Update: American Express Cards are not being issued from May 1, 2021, to new customers due to an RBI Moratorium
The American Express Platinum Travel Card is a one of a kind product for those who like to spend on travel. A mid-tier card, it offers you tonnes of benefits for the price you pay for it. You earn Membership Rewards points for all your spends at the rate of 1 Membership Rewards Point for every INR 50 spent with a few exceptions.
On top of that, you get travel vouchers worth INR 29,500 during the year:
- INR 7,700 voucher on spending INR 1,90,000
- INR 11,800 on spending INR 4,00,000
- Taj Vouchers worth INR 10,000 on spending INR 4,00,000
The vouchers can be SpiceJet vouchers or Amex Travel vouchers and can be used for domestic travel and hotel bookings. So, on INR 4 Lakh spends, you get INR 29,500 worth of vouchers, which makes it a 7% return. You can also choose to use your Membership Rewards points for any other use. You also get 4 complimentary visits per year to 11 lounges across India per annum.
Now, as a limited time offer, American Express is offering the card for free for those who apply through this link. The best part is, you also get 2,000 bonus Membership Rewards points on spending INR 5,000 within the first 90 days of getting the card accepted.
You need to be from the following cities:
- Ahmedabad
- Bangalore
- Bhopal
- Bhubaneshwar
- Chandigarh
- Chennai
- Coimbatore
- Delhi/NCR
- Ernakulam
- Goa
- Guntur
- Hyderabad
- Indore
- Jaipur
- Kanchipuram
- Kolkata
- Mumbai
- Pune
- Surat
- Vadodara
- Vijaywada
- Vizag
Further, remember, you can hold one Charge Card, one proprietary credit card and one co-branded credit card with American Express at the same time.
Here is the link to apply to the American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card free for the first year and get 2000 bonus Membership Rewards points to get you started!
(HT to Niraj Dugar)
I applied using the link and I have received the card also. But to my surprise, when I called the AmEx helpline, he mentioned that 2000 bonus points are not applicable here for the first transaction as the fees is not paid!
@Amit Agarwal, like it states, you need to spend INR 5000 to get the 2000 MR bonus points. Call another agent or raise an online complaint if you have already completed the minimum spend.
Got the points! 🙂
Will this card also grant complimentary access to the AMEX lounge in mumbai?
Yes
No. Complimentary only for Plat/Cent, and in limited amount to Plat Reserve. Plat Reserve also need to pay for alcohol, even on free entries.
Ok.. But can we use this card to pay rent using redgirraffe.?
Hi Anuj,
Why don’t you head over to RedGirrafee and check?
Hi,
I have AMEX LTY MRCC. Is it worth to have this card just for 1 year? Will the MR transferred to other card if you close after 360 days?
MR won’t transfer. This card has non-FTO MR account, while MRCC has FTO account. So you can’t pool or transfer MR.
Thanks @Amex Guy. So coming to initial query – is it worth to have card just for 1 year?
I do have JP account but don’t use Marriot etc (read that it gives good conversion factor).
PS: Do have the usual cards like Yes First Exclusive which I tend to use maximum
@Gagan, the Yes First Exclusive is actually a pathetic card for miles earning, why use it?
@Ajay : I don’t use Yes Card for miles but for spends…
Years back got ICICI JP Sapphire and unfortunately couldn’t even use base fare waived ticket voucher (thanks to my lack of planning and last minute seat un-availability). Post that never ventured for any paid cards. Currently have free cards and use same.
Hence wary if can make into year 2 of Amex Platinum when fees will kick in.
Pardon my ignorance, what is FTO?
Google helped me as I was also wondering..
Frequent Traveller Option or FTO means the option under which the Membership Rewards Points can be converted into Air Miles along with other Rewards
Hi Ajay,
I have applied 3 cards in my family through this referral.
I’m silent reader of LFAL and gained alot knowledge of travel and cards. Kudos LFAL members.
Wrong. The reason Amex Plat card communication mentions lower number of MR points than you would actually get as it assumes that you will be making 10% of the spends on non-accrual categories such as Fuel, Insurance, Utilities. Though, u can always load ur paytm wallet and make spends on these categories and still earn MR points.
Does AMEX have any plans to launch New card variants? They have the same set of cards for so many years whereas all other credit card companies in India are launching new variants to grow their customer base.
Ajay, is it possible to use AMEX cards with redgirraffe?
I am applying for the JP co branded platinum card.. Is is the same as this one..?
Obviously differs from person to person but someone who is using Jet Plat, somehow feel Jet diners the probably is a better option.
In terms of earning ability, in terms of Tier points, those advantages are Kickass.
If not eligible for that one, than I guess Jet Plat makes sense for 1 year.
@JP co-brand card gets you JPMiles, this one gets you travel benefits and Membership Rewards points! There is a difference 🙂
Actually, the way the card is structured, you burn the MR points for vouchers so there are no extra MR points left. For example, once you spend 1.9 lacs, you get:
1. 6000 milestone MR points, redeemable for Rs. 6000.
2. 3400 regular spend MR points, redeemable for Rs. 1700.
That’s how you reach 7700 in value.
On spending 4 lacs, you get 10K milestone points, redeemable for 10K voucher and 3600 regular MR redeemable for 1800 voucher, constituting 11800.
So there are no extra 8000 MR points left after you redeem, which the article seems to suggest.
Ah yes. You got that right.
shouldn’t you get 3800 MR for 1.9L and an additional 4200MR for reaching 4L.
what am I missing?
My personal guess has been that Amex gives out an average estimate of how much you will earn on 1.9 lacs spend. For example, a transaction of Rs. 190 will give you 3, not 4 MR points. So that extra Rs. 40 earned nothing. But if you make all transactions modulo 50, then yes, you will get 3800 MR.
AFAIK, only Plat gets MR points rounded up for MR points, all other cards are rounded down.