Amex Spend based Offer: Get hotel stay Gift Card worth up to Rs.15,000

By | July 23, 2018

As you may know, except few offers, American express has been less aggressive on promotions in past ~6 months compared to what they used to be before. Now they finally came with a spend based offer on select credit cards. This offer is applicable only on Gold Charge Card & MRCC & Reserve card. A similar offer was also sent a week later to Platinum Travel card users, check full article for more info.

That being said, I’ve received this offer on email for Gold Charge Card & a different one on Plat travel card. Lets get into details,

Offer Details – Hotel stay Gift Card worth up to Rs.15,000

Get a complimentary American Express Domestic Travel hotel stay Gift Card worth up to Rs. 15,000 by simply using your American Express® Card, anywhere.

  • Gift Card worth Rs. 6,000: Spend a total of Rs. 1.5 Lacs or more (or)
  • Gift Card worth Rs. 15,000: Spend a total of Rs. 4 Lacs or more
  • Offer Period: 15th MARCH – 30th APRIL, 2018.
  • Fulfilment: Within 90-120 days from 30th April 2018
  • The total spend on your American Express Card also includes purchases on your Supplementary Card(s).
  • Note: No spend category restrictions, No minimum spend limit per transaction
  • Offer Reward Rate: 3.75% + 1% base reward rate = ~4.75% Savings
  • Important: You need to enrol. Check your email for the link, as its a targeted offer.
  • Source

Gift Card Terms:

  • Gift cards will be in the form of American Express Domestic Travel E-Gift Cards.
  • The Gift Card can be redeemed only for domestic hotel bookings at americanexpress.co.in/domestictravel
  • There will be no refund in cash for the unused amount of Gift Card. (one time use only)
  • Note: American Express reserves the absolute right to replace the Gift Card with a Gift Card of equivalent value from another online travel agency or with a statement credit of equivalent value to any eligible enrolled Card Account.

As Amex uses Cleartrip booking engine to run the above portal, the coupon code is nothing but the clear trip coupon code similar to what we get with SBI Simplyclick Credit card milestone spends. (my guesses)

As Amex Diwali offer for 2017 wasn’t a great hit compared to 2016, this would certainly bridge the gap on those lost spends from Amex users.

Bottomline:

If you’re a frequent traveller as most amex users, its a nice offer. The reward rate you get out of this offer is above most of the super premium credit cards base reward rate, so it makes sense to avail it if you’ve upcoming spends.

Typically, the value on 4L spend is equivalent to 3 nights stay in a 4 star hotel or 2 nights in 5 star properties. Moreover, it may also help you get your renewal fees waived.

Update: A Similar offer is also available for Amex Platinum Travel Card users. See this comment for more info. Good part is, you can double dip with regular 4L spend benefit.

Update on Fulfilment: Amex started fulfilling the offer from last week of July 2018. I got mine on 23rd July 2018 for the spends on Amex Gold Charge Card. It can be redeemed for hotels on Amex Domestic travel site, powered by Cleartrip. Point to note is, the voucher expires in about ~60 days, which is quite short.

Have you received this offer and are you gonna avail the same? Feel free to share your thoughts in comments below.

72 thoughts on “Amex Spend based Offer: Get hotel stay Gift Card worth up to Rs.15,000

  1. Mr. Visa Express

    Hey Siddharth! I too got the same offer via email on my Amex Membership Rewards with the same spending thresholds. I wish it would have come a few weeks earlier as I had some considerable spends on my cards in the last month. :/

    Reply
  2. SumS

    I also received same mail in Amex Membership Rewards Credit Card. However, the goal seems to be tough in 1.5 months unless a trip coming up or a heavy spender, towards financial year end/begining. Would have been easier during dasera/diwali/Xmas.

    I am happy doing almost all spendings in SCB Ultimate card with regular 3.33 return with no strings attached.

    Reply
    1. Samir Shelar

      Hi SumS
      Please tell us more about SC ultimate benifits compare with HDFC Infinia cause I’m having infinia so SC ultimate is better than infinia?

      Samir

      Reply
  3. ravi

    I have membership rewards credit card and got the promo mail. Hence it’s not specific to Gold charge card. May be linked to the participation of individual’s in earlier promotion offers by Amex.

    Reply
  4. Narinder Pal

    Hi Sid,
    My wife has Amex Gold Charge card and she recieved this communication but I didn’t. I hold MRCC.

    Reply
    1. Narinder Pal Singh

      Update on above comment. I checked my spam messages. I too got this email for my membership rewards card.

      Reply
  5. Jay

    The offer is open to all American Express Cardmembers whose Accounts are valid and in good standing. An
    American Express Cardmember for the purpose of this Offer means a person holding a Card issued in India by
    American Express Banking Corp., except American Express® Corporate Cards, American Express® Gift Cards,
    American Express® Platinum Card, American Express® Centurion Card, American Express® Platinum Travel Credit
    Card and American Express® Consumer Co-brand Cards (Jet Airways American Express® Platinum Credit Card,
    American Express® PAYBACK Credit Card, American Express® MakeMyTrip Credit Card, American Express®
    Indian Airlines Credit Card, Air India American Express® Gold Card).

    Reply
    1. Jay

      If this offer is valid for Platinum Travel card, then it is a major incentive to spend at there are already outstanding benefits of hitting the 4L milestone on that card.

      Reply
      1. Siddharth Post author

        Well, that’s probably the reason why they’ve excluded it 😉

        Reply
  6. Narinder Pal Singh

    Hi Sid,

    Any idea about the validity of this coupon??? As Tanishq Gold voucher issued in December 2017 was with validity of just one month.

    Reply
  7. Prashant Gupta

    Can someone share the registration link. In fact there is a better offer for march month on amex icici coral card, spend atleast 2,4,8 times min Rs500 and get cashback of Rs 400,800,1600 thats 40% return. Add to that the Rs.1000 dineout voucher on 4 spends of Rs.1000, this greatly enhances the return. I feel somehow amex is losing ita sheen and market. I hardly uses the travel card- the biggest minus point is that it can be used for domestic travel only. I will close this account this year or swap it with some lifetime free new card launched by them.

    Reply
    1. jitendra saraogi

      Will appreciate more details about icici Amex coral card offer of 40% or some link to check.
      Thanks in advance.

      Reply
    2. jay

      Hi Prashant
      Can you share the link for the AMEX ICICI Coral Card offer for min spend Rs500/-

      Reply
  8. Jay

    Sid,

    Offer is applicable for American Express® Platinum Reserve Card too. I received offer on my Reserve card also.

    Reply
  9. Wahid

    How many amex card’s can we able to hold including charge cards

    Reply
      1. Kiran

        Hi Siddharth,

        They have allowed me to hold 3 credit and 1 charge card.

        In fact I had 4+1 and cancelled 1 credit card few weeks back.

        Cheers,
        Kiran

        Reply
  10. Wahid

    I kindly request you to give a review on the everyday spend American express gold credit card as soon as possible.

    Reply
  11. ND

    I haven’t received on my gold card. Is there a link to the offer or Terms & Conditions?

    Reply
  12. Arjun

    I got this offer in mail, but a sudden spend of 1.5 lakhs in such short period of time is no way to save unless you have planned your vacation or business trips earlier itself.

    Reply
  13. Arjun

    Hi Sid, not getting new articles on more different cards these days even if they do not have good offers you should rate them and show their flaws, so that our reader friends do not get them even by chance.It would really be helpful for all of us.You can start with Kotak and take it forward from there.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      I do wish i write more but unfortunately one thing or other isn’t allowing me to do so. Hope the new financial year gives me some extra time!

      Reply
  14. Rahul Shrivastav

    I too have received the said promotion. Frankly the targets are pretty high considering this is the exam season for Families with Kids which typically means cut-down on outings & entertainment based expenditure.

    Perhaps they have timed it that way so that people can prepare for upcoming Holiday Season. But if the Voucher is delivered 90-120 days after April, summer vacation will be long gone & school sessions will be in full swing.

    Reply
  15. Anil

    Amex isn’t going great on offers for some time now. Very high spends based offers only.

    Reply
  16. Varun

    Hey Sid

    Kindly correct the offer start date as the same is reflecting as 15 march 15.

    Reply
  17. Parag Goel

    Hi Sid, Can you review the new variant of the Amex Gold Credit Card: The Everyday Spend American Express Gold Credit Card.

    Reply
  18. Mouli

    I got similar offer in HSBC. Spend 5L from Jan to March and get 15000 worth Luxury Holidays Voucher from MakeMyTrip valid for 1 year

    Reply
  19. Sam

    Hi,
    I get rejected two credit card application in past two months and this month my credit score is 800,
    It is good to apply for new credit card,
    Does it get approved and doesn’t effect my credit score.

    Reply
  20. Rex

    Hi Sam
    Your questions are regarding impact of frequent enquiries on credit score. Though credit enquiries lower credit score marginally but it doesn’t leave any permanent mark on your credit report unlike settlement or write off.
    Your credit score is good, ideally they should have approved your card requests but reason for rejectioion could be following-
    1. Settlement of past credit card dues in your report. Such negative remarks stay on your report for 7years and can become determing factor during assessment of your credit worthiness.
    If this is the case than there is no point in trying your luck for 3rd time. Just go for credit card against FD.
    2. You applied through website and your address is not serviced by credit card companies.
    In this case apply through local bank branch since it has better chances of approval. Also go for SBI, IcIcI since they have much wider geographical coverage.
    3. Your credit score is not what you know. There are 4 credit bureaus in India but all are not equal. CIBIL is the best and all banks and financial institutions report to CIBIL as well as check CIBIL to assess your credit worthiness. If your CIBIL is above 800 than there should not be any problem.
    Other credit bureaus are less reliable. For example Experian gives very good score after just 6months of good credit behaviour. For example my CIBIL is 769 while Experian score is 830.
    So check your CIBIL directly from their website. None of apps and poralts such as paisa bazar, bank bazar provide CIBIL score. They provide either Experian or Equifax score which are less reliable.

    Hope this information will help you in taking right decision.

    Reply
  21. Sam

    Thanks Rex,
    But u haven’t done any settlement on any credit card,
    They age is 23 year’s and icici doesn’t issue credit card for below 24 year’s and i applied through website for both the cards,my address is also correct but at the time of verification i wasn’t available at address,
    Is it will be the issue.

    Reply
  22. Mouli

    New Offer For Platinum Travel Card :

    I got this offer mail today :

    Offer Period: March 26 to May 10th

    Spend : 1.5L and get 3000 worth Travel Gift Card from ClearTrip

    Spend : 4L and get 7500 worth Travel Gift Card from ClearTrip

    All category spend including fuel and utility is covered under this

    Its over and above 29500 offer that’s part of normal 4L spend offer in this card

    Reply
    1. Ameya

      Yep. Got this offer as well.
      Not sure if I can manage to squeeze so much more!

      Reply
    2. Amit

      Hey can you share the link as I am not able to find this email in my inbox for my platinum travel card

      Reply
  23. Vinod Kannan

    SBI has launched a new Credit card “Doctors SBI Card”. Not a great value proposition though.

    Reply
  24. Anoop E S

    Siddharth

    need your help. I am confused about which Amex card I should apply.

    I am a JetPrivilege Platinum and I hold ICICI Jet Sapphiro, HDFC DC and Axis Vistara Infinite. I am confused between Jet Platinum, Platinum Travel, and Platinum Reserve.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Jet Plat if you need Amex lounge access, free for you. Plat travel is good for most. Plat reserve – do it before March 31st so you can take advantage of the supp. cards offer.

      As you know the benefits already, its you who got to decide, based on your spends. 🙂

      Reply
  25. Tushar

    This is very annoying, as I just got done on the 24th with some business travel. I spent 3 lakhs in those two weeks. Too tired to travel again for the next two months. Argh.

    Same thing happened last year with the Diwali offer as well.

    Reply
  26. Kiran

    Hello everyone,

    I received a call from Amex stating they have assigned a “Portfolio Manager” for me.

    The PM spoke to me she has offered an upgrade to Amex Platinum Charge Card.

    Anyone else received this offer?

    Please throw some light on platinum charge card is it worth taking it up paying 59K ?

    Sid – I was searching for your article on Platinum Charge Card unable to find it so.

    Cheers,
    Kiran

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      If you’re into SPG, You get Gold status and you can transfer the welcome 100k MR points to SPG and then use on Marriott for even better value. So it totally depends on your lifestyle.

      Btw, Was the PM added to Gold Charge card a/c & how old is the ac?

      Reply
      1. Kiran

        Hi Sid,

        Yea PM was added to my gold charge card and my account is 4 years old.

        The e-mail received by them is

        Dear Mr. Kiran,

        This is further to our discussion regarding your American Express Gold Card account.

        We take this opportunity to inform you that we have initiated a new process of engaging and interacting with our best card members like you and I am your portfolio manager.

        Below are the details of various offers on your card.

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          Cool. Sounds good. This PM thing seems to be new. Keep us posted if there is any additional advantage of having a PM.

          Reply
  27. Kiran

    Sure, I’ll do that.

    Could you please write the review on platinum charge card ?

    Reply
  28. Kiran

    Hi All,

    Does the spending count on the transaction done on Add-On-Cards as well.

    for the total value of the primary user ?

    Any update on this.

    Cheers,
    Kiran

    Reply
    1. Mouli

      Yes spend on add on card also included, its clearly mentioned in the offer details

      The total spend on your American Express Card also includes purchases on your Supplementary Card(s).

      Reply
    2. Sharathkumar Anbu

      Hi Kiran,

      Indeed it includes the spend on the supplementary cards as well.

      From the Mail what I have received from Amex,

      “The total spend on your American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card also includes purchases on your Supplementary Card(s).”

      Sharath

      Reply
    3. Dhruvil Patel

      Hi Kiran,

      I think it does count.

      However you can double check in the given offer terms and conditions.

      Reply
  29. Ebin Johnson

    Got an email from AMEX stating,

    “Simply apply for the lifetime complimentary Membership Rewards® Credit Card and get up to 2,000 Bonus Membership Rewards® Points every month. All you need to do is use your new Membership Rewards® Credit Card 4 times and your existing Gold Card 6 times for transaction of Rs. 1,000 or more in a calendar month.”

    If we are able to spend (6+4)*1000 in an year the total bonus rewards will be 12*2000=24000 and you can exchange this for a statement credit of INR 10000.

    Now let us calculate the reward rate. AMEX Gold Card yearly fee including GST is 5310.
    So the reward rate is ((10000-5310)/120000)*100 = 3.9% (Your regular reward points collected is still there)

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Certainly. The math is correct, as long as you can spend the said 10*1000 INR every month.

      Reply
  30. Himanshu

    Do spends made before registering for the offer but during the offer period also count?

    Reply
  31. Sakthi

    Did anyone get the Gift card? I reached 1.5 lakh target but yet to get the Gift card.

    Reply
    1. Himanshu

      Even I have not received the gift card. Did anyone get it?

      Reply
  32. Kiran

    Today July 12th, I haven’t received the vouchers, anyone else have got it ??

    Cheers,
    Kiran

    Reply
    1. Ebin Johnson

      It clearly states
      Fulfilment: Within 90-120 days from 30th April 2018

      Reply
  33. SH

    I had called them a few weeks back. They had told me that it will come by late July / early August. Basically 90 days after the offer period.

    Reply
  34. Vinay

    Hi. Does anyone have the detailed t&c’s for this offer? The CC is saying that the amount spent is considered post the enrollment date while i remember it was mentioned that the offer was available on all the spends during the offer period irrespective of the enrollment date. Thanks.

    Reply

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