Diners Black/Infinia concierge and Amex Platinum concierge (where I am a supplementary card holder). HDFC Diners Black called me back in 30 minutes and said they called a few vendors and its not available and that was the end of that story Amex meanwhile called me back in 30 minutes and said its not available and they will keep searching. What followed was absolutely a pleasure to deal with where they called me 2-3 times a day with updates and 2 emails a day with updates. On the 3rd or 4th day, they arranged a runner to go to the shop and pick up the medicine and had it delivered to me at my home. Absolutely amazing service and I would spend the 60k a year just for this kind of service.

First times Ive used the concierge and they hit it out of the park. Will definitely use them again whenever I need to for anything now!

I was supposed to fly to MP from Maharashtra, and as per MP govt requirement I was supposed to carry a negative RT PCR report in which swab was taken not more than 48 hours before.

I independently reached out to about 5 different labs and none were ready to provide a report before 48-72 hours. Also some of them were over booked to send a staff member to collect swabs. So I thought of I calling up the ‘Do it anything’ concierge for getting my RT PCR done and also get a report within 36 hours as I was flying after 36 hours. They understood my part and asked for 2 hours time. I wasn’t really positive but when I got a call after an hour, they reported that they called 4 labs but none were ready to provide a report before 72 hours but…. we have a good news for u, we have found a lab which was willing to send a person get me tested and deliver report within 24 hours on best effort basis. Amex team scheduled a visit with my consent.

The best part is post the testing they followed up with the lab to ensure that I get my reports before I take off from Maharashtra.

Amazing. Highly appreciated.

@Tejas Ghongadi, When I asked Amex they said we can’t hold two charge cards together. Any pointers as to how you got Gold Charge Card and Platinum Charge Card together?

@MP @Tejas Ghongadi Any Guidance on how to get Gold charge along with Plat charge ?

I see lot of hate on Amex concierge service. Here is another side of story. I wanted to get an appointment for a doctor for a special need for my son . The hospital was far away from home in Chennai and did not have a number available anywhere on the internet.I called the Amex concierge and placed a request for an appointment with the doctor. They were able to track the doctor and speak to him personally and got an appointment in another hospital where he practiced.I cannot put a value in monetary terms to these kind of delightful experiences .

Are there any current renewal offers on the plat card?

My card is coming up for renewal next month and was wondering what the latest was. IIRC, last year they gave me 55k MR points.

Have just received an option of 80k MR or 50k taj vouchers.

Not sure which to take to be honest!

is it for renewal?

Good, they gave only 20k Taj vouchers option to me in Feb’21 but frankly didn’t see any great returns so far.

What did you opt finally?

I had a question about Reward Points:

So for example if I spend Rs 100 on amazon/air tickets, I would need to spend 400 (100X4) reward points for 100 Rs through my Amex Platinum card reward points. For HDFC Infinia Credit Card, do you know if I would have to spend the same number of reward points (400 points for Rs 100)?

I know that the number of points you earn for 150 Rs spent is equal to 5 points for HDFC and 3.5 points for Amex. However, I am not sure about spending reward points for each credit card.

Also, I wanted to ask you if you have any recommendations for platinum corporate card. Which bank provides most value for money for a platinum level corporate card? looking forward to your insights and suggestions. Thank you

HDFC Diners Club Black and Infinia have a reward points value of 1 Re. i.e. each point is worth Rs. 1. , but you’ll have to book flights/hotels through their own Smart Buy portal to redeem the points.

Its no longer that proposition, when u try to redeem it for INFNIA its now .33 paisa per point cash credit. however for the E Vouchers for some company its like .50 paisa and for amazon/flipkart its .25 paisa. devalued it

Please don’t spread fake news, I can see that as of today 8th August Amazon/flipkart vouchers are valued at .50 paisa per point. Also booked a flight ticket yesterday @1rupee per 1 point rate only. DCB cardholder

Both are correct. When you redeem from netbanking link, it is Rs. 0.33/reward. When you do from smartbuy, it value is Rs.0.5/reward.

I got my Amex platinum last year July and it’s due for renewal this month. No word on the app nor any call from them. I am worried there is no offer for me now and they will slap on a 60+12k on my next bill. Should I contact immediately and check on offers? Without any offer I don’t want to continue anyway…. I got a 100k points initially. I have used all the offers in the year and went past 15 lakhs in usage in 1 year. So Wondering what should be my stance… looking for advice.

For travel card, they said I can call when the fees is billed. So i guess the same would be true for platinum card also?

While I have been using plat card from past 2 years and renewing 3rd time soon, I am pretty much satisfied with it. Although it is not serving the main purpose of my international travels, they are handsomely rewarding over this pandemic era.

However the biggest complaint from me is the quality of the physical card. This is 2nd time I am facing the issue. The card is getting split into 2 pieces, as they were pasting metal and delicate chip strips together. I have complained about it twice to Amex guys but of no use in rectifying it apart from replacing the card.

The cheaper one card and other metal cards that are being issued in India are single piece metal cards and not sure what is the problem with Amex to issue such sturdy cards for these premium metal cards.

Hope they will resolve soon!!

That is exactly my issue as well I had also linked pics of the same but my comment was not approved here. The plastic on top and back are not at all durable and I have tiny bubbles near Amex logo.

Before anyone says I had changed my card twice now “For free” since 2019 earlier one had a split plastic layer issue but that is not the way forward.

As someone who is very used to scouring the aggregator websites and finding cheapest possible business class/luxury hotel deals, I am a bit unsure about whether the Amex Platinum travel desk will understand my upper middle class mindset of looking for money saving opportunities.

Do they only offer the potential upgrades on hotels/flights booked via their own platform? Or even if I book a hotel room via let’s say ‘Booking.Com’ and flight via ‘Akbar Travels’ for example, if I am a AMEX Platinum Charge card holder, will I be considered for available upgrades regardless?

Upgrades would be offered on direct booking through Amex only.

Ah. Thanks 🙂

Sometimes, reading some reviews I am extremely tempted to go for Amex Plat Charge card. I mean, it’s brilliant card- where at least from looks of it, you can get the benefit redeemed via the Mariott program and other hotel programs. Plus the concierge reviews have just been brilliant. But on other side, as some people pointed out, it’s for people who are more on luxury. Probably not a card for those who are looking for more of “moneys worth”. Especially as someone who holds DCB/SCB Ultimate which gives 3.3% flat reward rates and other offers online, have a feeling I would be amongst its lower spending consumer (total card spends in a year-8-10l max)

Thn question is- would I be getting a decent renewal offer itself.

Tempted to apply.

If you plan on luxury vacations/ business travel where you stay at luxury hotels , go ahead and apply(post the ban is lifted by RBI) , otherwise not money’s worth , you will lose more time thinking about how to justify the fee

I am using Amex Platinum Travel , MRCC card Since 2019. I doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria of 15 Lacs ITR (Self Employed).How Can I get Platinum Charge card once the Ban lifts from Amex ?

Any suggestions or Tips ..?

Hi all, any idea on how much renewal benefits currently offered by American Express for Amex platinum charge card renewal ? My renewal will be in Jan 2022.

There are no renewal benefits on Amex Plat Charge. You pay the same amount, you don’t get any MR points like you do when you sign up.

Most likely none, travel is open. To be fair, with two spending offers, App Store, Salon offers, Shop Small, Reserve offers, Amex has paid back more than fees + GST in 2021 in form of cash! I’m wondering why are you expecting a retention offer? At best, they’ll offer you to be on monthly plan. If you spent over 40L-ish, expect some Taj Vouchers if you pay in one go.

Unless (and I hope not) Omicron leads to serious lockdowns I don’t see Amex offering retentions to even the highest of spenders. And it’s not even sensible to ask for one this year.

Keeping my name anonymous for a reason. I took 110K MR Points as retention bonus and know at least 12-15 other Platinum Charge users who have received 100-120K with one of them even getting as high as 175K MR Points.

Except the 175K Bonus guy, no one has spent more than 10 Lacs on the Platinum Charge Card.

Honestly, even with mediocre spends of 4-5 Lacs, people have got Retention Bonuses of 80K MR points

was it your first renewal ? with my spends north of 10lakhs on the card , i wasnt offered any retention offer for the 2nd renewal , they made me remind of all the offers that i have used during the year and told me the value i derived from the card…just paid the fees , i must have covered the fees atleast 10 times by now during 2 years of holding the card

Tried my luck too.. Unfortunately no renewal offer for my platinum… will keep the card for one more year, the benefits received so far can cover the charges.

My total spends were 8-9 lakhs only .

Update: 50k TAJ voucher as renewal offer on full payment. Other option was to redeem MR points@ INR 50paise/MR point which I didn’t opt.

My spend was just above 10lakhs. Renewal due in April. Just casually checked with Customer care executive if there’s any retention offer. Customer care executive mentioned there wasn’t any retention offer on my card but connected to account relationship manager just in case. Account manager after reviewing offered a 40k Taj Vouchers or 60k reward points as retention offer. I accepted 40k Taj voucher without any bargain.

Since I have a Plat issued elsewhere, I got tempted to write this. Honestly, it feels like I have been living under a stone. A lot has changed in India over a decade, and we have a well-performing credit reporting system.

My ignorance aside, I was looking to apply for a credit card in India when I landed on this site. First, good work helping/saving the community! Your reviews have been quite helpful. For the card, I was thinking of a no-frill type travel card that offers a modest reward (2% or more) on other purchases as well.

About Plat, I hope at some point Amex India improves its reward structure for flight/hotel bookings, like its US counterpart. (Asking for additional flight incidental and hotel credits would be too much, for now.) More importantly, I wish the regulators considered reducing or eliminating the 4.13% forex markup altogether, which I have noticed on almost all cards, except maybe one or two (with yet more than 2% fee); it kills all the fun of so-called premium travel cards. As for me, until I have a decent card there, I might just stick to my CSP and Plat when traveling home 🙂

Renewed 3 plat charge cards in Feb this month (me, cousin and father in law). Got the following retention offers:

I got 40K taj vouchers and option to pay the fees by points @50p per point My cousin sister got 20K taj vouchers. Fees cannot be adjusted against points. My FIL got a 125K taj voucher for renewal. Option to pay the fees by points @50p per point.

For me at 40k, the renewal seemed bearable and for my FIL it seems like a bonanza. Some other people have got the 125K offer which makes little sense as they could reduce the fee to zero and just issue the remainder as gift card (more pleasing to Indian customer as it involves the word FREE)

You meant 1.25 lac tan voucher???

125000/- Taj voucher. Too good to believe 🙂

was this your first renewal ?

Am getting ONLY art auction mails which(mostly) nobody cares of..

RBI ban could the reason.. new customer intake is zero for an year almost.. BUT this is 70k+ card..

Hope Flipkart/Zomato offers wouldn’t end up in HISTORY.

today i call to amex abt my charge card retention offer they only offer me 50 k mr point with rigid attitude .and i cancelled amex charge card after two year of usage .

not a great experience so far with Amex metal this year.

1. As of now no targeted offers received 2. Removal of Gyftr vouchers from reward multiplier 3. Removal of Amazon from Reward multiplier 4. Marriott bonvoy program devalued up to 30-40% hence Amex points value is down 5. Taj vouchers are not applicable on promotional tariffs only on BAR rates (Both Amex and Taj teams confirmed on mail) etc

i don’t see value with such a high annual fee card even if they give all the money back as Taj vouchers.

1. started during pandemic , now rare 2. started during pandemic , withdrawn 3. same as 2 4. further devaluation expected next year onwards 5. hits and misses

opinion : if you dont see value , close it before your next renewal … you will also see aggressive approval of the metal card once the ban lifts , further devaluations expected , new CEO is not as transparent as the old one

Hi, Below is the statement mentioned for Medicine Concierge by Amex India. A medicine concierge comes to your aid during a medical crisis . Very similar to a personal assistant, this service seamlessly manages hospital admissions, doctor appointments, final bills and filing insurance claims. A medicine concierge works on a flat/annual fee business model.

I want to know do they charge separately Medicine Concierge as mentioned above & what would be that amount for an year, is that for individual or for full family, if for family. who would be correct contact to know compete details on this, as they mentioned that final bills and filing insurance claims what does mean, will provide insurance also.

Regards Jeetendra Singh.

Update for current year renewal offer. (My annual spend on this card is upwards of 20L) Got offered 40k taj vouchers (last year got 50k) No scope of any bargaining for more. Gladly took it over the measly 50k MR they were offering as an option.

Finally the ban is lifted.

The Amex website still displays a banner about the ban being in place and doesnt allow for new card application

Do you expect any new offers on signing up? I am planning to get one. HDFC had very aggressive offers when the ban was lifted. Will AMEX follow the suit?

Amex has to go aggressive on this card going forward for reasons other than the ban. Let’s see.

“4 Supplementary cards 1 additional card for Business Expenses“ Interested to know more about 1 additional card for business expense!

Sid, For Business expenses – since we don’t have AMEX BIZ CARD, you meant CORPORTE card or personal card?

Here we’re referring to the add-on card only.

They will give amex plat reserve for biz expenses

AMEX 4 Metal Supp. Cards –

1. Are they issued on your name or in the name of your Family members for whom you get it for ? 2. If they use it separately, so the spends on their cards ( being on your name or not) helps you with rewards in adding it to your Account or they are disbursed to the Supp. Cards owner. 3. Is Credit limit Shared and will it handle your credit score if on main holder name or will help with their credit score if supp. card is on their name ? 4. The Companion card shares of the credit limit with the main card and does it helps in shaping the rewards in your main card ? Suppose if you mainly use Companion card for all small transactions domestically ?

Thanks, Using ICICI Sapphiro Currently

1. Issued in name of person 2,3,4. All benefits of points and the consequences are primary card holder to bear

Few questions:

1) Can I book unlimited times of travel with them, I mean they have different offers for each place can I claim 5 – 10 of their offers. Or is there a cap on the number of offers you can claim via them. Also Taj 25% and other such discount deals is it unlimited in a year or there’s a cap on their bookings.

2) why do they charge 10k add on card fee? Should I get a supplementary card then for my wife, will it include unlimited lounges india and abroad?.

Just applied for this card after lift of ban. On their website it doesnt show 100000MR welcome bonus. Only taj vouchers. Can anyone confirm.

It’s expected to come again after a month or so, likely after Marriott transfer offer expires.

Maybe should have waited. But anyways too late now. My card is already on the way. Will it be possible to approach them and get points instead of the vouchers.

No, as they didn’t mention that on the updated site. But nothing wrong in trying.

When the Marriott transfer offer will expire and does that mean that after the offer expires and the MR points resumes then we can’t transfer the points to marriot bonvoy?

Hi Sid. They have started offering points. I have got an offer to upgrade to Platinum charge from Platinum travel card with 1,15,000 bonus reward points.

One very unpleasant thing has come to light. Now they are offering only Rs 45000 worth of Taj vouchers as welcome bonus on Platinum Card. The option of 100,000 MR points is gone. I just had a look at their website.

They may not offer points anymore as people keep MRCC and redeem points using gold collection. On 100,000 points I can get 4 Taj vouchers of 14K each. That comes to ₹ 56k worth taj vouchers. Even transfer to Marriott Bonvoy can be made, which may be even more lucrative. Amex has seen through this so not giving welcome bonus in the form of points. Very unfortunate from customers point of view. Amex should not behave so stingy in case of such a premium card.

Hi. I am quite interested in this product and was waiting eagerly for the ban to get lifted & apply for the same. While submitting the application I realized that my city (In kerala) is not under the service radar. For the same I made a call to the CC & the promised to escalate the issue to the concerned authority. Is there a possibility or would you be able to add any suggestion to get this card if the CS authorities wouldn’t help on this issue.

Not worth, they even reduce the credit limit, inspite of no payment default they reduced by limit to 2 lakhs siting no good reason. Stopped using card as no point to spend such a high fee with mere 2 lakhs limit. Better to use HDFC Infinia.

They are not issuing add on cards at present. Normally with every primary card 4 add on cards can be obtained free for friends and family. So it seems that right now getting this card isn’t profitable.

I am considering getting an Amex Platinum Card, and have two questions:

1. How do I redeem and use Mariott points to book stays? Also, what is the approximate number of points needed to book a room?

2. Is the Complimentary First Class Upgrade on Etihad still present? I could not see that mentioned on the Amex website.

holding platinum travel card and received an upgrade offer today …. they are offering 115000 points as welcome offer instead of 45k taj gv..

I have recently received email to upgrade to Platinum from Platinum travel.I have couple of questions on this. 1) If I take the Platinum card and if I am moving to UK in near future,I would want to convert my Indian Platinum to UK platinum card.Do I have to pay annual fee for Indian variant as well as UK variant when I convert the card ? 2) I received invite for 115k points,if I apply now and get 115k points and when I get UK variant then will I also get the 30k bonus points as per the UK card terms ?

Can supplementary card holders access centurion lounges?

Hi Sid. Great review as always. Just one minor correction, MB Gold doesn’t give free breakfast anymore. It’s platinum and above.

Reality is different from T&C, at-least with MB in 2022. 🙂

I have an LTF MRCC card. Have received a FYF Platinum Travel card last month… Can we get Gold Charge card as companion card to my platinum travel card? Or can I request for a Gold Charge card under one fee policy of Platinum Travel?

Hi Siddharth ,

What is the best option to pick while applying AMEX Charge card. Should i pick 45k Taj voucher or 1 Lac points.

Thanks Gaurav

Usually 1L points because if you’ve MRCC along with Plat Charge @ 1L points, you can still get Taj vouchers worth about 56000 INR by redeeming for Gold Collection . 🙂

Can plat travel points be also used to access gold collection

Is AMEX still sending Taj gift voucher of Rs. 10000 for the cardmember’s birthday? I’m curious since I got it last year.

Excellent review, Sid- I’ve only recently been using the Amex plat Charge card, but I can’t bring myself to prefer it to the HDFC Infinia. I recently travelled to the United Kingdom and contacted the Platinum concierge service for airline and hotel alternatives, but the options provided were prohibitively expensive, so I booked online at a lower cost (Flight with Smartbuy and Hotel through Skyscanner as Smartbuy had no good options for hotels for London). Amex’s reward ratio is.6% vs. 3.3%, and I’m curious why someone would choose Amex over Infinia. I don’t think anyone can compete with Infinia in terms of reward ratio. I want to use more of Amex is there anyway i can take out more benefit?

The only true perk is that I utilised my Hilton Gold membership, which entitles me to complimentary breakfast and one night free following a stay.The only true perk is that I have a Hilton Gold membership, which entitles me to complimentary breakfast, one night free after five nights of continuous stay (so if you stay for six nights, you just pay for five nights), an upgrading to the next category, and access to the executive lounge. Here is my personal experience with Hilton Gold- Look to the Hilton Honors website for hotel pricing. book EP plans ( Room Only as you will be eligible for Breakfast), Request a room upgrade at check-in to gain access to the Executive Lounge ( Free Wine and snacks). If you book using an online portal, you will not receive points or a free night if you stay for more than 5 nights. So compare where you are getting a good deal (Hilton or 3rd party App). In my experience skyscanner did good job ( I am not promoting people can check other websites as well). Hilton Gold Member will be eligible for Free BF,Upgrade and Lounge access even if they book hotel through 3rd party app.

5 RPs per 100 on fuel is nice but is fuel surcharge waived on this card, and is there any capping?

I generally fill from HP, no surcharge there

Hello Siddharth! Loved the detailed article about this charge card.

I have business expenses, primarily travel based of upwards of 40 lacs annually. Which credit or charge card would you suggest for me for maximum returns in terms of travel? A combination of credit cards is also okay for me.

Hi Sid, I have received an offer with an option to either take INR 55k worth of Taj Experiences eGift Card or 1,15,000 Membership Rewards Points.

Which seems to be a better offer from your perspective?

Please guide!

Hi! I work on a cruiseline as an Art Gallery Director. I make anywhere between 2.5 lacs to 6 lacs per month. Can I apply for an Amex Platinum charge card while I’m overseas ?

No you can’t from overseas

Platinum charge card is being approved on card to card basis now.

Hey Sid.. Amex just dropped an email to upgrade to Amex Platinum Card.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming you into our Platinum family.” “Offer valid until 30 April 2023”

Currently holding Amex MRCC card(joined in Dec) and HDFC Infinia. Few other cards Citi Reward/ SCB Manhattan.

I am not hunger for credit limit. And I travel less(once or twice a year – domestic) and most of my spends are online.. mixed spend personal and business.

Should I go for upgrade or not? Highly confused.

Did you go for the upgrade? I have MRCC (free) and DCB right now with several other cards. My fixed personal spends about 5-6lacs a year and another 3-4lacs for friends/family during sales. Last year spend on mrcc was about 1.7 lacs. Amex just offered me upgrade with welcome benefits of 1,35,000 rp. I am also confused as to why am I being offered such a premium card. Not sure whether to take this or not.

This offer they gave to all till 31st Jan

MRCC is much better for the spend range 2-3L because Platinum card have 60k+ for renewal fee and no I don’t see any big advantage holding that card.

Advantage is 135000 points transfer to Marriott bonvoy with 30% bonus….you can extract better value if you know the game for 70k

There is no 30% bonus offer now

Yes, currently no 30% offer but I am assuming it comes once in a year….even without 30% you can get better value than 70k

Hi, Can people throw some light on what kind you renewal benefits or offers we get from AMEX. like point or vouchers ? And if we cancel this current card after how many days we can apply for new Platinum Card ?

Hi Siddharth

I was curious about the supplementary cards. You mentioned “1 additional card for business expenses”. Can you please elaborate on this point.

I recently got approved for Amex Platinum card and enrolled to upgrade Marriott membership to Gold. The Amex website shows status as pending since last 10 days. Any idea how much time it takes to upgrade to Gold?

The current link for Amex MITC has clauses missing between 3.1.14 upto 5.1 listed on page 3. There is no mention of the INR 1200 twice a year reimbursement.

Has anyone been able to claim the 1200 home assistance reimbursement recently? for example with cards applied for after Feb 9th when this version of the t&c came into effect.

Looks like Amex clarified this today via email – benefit to be withdrawn from 25th June 2023

Thats a pity, don’t you think Indian Platinum cards holders are losing more value by every year? For example, the Shangri-La Jade membership was discontinued in 2019 and now the home assistance reimbursement.

In comparison the $695 that is charged to US Amex plat holders provides far more benefits at a lower cost of 56k.

They have reimbursements for various services and other benefits: 1. $240 entertainment streaming services credit 2. $155 Walmart membership credit 3. $200 uber credit 4. TSA precheck/ global entry free 5. No forex transaction fees 6. Car rental loss and damage insurance 7. 1 year extended warranty on items purchased 8. Cell phone damage protection

The India version doesn’t have nearly as many of the benefits but is more expensive than the US variant.

All are so busy with Axis that no one is there to even complain Amex these days. 😉

I was charged the annual fee in June 2023.

Called up the hotline and asked for an exception. They offered 35k Taj Vouchers or 50k MR points.

I refused this offer, was offered 90k MR or 50k Taj Vouchers.

I see others have been offered 55k Taj / 115k MR points. But my spends this year have been low on the AMEX Plat Charge card – 9.8L or so.

After holding Amex Platinum charge for nearly 4 years, had to close it with a heavy heart. Tried negotiating with the Amex card retention executive and her manager, however, they were not willing to offer anything beyond 10K Taj voucher. I noted other cardholders been offered at least some respectable retention/renewal deals, which was really a big factor towards this decision. I feel the level of disparity by Amex amongst its cardholders has increased significantly in the recent times!!

Sorry to hear this. I don’t have this card but I have the Platinum Reserve Credit Card which I’ve not used for a few years now. I called them up last December to cancel the card and they told me that the fee was due only in May and I can call back on May 1st if I still wanted to cancel it and then they’ll see what they can do.

I called back on the first week of May and the retention team offered to revert the fee but they said this can’t be done till the fee was actually charged which they said would be on 18th. I requested the card be closed as I found no use for it and I don’t see myself using it in the next year either. They still insisted that I retain it as I’ve been a customer for 7 years now.

I honestly wanted to close the card as I saw it as a kinda liability. With this card active, I am sceptical about applying for any new card as I currently have 7 cards. I’ll cancel the SCB Ultimate soon. This platinum reserve and their MRCC are now of hardly any use to me. I am planning to get a fuel card, SBI Octane mostly, as my fuel expenses have gone up and I am losing on possible points. But couldn’t convince them and so waited for the fee to be levied. I immediately called them back afterwards and they took the request to reverse it. It happened in about 3-4 days. I told them that I would probably call them back same time next year to cancel the card again and they told me that they’d still most likely offer me the reversal.

Because of this I was truly moved because this was the card I’ve used the least and I’ve hardly used it in the past 3+ years. Literally 0 transactions during this time. So I thought highly of their customer service and I assumed that they would be doing the same to everyone.

Maybe they’re not doing it for their top card variant?

Does anyone know if the Mariott Gold Elite membership gets removed instantly after cancelling the card or if it stays for the year?

Hi Siddharth… Just had a quick question. I’ve had the AMEX Plat for a few months now. I’m looking to make ₹4 Lakh transaction but the merchant is going to charge me ₹10,000 for using a credit card. ₹4 Lakh will get me 10,000 Reward Points. I’m wondering is it worth paying the ₹10K fee? How do I know the worth of the points that I gain? How does one get more than ₹1 value? Thank you for your help!

Not worth it, as you can anyway buy Amex points at 40ps upto 10K points directly with Amex itself.

Amex points are ideally good for Marriott and then to United/AA from Marriott. But no sure shot way to get >1Rs value in this game as there are so many factors involved.

Thanks, Siddharth. I appreciate the response.

Please let me know if I’m thinking on the right track:

In the end the vendor charged me a fee of Rs. 5,600 for using the credit card (and not Rs.10k as I had originally thought). I earned 10K points over the entire amount of Rs. 4L (inclusive of the fee). Effectively, it looks like I paid a tad bit more for 10k points (Rs. 5,600 vs Rs.4,000) compared to purchasing the points out right from Amex at Rs. 0.4. So a loss from that standpoint, but on the upside, I get to register a large spend on my account. That does count for something, right? Also, in the future, if I am able to get a value of Rs. 1 or more for those 10K points, then I would have covered my losses. Am I thinking on the right track?

I had another question / comment for everyone: Accessing the Amex lounge in Mumbai has been a challenge because of where the lounge is – domestic part of the T2 terminal. I have taken several flights some domestic (from T1) and some international (T2), but have been unable to access the Amex lounge. I find it silly that the only way to access it, it seems is if you are booked on a domestic flight on either Air India or Vistara. For all other domestic airlines, the lounge is out of bounds. Is that the same experience everyone else has had?

How can we buy points from amex. Please enlighten us all

Thankyou and regards

Just call support.

I am holding Amex Platinum Travel with MRCC as a companion card. I currently have an offer to upgrade to Platinum Charge card with bonus of 135K points. If I apply for this card, will my Platinum Travel card cease to exist? Can both Platinum Travel & MRCC exist as companion cards? Thanks.

Didn’t act on Plat upgrade offers with 115000 points, this month they have increased to 135000 points

Is the golf benefit also silently withdrawn on the card ? I see no mention of it on Amex website. Really ? Amex thinks itself as really premium card issuer and with 70 annual charges also not providing golf ?

Nope, it’s very much active. It’s mentioned under Special Access on the page.

Hi everyone, i am being offered 40K points of renewal ( 4 year) . Is anyone offered more as amex support remains adamant that this year not mire than 40k points given to anybody

Is Amex offering any retention exception? My renewal is due next month and all they offered was 30k of Taj vouchers whereas on other hand they are offering 135000 points to upgrade..

From what I see in the last 2 months, Amex India has become less generous with retention offers. But as you might know, they keep changing it almost every quarter.

Thanks for updating this article. Recently got the charge card.

Also can anyone confirm the offer of book 1L through travel desk/service and get X amount of taj voucher, is that offer still going on? could not find that or the taj birthday 10k mentioned anywhere

Both are more of “temporary” offers and AFAIK it’s still active.

But I would suggest you to check once with support whenever you plan to avail those benefits.

I received 15k Taj voucher offer on my platinum. Spend 1,00,000/- or more on Amex travel (Domestic/International Hotel/Flight) and receive 15k Taj voucher after the journey. This offer is expired on 29’th Dec.

Thanks. Is there a place where we can see such offers or is it through email or calling them up and asking the only way?

For 2nd time I didn’t get spend based offer, so closed PlatChrg which was getting fee levied next month. Holding on to other 3 though 🙂

And that’s with decent spends?

Didn’t do decent spends owing to no such offer, other cards yes. Overall decent spends Sid. But somehow couldn’t make use of card for the fees. Previously i was offered 100k MR for renewal, this time it was just 10k Taj (about 18k MR worth ).

10K Taj is unacceptable indeed. But seems this is happening for many in the last 2 months.

Oh I see. They are getting new to bank for 135k so losing existing. Let’s see if I get any upgrade later, had it earlier despite holding one 🙂

Amex didn’t improve the retention offer so I asked them to close the card..

135k MR offer is not for new to bank customers.. It’s upgrade offer for existing customers.

Yeah. I guess it’s a typo. 🙂

I had requested Amex Platinum Travel credit card as a companion card, but Amex refused and said that they can only provide Amex Platinum Reserve as a companion card. But I could apply for Amex Platinum Travel credit card as a non-companion card.

I had Platinum Travel for >4 years. Last year upgraded to Platinum Charge and they converted the Platinum Travel as companion card.

The hotel membership benefits can be availed only for primary card holders. Not for supplementary card holders.. only one supplementary card holder can access international lounge access for free..

What amount of annual spend is decent on this card? I have the offer to upgrade to this card with 135k mr points. Any info is appreciated.

My card renewed is charged to the statement. The only offer i got is 30K Taj for retention. Confused – Is it still worth it? Not a big fan of Taj vouchers Holding Infinia + Axis Vistara Infinite

My card got renewed in Jan and I got nothing. Forgot that the renewal was due in Jan, so when I called to find out post renewal that is their anything I will get for renewal, they informed I get nothing.

I seriously feel the card is not worth the fees at all and will close it during next renewal period.

A Lot has changed with this card, what really catches eye is the so called “Platinum do anything” concierge, which has become a bit of a JOKE !! They could not even sort out a couple of concert tickets for me (forget about getting sand from a sea, lol) & just gave me the info where I can get them online from, so much for 70K+ annual membership & the so called famed “do anything” concierge..

Amex even reduced the charge support for me below 7 digits & this being with them for 8 years now with ~40-50L spends on my amex cards year on year ! NO one has a clue why !!

The platinum has simply lost it’s sheen & the prestige it once had due to amex trying to be greedy & mass marketing it to anyone & everyone without actually delivering the quality that was once synonymous with an amex plat ! What is even more surprising or rather shocking is that people are getting this card WITHOUT any income proof when previously one needed to have over 15L ITR to get a hand on this & they used to be pretty strict about that .. It was a card which some had & most coveted but that just seems mythological now ..

Shame really.. Considering dumping this card .. Every passing year it is becoming harder to justify the 70K+ fees unless you’re a serious international traveller !

All true indeed.

Just like Axis that gave Magnus without following strict eligibility criteria, now Amex is doing the costly mistake with Platinum. Let’s see where it goes.

Dear Siddharth, You mentioned that travel concierge would provide complementary First class upgrade on Etihad. Just this month I have booked Business class tickets to London and back for my family on Eihad via the Amex Travel concierge desk. They did not mention any such offer as a free upgrade to First class however. Do we have to request them separately for the same?

“While only Taj vouchers are available as regular welcome benefit there is a way to still get 100K points, more on that shortly”

Hi Siddharth: Would be great if you can elaborate on this. Thinking of getting the Amex Plat Charge but not keen on the Taj Vouchers as welcome bonus. Any way to get 100k points? Thanks.

Please read the “bottomline” for the same.

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Table of Contents

Who can use the American Express Travel portal?

Benefits of booking travel on amex travel, how to book travel in the portal, is travel insurance included when booking through amex travel, downsides of booking via amex travel, final thoughts on the amex travel portal.

The American Express Travel portal is similar to many other online booking sites in that it allows you to purchase flights, hotels and other travel reservations. The main difference is that only those who hold an American Express card can use it.

Certain cards come with additional perks for booking in the portal. For instance, some AmEx cards allow travelers to earn extra points for bookings, receive a 35% points rebate, pay for a portion of the reservation with points, get room upgrades and more. Terms apply.

Here's a look at what the AmEx Travel portal offers and how to use it to maximize your benefits.

American Express Travel flights, hotels and other reservations are available for American Express cardholders. Depending on which American Express card you have, you may earn additional points on your reservation or unlock additional features. Terms apply.

For example, The Platinum Card® from American Express cardholders earn 5x points on flights booked directly with an airline or through AmEx Travel and 5x points on prepaid hotels booked through AmEx Travel. They also have access to the Fine Hotels & Resorts collection through the travel portal. Additionally, American Express® Gold Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express cardholders can book room reservations with The Hotel Collection . Terms apply.

Here are eight reasons why booking with AmEx travel could be a good idea.

1. Earn up to 5x points

When you book flight through the AmEx Travel portal, your credit card may earn additional points for the purchase. In addition, prepaid hotel reservations through the AmEx travel portal also earn extra points. These are a few of the cards that offer a bonus when making reservations through AmEx travel:

on American Express' website

• 5 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 spent per year.

• 5 points per $1 on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.

• 1 point per $1 on other eligible purchases.

Terms apply.

• 4 points per $1 at restaurant plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.

• 4 points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year).

• 3 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel.

• 3 points per $1 on eligible travel purchases.

• 3 points per $1 on restaurants worldwide.

• 1 point per $1 on other purchases.

• 2 points per $1 on the first $50,000 in purchases each calendar year.

• 1 point per $1 on purchases above $50,000 in a calendar year.

» Learn more: AmEx Membership Rewards: How to earn and use them

2. Pay for reservations using Pay with Points

With American Express Travel, flights, hotels and more can be paid for with points instead of cash. Members can even choose to pay a portion of the trip with points and the rest with cash. Once your reservations have been booked, the full amount of your trip will be charged to your American Express credit card, and then a credit will be posted for the points redeemed within 48 hours.

You must redeem at least 5,000 points in order to use Pay with Points. Points are redeemed at a value of 1 cent per point when booking flights or making Fine Hotels & Resorts reservations. Other eligible travel receives only 0.7 cents per point. NerdWallet values Membership Rewards points at 2.8 cents per point if you take advantage of transferring to and booking through travel partners, so the redemption rates in the travel portal are significantly below our ideal value.

If you need to cancel your reservation, you'll receive a statement credit on your card for the cash equivalent. Members who would rather have the unused Membership Rewards points returned to their accounts must contact American Express customer service at 800-297-3276. Terms apply.

3. Upgrade flights with points

Eligible flights booked with cash can be upgraded using your American Express Membership Rewards points. You'll receive 1 cent per point credit towards the cost when upgrading a flight with points (which is again below our AmEx point valuation ).

To upgrade your flight with points, select your airline and provide your reservation details in the AmEx travel portal. You will be notified if your flight is eligible or not. If your flight is eligible, you can submit an offer to the airline for the upgrade. The airline will accept or reject your bid between one and five days of your flight's departure and you'll receive a decision via email.

If your upgrade offer is accepted, the points will be deducted from your account. Your statement will show a charge and a credit for the corresponding points.

» Learn more: You can now use AmEx points to bid on flight upgrades

4. Discounted international flights through AmEx IAP

Platinum cardholders have access to discounted flights through International Airline Program (IAP) , which allows members to book first, business and premium economy at a discount on select airlines and routes. Plus, you'll receive 5x Membership Rewards points on the booking when using your The Platinum Card® from American Express or The Business Platinum Card® from American Express to pay for the flight. Terms apply.

There are 25 airlines that participate in this program. You can book refundable and nonrefundable tickets for up to eight passengers through the IAP. Tickets can be paid with your card, points or a combination of the two. You will have to pay a $39 nonrefundable ticketing fee, however the discount received on these tickets should outweigh the fee.

5. Cancel For Any Reason insurance

CFAR is shorthand for an insurance policy that allows you to cancel your trip for any reason whatsoever and receive a refund. In May 2022, AmEx launched its own version of CFAR coverage for airfare booked through the travel portal using an AmEx card.

This feature, called Trip Cancel Guard, will get you up to a 75% reimbursement on nonrefundable airfare costs, provided you cancel at least two calendar days out from your departure. You'll need to purchase Trip Cancel Guard coverage at the point of booking and if you cancel, whether through the airline directly or through AmEx Travel, you can request reimbursement online or over the phone.

» Learn more: The guide to Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) travel insurance

6. 35% points rebate with The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

When The Business Platinum Card® from American Express cardholder book flights using points through the AmEx travel portal, they can receive up to 35% of their points back . The benefit is available on first or business class flights on any airline and all economy flights with their chosen airline. This benefit provides up to 500,000 points back per calendar year.

However, as with all AmEx credits , it's not as straightforward as you may hope. You will have to designate the airline for the 35% rebate and the airline must be the same as the one chosen for the $200 airline incidental credit .

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

7. Fine Hotels & Resorts

The Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. (Photo by Sally French)

Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) is a collection of resorts and benefits available only to Platinum Card members. There are over 2,000 properties worldwide that participate in this program. When making reservations with Fine Hotels & Resorts for one night or more, you'll receive the following benefits:

$200 statement credit provided once per year.

Noon check-in (when available).

Room upgrade upon arrival (when available).

Daily breakfast for two.

Guaranteed 4 pm late checkout.

Complimentary in-room WiFi.

Unique property benefit valued at least $100.

These benefits rival those that many travelers receive when booking directly with hotels to obtain elite status perks. Some locations also offer a last-night free benefit, depending upon when you make your reservation. And some of the best hotels to book using FHR credits offer especially-unique amenities.

For example, many theme park fans consider Loews Portofino Bay Hotel as the best FHR hotel in Orlando . That's because — on top of all the above benefits — guests receive complimentary Universal Express Unlimited ride access, which allows you to skip the lines inside the Universal theme parks .

8. The Hotel Collection

The Loews Sapphire Falls at Universal Orlando falls under The Hotel Collection. (Photo by Sally French)

AmEx Gold and Platinum cardholders receive elite status-level perks at more than 600 hotels worldwide. When you stay for two nights or more, you'll receive a $100 resort credit and an upgrade upon arrival (when available). In addition, you can use your AmEx Membership Rewards credit card to book and pay for your reservation entirely or partially with your points.

While you can book travel over the phone with an agent, it is often quicker and more convenient to make your reservations through the AmEx Travel portal.

Here's how to book travel in the American Express travel portal:

Go to americanexpress.com/en-us/travel/ .

Log in with your username and password.

Select flights, hotels, flight + hotel, cars, or cruises.

Enter your travel dates, cities and other relevant information.

Choose options based on your trip.

Pay with your American Express credit card, points, or a combination.

Since you need an American Express card to make reservations through AmEx travel, you may already hold a card that offers complimentary travel insurance . If you don’t get travel insurance perks through your AmEx card, you can purchase Trip Cancel Guard through when making your booking.

Trip Cancel Guard works similarly to CFAR in that it allows you to cancel your trip for any reason whatsoever and get up to a 75% reimbursement of your travel costs as long as the cancellation is made two full days before your trip.

What is the AmEx Travel cancellation policy?

When you book travel through the American Express travel portal, you may be eligible to cancel your reservation within 24 hours and get a full refund. However, the cancellation policy is determined by the airline.

As such, AmEx instructs travelers to refer to the cancellation policy on the itinerary or reach out to customer service with any questions. Terms apply.

There are many appealing reasons why travelers want to book reservations with the AmEx travel portal. However, there are some downsides as well. These are some of the most common reasons why you shouldn't:

Low value for your points. Redeeming points through the AmEx travel portal yields a value of 1 cent per point or less. That's at least a 50% reduction compared to our value of Membership Rewards points.

Complicated customer service. Resolving flight or hotel reservation issues becomes more complicated when you book through a third party such as AmEx travel. The airline or hotel blames the booking agency and may not immediately resolve the problem in some instances. However, providers have no scapegoat when you book direct.

No hotel elite status benefits or loyalty credits. Most hotels require you to book directly to receive elite status benefits, stay credits or earn points. For travelers looking to take advantage of their elite status or earn status for the next year, booking AmEx travel hotel reservations is not a good idea.

Despite the above policy, hotels booked through Fine Hotels & Resorts allow you to earn elite night credit and earn loyalty perks associated with your elite status level on any hotel reservations — regardless if you book in the portal or not.

The AmEx travel portal offers numerous benefits for all American Express cardholders. If you have a Membership Rewards credit card, you can pay for all or part of eligible travel reservations using your points.

And any portion that you pay with your Membership Rewards card can earn up to 5x points. AmEx Travel also offers two hotel collections that provide additional perks similar to elite status benefits.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

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ATM 2024: India’s travel market is a $72b opportunity in the making

Travel & tourism.

As demand surges, Indians prefer destinations about 5 hours away

Dubai: How do you tap the tourism potential of Indian travelers?

The fifth largest economy in the world, India is home to 1.44 billion people - and 27.3 million people travelled out of the country in 2023. That number is expected to reach 30 million this year, which is why there’s so much interest in Indian tourists. And became a talking point at the Arabian Travel Market on Monday.

At the session – ‘Unlocking the true potential of Indian travelers – the moderator Virendra Jain, co-founder and CEO of Videc, set the ball rolling, saying that the Indian travel market is a $49 billion opportunity that is estimated to grow to $72 billion by FY-2026, driven mainly by a young and digitally-savvy population.

Jain said: “India right now has 93 million active passports. 14 million of them were issued in 2023, seven times the number of passports India issued in 2000, which is symbolic of the upward trajectory of travellers coming from India.”

Jain was joined by Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of Wego, Raj Rishi Singh, CMO and CBO-Coporate of MakeMyTrip, and Ankur Garg, Chief Commercial Officer of Air India Express.

At the end of 50 minutes, they were sure that the profile of Indian travellers had changed, with leisure and tourism forming a critical avenue for spending.

Within 5 hours

One uniform observation was the preference of Indians for destinations that require only five hours of flying time. That makes the UAE a destination of choice, and Dubai is seen more like a domestic destination.

How do you attract the Indian tourist? Five ways, maybe.

Cheap and easy visas, affordability, direct flights and payment systems are among the factors travellers take into account before deciding on a destination.

Ease the visa regime

Veitch insisted that the visa regime is a critical factor in attracting Indian travellers. A Schengen visa will take 30 days, if you are lucky, and a US visa appointment would take up to 365 days, he said.

“The best thing you could do if you want to stimulate this market is to rationalise your visa policies,” Veitch added.

Garg concurred, saying visa policies do matter. “The visa cost starts having a lot of product impact. We have seen countries with visas on arrival and countries where the visa cost is low. When the international destination is cheaper or at par with the domestic destinations, the decision will depend on the ease of getting the visa and the cost of visa,” the Air India Express official said.

What spurs Indians to travel abroad? Veitch says income is one of the main drivers.

“More than 50 million households in India are on more than $10,000 a month today. That number is growing at a rapid pace, and in another four years, it will add another 30 million households.

“So, with overall incomes going up, the number of people who can afford to travel outside is also going up.”

Garg said Indian travellers no longer come from only the metros but also from smaller cities around the country. “From Amritsar Jaipur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Indore and Goa, we have seen that kind of traffic in the last two to three years. I feel that a lot of growth is going to come from having non-stop connectivity from the next set of towns and cities in India to international destinations,” the chief commercial officer of Air India Express said.

Changes to travel patterns

Even the pattern of travel has changed. Rishi Singh pointed out that Indians now readily opt for weekend travel.

“Earlier, the Indian scenario was one long and one short vacation. This changed to multiple short vacations, and at times people skip long vacations. And so I think it’s affordability and how fast you can reach that place [decides the destination],” the MakeMyTrip official said.

Rishi Singh said one of their surveys showed that 85 per cent of the respondents were first-time outbound travellers, which translates into 27 million outbound passengers.

Earlier, the Indian scenario was one long and one short vacation. This changed to multiple short vacations... - Raj Rishi Singh of MakeMyTrip

“When you are travelling internationally, there is this external anxiety, especially if you’re a first-time traveller. So it’s important to have someone to support you during the journey. So we’ve been trying to build journeys, both through digital and otherwise, where we deal away with this insanity,” the MakeMyTrip official said.

Jain noted that the payment system is one area that requires more attention. “Founded in 2016, UPI in 2022 accounted for six times the value of transactions compared to debit and credit cards combined [in India]. It’s way ahead in growth right now; there are seven countries that accept UPI as a payment mechanism,” he said.

“Travel is a lifestyle revenue that grows as the economy grows. So, there’s a correlation between outbound departure and GDP per capita. There is a very clear trend over 30 years as the per capita income has grown, and so have the outbound departure numbers,” Jain added.

“The Indian government is doing the right things, from a macroeconomic point of view, to sustain the sort of growth needed to drive this sort of outbound numbers,” Veitch said.

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Introduction to Nationwide Travel Insurance

• Coverage Options
• How to Purchase and Manage Your Policy

Nationwide Customer Reviews and Claims Experience

Compare nationwide travel insurance.

• Why You Should Trust Us

Nationwide Travel Insurance Review 2024

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate insurance products to write unbiased product reviews.

Nationwide has been around close to 100 years after being founded in 1926. The Ohio-based company has many different products in the insurance and finance space, including coverage for trips. Nationwide Travel Insurance policies are available for single or multiple trips and can cover cruise trips too.

• Trip cancellation coverage of up to 100% of trip costs (for cruises) or up to $30,000 (for single-trip plans)
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Three cruise-specific plans to choose from
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Annual travel insurance plans available
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Strong trip cancellation coverage
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Cancel for any reason coverage available
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. CFAR insurance not available with every single plan
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Medical coverage is lower than what some competitors offer

Nationwide Travel Insurance offers many of the standard benefits you might see with a travel insurance policy. This can include things like trip cancellation coverage, so you can recover pre-paid costs or trip interruption in the event your vacation is interrupted by an unexpected event. There's also baggage delay coverage and medical coverage.

• Cancel for any reason coverage available

Nationwide is one of the leading names in insurance across various areas of coverage including life, auto, and travel insurance. Nationwide's coverage is also as comprehensive as it is varied. It tops our list of the best travel insurance companies and best cruise travel insurance , also ranking among the best cheap travel insurance companies for the value it provides.

With single trip, multi trip, and cruise-specific policies along with an abundance of riders, there's a good chance Nationwide will have the coverage you're looking for.

That said, Nationwide lacks some of the niche coverage that other companies can provide. For example, Nationwide doesn't insure trips over 31-days long. Its annual travel insurance only applies to trips 30 days or under. Additionally, Nationwide lacks specific adventure sports coverage.

Ultimately, Nationwide is the company to beat. If you're shopping for something a little more specific, use Nationwide's quotes as your baseline as you search for something more tailored to your trip. 

Coverage Options from Nationwide

Nationwide offers many of the standard benefits you might see with a travel insurance policy. This can include things like trip cancellation coverage, so you can recover pre-paid costs or trip interruption in the event your vacation is interrupted by an unexpected event. There's also baggage delay coverage and medical coverage.

The travel insurance policies offered by Nationwide are available to consumers and are divided up by the type of trip: single trip, multiple trips, or cruise coverage.

Single-trip travel insurance policies

Nationwide offers two single-trip travel insurance policies: the Essential plan and the Prime plan.

As the name suggests, Nationwide Essential travel insurance covers the basics. It offers some protection should anything happen ahead of your trip or while you're on your trip.

The Prime plan takes your coverage to the next level, with higher coverage limits and the option to add on the coveted cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage at an extra cost.

Both plans include trip cancellation or interruption coverage in the event of terrorism in your destination city, travel assistance from Nationwide at no additional charge, and refunds with a 10-day review period (except in Washington and New York). Note that for baggage and personal effects coverage, there is a $500 combined maximum limit for valuable items (see your policy's terms and conditions for details on what's considered valuable). It also covers damaged or lost sports equipment.

Here's how the two plans stack up in terms of coverage limits. For trip delay coverage, you'll be eligible for reimbursement for delays of six hours or more.

Annual and multi-trip travel insurance policies

If you're looking for travel insurance coverage for more than one trip and want to cover your partner and children, the Travel Pro Plan may be an affordable option. It's important to note that this policy only covers events after departure, not pre-departure events. This policy could be as low as $59 as of the time of writing.

The Travel Plus Plan is another multi-trip policy from Nationwide that has flexible term limits for trip interruption and cancellation coverage, up to $10,000. This covers the gaps from the Travel Pro Plan, which only covers post-departure events. So if you needed to cancel the trip due to a covered illness or other reason, this is the plan for you.

If you want to increase the level of benefits for your after departure coverage, the Travel Pro Deluxe Plan does just that. It builds on the Travel Pro Plan, hence the name, and includes higher coverage limits for just $20 more.

All plans include the same travel assistance from Nationwide that's included with the single-trip policies. Here's how the multiple-trip plans compare:

Cruise coverage

Nationwide offers three cruise travel insurance plans.

If you're going on a short cruise or going for the first time, the Universal Cruise Plan may be a good starting point if you want added protection and to recoup nonrefundable costs. Just make sure that you qualify based on your state, as cruise coverage isn't available in all states.

If you're going on a longer cruise and want added coverage to protect your trip, the Choice Cruise plan is an option to consider. And if you're looking for the most benefits and go on many cruises, the Luxury Cruise plan offers the most coverage options.

All three policies can be refunded with a 10-day review period, except in Washington and New York.

Here's a comparison of the coverage you'll get with Nationwide's three different cruise travel insurance policies:

Additional coverage options from Nationwide

Nationwide has a number of additional coverage options that can add more protection to your policy but also add to the cost as well. These include:

• Financial default coverage , in the event your travel supplier ends up in default or bankruptcy. This is available with the Essential and Prime single-trip policies.
• Pre-existing condition waiver, which may offer coverage for pre-existing illnesses or diseases if certain conditions are met. This is available with the Essential and Prime single-trip policies.
• Accidental death and dismemberment, which can have limits of $5,000, $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 depending on the plan. This is available with the Essential and Prime single-trip policies.
• Accidental death for flights only, which can have limits of $100,000, $250,000, or $500,000. This is available with the Essential and Prime single-trip policies.
• Rental car collision or loss coverage, in the event something happens to your rental car, you can add on this coverage for up to $25,000 or $35,000 depending on the plan.This is available with the Essential and Prime single-trip policies (except in Texas or New York).
• Cancel for any reason (CFAR) , which must be added to a policy and is available through the single-trip Prime Plan, the Choice Cruise Plan, and the Luxury Cruise Plan.

Nationwide Travel Insurance Cost

The premium you pay will depend on various factors, including the age of the travelers, destination, and total trip costs. The  average cost of travel insurance  is 4% to 8% of your travel costs.

After inputting some personal information, such as your age and state of residence, along with your trip details, like travel dates, destination, and trip costs, you'll get an instant quote for Nationwide Insurance plans available for your trip. And from there, it's easy to compare each option based on your coverage needs and budget.

Now let's look at a few examples to estimate Nationwide coverage costs.

As of 2024, a 23-year-old from Illinois taking a week-long, $3,000 budget trip to Italy would have the following travel insurance quotes:

• Essential: $89.55
• Prime: $129.19

Premiums for Nationwide Insurance plans are between 3% and 4.3% of the trip's cost, well within the average cost of travel insurance.

Nationwide insurance provides the following quotes for a 30-year-old traveler from California heading to Japan for two weeks on a $4,000 trip:

• Essential: $113.01
• Prime: $160.47

Once again, premiums for Nationwide plans are between 2.8% and 4% of the trip's cost, within and below the expected range of travel insurance costs.

A Texas family consisting of two 40-year-old parents with a 10-year-old and 4-year-old on a two-week trip to Australia for $20,000:

• Essential: $571.62
• Prime: $801.94

Nationwide plans cost between 2.8% and 4% of the trip's cost, below and within the average cost of travel insurance. 

A 65-year-old couple looking to escape New Jersey for Mexico for two weeks with a trip cost of $6,000 would have the following quotes:

• Essential: $248.56
• Prime: $352.44

Premiums for Nationwide plans are between 4.1% and 5.9%, which is well the average cost for travel insurance. While its certainly more expensive than coverage for younger travelers, it's on the lower end of what travel insurance companies tend to quote for older travelers. 

Nationwide Annual Travel Insurance Cost

Quotes from Nationwide's annual travel insurance plans don't actually change based on age or state. You'll get a base quote of $69, which will vary based on how much trip cancellation coverage you'd like to purchase. Prices range from $155 to $729

You can also select a Pro Delux upgrade, which will cost an additional $20.

How to Purchase and Manage Your Nationwide Policy

To purchase a Nationwide travel insurance policy, you first need to obtain a quote from Nationwide's website. You should be prepared to provide the following:

• Destination
• Departure date
• Return date
• State of Residence
• Total trip cost
• Initial trip payment date

When you select a plan, be sure to also take a moment and scroll through the optional add-ons, such as rental car coverage. 

How to File a Claim with Nationwide

If you purchased travel insurance through Nationwide and need to file a claim, you can contact a Nationwide representative. You have seven days from the start of the issue that caused loss to notify Nationwide of your claim.

Claims through Nationwide are handled by Co-ordinated Benefit Plans, LLC. You can use its claims portal or call a representative, based on your type of policy.

Single trip policy phone number: 888-490-7606

Annual plan policy phone number: 866-281-1017

Cruise policy phone number : 866-281-0334

Rather reach out via email? You can contact Nationwide via [email protected] .

If you need to send documents via mail, the mailing address is:

Co-ordinated Benefit Plans, LLC

On Behalf of Nationwide Mutual Insurance

Company and Affiliated Companies

P.O. Box 26222 Tampa, FL 33623

Nationwide refrains from promising a specific response time frame. However, customers have reported waiting several weeks before hearing any updates.

Since Nationwide offers such a wide breadth of insurance types, it's difficult to separate its travel-specific customer reviews from reviews on its other products. It received an average of 1.16 stars out of five across over 340 reviews on its BBB page, though most customers are writing about experiences with Nationwide's auto and health insurance.

On SquareMouth, a travel insurance-specific aggregator, Nationwide has an average of 4.01 stars across 570 reviews. Reviewers reported unresponsive a claims team and long wait times. Additionally, while insurance companies often engage directly with customer reviews on SquareMouth, Nationwide doesn't respond to customer reviews.

Learn more about how Nationwide Travel Insurance compares against the competition. 

Nationwide Travel Insurance vs. Allianz Travel Insurance

Much like Nationwide, Allianz Travel Insurance insurance offers many different types of insurance coverage. While the company may be most well known for auto insurance, it offers travel insurance as well and has eight options. Allianz Travel Insurance, a major player in the travel insurance space, has 10 options listed.

Allianz Travel Insurance may offer higher coverage limits for the policies offered and have a streamlined process for filing a claim online. Where Nationwide wins out is the fact that you can add cancel for any reason (CFAR) for an added cost, whereas CFAR coverage isn't available when purchasing an online policy via Allianz Travel Insurance.

Read our Allianz Travel Insurance review here.

Nationwide Travel Insurance vs. John Hancock Travel Insurance

John Hancock Travel Insurance  is similar to Nationwide in that it provides a wide range of insurance offerings and financial services. One of those offerings is travel insurance. John Hancock travel insurance offers travel insurance through Bronze, Silver, and Gold policies.

When comparing policies, the budget option may be slightly more affordable with Nationwide. However, mid-tier and higher coverage options may be more affordable with John Hancock travel insurance. It depends on your policy, trip details, and age. One good thing is that you can add cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage under all John Hancock travel insurance plan options.

Read our John Hancock Travel Insurance review here.

Nationwide vs. credit card travel coverage

Rewards credit cards come chock full of benefits for cardholders, some of which they might be unaware of. One such perk can be travel interruption or cancellation coverage as well as rental car coverage. Credit cards may have sufficient coverage for quick trips. However, if you want the peace of mind of having solid medical coverage or higher limits, going the traditional travel insurance route may be a better fit.

For frequent travelers, credit card travel protection may be appealing as the coverage is constant. If you're looking for a comparable travel insurance plan with more comprehensive coverage, some companies offer annual travel insurance.

You can find our guide on the best credit cards with travel insurance  here.

Nationwide Travel Insurance Frequently Asked Questions

Nationwide's travel insurance offers very comprehensive coverage, including trip cancellation, interruption, medical emergencies, and baggage loss.

Yes, Nationwide allows the purchase of travel insurance up to a day before your departure. It doesn't offer plans for trips already in progress.

Nationwide covers COVID-19 like any other illness, covering trip cancellations with proof of a positive test and covering emergency medical expenses. 

Nationwide single trip plans cover pre-existing conditions as long as you purchase the Essential plan within 10 days of your trip deposit and the Prime plan within 21 days of your trip deposit. The annual plan doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, with a 60-day look-back period. 

Nationwide is known for its reliable customer service, wide range of coverage options, and the ability to tailor policies with various add-ons, setting them apart from many competitors.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Nationwide Travel Insurance

For our review of Nationwide, we looked at the leading travel insurance providers and compared the amount of options provided, coverage limits, cost, customer service options, and flexibility.

Nationwide is a top contender for cruise-related travel insurance policies and stands out for having cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage, though it's not available with every policy and comes with an extra cost. To find the best travel insurance policy for you, review various providers and compare quotes before buying a policy.

Read more about how Business Insider rates travel insurance companies here.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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