American Express MRCC Card Benefits and Optimal Usage

[coolguy1]

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)

 

[PaneerButterMasala]

I was looking at a 3* hotel in City centre Los Angeles.
It was 85000 Marriott points for two nights without a swimming pool,
but a similar hotel in the same location with a swimming pool was available for Rs.17850 for the same two nights on Google hotels.

Now you figure out the value of the Amex point which converts to Marriott points @1.00 :1.30 after 30% bonus points October to December

Have you found something like that for India?

 

[drsel]

Have you found something like that for India?

2 star 3 star hotels in India are extremely cheap.
you don't need to pay with points

 

[coolguy1]

I was looking at a 3* hotel in City centre Los Angeles.
It was 85000 Marriott points for two nights without a swimming pool,
but a similar hotel in the same location with a swimming pool was available for Rs.17850 for the same two nights on Google hotels.

Now you figure out the value of the Amex point which converts to Marriott points @1.00 :1.30 after 30% bonus points October to December

I see an ultra-luxury Jaipur Palace worth a few lacs per night, but it has no swimming pool.

There's another Oyo room available at ₹1200 per night, but it has a pool available.

Now you figure out which one is better obviously!

 

[drsel]

I see an ultra-luxury Jaipur Palace worth a few lacs per night, but it has no swimming pool.

There's another Oyo room available at ₹1200 per night, but it has a pool available.

Now you figure out which one is better obviously!

First of all, both should have the same star rating to compare.
Secondly both hotels should be in the same area.
Thirdly compare for the same dates of stay.

 

[coolguy1]

There have been some changes lately to the MRCC card, so let's compare:

Previously:
₹0 (FYF)
0 Joining points.
2000 Bonus points.

Now:
₹1000
4000 Joining points.
2000 Bonus points.
Bonus: Manish Malhotra's Special Gift

You're technically getting 4000 MR points in return for ₹1000 paid which is a great deal as the points can be redeemed for cash for same or vouchers/rewards/hotel stays for way better value!

Regarding the second-year fee hike, that gets waived if you spend 1.5 lacs in the year.
Gets waived off 50% if you spend 90K in a year.

It can still be further discounted if your spending is low and you reach out to customer support.

 

[sousnake]

There have been some changes lately to the MRCC card, so let's compare:

Previously:
₹0 (FYF)
0 Joining points.
2000 Bonus points.

Now:
₹1000
4000 Joining points.
2000 Bonus points.
Bonus: Manish Malhotra's Special Gift

You're technically getting 4000 MR points in return for ₹1000 paid which is a great deal as the points can be redeemed for cash for same or vouchers/rewards/hotel stays for way better value!

Regarding the second-year fee hike, that gets waived if you spend 1.5 lacs in the year.
Gets waived off 50% if you spend 90K in a year.

It can still be further discounted if your spending is low and you reach out to customer support.

You forgot one major thing, with earlier referral you get second year onwards fee at 1500 but now it is 4500 which is a big deal.

 

[varun__goel_]

You forgot one major thing, with earlier referral you get second year onwards fee at 1500 but now it is 4500 which is a big deal.

It will be waived off easily if you targetting 20k bonus points as well

If not, then paying 4500+gst is not worth it

 

[sousnake]

It will be waived off easily if you targetting 20k bonus points as well

If not, then paying 4500+gst is not worth it

Make sense.. but the problem is acceptance.
Earlier target was 90k because half fee would be 750 but now can't target 90k as half fee would be 2259

 

[helloworld]

You forgot one major thing, with earlier referral you get second year onwards fee at 1500 but now it is 4500 which is a big deal.

Make sense.. but the problem is acceptance.
Earlier target was 90k because half fee would be 750 but now can't target 90k as half fee would be 2259

If you can't spend 1.5L in a year then mrcc is not for you. You need to accumulate MR as fast as you can because you don't know when they devalue those vouchers. So, one is spending only 90k then it will take longer and more chances loosing benefits.

Online acceptance for 1.56L spends is good, though it depends on ones purchases hence the suggestion don't apply cards unnecessarily, utilize fully existing ones then move for another.

 

[PaneerButterMasala]

If you can't spend 1.5L in a year then mrcc is not for you. You need to accumulate MR as fast as you can because you don't know when they devalue those vouchers. So, one is spending only 90k then it will take longer and more chances loosing benefits.

Online acceptance for 1.56L spends is good, though it depends on ones purchases hence the suggestion don't apply cards unnecessarily, utilize fully existing ones then move for another.

Agreed with @helloworld on this.
The sweet spot of this card is 20k spend per month while completing both the milestones.

 

[sousnake]

If you can't spend 1.5L in a year then mrcc is not for you. You need to accumulate MR as fast as you can because you don't know when they devalue those vouchers. So, one is spending only 90k then it will take longer and more chances loosing benefits.

Online acceptance for 1.56L spends is good, though it depends on ones purchases hence the suggestion don't apply cards unnecessarily, utilize fully existing ones then move for another.

To be honest I don't take amex cards for using. Have DCB and other cards.
I only take them for earning referral points.
For 1 refer you get 8000 which is equivalent of 4 months of mrcc spends.

 

[helloworld]

To be honest I don't take amex cards for using. Have DCB and other cards.
I only take them for earning referral points.
For 1 refer you get 8000 which is equivalent of 4 months of mrcc spends.

are you getting 1 referral in every 4 months? in 3 years, I got only 3.

anyway, then it doesn't matter to you anyway. whether its 4000 or 6000 renewal fee, right? anyway, simply get smartearn and earn same referral rewards.

and any of your referral asking 4500 too much, explain same and let them know importance of achieving 1.56L in a year with that card.

 

[sousnake]

are you getting 1 referral in every 4 months? in 3 years, I got only 3.

anyway, then it doesn't matter to you anyway. whether its 4000 or 6000 renewal fee, right? anyway, simply get smartearn and earn same referral rewards.

and any of your referral asking 4500 too much, explain same and let them know importance of achieving 1.56L in a year with that card.

Generally never had to explain in detail.
Just first year free was enough for many to take it.
I got max referral points in Jan - May. Now waiting for next year.
But with fyf removed, it might be difficult from next year.

 

[drsel]

Generally never had to explain in detail.
Just first year free was enough for many to take it.
I got max referral points in Jan - May. Now waiting for next year.
But with fyf removed, it might be difficult from next year.

The main question is how much incentive are the referees asking from your pocket?
This is a grey area

 

[sousnake]

The main question is how much incentive are the referees asking from your pocket?
This is a grey area

Lot of them - no incentive - reddit and company.
On tf - 1k initially then people were absurd asking for 2k. So stopped referral on tf.

 

[SonyTom]

I got 1 referral last year from TF. But don't know who

 

[hellobois]

You forgot one major thing, with earlier referral you get second year onwards fee at 1500 but now it is 4500 which is a big deal.

This will surely promote rotation of money as 1.6% of 1 lakh in a year is 1600 and annual fee is 4500 + GST. So even with 50k genuine spends and 1 lakh rotation people will meet the target.
And Amazon pay voucher is there to cover any other shortfall.
I was thinking to get mrcc but now I have to think again as I already hold SBI Cashback which gives 5% on Amazon pay voucher without any mess.

 

[drsel]

This will surely promote rotation of money as 1.6% of 1 lakh in a year is 1600 and annual fee is 4500 + GST. So even with 50k genuine spends and 1 lakh rotation people will meet the target.
And Amazon pay voucher is there to cover any other shortfall.
I was thinking to get mrcc but now I have to think again as I already hold SBI Cashback which gives 5% on Amazon pay voucher without any mess.

You should not pay second year annual fees

 

[hellobois]

You should not pay second year annual fees

That's another PITA. always tracking one year so as to close the card. I have done twice with other bank cards and I don't find it very good as I'm always on my toes. Waiting for changes in fee structure. I hope by Jan 25 they will look into it and reverse the fee structure. Will wait till then.

 

[drsel]

That's another PITA. always tracking one year so as to close the card. I have done twice with other bank cards and I don't find it very good as I'm always on my toes. Waiting for changes in fee structure. I hope by Jan 25 they will look into it and reverse the fee structure. Will wait till then.

They never reverse a devaluation.
I don't think any credit card has ever done that