5 Reasons Why You Should Have an American Express Credit Card

By | November 21, 2018

There are plethora of cards in India and it’s always confusing to choose which and why. While I’ve already listed the best credit cards in India that are most popular, here are 5 major reasons why you should consider holding at-least 1 American Express Credit Card in your wallet.

My American Express Credit Cards (India)

5 Reasons to have an American Express Credit Card

#1 Lost Card Liability

Not everyone knew this biggest benefit that comes with American Express credit cards. With American Express, you can be sure that the money is safer than ever.

If you find a fraudulent transaction on your Card on account of it being lost or stolen, relax. Because, if you lose your Card, your liability is nil after reporting the loss, and is limited to a maximum of only Rs. 1,000 before reporting.

So a little bad luck doesn’t have to be a total nightmare. American Express is able to process this quickly because their advantage is that there is no third party networks involved in authorizing/processing/settling the transaction.

#2 Emergency Card Replacement

With Emergency Card Replacement, if you lose your Card American Express will replace it, usually within 48 hours, wherever you are in the world. So you can go about your day just the way you always have – worry free.

I’m lucky that I haven’t lost any of my cards yet, but if I do, I can count on American Express. I’ve heard couple of cases during my consultancy that how American Express saved a lot of time in getting the card replaced during foreign travel.

#3 Friendly Customer Support 24/7

Undoubtedly, American Express is famous for its world class customer support. They not only greet you with full of energy at 2AM, but also get things done over a phone call.

They also go beyond the expectations at times. For example, I redeemed the MR points over a call for a statement credit 3 days back. They not only did it within a minute, but also called back today to confirm that the credit now reflects on the statement.

#4 Incredible Offers

American Express is known for their aggressive promotions with various Travel and lifestyle partners. Good part is they notify you over email, on time. Here are some of the great offers in recent times.

Some of them are for a very short period, while some of them lasts longer than that Ex-Girlfriend relationship 😀

Using American Express Card also brings along a world full of rewards. American Express proves opportunity to earn special rewards, extra quick specially with the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card. (4 Txn’s each of Rs.1000 or above in a month will get you 1000 Bonus points every month)

Membership Rewards Points for luxury cars from BMW

The fabulous 18 carat and 24 carat Gold Collection allows cardmembers to redeem rewards for products ranging from Bose SoundLink Speakers, Tanishq Voucher, luxury stay at WelcomHeritage Hotels, Good Earth and Amazon Gift Cards or just direct statement credit.

Also, the best part about these Membership Rewards are they never expire. Well yes now you also have an option where you can redeem your accumulated Membership Rewards Points for luxury cars from BMW.

#5 Car Insurance with American Express

I bet most of you may not be aware of this, or just not utilized it. American Express has Car Insurance Solution tied up with Bharti AXA, to provide better insurance solutions to American Express Cardmembers.

Last week I shifted my Car insurance policy from Bajaj Allianz to Bharti Axa, just because American Express was running a “65% OFF on the car insurance renewals”. I saved ~Rs.3000 (its was 55% on OD, 35% cheaper overall) on my car insurance renewal over email (paperless process).

Contact: [email protected]

Car Insurance with American Express

I can’t comment on how good is Bharti Axa over Bajaj Allianz, but so far the email response time from the American Express Insurance team is pretty fast and i would suggest you to give it a try if you haven’t yet.

Bottomline

American Express is able to provide such excellent premium service because all American Express Cards carries an annual fee. However, if you consider the benefits and offers mentioned above, you’ll not only get the value back for the fee paid, but also end up saving a lot – A LOT especially if you avail the travel offers.

If you’re new to Amex and wish to avail all the above benefits American Express MRCC card (LTF offer is running- Apply) is one of the best to get started for beginners. What American Express cards do you have and Why? Feel free to share your experiences in comments below.

Author: Siddharth

Helping Indians to choose right credit cards, pick right offers and enjoy luxury vacations for less. Day & night exploring the spiritual reality of our human existence.

137 thoughts on “5 Reasons Why You Should Have an American Express Credit Card

  1. Captain Bishuddha Bharatiya

    I just wanted to be the first person to comment. Its amazing to see that you are providing more and more contents nowadays .
    For peoples like me, who browse your websites at least 5 times a day, your posts and even comments has become as important as our daily food. Keep up the great work buddy. Loving it.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Thanks for your kind words, comments are indeed a great boost to make me write more content.

      Reply
  2. PM

    I am using Amex MRCC LTF credit card from last 6 months, i do have other credit cards like HDFC Dinner Premium(Now useless), yes first preferred but i always prefer to avail Amex offers as there are no hidden terms and conditions, car insurance premiums are 15% less than regular with added benefits, rewards points, other benefits like vouchers are allocated in a weeks time only, customer support is exceptional. I would say everyone should hold at least one Amex card.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      True that. Just car insurance alone can pay off the fee. I got 55% on OD, probably that turns out as 35% on overall Insurance premium. (not sure why you got only 15%)

      Reply
  3. Arul

    I have bharthi AXA policy currently, Want to renew on October month. Is this offer valid till October. Let me know the renewal process

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Not sure on that, get in touch with Amex Insurance team: motor.insurance [at] aexp.com
      Address to “Nishi” (She’s the one who processed my application)

      Do share what they say.

      Reply
  4. Ebin

    My annual fee got reversed on a call to customer care. Not MR card, gold card…

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Sounds good. Though they seem to be bit strict on reversal lately, especially on Amex Plat travel card.

      Reply
      1. Chaitanya Choudhary

        Honestly, it depends on how much you push them, I got fee reversal for my Platinum Reserve, which is about 11k. Given that I spent more than 12L on that card.
        But I’m super disappointed by them not approving the Platinum Charge card for me (Giving a stupid reason that the income hike I have is just way too much).

        Reply
        1. Amex Guy

          ” I got fee reversal for my Platinum Reserve.”

          That may be why you were denied Plat. They are almost sure that you’d not want to pay second year onwards. Amex does that, they even have a tag internally for people who constantly nag for fee reversals. It’s the same way forward as well. If you asked for fee waivers on Plat, forget the Centurion.

          Try again if your spends increase. 12L a year with 60K fee makes very little sense. That’s 5% of spends just to keep the card!

          Reply
          1. SH

            Well, I do not agree. If he is strategically spending then he will come out ahead of the fees. I am into six months of my Plat Charge membership, and I have already recouped the fees plus 5K, and the 10K Marriott dinning voucher is round the corner. This does not include the signup bonus, and there is also the fact that in Oct / Nov, I diverted all my spends to the Plat Travel card to meet the Diwali offer. I am diligently keeping a track of all the benefits I am getting to see if there is a case for renewing the membership – and as of now there is. Now when I took the membership, the fee was 50K, now it has been bumped by 10K, so next year there is additional hurdle. Also I have not included the soft benefits in this – things such as concierge assistance, Amex lounge access etc.

          2. Amex Guy

            SH, I was speaking from Amex perspective. If you call in for fee reversal on Plat after spending 12L in a year, they will ask you to shift to Gold card instead. I’m pretty sure he is being denied Plat because he asked for fee reversal on Plat Reserve.

            You can obviously earn the fee back without spending anything. The benefits of Plat themselves outweigh the fee. This was about fee reversal.

      2. Pannaga

        Great review as always Siddharth.
        I got my first Amex Card in 2019 – their Plat Travel Card that they have offered a 25% discount on the annual renewal or switch to their more affordable MRC. I agreed to switch as I barely travel these days. Moreover, my Regalia Card provides superb benefits too.

        Reply
    2. jitendra saraogi

      would like to know how you got fee reversed.
      how much spend per month or on annual basis?
      any other criteria for same.
      thanks in advance.

      Reply
      1. Ebin

        Some insurance payments( my brother used for business purpose – vehicle insurance – did business of 6 lakhs in a billing cycle). They warned me against using personal card for business spends. I called customer care to check this and was asked to send my latest payslip. Fee got reversed….

        Reply
  5. Adi. H

    Hi, Awesome Post man.
    1. What are the minimum requirements for the Amex Card?

    2. Is this post applies to the Amex Card issued by ICICI also?

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      My pleasure Adi!
      1. ~4.5L for MMT card, 6L for most other cards, 15L for Plat charge card
      2. Sadly not!

      Reply
      1. Adi. H

        Thanks man.

        1. What are the requirements for MRCC Card?

        2. If Self Employed Business, Work from Home is okay?

        Thanks

        Reply
    2. Lalit kumar

      1. 4.5 lacs annual income for Salaried And the age should be less than 32 years then only person can have this offer for Amex MMT and MRCC and for other cards like Platinum travel, Reserve and Jet privileged it is 6 lacs Annual Income or 6 Lacs ITR , for Platinum charge card 15 lacs ITR or 25 lacs annual income for Salaried.
      The reason i know all these T&c because i work for amex cc sales dept.

      Reply
  6. Sumeet Gupta

    Please give the link for ltf card. My colleagues are using amex mmt card and they are more than satisfied, only problem comes with widely acceptance in some places.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Its updated in the MRCC review article. Pls refer the same.

      Reply
  7. Prashant Gupta

    True that. I had many queries resolved over phone in no time. The best cust care, whi are intact ready to accept mistakes( happened with me). Calling other customer cares like HDFC and sbi which only works between 8-8 is harassement.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Yes, they do make us feel like as if we’re holding the Centurion card at times.

      Reply
  8. RoB

    I am holding the platinum charge AMEX for a couple of years now. I don’t think its worth it especially if you have to pay the 50k annual fees. The first year fees is fine because they give you 40k taj hotel vouchers and a host of other hotel and airline memberships. In India they use Dineout for restaurant reservations which you can use on your own as well for free. Also the concierge is not up to mark compared to other countries. They are very sweet and all but can’t get things done. I prefer using apps like Dunzo then using AMEX concierge for getting things at odd hours in the city. I believe HDFC Infinia and Yes Bank Exclusive are the the best cards currently in India if you don’t care about the branding/image among the premium cards like citi prestige etc if you count in forex markup and other features combined. SBI Elite being the most value for money.

    Reply
    1. Ebin

      True. SBI elite is the best(for me) just because of the BMS offer- No conditions, no blackout dates – and conversion of reward points to cash. I recommended so many friends but only 2 of them were able to grab the card. For others SBI send platinum( now prime)

      Reply
  9. Vinod Kannan

    Actually they denied me the Annual fee Waiver for my Amex Platinum Travel Card this time…. Also they have changed the minimum interval between Credit Limit Enhancement from 3 months to 6 months now…

    Reply
  10. Saravanan R

    I once spoke with a amex some annual fee waiver team lady and she is one terrible one. She talked so rudely, that is end of the day of our card Amex Plat reserve card, Cancelled it immediately. Never expected such thing from amex. Usually amex agents will speak very good.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      That seems to be odd. But yes, exceptions are always there.

      Reply
  11. Gaurav

    hello Sid,

    My current annual income is 8.5L. i do have savings(in terms of fixed deposit) worthe 8 lac.
    Is there any way i can get this card LTF?

    My current holdings are:
    1. HDFC Diners Premium
    2. iocl city bank

    SBI PRIME – on its way
    YEs first preffered -LTF on its way.

    Thanks

    Reply
      1. Amex Guy

        Apparently they are giving them out like candy. Especially on card on card and FD clients.

        Reply
        1. Gkcards

          Yeah, I got exclusive LTF on card on card basis. But Diners have better returns, so use exclusive very less.

          Reply
    1. Lalit kumar

      No your annual Income should be 12 lacs or above than that if you are Salaried acc to your pay slips or f16 or 12 lacs above ITR then only you can have the MRCC LTF offer but you can have the FYF ( First year Free )offer if

      Reply
      1. Captain Bishuddha Bharatiya

        1. Do they need 2 landlines for self employed, one in office and one in house ?
        2. Do they do physical verification ?
        3. If yes than where they go , to office or home ?
        4. Do they do card on card basis ?
        5. Do you think that CIBIL of 783 and ITR of Rs. 4.5 lakhs is sufficient to apply for Amex MMT card ?

        Reply
        1. Lalit kumar

          1. Only 1 landline no is required either your Office landline or Home landline for verification purpose.
          2. Yes they do physical Verification as in their sourcing cities they have lots of Negative areas where they don’t source the cards.
          3. Home address verification ( If you can fix appointment with executive on office or home )
          4. No card to Card only on Income basis
          5. Cibil is ok But minimum ITR as per criteria is 6 lacs for Self employed.

          Reply
  12. Rahul Shrivastav

    True that. Amex deserves every bit of accolade that comes their way. Been using one since 2011 & still in love with it.

    BTW, are you sure about eligibility of 15 L for Platinum Charge. Seems pretty low for a flagship card (Centurion is a mirrage for middle class) from American Express. 😊

    May be we can get a detailed review on Platinum Charge card. The one published under ” Super Premium” is too consise.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Sure, will do one soon on Plat Charge Card. Yes, it is 15L AFAIK.
      Thing is, its useful only for those who Travel a lot in the set of hotels where you get top tier. For most others, it gives very low value.

      Reply
    2. Amex Guy

      They need 15L if self employed. 25L for salaried. It used to be 25L for all but got changed last year or so.

      Reply
  13. Deepak Paul

    I am copy pasting the following from amex India site
    “I am Employed and have a Personal Annual Income of INR 25 lakhs and above or Self Employed with a Personal Annual Income of INR 15 lakhs and above.”

    Reply
  14. Shiladitya

    I have a HDFC DIners premium (mainly for 10X reward points and HDFC specific offers)
    My main card is the SBI prime card which I use almost everyday
    Also, I have a Stanchart titanium card which offers 5% cashback on fuel and utility.
    Does it make sense to have one more card – AMEX? The normal reward rate is pretty pathertic as it
    is around 0.6-0.7%?
    It will take a very long time to reach 18K or 24K points in this card.
    Amex is offering this life time free to me (they said annual income without bonus etc should be more than 12 lacs)
    Not worth it in my opinion.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      If you’re eligible for LTF, its wise to get one!
      Amex gives Very high value back mainly through merchant offers as explained. If it doesn’t matter to you, you may be just fine with existing cards.

      Reply
      1. Shiladitya

        Thanks, Sid.
        Currently, I qualify for their LTF offer pretty easily.
        I am thinking I will just take it and use it for some time and see if it’s really helping me.
        The problem with good merchant offers and poor reward rate is that you have to really use the card for some time to understand the offers and whether those are adding value to you.

        I am currently re-vamping my credit cards and this blog/site is helping me a lot. I realized that I was losing lot of money by using my 10 year old credit cards when the reality is that I am eligible any credit card I want based on my current income. Let me know what do you think of my current credit card portfolio? If HDFC Diners is stopping the 10X offer, I will shift to Regalia as it offers lounge access to add-on cards as well. So far, I have not seen this feature in any card apart from the super premium ones with high joining fees

        Reply
  15. MOHAMMED ABDUL WAHED

    I have seen on the amex website that they are only offering ltf card to a itr holder of 14lac & above,
    I hold a itr of 5lac,Is there any way i can get the ltf amex card,I want a Amex card into my wallet but step back because of there high fees,
    I hold two card’s:
    1-kotak platinum league card 57k
    2-money back business card 40k
    I have tried to get sbi prime but they rejected my application because the phone verification is not done and my current cibil score is 785 is it considerable.
    Thanking you

    Reply
  16. Prasenjit

    Hi Sid,

    Are you sure that MRCC credit card is life time free? I don’t see any such offers in the Amex website.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Looks like many finding it difficult spot the link. Now i’ve linked the direct URL on last para. Pls refer the same!

      Reply
  17. Amex Guy

    “American Express is able to provide such excellent premium service because all American Express Cards carries an annual fee. ”

    Well, partially. AMEX (and Diners, for that matter) charge at least 1.5% more from merchants when you swipe. That is actually the reason behind excellent customer service and having a fraud protection that actually works. Visa/MC typically have a whole different fraud calculus because they charge (mostly) around 2% transaction fee, so their capacity to absorb loss is lesser. While AMEX charges merchants at least 3.6%. That’s one reason why merchants don’t like accepting them as much. In US, they provide cheap loans to businesses based on transactions they accept, so businesses are eager. In India, they don’t.

    Transaction charges billed to merchants are like tiny insurance premiums to protect against credit frauds. No wonder the company with higher premiums have better repayment. 🙂

    Reply
  18. Parth Buch

    Hi siddharth,

    I have been given two options from AMEX. Get MRCC now or wait for two months to qualify for Platinum travel card. What should I do? I already have regalia and sbi elite. The reason to get AMEX is to await AMEX exclusive offers.

    Reply
    1. Anil

      Go for MRCC, it LTF
      its value back in form of rewards is much better than Platinum Travel card

      Reply
  19. MD saleem

    I am self employed with ITR income of10 lacs.

    What limit will i get on this card with the above income?

    Reply
  20. swatanter gupta

    Nice article Siddharth, can you please tell if we can apply against credit card on Amex cards

    Reply
  21. Karthik

    MRCC is offered by my MNC company tie up without first year fee. From 2nd year, it is Rs. 2250 which can be waived by spending 1.5 Lakh. Moreover they accept application from the employees who have income 4.5L less also.
    Welcome offer is 4000 MR point if first 3 months spends is more than 20K.
    Is this offer a good deal ??

    Reply
  22. Sakthivel

    is Amex LTF offer applicable only if the income is more than 12 lakh PA?

    Reply
  23. Gokul

    Keep up the good work Sid!!..Card expert is one of the websites that I used to browse atleast 4-5 times daily. All the CC(except ICICI plat LTF) that I have applied based on your articles only. I have shared this website to lot of folks in my office.

    It looks like Amex is pretty fast in Processing. I have applied for MRCC LTF card.

    Sunday Evening: Applied for the Card through Amex website along with Supplementary cards
    Monday Morning : Received the call from Amex
    Monday evening: Documents collected
    Tuesday afternoon: Verification call (to my landline). Also, asked to send the supplementary card docs from my email.
    Wednesday afternoon: Received message to my Mobile “We’re pleased to inform you that your AMEX card is approved and will be delivered within next 5 business days”
    Wednesday evening: Received call from Amex to provide my final consent through email to process supplementary card.

    I hope to get the card atleast by Monday. Let’s see 🙂

    ====
    This is regarding Cheque dishonoured.
    As a mistake, My mother gave cheque(2.5k) using my cheque with her signature. I have received a message from SBI that my cheque is dishonoured. 180rs has ben deducted. Now, I’m worried that how this will affect my cibil score. My Cibil score is around ~815. Can you clarify will this be an big impact on my credit history.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Sounds good. Thanks for the kind words.
      Amex usually delivers the card within 5-7 working days from the date of application. Super fast indeed.

      Cheque dishonour doesn’t matter. As long as the CC bill is paid on time, it wont affect CIBIL. RBI recently has given 3 grace days in such cases. So, most likely you should be fine. Just check with CC if everything is OK.

      Reply
      1. Gokul

        I have got the card on Friday Evening. Within 5 days, I have received the card. However, there is no update on Supplementary Card.

        Regarding Cheque Dishonour: This is not related to CC. The cheque was given to TNEB for Electricity Bill Payment.

        Regarding Paytm wallet: I believe Amex(all credit cards) will give points for loading Wallet as well . Since most of the cards doesn’t provide any reward points for Fuel transcations, Can we load the Paytm wallet using Amex CC and pay with Paytm for fuel. Is there any hidden charges if we pay through paytm for Fuel.

        Reply
  24. MD saleem

    Hi
    Siddharth

    Which card from Amex can we have easily if we have 800+ Cibil and ITR of 10 Lac +

    Locaiton: Hyderabad

    Reply
  25. MD saleem

    Thanks for reply
    One more question credit limit 4l possible 10 lac ITR

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy

      Credit limit is based on their back end team. You can do little about this.

      Reply
  26. Vinay

    Hi Siddharth

    Your posts are very useful for my research on new credit cards to go for (already have Amex and ICICI and possibly will swap the ICICI for an HDFC/Yes now). Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  27. Sasidhar

    Hi Siddharth,

    Very helpful topics on credit cards. Thank you and keep you posts coming. I tried reaching Bharathi Axa for my car insurance renewal, they said they are not aware of any such offers related to AMex. it would be great, if you can guide on how you got yours done.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      You should talk to Amex instead. I’ve updated the article with the contact email to get in touch for the same. hope it helps 🙂

      Reply
      1. Sasidhar

        Thanks Siddharth, I got it done. I got quotation from Bharathi Axa directly and one through Amex. For the same IDV, there was a difference of 3k. Discount differnce was 25% between both (Bharathi Axa Direct gave me 25%, bharathi Axa via Amex gave me 50%). Not much though, but I took the one through AMex. Something is better than nothing.

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          And the other difference is, claiming process is easy as you’ll enjoy American Express class of service 🙂

          Reply
          1. Hashwanth

            Hi Siddharth
            I also called up Amex Customer Care to ask about the offer, but I was told there is no such offer. I contacted through the email you provided later, and looks like there is a 65% off offer with Bharti AXA. The issue I have is they are asking me to share my credit card number for payment initiation. How did you get your payment done? And is sharing the number okay?
            Thanks.

      2. Doney

        Hi Siddharth,

        I too got the same offer via email for the car insurance. But the quotation provided by them is actually more the my existing policy with HDFC Ergo. And considering the fact that there is no claim done on the current policy,I asked them to recalculate and send them a soft copy of the current policy.Let me see how it goes !

        Reply
  28. Shiladitya

    I seriously don’t understand the need to get Amex card even if it’s lifetime free.
    The reward rate is lower, the acceptance is not universal. I am not able to see any USP apart from customer service and fluent english speak customer service execs

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      You can optimize MRCC from 0.5% to 2.5% reward rate 🙂
      Let me work out a separate article on MRCC LTF Offer with more details on reward rate.

      Yes, the acceptance is not great, but its good enough to get great value back with merchant offers.

      Reply
      1. Shiladitya

        Thanks, Sid.
        Amex has been really bugging me with this because I nequired once in their website.
        But the sales execs in Amex are really persistent and well mannered.

        Reply
  29. Inder Thakral

    Hi Sid,

    How are you!

    Need your favor regarding to know about the lounge access in international cities. I have amex platinum and gold card plus axis my zone , icici coral , hdfc jet privilege , citi rewards and Sbi air india card so which card is working free of cost in international cities in airport lounges as I swipe my icici debit coral card in singapore lounge and I got charged by the icici bank of Rs 1800/- and as per lounge staff member they said we do not charge anything to you card you must have to check with your bank.

    Kindly advise

    Regards,
    Inder Thakral

    Reply
    1. sandeep mehta

      Hi Sid,

      Which one is the best card to wipe when travel abroad between Amex, citi, hdfc in terms of currency conversion and service charges.
      tks

      Reply
    2. Sharathkumar Anbu

      Hi Inder,

      For international Lounges, you can use Priority pass or Diners cards. If you use other cards, you will be charged heavily.

      If you are having HDFC Jet Privilege world / signature credit card, you will get Priority pass along with it. You could use it for accessing International lounges. As of now it has 5 complimentary lounge accesses.

      Reply
  30. Rahul

    Just to answer Shailaditya’s question above- As long as you opt for more than 1 card in your wallet, it makes sense to take 1 Amex cards. As Sid explained above that with bonus points the reward rate is almost 2.5% if your expenses are in low to medium range.
    More over acceptability is increasing exponentially. I can safely say all “Decent” outlets accept Amex now. of course it may not work on your neighborhood grocery shop but will be accepted at most “biggies” will. All on line sites will accept Amex.
    Top it with the Low fraud probability & frequent merchant offers and it becomes an irresistible offer specially if you are getting this LTF.

    Reply
  31. Praveen Perumalla

    Amex issues contactless cards. Do we have terminals that accept contactless payments in India? If yes, is there a list of vendors?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Not many. But that seems to be the future. HDFC is all set to change their terminals to accept contactless payments.

      Reply
      1. Abhishek Roy

        By the way, Yes First Exclusive contactless feature is working flawlessly in UK. Contactless is the way to go. In UK they have Android Pay and Apple Pay. I haven’t tried Android Pay yet as I’m sure YFE won’t work with it as the bank isn’t a partner bank. I’m waiting for the day Android Pay is launched in India.

        Reply
  32. sandeep mehta

    Great content. Practical tips. kudos.

    Need advice, i am travelling to singapore on 19th. I have one regalia card, how can my wife and 5 year old daughter gain entry into premier lounge.
    I have many other visa platinum cards as well.

    Reply
  33. Lakshminarayanan

    Now Amex has raised the transaction limits from 4 to 6 to be eligible for additional 1k bonus points.

    Reply
  34. Anjul

    Which is a better option – Amex MRCC (LTF or spend based waiver option) or Citi Rewards?

    Reply
  35. karti

    amex is classic. only issue is , they offer cards only to select cities .. sad !!

    Reply
  36. ND

    One of my friends received an email from Amex that his account is suspended due to Credit Review. Amex has blocked the card and asked him to submit few documents (income related).

    Sid have you heard anything about this before? You or Amex Guy can throw some light on how this works and what is the outcome.

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy

      This might be due to some manufactured spending or fraud on the card. They might be doing an account review.

      Reply
    2. Amex Guy

      It’s called a financial review. Nothing bad will happen, except that it is annoying. Amex does financial review for several reasons:

      1. You asked them to check for limit on charge card too often. DO NOT ASK THEM WHAT THE LIMIT IS, unless you are about to buy a car or something. Then tell them, and either prepay or show them bank statements to make sure transaction goes through.
      2. You checked “will this transactions go through” with a very large amount.
      3. Your spending patterns are suddenly inconsistent with the income you have stated.
      4. You have a negative remark or delayed payment with another card.
      5. Usage risk markers. Like, payment using cash. Too many cash advances. Buying jewellery in first 90 days of card. Buying too much forex all of a sudden, especially if card is new.
      6. Amex is a charge card company, even if you have a credit card and are carrying a balance, they will slap a review. Amex makes only 10-15% of their profit through interest. They DO NOT like people who carry a balance. If your friend is carrying a balance, this is the reason.

      Just send the income documents and your account will be fine. This is a bigger problem in US. When I had the US Plat, my limits jumped from 50K to $800 within span of weeks, back to 65K in next week. It’s actually very weird. I got slapped with a financial review once because I used the website to check if a transaction of $100K will go through. My account was fine but it wasted like 10 days.

      In India though, for good of bad, the income silos are much more consistent than US. So financial reviews are rare. For example, it is totally believable for a person who spends 1L a month to sometimes spend 3-4L. But not so OK for a person who spends $1500 to suddenly try to spend $20K.

      Reply
      1. ND

        This is really helpful Amex Guy, thanks much. You have very in-depth knowledge on Amex. Wondering if you ever worked with Amex?

        I checked with my friend and he informed that number 1, 2 and 3 are ticks for him.

        I also did some digging and found the reviews are quite common in the US as you stated, more so because the usage of credit cards and users base is much higher.

        Reply
  37. Doney

    New offer from AMEX —- Amex offers: 15% off on Big Basket every Saturday & Sunday
    GET 15% OFF* on a minimum purchase of Rs. 2,500 with maximum discount limited to Rs. 1,000 per transaction.
    Promo Code: BBAMEX15

    Reply
    1. Arjun

      Much better to go with HDFC cards or Payzapp or even icici on bigbasket the threshold limit is lower for getting 15% off.

      Reply
  38. Vikram

    Guys, is it just me or do any of you too feel that the AMEX customer care’s quality has degraded or is degrading still. Their customer care representatives are known for communicating crystal clear, to the point and in perfect English. In my recent experiences this wasn’t the case. Their communication skills wasn’t very bad but I could obviously tell it wasn’t the quality that Amex was known for.

    Reply
  39. ND

    Vikram, I couldn’t agree more. They are trying to resolve one of my query since close to 2 months now.

    Reply
  40. soumyajit basu

    Hi all,
    I was just going through this entire conversation.nice one. But my storey is different than all. I have received “Amex PayBack” credit card without any financial docs. “Yes,” no financial docs. Only KYC. until today April 27, 2018.
    Member since Dec 2014. Joining fee was Rs.750 and annual fees Rs.1500. The limit was Rs.20K then 40K and now 60K.
    I love the brand name “American Express”. that’s it. Nothing more than this.
    No balance transfer facility is available on any card in India by Amex (Amex to other banks) as they don’t have a banking licence in India. only credit card issuer.
    You can run 6 EMIs at a time but “No Balance transfer”.
    Pay Back points has been trimmed.
    Acceptance of card is worst (except in high profile malls, restaurants and hotels.
    ‘Easy Tap’ devices got a logo of Amex but fails to swipe the card because of Amex software.
    ‘Samsung Pay’ is supporting this. Thanks for that old swipe machines (MST and NFC both),(No support for ‘Apple Pay’ as Apple Pay is not available in India.
    Worst App experience as ‘fingerprint’ option only available with Apple device. No Android device supports fingerprints. (Please go through the complaints in “Play Store”).
    Extremely high interest in maximum cards of Amex also membership fees too.
    Please share your thoughts.

    Reply
  41. SV

    Hi,
    Any one shifted their AMEX card account from India to USA? Will be helpful of you share the experience here

    Thanks in Advance

    Reply
  42. Sakthi

    I have changed my car insurance to Bharti Axa through Amex. It is the best deal i got. Better IDV value and low premium. Amex gave me ~60% discount on OD premium. Hopefully, Amex-Bharti Axa service/claim processing will also be smoother.

    Reply
    1. Prashant Gupta

      I am also getting the best quote from Amex Bharti Axa….Looks like i will renew from them…

      Reply
  43. ravi

    SBI POS machines will accept AMEX. BUt not by default. Merchant has to specifically ask SBI to enable it.

    Reply
  44. Dr Nitin Agarwal

    recently, i noticed that many of my nearby stores have started taking AMEX cards(which was strictly denied even 6 months back)..so acceptability is rising…recent FBB offer( running for more than a month and finished yesterday) was best offer of all cards…availed flat 25 % off on bigbasket, make my trip..offer was available on many more (but one offer could be availed only once in offer time)..

    Reply
  45. SWAGAT ACHARYA

    Are Amex offers and discounts such as vehicle insurance discounts, online purchase discounts etc., also applicable on Amex cards issued by ICICI or other banks?

    Reply
    1. Prashant Gupta

      Dont know…u can call up amex customer care and confirm.

      Reply
  46. Ankit

    Hey guys, anyone here holding the Amex Plat charge card? What’s your experience been like? Do they have a separate customer service for that? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Prashant Gupta

      I have Amex Plat Reserve. Yes they have a platinum line. The same customer care no. connects to platinum line.

      Reply
      1. Gkcards

        Hi Prashant…are there other useful benefits from plat reserve apart from Taj membership? Thanks

        Reply
        1. Prashant Gupta

          Point system is useless. Its a lifestyle card. They have offers on hotel chains like Hilton which was very good. In sale season they had offers on coach, michael kors etc. i was once invited for cocktails for sale preview. And taj epicure membership is a bonus which i use frequently and in a short time i now have 1 free night in taj.

          Reply
          1. Siddharth Post author

            Prashant,
            Could you shed some lights on the “free night” part?

          2. Prashant Gupta

            Free night in terms of points that i have accumulated bu dining in Taj. First 3 transactions i got 50% back and then 25%. U can save more by first booking through ex dineout get 10-15. % off on bill and visit before 8pm get 1 on 1 on alcohol and finally get 25%points in whole bill. In only 3 visits i have around Rs8.5k worth points.

        2. Milan B

          I have an HDFC Ifinia and income eligibility wise i fit Amex Gold but they refused..My credit score is fine too…what can i do…

          Reply
      2. Amex Guy

        The Amex Plat platinum line is different from the one you get on Plat Reserve. I have both. Concierge is worlds apart as well. Also, only Plat Charge gets Platinum Travel.

        Reply
    2. Ram

      I do hold a plat charge and the card is totally useless if you’re looking for reward points, it’s only for those who won’t have time to even do a Google search to find the cheapest option. The card is an absolute life style enhancer. A sample of what you get from this card, I managed to get TIC gold membership without spending a dime at Taj hotels using this card. Yes, you do get a dedicated service line

      Reply
  47. Ankit

    Thanks for your response Prashant. So I understand it’s like HDFC’s super premium card services? Same customer care number. Different for Infinia & Diners black. So the same thing here?

    Reply
  48. Prateek Kanade

    I have been holding a Amex Gold Charge and Amex Plat Travel for over 2 years now and never missed a payment. This month since I was travelling I was unable to pay the bill on-time and because of this Amex charged Rs.2600+GST. I called up customer care and explained the situation. Within a minute the CC agent said ‘No issues sir! We completely understand. I am rolling back the charges right away and it should reflect in your statement within 48 hours’!

    Reply
  49. Mabz

    I have applied for the Amex Platinum Travel Credit Card on 5th of Jan 2019. The application has been conditionally approved online and I was given the App Ref No. I have received call the following working day asking me to handover the requisite documents to their executive, which I did. The app tracker on Amex site at the moment shows: Application received and is being verified. Amex had sent an executive for home verification yesterday and that was done as well. However the landline verification is yet to be done, I have a family function coming in the next two days and no one will be at home for the following week. I however have call forwarding functionality for my landline, can I do that in my absence and would be that count as a negative in the verification process.

    It would be much appreciated if someone can throw light on the above scenario.

    Reply
  50. Ajay

    Hi guys,

    I don’t have an Amex card. Which card do you suggest given following – itr 40+lakhs, annual spend 20lakhs, frequent Traveller. I have dcb n yfe. I don’t know which is the most premium amex card. I don’t think I will be eligible. But would like to have the max premium one depending on my eligibility. I am a value guy and don’t stay in 5star or travel business class unless free

    For the uninitiated like me would be great if there is one article listing amex cards with their pros n cons.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  51. MANISH KHONA

    NEED ADVICE
    HOLDING INFINIA, AMAX GOLD AND AMAX PLATINUM
    KEEP ALL OR ANY ONE OR TWO?

    Reply
  52. Harsh Patel

    The only issue about AMEX cards is the limited cities that they provide the card to.. else its a wonderful card with good services.

    Reply
  53. Viswanathan

    Membership rewards Gold collection is devalued slightly. Earlier 24000 pts = Rs.10000 statement credit. Now its Rs.9000. 18000 pts = Rs. 8000 Amazon voucher. Now its 7000. So, reward ratio is slightly less in these. Best redemption is now Taj vouchers. Else Tanishq (Rs.0.416 per point)

    Reply
  54. Shraman Jain

    How to get Amex cards in tier 2/tier 3 cities? Does card on card method works? Can anybody confirm.

    Reply
    1. Shimul

      Amx does only ITR or salary slip. No c2c so far i know. You can call and ask them.

      Reply
  55. Anoop Rana

    hii
    i am using Amex card since 2017 but recently my old card changed with new card but that doesn’t changed my relationship age with Amex card but my recent experience with card was to much disappointing and it was imbursement in using amex card. At the time of paying this new card was not working, i called to Amex CCE twice but both of give different response. it was not good experience. then i use different bank card to make this purchase complete. first of all it was not acceptable in every store and where is was acceptable card not working. then why any one need to keep Amex card.

    Reply
  56. Raj

    I hold infinia and scb ultimate card. could you help me understand if I should apply for MRCC, PTCC and Gold charge card together or first apply for MRCC and then once it’s approved, others

    Reply

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