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American Express MRCC Card Benefits and Optimal Usage

coolguy1

TF Legend
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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Guys,
Have an amateur question, I am sure it might be dumb and answered earlier as well, Apologies for any inconvenience.

So I recently got Amex Plat Travel, Now I need to get another card to redeem from the gold collection of Amex. What practically should be the best assumption if I can achieve the spending criteria between MRCC and Gold Card? I am not considering Taj/Mariott voucher due to less travel and considering only Amazon/Swiggy etc.

While the initial post, states we can get 16% reward rate, I am confused even if 1000 MR points when converted for Amazon gives 0.37 which should roughly come to around 6% of the reward rate. If I purchase using the rewards portal I think 2X so does that bring it to 12%? Is the reward portal calculations something that I am miscalculating?

Also are Taj Vouchers transferable ? Like can I give it to my friends ? Or can I use it with my family ( if I open their add-ons/ With & without cases )
 
Guys,
Have an amateur question, I am sure it might be dumb and answered earlier as well, Apologies for any inconvenience.

So I recently got Amex Plat Travel, Now I need to get another card to redeem from the gold collection of Amex. What practically should be the best assumption if I can achieve the spending criteria between MRCC and Gold Card? I am not considering Taj/Mariott voucher due to less travel and considering only Amazon/Swiggy etc.

While the initial post, states we can get 16% reward rate, I am confused even if 1000 MR points when converted for Amazon gives 0.37 which should roughly come to around 6% of the reward rate. If I purchase using the rewards portal I think 2X so does that bring it to 12%? Is the reward portal calculations something that I am miscalculating?

Also are Taj Vouchers transferable ? Like can I give it to my friends ? Or can I use it with my family ( if I open their add-ons/ With & without cases )
Get amex Gold card and use it to buy 1000 x 6 Amazon pay vouchers on the Amex reward multiplier site where you will get 5x rewards, 1000 + 600 points every month

MRCC has 2x multiplier
Amex Plat Travel has 3x multiplier
Amex Gold/Platinum Charge has 5x multiplier
Amex Centurion Charge card has 10x multiplier
 
Also go through this
 
Guys,
Have an amateur question, I am sure it might be dumb and answered earlier as well, Apologies for any inconvenience.

So I recently got Amex Plat Travel, Now I need to get another card to redeem from the gold collection of Amex. What practically should be the best assumption if I can achieve the spending criteria between MRCC and Gold Card? I am not considering Taj/Mariott voucher due to less travel and considering only Amazon/Swiggy etc.

While the initial post, states we can get 16% reward rate, I am confused even if 1000 MR points when converted for Amazon gives 0.37 which should roughly come to around 6% of the reward rate. If I purchase using the rewards portal I think 2X so does that bring it to 12%? Is the reward portal calculations something that I am miscalculating?

Also are Taj Vouchers transferable ? Like can I give it to my friends ? Or can I use it with my family ( if I open their add-ons/ With & without cases )

The reward rate 16% has been mentioned considering you redeem the points for Marriott points where 1 MP = Rs.1 with the right stay choices and dates.

If you're redeeming them for Amazon or Swiggy, the value will go down quite a bit and it will be lesser than 12% including the multiplier.

But if that's the way you're planning to redeem them, getting a MRCC card/Gold Charge card should be the way!
That would allow you access to the 24K Collection redemption that will get you the highest value of points for the preferred vouchers.

And indeed, Taj Vouchers are the second best things you can redeem the points for and they're transferrable. You can simply share the voucher code received on your email with a friend. 🙂

Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions!
 
Get amex Gold card and use it to buy 1000 x 6 Amazon pay vouchers on the Amex reward multiplier site where you will get 5x rewards, 1000 + 600 points every month

MRCC has 2x multiplier
Amex Plat Travel has 3x multiplier
Amex Gold/Platinum Charge has 5x multiplier
Amex Centurion Charge card has 10x multiplier
But isn't MRCC better then ? I can get annual waiver aswell and it has similar 1000 bonus points. Although the reward multiplier is a degrade but I think that will not affect much ?
 
Guys,
Have an amateur question, I am sure it might be dumb and answered earlier as well, Apologies for any inconvenience.

So I recently got Amex Plat Travel, Now I need to get another card to redeem from the gold collection of Amex. What practically should be the best assumption if I can achieve the spending criteria between MRCC and Gold Card? I am not considering Taj/Mariott voucher due to less travel and considering only Amazon/Swiggy etc.

While the initial post, states we can get 16% reward rate, I am confused even if 1000 MR points when converted for Amazon gives 0.37 which should roughly come to around 6% of the reward rate. If I purchase using the rewards portal I think 2X so does that bring it to 12%? Is the reward portal calculations something that I am miscalculating?

Also are Taj Vouchers transferable ? Like can I give it to my friends ? Or can I use it with my family ( if I open their add-ons/ With & without cases )
For access to Gold collections you can take gold charge or mrcc or both to make it trifecta since upon spending 1.5lakh mrcc card fee full wavier will happen if u spend 90k 50% of fee reversal. GC is good card to have if you are aiming to get plat chg for upgrade. I have all three now. Amex allows you 2 cc and 1 charge card. Their is lot of explanation how one can benefit MR and redeem as per their choice.
 
But isn't MRCC better then ? I can get annual waiver aswell and it has similar 1000 bonus points. Although the reward multiplier is a degrade but I think that will not affect much ?
Depends on what your expenses are. If you're spending 6k-20k monthly, MRCC is the best card.

If you can spend up to 4L annually, then Plat Travel is an even better card.

(Other Axis cards like MB are better but require 30L TRV to be maintained in account which could be difficult for everyone and potential other cards are going to get devalued this month so read more about them if you plan to choose them)
 
The reward rate 16% has been mentioned considering you redeem the points for Marriott points where 1 MP = Rs.1 with the right stay choices and dates.

If you're redeeming them for Amazon or Swiggy, the value will go down quite a bit and it will be lesser than 12% including the multiplier.

But if that's the way you're planning to redeem them, getting a MRCC card/Gold Charge card should be the way!
That would allow you access to the 24K Collection redemption that will get you the highest value of points for the preferred vouchers.

And indeed, Taj Vouchers are the second best things you can redeem the points for and they're transferrable. You can simply share the voucher code received on your email with a friend. 🙂

Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions!
How is one marriott point = 1 re? Every time I have seen marriott listings the price for booking is much higher with MP so clearly it cannot be 1 re in value. Moreover you lose out on potential booking discounts too. Correct me if I’m wrong but with all this in mind its almost impossible for 1mr point to be worth 1re
 
How is one marriott point = 1 re? Every time I have seen marriott listings the price for booking is much higher with MP so clearly it cannot be 1 re in value. Moreover you lose out on potential booking discounts too. Correct me if I’m wrong but with all this in mind its almost impossible for 1mr point to be worth 1re
Marriott points are worth about 30--35 paisa
 
Marriott points are worth about 30--35 paisa
Exactly. Hence the reward rates on amex cards look so inflated. One amex MR point can almost never be equal to 1re and even at the best conversion you will still lose out on other discounts you would probably have got.
 
Amex members can make a lot of money on referral commission.
this is the best way to make money if you have an Amex card
 
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Depends on what your expenses are. If you're spending 6k-20k monthly, MRCC is the best card.

If you can spend up to 4L annually, then Plat Travel is an even better card.

(Other Axis cards like MB are better but require 30L TRV to be maintained in account which could be difficult for everyone and potential other cards are going to get devalued this month so read more about them if you plan to choose them)
Atlas is much better than all Amex cards--

10.00/11.33/12.00/12.33% return on online / offline hotels and Airlines, based on annual target spends

An unbelievable 4.00/5.33/6.00/6.33% return on everything else except EMI, wallet load and fuel.
 
How is one marriott point = 1 re? Every time I have seen marriott listings the price for booking is much higher with MP so clearly it cannot be 1 re in value. Moreover you lose out on potential booking discounts too. Correct me if I’m wrong but with all this in mind its almost impossible for 1mr point to be worth 1re
As I have mentioned,

1 MP = Rs.1 with the right stay choices and dates.

You don't always get the same value, with dynamic pricing, you might end up getting half or even lesser value for certain properties so planning them right is very important. If you don't have the time or don't want to make the effort then it will be difficult to get the maximum value.

Some suggestions would be to look internationally as the value is better there.
 
Atlas is much better than all Amex cards--

10.00/11.33/12.00/12.33% return on online / offline hotels and Airlines, based on annual target spends

An unbelievable 4.00/5.33/6.00/6.33% return on everything else except EMI, wallet load and fuel.

I appreciate your love for the Axis Bank and am glad that you're enjoying the Atlas card and the Magnus Burgundy card but this is the Amex sub-section and we're discussing Amex cards. I think you would love the Axis bank sub-section of the forum. 🙂
 
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