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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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vine

TF Premier
Does figuring out a few things on your own, worthy of finding a place in your notes?
Pun intended
I don't know how you guys remember stuff, I write little notes, and bookmark others comments with new information.

Every bank has their own weird way of doing things, and even different for each card.
Even after reading MITC and documents and online reviews, I still find new stuff about cards am already using. They keep a lot of things hidden, and omit important points.
If I hadn't bumped into you guys and Technofino community, I would still have just one ICICI credit card for keepsake!
 

the_dark_knight

TF Ace
Contributor
I don't know how you guys remember stuff, I write little notes, and bookmark others comments with new information.

Every bank has their own weird way of doing things, and even different for each card.
Even after reading MITC and documents and online reviews, I still find new stuff about cards am already using. They keep a lot of things hidden, and omit important points.
If I hadn't bumped into you guys and Technofino community, I would still have just one ICICI credit card for keepsake!
That's great.
But why so much of grinding into details of every little thing, when you don't even have any Amex cc to start with? My point is, is that much of pre-research actually required here to decide about getting the Amex card or not. You know u will be gaining in any situation

A brief general idea of the reward system should be sufficient enough to make the decision based on your personal spending pattern, later once you have the card, you will automatically start remembering every minute detail, as you ofc will use the card regularly.

There are threads by @TechnoFino here on all the variants of the Amex credit card separately. That is sufficient enough to get an idea if the card is for you or not. Even the thread you'r in right now is abt that only.
 

drsel

TF Legend
So all of my, @shutapdiya @sousnake @coolguy1 efforts here to enlighten you were a waste then. :rolleyes:
See the last 20 seconds--
no one mentioned that with Amex Gold charge card you often get MRCC lifetime free!
Also there is no fuel surcharge only at HPCL.

So I may use Gold to spend 3 x 1000 on HPCL fuel and remaining 3 x 1000 on 5x Amazon pay gift vouchers.
But MRCC doesn't give rewards for fuel at any pump.

Also MRCC needs a 15000 spend within 90 days to get the 4000 bonus points while Gold needs only 10000 spend within 90 days to get 4000 bonus points
 
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coolguy1

TF Ace
Contributor
VIP Lounge

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shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
So all of my, @shutapdiya @sousnake @coolguy1 efforts here to enlighten you were a waste then. :rolleyes:

Dont you think we have so much of info on this topic already available on TF and on basis of that only we have decided to go ahead with these cards based on aur spending plans

Ye aisa koi bhi ake kuch bhi video laga dega to usse kya humne humare cards close kar dena?
Kal aake koi Infinia vs MRCC ka bhi video laga dega...
Maine to video nahi dekha...

I am using MRCC since 2019 and have reached spend waiver criteria every year and took Gold Charge last year with planned spends and will decide about its future in my pocket based on retention offer from amex
 

drsel

TF Legend
Now do u know which card to apply?
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
 
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drsel

TF Legend
Dont you think we have so much of info on this topic already available on TF and on basis of that only we have decided to go ahead with these cards based on aur spending plans
I am using MRCC since 2019 and have reached spend waiver criteria every year and took Gold Charge last year with planned spends and will decide about its future in my pocket based on retention offer from amex
I was using MRCC since 2015, but I recently closed it when Amazon pay stopped accepting cards for wallet load.
It's very difficult to use any Amex card offline in India.

Earlier 24000 points was giving me 9000 statement credit, now its stopped.
Now 7000 Amazon pay for 18000 points is better than 9000 Amazon pay for 24000 points.

Infinia card holders get Amazon pay at 16.66% discount.
So I value 7000 Amazon pay voucher at only Rs.6300 or less.

Also Rs.6300 for 18000 points makes the point worth 35 paisa, similar to the Marriott hotels redemption value.
 
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drsel

TF Legend
Marriott 1:1 redemption is not a good idea, because each night at any Marriott Hotel is at least 16000 to 55000 points. Definitely overpriced.
Also it's very difficult accumulating so many points spending only 6000 per month
 
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shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
I was using MRCC since 2015, but I recently closed it when Amazon pay stopped accepting cards for wallet load.
It's very difficult to use any Amex card offline in India.
I already have Stanchart super value Titanium LTF with 5% cashback on fuel without any annual fee

Earlier 24000 points was giving me 9000 statement credit, now its stopped.
Now 7000 Amazon pay for 18000 points is better than 9000 Amazon pay for 24000 points.

However I get Amazon pay at 10% discount anyway. Infinia card holders get Amazon pay at 16.66% discount.

So I value 7000 Amazon pay voucher at only Rs.6300 or less
So 16 months of spends or 96000 spends to get 6300 returns, 6.56% on 96000.
Also Rs.6300 for 18000 points makes the point worth 35 paisa, similar to the Marriott redemption value

But waiting for 16 months is very boring.
Also you must factor in the cost of 16 months delay in getting return on spends, just like return on investment.

I consider it other way

By reaching 2 monthly milestone on MRCC and 1 on Gold Charge by spending 26k per month you get 24k points in just 7-8 months, having Platinum Travel in combination will reduce it even further

I accept the offline acceptability is still a challenge for Amex but meeting above 3 milestone by spending online is not a big challenge ( at least for me)

Even I can get Apay GV upto 50k /momth at ~11% discount ( to all: dont ask me how) which are more than sufficient for me for a month. If at all I need more I can get upto 2 lac more at 5 %

Now coming to reward redemption, it always personal choice
Marriott properties are overpriced but rewards points bhi free me hi mile hai
I am happy to trasfer to Marriott with 30% bonus like offer once in year and enjoy overpriced property once in a year
If I do not do that I will redeem MRs for 14k Taj voucher which I can easily resell at 10k if not used myself (again dont ask me how) never redeemed points for statement credit or apay vouchers
 

shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
Marriott 1:1 redemption is not a good idea, because each night at any Marriott Hotel is at least 25000 to 55000 points. Definitely overpriced.
Also it's very difficult accumulating so many points spending only 6000 per month
You have not explored much about Marriott redemption

Just run a simple search on TF about Marriott and see at what rates community members have booked which properties
 

sousnake

TF Ace
VIP Lounge
I consider it other way

By reaching 2 monthly milestone on MRCC and 1 on Gold Charge by spending 26k per month you get 24k points in just 7-8 months, having Platinum Travel in combination will reduce it even further

I accept the offline acceptability is still a challenge for Amex but meeting above 3 milestone by spending online is not a big challenge ( at least for me)

Even I can get Apay GV upto 50k /momth at ~11% discount ( to all: dont ask me how) which are more than sufficient for me for a month. If at all I need more I can get upto 2 lac more at 5 %

Now coming to reward redemption, it always personal choice
Marriott properties are overpriced but rewards points bhi free me hi mile hai
I am happy to trasfer to Marriott with 30% bonus like offer once in year and enjoy overpriced property once in a year
If I do not do that I will redeem MRs for 14k Taj voucher which I can easily resell at 10k if not used myself (again dont ask me how) never redeemed points for statement credit or apay vouchers
That's a good way to utilize amex cards. I was planning to get gold as well but then fees for 4500+gst is too high for just spending 6k per month.
Since having MRCC allows platinum travel points to be redeemed for 18/24 collection, I am planning to get plat travel & I should be able to spend 4L in year.
 

shutapdiya

TF Ace
Contributor
That's a good way to utilize amex cards. I was planning to get gold as well but then fees for 4500+gst is too high for just spending 6k per month.
Since having MRCC allows platinum travel points to be redeemed for 18/24 collection, I am planning to get plat travel & I should be able to spend 4L in year.
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

My DM is open for referral offer for your next card
 
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