For long, the focus was on promoting the benefit suite of the Platinum Charge Card in India. Now, American Express may have decided that they needed to add zing to the other card products as well, rather than just keeping them functional so that people would spend more on them rather than just be invested in the small points earning bonuses they provided every month. This has meant changes to current card products, such as the American Express Smart Earn Credit Card, American Express Platinum Card, American Express Gold Card, American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card and so on.

American Express promised an improved Gold Card earlier this week. Since then, there has been a trickle of some information which we have already keeping you abreast with. Now, we have the full picture and it looks good, at least to me. American Express has added a host of travel and lifestyle cashbacks and offers to the product, kept the fee the same. However, lounge access is still missing on this product.

Membership Rewards Earning On Gold Card beefed up

American Express has retained the 1 Membership Rewards point/INR 50 earning structure on the card, and for 6 spends of INR 1000+, you get a monthly bonus as well. However, there are more opportunities to earn points and redeem them now:

• Rewards on fuel and utility payments: As already highlighted by us earlier, Gold Cardmembers will be able to earn 1 Membership Rewards point on every INR 50 spent, now including fuel and utility payments. With effect from 1 July 2021, Cardmembers will earn 1 Membership Rewards Points on every INR 50 on Utility (electricity, water and gas bills) payments capped at 10,000 Membership Rewards points in a calendar month (topping off at INR 500K spend). Cardmembers will also earn 1 Membership Rewards point on every INR 50 on Fuel payments including petrol, diesel, CNG from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) capped at 5,000 Membership Rewards points in a calendar month (topping off at INR 250K Spend).
• Get 5X on Reward Multiplier: American Express had upped the rewards earning via Rewards Multiplier earlier this month, moving it from 2X bonus to 5X bonus. You can read about it in detail, here.

Vistara to offer 10% Discount on Gold Card bookings

American Express has been offering a 15% discount on Premium Economy/Business Class tickets to Platinum Cardmembers for a while now. This is a very good offer on the days it is working. Now, Vistara is offering, to the Gold Cardmembers, a 10% discount on tickets as well across Domestic and International routes, on all classes.

This offer is only valid on transactions made on www.airvistara.com or through the mobile app, using an American Express Gold Card, for bookings made and travel between July 15, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Use promotion code: VISGOLD21.

New Lifestyle discount offers

American Express has added a lot of discount offers to the product, some of which were already there and some are new. Here are some of the brands they brought on board:

• Hotels: Heritage Hotels and Resorts, The Leela, Agoda, Soukya, Atmantan Spa Resort, CGH Earth Wellness, Cabo Serai, Assam Bengal Navigation, Oyo Rooms, Saffron Stays, Vista Rooms, Atali Ganga, Aquaterra and so on.
• Dining: Get up to 25% off on order-ins from The Oberoi Gurgaon, The Leela, The Lodhi, Roseate, Hilton, Accor, and Qmin, and diner dines free offer from The Lodhi.

There are a lot of other offers available on the American Express website as well.

Monthly Fees

Last year, American Express introduced the option to pay card membership fees monthly for the Platinum Charge Card and they offered it selectively to those who might find it difficult to pony up INR 72K in one go, given how the year went. This year, they have formalised this for the Gold Charge Card. Here on, one can opt to pay the fee monthly for the card, instead of an annual option, however, this is only limited to those paying the full annual fee.

Cardmembers enrolling for the monthly fee option of American Express Gold Card will be charged INR 375 + taxes on a monthly basis until such time that the card is active. Upon enrolling for the monthly fee option for American Express Gold Card, Cardmembers cannot switch their fee payment cycle back to the annual fee payment cycle in the same membership year. If Cardmembers have crossed their Cards’ annual renewal date, they will have the option to switch to the monthly payment cycle in the next membership year.

Bottomline

American Express has revamped the Gold Card, added new opportunities to earn Membership Rewards points, for a high limit on the utilities and fuel segment, where most other cards don’t give any points. This should be beneficial for entrepreneurs who have huge such bills to pay. Not just that, there are many more promotions now, and American Express is effectively making the card free for those using the Salon Offer (assuming it is going to be around for the whole year and you live in a city which has a participating salon).

What do you think of the revamp American Express has pushed out on the Gold Charge Card?

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