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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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Buying 6 x 1000 Amazon pay on Amex reward multiplier website using Amex Gold will give you 1000+600 points every month, because of 5x.
In 12 months you will accumulate 19200 points.
you can get 7000 Amazon pay for 18000 points

Buying 4 x 1500 Amazon pay on Amex reward multiplier website using Amex MRCC will give you 1000+240 points every month, because of 2x.
In 15 months you will accumulate 18600 points.
you can get 7000 Amazon pay for 18000 points.

So you can clearly see that Gold is better than MRCC, with a higher return on monthly spend of 6000, and a shorter wait time to get 7000 Amazon pay voucher.

Also Gold gets some Amex offers which MRCC doesn't get, but Gold is more difficult to get.
So try to get Gold and if you can't get it, then go for MRCC
Did you took fees for both cards into consideration. I think mrcc becomes better on 6k spends .
Fees of mrcc - 1500
Fees of gold - 4500
 
Buying 6 x 1000 Amazon pay on Amex reward multiplier website using Amex Gold will give you 1000+600 points every month, because of 5x.
In 12 months you will accumulate 19200 points.
you can get 7000 Amazon pay for 18000 points

Buying 4 x 1500 Amazon pay on Amex reward multiplier website using Amex MRCC will give you 1000+240 points every month, because of 2x.
In 15 months you will accumulate 18600 points.
you can get 7000 Amazon pay for 18000 points.

So you can clearly see that Gold is better than MRCC, with a higher return on monthly spend of 6000, and a shorter wait time to get 7000 Amazon pay voucher.

Also Gold gets some Amex offers which MRCC doesn't get, but Gold is more difficult to get.
So try to get Gold and if you can't get it, then go for MRCC
Gold card has Annual fees₹5310.
Now amazon voucher of ₹7k in 12 months does not look enticing.
 
You will have to pay the joining fees of 1180, collect the 2000 referral + 4000 joining points and then close the card before the renewal.

It's obviously not worth paying 5310 renewal fees.
Let's see how it goes. If they have a lucrative retention offer it may well be worth it.
 
What are the timeframes for the points to be credited for Regular points, Milestone points, Reward Multiplier points?
That's the best thing about amex. No timeframes for any points, you get them instantly as the transactions get settled. Although they mention 1mon or more in t&c.
Also, their customer support is super knowledgeable and to the point.
 
Regular - on txn settlement
Milestone- on settlement of milestone txn
Reward Multiplier - 1. om txn settlement for gyftr purchase
2. After 120 business days of txn for reward Multiplier shopping txn
Yeah I missed the affiliate shopping reward multipler, as I myself don't use it. Rest all type of txns instant credit of points.
Even the referral points for MGMer are instant.
Thanks @shutapdiya for adding that
 
Yeah I missed the affiliate shopping reward multipler, as I myself don't use it. Rest all type of txns instant credit of points.
Even the referral points for MGMer are instant.
Thanks @shutapdiya for adding that
Bhai, what's this affiliate shopping rewards multiplier?
I didn't understand how and why this is different. That too 120 days!
 
Bhai, what's this affiliate shopping rewards multiplier?
I didn't understand how and why this is different. That too 120 days!
This is the answer by Amex to HDFC's smartbuy, AXIS's grab deals.
Or ever heard of coupondunia or cashkaro?
 
Bhai, what's this affiliate shopping rewards multiplier?
I didn't understand how and why this is different. That too 120 days!
This is when you visit the Reward multiplier website and fill the form using their link and make the purchase with a brand partner to get 2x/3x/5x rewards.

The better way is to just buy the brands' voucher and then pay using that for faster rewards!(same day as tx settlement)
 
Bhai, what's this affiliate shopping rewards multiplier?
I didn't understand how and why this is different. That too 120 days!
This is Amex affiliate program just like axis Grabdeals or Hdfc smartbuy
When you shop on partner website through their link they earn comission and pass on some percentage of it to you in form on rewards

But Amex Reward Multiplier for shopping is hit or miss (from what i have read in reviews) as well as thier fulfilment time is very long

So IMO it should not be considered as Amex benefits at all
 
This is Amex affiliate program just like axis Grabdeals or Hdfc smartbuy
When you shop on partner website through their link they earn comission and pass on some percentage of it to you in form on rewards

But Amex Reward Multiplier for shopping is hit or miss (from what i have read in reviews) as well as thier fulfilment time is very long

So IMO it should not be considered as Amex benefits at all
Ye bhi shi h.
 
But Amex Reward Multiplier for shopping is hit or miss (from what i have read in reviews)

But isn't this the only way to get 5x multiplier for a Gold card and 2x for mrcc and 3x for Plat Travel ?
And this is being publicized as great!
It's good, no doubt. Just that we have to wait four months to get the 5x, 2x,3x points!
 
But isn't this the only way to get 5x multiplier for a Gold card and 2x for mrcc and 3x for Plat Travel ?
And this is being publicized as great!
It's good, no doubt. Just that we have to wait four months to get the 5x, 2x,3x points!
Ye galat h
For vouchers, there is separate section in rewards multiplier and these 5x or 3x or 2x points are credited instantly. That is what your MGMer @shutapdiya already explained in the previous post
 
But isn't this the only way to get 5x multiplier for a Gold card and 2x for mrcc and 3x for Plat Travel ?
And this is being publicized as great!
It's good, no doubt. Just that we have to wait four months to get the 5x, 2x,3x points!
If the website where you are planning to spend accepts giftcard and that giftcard is available on amex gyftr portal then your 2x/ 3x/ 5x confirmed and immediately credited by buying GV

But incase if you shop through their link and for any reason txn not got recorded, you lost those additional points

For such txn I would prefer to use full time affiliate websites like Zingoy/ paisawapas and won't take risk with amex reward multiplier
 
If the website where you are planning to spend accepts giftcard and that giftcard is available on amex gyftr portal then your 2x/ 3x/ 5x confirmed and immediately credited by buying GV

But incase if you shop through their link and for any reason txn not got recorded, you lost those additional points

For such txn I would prefer to use full time affiliate websites like Zingoy/ paisawapas and won't take risk with amex reward multiplier
I understood the difference now. Thanks!
Note to self: Buying GV is better and quicker to receive points.
 
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