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American Express MRCC Card Benefits and Optimal Usage

coolguy1

TF Ace
Contributor
VIP Lounge
You're wondering if an Amex card is even worth it?

Or thinking of getting a new credit card that offers you free hotel stays?

Amex is often disregarded as the luxury card or one with the expensive yearly fees but your opinions are about to change.

Everyone's dream card is the Black Card, also known as the Centurion card.
It comes with a whooping ₹11,00,000 joining fees(yes, you read that right! 11L is the joining fees and 3L annual fees)

But we're not going to discuss that today, we're normal people so let's discuss a card for normal people.
That's where the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card comes in.

Why should you get MRCC?

1. INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS

Want to buy that item in the Black Friday sale? Amex works.
Want to buy something exclusive from Amazon.com? Amex works.
Want to buy that VPN to watch the Korean/French series on Netflix? Amex works.

Where nothing works, Amex has stayed with me and surprisingly worked smoothly.
Read this post, I blindly suggested Amex and it didn't let me down.


2. DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS

Did you buy something and feel the seller scammed you?
You have two options, run to the bank, complain about how UPI is bad and the reversal methods are crap!
Or swipe your Amex and remain stress-free always. Call the support, share your reason and the money is back in your account.

I have tried this on different merchants, swiped at shady places and entered on websites I shouldn't have.
The customer care always had my back and prevented me from embarrassing stories!

3. REWARDS

How can we forget the most important point? If it's not rewarding, it's not worth it.
With MRCC, you just need to spend ₹6000 to get 1000 MR points which offers an insane 16.67% returns*.
Spend more and hit ₹20,000 and get 2000 bonus MR points(10% returns*)

Not to forget these are just bonus points, you get an additional points for 1 MR point for every ₹50 that you spend on the card.
If you spend smartly and get vouchers, you can even get 2 MR points for every ₹50!
(Use the Amex Gyftr multiplier page to buy vouchers with multiplier rewards)

That's 1240 points for every ₹6,000 spent which is 20.66% returns, one of the highest in the credit cards industry.

OR 2800 points for every ₹20,000 spent which is 14% returns, still pretty amazing.

And how much does it cost?

FREE for the first year!
₹1500 for the second year(can be negotiated with CC based on your spends)

Optimal Usage Guide for Amex MRCC:

To get the most points, you need to hit a minimum of ₹6,000 per month.
You can do that by buying 1500 x 4 Amazon vouchers, this balance can be used to pay your bills, recharges and shopping.

There are 30+ brand vouchers that you can buy from! You don't need to buy them in advance.
Let's say if you're shopping at Reliance Trends, instead of paying with your card there, just buy the voucher online instantly and pay with those instead.

This will get you 2x rewards instead of the usual swiping benefits.

Or just swipe them anywhere to hit the 20k milestone, any and all transactions are counted towards this.

These rewards sound great, but where do I redeem them?

I'm glad you asked!

The percentages* that I have mentioned above are considering you love to travel and wander the country in your free time!
You can claim 1 MR point = 1 Marriott Bonvoy point which can be redeemed at ₹1 at several of their properties.
(Even at ₹2 or more if you travel internationally and spot the right deal)

To sweeten it further, Amex runs a yearly offer(valid right now) where you get a 30% bonus on redeeming it for MB points.
If you make a booking in Maldives Marriott right now, the room costs ₹1,81,000 or 100K points to book for a night.

With the current Amex offer, you need 80k MR points to redeem that night!
That's ₹2.26 in value for every point!
But honestly, how many of us will travel to Maldives and stay in that luxury resort?
Let's just say even if you redeem them in India for 10k-15k properties, you should still get ₹1 value per point.

Don't like Marriott? You can redeem them for Taj vouchers at ₹0.5 per point.
Don't like Taj? You can redeem them for slightly lower at Shoppers Stop, Tanishq or even Amazon/Flipkart.

But I see a lot of people complaining - Amex is for the rich, no rewards, why so?
A lot of people say Tesla is bad, they probably haven't even seen one.
A lot of people say SRK is bad, they probably haven't met him.
A lot of people say a lot of things, you decide for yourself.

Apply for Amex MRCC Card for free using the link in my signature!
DM me if you have any questions.

If you can spend 4L a year, you can get the Platinum Travel variant!
(Offers you even higher rewards - 40K points + Taj voucher on 4L annual purchases)
 
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coolguy1

TF Ace
Contributor
VIP Lounge
frankly speaking gold charge is taken only for 1 year to milk its benefits, If good retention benefit is not offered, I will be closing it

Don't forget to enjoy the almost free haircut at TrueFitt and Hill if you have one of their salons in your city.
It's the oldest and one of the fanciest barber shops in the world and the Gold Charge card offers flat Rs.2500 off on any of their services!
 

shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
Don't forget to enjoy the almost free haircut at TrueFitt and Hill if you have one of their salons in your city.
It's the oldest and one of the fanciest barber shops in the world and the Gold Charge card offers flat Rs.2500 off on any of their services!
Its already planned for next month, will be getting two services by using primary and add on both 😉
 

the_dark_knight

TF Ace
Contributor
Yes obviously it has to be Gold because of the points on fuel. But 1120 instead of 1600 points every month (no 5x)
6.56% on fuel with zero surcharge (only at HPCL).
I am wondering how to get the second year charge waived off
maybe ask for card closure and then speak to the retention team to get a fee waiver
Bro don't go for gold
Gold has joining fee
And higher renewal fee
Also u r not getting 5x on spends
Also gold has no 20k montly additional bonus my friend
Plus longer waiting time for vouchers for you
 
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shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
On a different note, how do you perceive the referral program of credit cards - as an investment product?
I hope you are asking from a customer perspective and not from CC company's perspective

I share referral benefits with fellow members when they get approval through my link, this way the MGMee will be happy to recieve something extra
And whatever cost I have incurred in sharing that benefit is my expense to book Marriott/ Taj
So it will go into my expense sheet under Travel head and not into my investment sheet
 

the_dark_knight

TF Ace
Contributor
I hope you are asking from a customer perspective and not from CC company's perspective

I share referral benefits with fellow members when they get approval through my link, this way the MGMee will be happy to recieve something extra
And whatever cost I have incurred in sharing that benefit is my expense to book Marriott/ Taj
So it will go into my expense sheet under Travel head and not into my investment sheet
That's a very nice way of putting things.

Was asking from consumer's perspective, for cc companies definitely it's an investment product which is already generation high roi for them.

How much is the avg cost to book Marriot/Taj btw?
 
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shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
How much is the avg cost to book Marriot/Taj btw?
It will depend on property bro

Basic room at cheapest taj may come for 7-8k (may be even lesser for ginger like hotels) while premium suits can costs in lacs as well

Only done taj redemption till date, haven't been to Marriott yet, but have transferred considerable Amex points to Marriott in last promotion, will be staying in Marriott this year for vacation (location not yet decided)

If you are more interested in knowing Marriott rates, there are many threads on TF which can be helpful
 

coolguy1

TF Ace
Contributor
VIP Lounge
I hope you are asking from a customer perspective and not from CC company's perspective

I share referral benefits with fellow members when they get approval through my link, this way the MGMee will be happy to recieve something extra
And whatever cost I have incurred in sharing that benefit is my expense to book Marriott/ Taj
So it will go into my expense sheet under Travel head and not into my investment sheet

Absolutely, this sounds the right way!

For me, getting people the right card is more important than anything else!

If they use my invite link to get the card, that's great! If not, it's still great because they're still getting one of the most rewarding cards in the market.

When they get to enjoy free trips and luxury hotel stays, it makes me feel proud!
When they do a shady transaction and get back their money using dispute, it makes me the happiest!
 

drsel

TF Legend
How much is the avg cost to book Marriot/Taj btw?
On spending 4 lacs using Amex Platinum travel card, you earn 48,000 MR which if converted to Marriot gives 48000 Marriot Bonvoy points.

48000 Marriott Bonvoy points will get you 3 nights at Westin Himalayas.
At some other Mariott hotels you will get only 2 night stay and in the luxury ones only 1 night stay

I don't consider even a 3 night hotel stay as a good enough return on a spend of 4 lakhs.
At least 5 nights stay would be a reasonable and satisfactory return on a spend of 4 lakhs.
 
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the_dark_knight

TF Ace
Contributor
On spending 4 lacs using Amex Platinum travel card, you earn 48,000 MR which if converted to Marriot gives 48000 Marriot Bonvoy points.

48000 Marriott Bonvoy points will get you 3 nights at Westin Himalayas.
At some other Mariott hotels you will get only 2 night stay and in the luxury ones only 1 night stay

I don't consider even a 3 night hotel stay as a good enough return on a spend of 4 lakhs.
At least 5 nights stay would be a reasonable and satisfactory return on a spend of 4 lakhs.
I was asking how much cost incurred goes into the expense sheet for booking taj/marriot. iukuk
Common, i am not amex newbie and very well aware of all this. You are too soon to conclude anything
 

drsel

TF Legend
On spending 4 lacs using Amex Platinum travel card, you earn 48,000 MR which if converted to Marriot gives 48000 Marriot Bonvoy points.

48000 Marriott Bonvoy points will get you 3 nights at Westin Himalayas.
At some other Mariott hotels you will get only 2 night stay and in the luxury ones only 1 night stay

I don't consider even a 3 night hotel stay as a good enough return on a spend of 4 lakhs.
At least 5 nights stay would be a reasonable and satisfactory return on a spend of 4 lakhs.
This is why Amex Gold is the best option, better than Platinum travel (as explained above) and MRCC (no reward points on fuel)

You will get 5x rewards (300 points) buying 3x1000 Amazon pay on the Amex reward multiplier site.
You will also get 1X rewards (60 points) buying 3x1000 fuel at HPCL pumps without any surcharge.
And 1000 bonus points for 6x1000 every month.
So 1360 points per month.

You will also get 2000 referral points and 4000 points on paying 1180 joining fee and spending 10000 within 90 days (this is not an extra 10000 spend, but part of the 6000 you will spend every month).

After 9 months you will get
1360 points per month x 9 months = 12240 points on only 54000 spends and 1180 joining fee.
2000+4000+12240=18240 points
For 18000 points will get 7000 Amazon pay, which is worth Rs.6300 at 10% discount.

This this is a very high return on spends of 54000, especially considering it is fuel, where is difficult to get more than 6.25% returns (SBI Octane is the highest)
 
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the_dark_knight

TF Ace
Contributor
This is why Amex Gold is the best option, better than Platinum travel (as explained above) and MRCC (no reward points on fuel)

You will get 5x rewards (300 points) buying 3x1000 Amazon pay on the Amex reward multiplier site.
You will also get 1X rewards (60 points) buying 3x1000 fuel at HPCL pumps without any surcharge.
And 1000 bonus points for 6x1000 every month.
So 1360 points per month.

You will also get 2000 referral points and 4000 points on paying 1180 joining fee and spending 10000 within 90 days (this is not an extra 10000 spend, but part of the 6000 you will spend every month).

After 9 months you will get
1360 points per month x 9 months = 12240 points
2000+4000+12240=18240 points
For 18000 points will get 7000 Amazon pay, which is worth Rs 6300 at 10% discount
So u believe in picking individuals and not making all 3 (the trifecta) of them work together for you ? Why are u after proving which is better among the 3.

And please don't edit all your previous posts :D
 

drsel

TF Legend
So u believe in picking individuals and not making all 3 (the trifecta) of them work together for you ? Why are u after proving which is better among the 3.

And please don't edit all your previous posts :D
I have presented an excellent analysis comparing all three cards and I figured out which is the best one, at least for me.
Don't pay 2nd year fee for Gold.
 
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