Amex Trifecta - Optimal Usage Guide

[SubhankarSubhankar is verified member.]

Sometimes back I wrote a handwritten note on how to maximise the utilisation of AMEX Trifecta and shared over Twitter, so here's the guide. Hope it helps

The Cards used here are the followings:

1. AMEX Membership Rewards Credit Card
2. AMEX Platinum Travel Credit Card
3. AMEX Gold Charge Card

As per the talks, AMEX ban is suppose to get lifted "soon enough", this guide may help you to make your choice on with which card you'd like to go for and how to maximise the MR points accumulation without breaking the bank


A huge chunk of contribution of it came from Sujit Kumar Hota ( @Skh27 ) and if you want maximise the use of MR points into airmiles, you can check this compact guide by Tejas Ghongadi ( @Tejas ) : AMEX MR Points' Utilisation in Airmiles






Apply For An Amex Credit Card - Click Here

 

[ALOAK]

I have a stupid question. Why does Platinum Travel card have "Travel" in the name? As per me, it's just a milestone-based reward stuff! What's so special about "travel" in this card (like Axis Atlas is a travel specific which everyone knows). Maybe Amex did just a marketing gimmick for India market? Because there is no platinum travel card Amex offers in global markets. I may be wrong!!!

Yes this card is not there on US card Portfolio but I could only see cash magnet card which design and look are same as smart earn. And gold card is seen on US portfolio. Maybe that everyone could not take the Plat charge they must have thought of reaching out to mid section card users which is a huge portfolio and just like other cards instead of miles they provide you to trf it to miles program. And benefits are different from different companies. Yes travel amex card gives good return upto 4l and if we spend more on it maybe tune of 8 to 9 lakhs maybe one might get upgrade offers to plat charge with some getting points as bonus and some Taj vouchers and some Taj vouchers and points. It all depends on ones usage and where they swipe or use the card depends. As Amex wants its customers to use their cards on luxury hotels and shops.

All depends on ones requirement. This and SC is only cards which give points for wallets and others and for utilities they run offers. But axis excludes even the basic transaction utilities insurance etc .

Maybe some one in the grp can give more prospective answer for the word travel. You maybe right it is all.marketing concept. Plus it has travel.portal just like other cards hdfc and Axis portal to utilize for booking flights and 🏨

Thanks

 

[krishg]

Yes this card is not there on US card Portfolio but I could only see cash magnet card which design and look are same as smart earn. And gold card is seen on US portfolio. Maybe that everyone could not take the Plat charge they must have thought of reaching out to mid section card users which is a huge portfolio and just like other cards instead of miles they provide you to trf it to miles program. And benefits are different from different companies. Yes travel amex card gives good return upto 4l and if we spend more on it maybe tune of 8 to 9 lakhs maybe one might get upgrade offers to plat charge with some getting points as bonus and some Taj vouchers and some Taj vouchers and points. It all depends on ones usage and where they swipe or use the card depends. As Amex wants its customers to use their cards on luxury hotels and shops.

All depends on ones requirement. This and SC is only cards which give points for wallets and others and for utilities they run offers. But axis excludes even the basic transaction utilities insurance etc .

Maybe some one in the grp can give more prospective answer for the word travel. You maybe right it is all.marketing concept.

Thanks

Moral of the story: There is nothing 'travel' about the plat travel card! 😀 Well, maybe except the Taj voucher.

 

[vikyp]

Sometimes back I wrote a handwritten note on how to maximise the utilisation of AMEX Trifecta and shared over Twitter, so here's the guide. Hope it helps

The Cards used here are the followings:

1. AMEX Membership Rewards Credit Card
2. AMEX Platinum Travel Credit Card
3. AMEX Gold Charge Card

As per the talks, AMEX ban is suppose to get lifted "soon enough", this guide may help you to make your choice on with which card you'd like to go for and how to maximise the MR points accumulation without breaking the bank


A huge chunk of contribution of it came from Sujit Kumar Hota ( @Skh27 ) and if you want maximise the use of MR points into airmiles, you can check this compact guide by Tejas Ghongadi ( @Tejas ) : AMEX MR Points' Utilisation in Airmiles





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Apply For An Amex Credit Card - Click Here

Plat travel MR points are maintained a separate account while All others are clubbed as separate account when it comes to MR points. Why is it All added up here?

 

[coolguy1]

Plat travel MR points are maintained a separate account while All others are clubbed as separate account when it comes to MR points. Why is it All added up here?

All of them can be combined into one bucket.

After applying for the second and third card, activate them using the 'Amex' mobile app which is logged in. This way all your cards and their points will be added into the same account.

 

[Virgo]

Moral of the story: There is nothing 'travel' about the plat travel card! 😀 Well, maybe except the Taj voucher.

Not really!! I am holding the PT for last 9 years. To really understand the genesis for use of “Travel” in the card, you need to go back to the historical reward structure of the card. Back in 2016/2017, this was actually a very travel focused card since the points and milestones got you Indigo (later Spciejet) and Taj vouchers. Sharing a screenshot of an email from 2017 when Amex transitioned the rewards from Indigo to SpiceJet. It will help you get a perspective why the name Travel.

 

[ALOAK]

Not really!! I am holding the PT for last 9 years. To really understand the genesis for use of “Travel” in the card, you need to go back to the historical reward structure of the card. Back in 2016/2017, this was actually a very travel focused card since the points and milestones got you Indigo (later Spciejet) and Taj vouchers. Sharing a screenshot of an email from 2017 when Amex transitioned the rewards from Indigo to SpiceJet. It will help you get a perspective why the name Travel.

Now it answers the word travel for someone who asked why itnis put as travel.

 

[SoNIK]

Thank you this amazing post....
I was just back calculating to understand how much time I need to collect 5 lac points -

So for 7.12 Lacs spent on Trifecta in a year (4 lacs plat travel, 2.4 lacs MRCC, 72k Gold Charge) it shall around 5 years approx.

hope i am correct?

 

[Momo_Scooby]

Hi, I am thinking of applying Amex trifecta (Platinum travel, MRCC, Gold Charge) for my wife, Just wanted to make sure which one to apply first, as I have read somewhere not exactly know where, that we should apply these in certain order to get the reward of all of them pooled together.

 

[gg123]

Hi, I am thinking of applying Amex trifecta (Platinum travel, MRCC, Gold Charge) for my wife, Just wanted to make sure which one to apply first, as I have read somewhere not exactly know where, that we should apply these in certain order to get the reward of all of them pooled together.

I don't have MRCC.
but I got Gold charge first. Accumulated around ~19k points.
Then applied plat travel and added the card to same account instead of activating as separate account. ~6k Points earned and both are being pooled together to redeem for 24k collection


Just a tip If it's new customer. Go for the MRCC first. it is the fastest to get approved. Gold charge was painfully slow for me and lot of members in community.

 

[Momo_Scooby]

I don't have MRCC.
but I got Gold charge first. Accumulated around ~19k points.
Then applied plat travel and added the card to same account instead of activating as separate account. ~6k Points earned and both are being pooled together to redeem for 24k collection


Just a tip If it's new customer. Go for the MRCC first. it is the fastest to get approved. Gold charge was painfully slow for me and lot of members in community.

So it should be MRCC - > Gold Charge -> Platinum Travel or MRCC -> Platinum Travel - > Gold Charge?

 

[Dr. Drake]

So it should be MRCC - > Gold Charge -> Platinum Travel or MRCC -> Platinum Travel - > Gold Charge?

Apply in any order if cibil is ok plus documentation are on point(income proof if req.)

I took plat travel - [GC - Mrcc(same day)] - Plat charge doesn't really matter the seq.

 

[ALOAK]

Hi, I am thinking of applying Amex trifecta (Platinum travel, MRCC, Gold Charge) for my wife, Just wanted to make sure which one to apply first, as I have read somewhere not exactly know where, that we should apply these in certain order to get the reward of all of them pooled together.

I have travel mrcc and gold chg all are pooled account for MR

 

[ALOAK]

Hi, I am thinking of applying Amex trifecta (Platinum travel, MRCC, Gold Charge) for my wife, Just wanted to make sure which one to apply first, as I have read somewhere not exactly know where, that we should apply these in certain order to get the reward of all of them pooled together.

Sequence does not matter

 

[ALOAK]

So it should be MRCC - > Gold Charge -> Platinum Travel or MRCC -> Platinum Travel - > Gold Charge?

Sequence does jot matter. I had smart earn then plat travel i closed smart earn applied mrcc and after 3 months inapplied gold chg. U can go in any sequence you want.

 

[LordSpymaster]

I held a MRCC for a long time, and just now got the Gold Charge. Not planning the plat charge since my spends will only cover these 2 cards (plus a HDFC DCB one that gives RPs on insurance).
Read this thread and am looking for ideas to maximize the 6*1k spend based points offer on the Gold Charge.

 

[Coolnessp]

If you hold an Infinia card, but you want to use it only for MB [redemption 1:1 in Amex as compared to 1:0.5 in HDFC, which one should you get as the 1st Amex card considering criteria spends can be met for Amex Gold Charge, MRCC, Platinum Travel [Not platinum charge]. Your insights would be most appreciated. [Mathematically somehow I feel the acceleration is higher coz of the bonus 1000 MR points on qualification spend]. My spends are usually on GV's [Appx 6/8k a month], random POS transactions and a lot of dining.

 

[coolguy1]

If you hold an Infinia card, but you want to use it only for MB [redemption 1:1 in Amex as compared to 1:0.5 in HDFC, which one should you get as the 1st Amex card considering criteria spends can be met for Amex Gold Charge, MRCC, Platinum Travel [Not platinum charge]. Your insights would be most appreciated. [Mathematically somehow I feel the acceleration is higher coz of the bonus 1000 MR points on qualification spend]. My spends are usually on GV's [Appx 6/8k a month], random POS transactions and a lot of dining.

If your expenses are upto 6K per month, then MRCC is the best card so far.

The renewal fees on the Gold Charge will eat up your rewards if you aren't spending too much in the second year.

With MRCC, you get 1000 MR points on 6k spends every month, this is on top of the 2x multiplier points that you will get on your shopping.
And if some month, you decide to crazy and spend 20k, you get another 1000 bonus MR points.

 

[xvd1]

Can we use the same number to buy amz vouchers on gyftr with gold and mrcc card?

 

[Sriim]

Can we use the same number to buy amz vouchers on gyftr with gold and mrcc card?

Total 10k per mobile number

 

[Coolnessp]

If your expenses are upto 6K per month, then MRCC is the best card so far.

The renewal fees on the Gold Charge will eat up your rewards if you aren't spending too much in the second year.

With MRCC, you get 1000 MR points on 6k spends every month, this is on top of the 2x multiplier points that you will get on your shopping.
And if some month, you decide to crazy and spend 20k, you get another 1000 bonus MR points.

It will be 72,000 pa will be on GyFTR ie 6k a month and appx 3.28 lakhs/pa can be spent on pos transactions. redemption will only be on MB. Could you suggest out of the 3 which one should be chosen?