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






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[vinrey287]

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?

If spends are around 4Lpa then Plat Travel, you will atleast get 48k MR points. Any usage on gyftr will give additional 2x (3x in total)

 

[coolguy1]

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?

Amex Plat Travel works out the best in that case! 🙂

 

[amitr29]

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?

If you can do 1000x6 transactions, go for Gold..You get 5x with multiplier and points on petrol and Utility.

For gyftr spends, you get 2880 with MRCC and 7200 with Gold. Also, if you spend 5000 monthly on utility, you get another 1200 points.

I feel somehow offers are better on Gold card. Like Truefitt and Hill offer is on Platinum and Gold only. Similarly, Enrich Salon offer is also on gold card.

Otherwise, as others have suggested, go for Plat travel card. You get 48k points and 10k Taj voucher

 

[Coolnessp]

If you can do 1000x6 transactions, go for Gold..You get 5x with multiplier and points on petrol and Utility.

For gyftr spends, you get 2880 with MRCC and 7200 with Gold. Also, if you spend 5000 monthly on utility, you get another 1200 points.

I feel somehow offers are better on Gold card. Like Truefitt and Hill offer is on Platinum and Gold only. Similarly, Enrich Salon offer is also on gold card.

Otherwise, as others have suggested, go for Plat travel card. You get 48k points and 10k Taj voucher

I think I should break down my monthly spends and the experts can tell me.
in-house dining appx 15 to 20k a month where offers are there else I use my vouchers to pay on either Zomato or Swiggy at the restaurant via Dineout/eazydiner/zomato) (infinia 15% for Dineout used where available)
Appx 6 to 8k on food delivery platforms/month (Infinia GyFTR multiplier)
Fuel spends 10k/month (SBI octane)
Utilities 7k/month (Tata neu infinity)
School fees 3 lakhs an annum (Infinia, no Amex option while paying)
Grocery Tata 3000/month (Tata neu infinity) (20% offer)
Grocery Amazon fresh/month 2500 (icici) (10% offer)
Fastag 1000/month (Tata neu infinity)
Random like decathlon, Amazon shopping, sundry expenses 10k/month (Infinia or Tata neu wherever the offer is better)
Insurance spends 80k/year (Infinia)
International holiday 8 lakhs/year (Infinia with GVP). Hotel is a large expense in this. Usually stay at Sheraton on Marriott.
Use CRED to pay most of my bills.
1 domestic holiday (appx 1.5 lakhs (Infinia 2+1) (prefer Marriott or Sheraton again)
Flight tickets Domestic and international (smart buy + Infinia) 2.5 lakhs
Please note I’m not looking for Amex platinum charge. Could you now suggest how to maximise points and which Amex card/any other bank card for the above spends and where some could be correctly used/can be split between cards).

 

[moneyMaker]

Which card should I get first? I heard the app allows to combine all the reqards if you got MRCC first, true?

(i have no prior relation with AmEx)

 

[MVC]

Can we buy Gold coins from tanishq and online sites like amazon, flipkart and myntra?

How much rewards can we get using MRCC card?

 

[Lobogris]

It's dynamic. varies from 1-2 Rs per point in most of the time. Spend based LTF on MRCC? Not sure about it. Mind explaining?

How can we get Rs 1, let alone Rs 2 value from MB points? When redeemed, most hotels are 3x to 5x more via points compared to their cash price. So the actual value seems to be 20 to 30 paise in the best case scenario. Please review the attachment. Four Points by Sheraton, Jaipur in May 2024 (peak off season) is 3.2k by cash but 15,000 via points! Marriott Jaipur is similar. I understand, some very expensive properties could be cheaper via points sometimes but for normal hotels, it seems like a very poor value.

@Tejas

 

[Tejas]

How can we get Rs 1, let alone Rs 2 value from MB points? When redeemed, most hotels are 3x to 5x more via points compared to their cash price. So the actual value seems to be 20 to 30 paise in the best case scenario. Please review the attachment. Four Points by Sheraton, Jaipur in May 2024 (peak off season) is 3.2k by cash but 15,000 via points! Marriott Jaipur is similar. I understand, some very expensive properties could be cheaper via points sometimes but for normal hotels, it seems like a very poor value.

@Tejas

The post you quoted is fairly old one. At that time, Probability of getting ₹1-2 value per MB Point was higher. When Marriot Bonvoy having gone fully dynamic, this has drastically reduced. At the same time, 20-30 Paise is a too low value for MB Point to be considered. I would still value MB Points at ₹0.5 for reward rate calculation and redemption decision purposes.

It is possible to get ₹0.5-0.7 per MB Point quite easily across a good 50-60% of the Hotels under Marriott Bonvoy. Anything below this, I will look at other options or revenue bookings.

 

[Nishan11]

Wallet load counts for Milestone for platinum travel?
Plan is to load wallet for all sort of payments.

 

[vinrey287]

Wallet load counts for Milestone for platinum travel?
Plan is to load wallet for all sort of payments.

Yes. But you don't have many wallet options

 

[Nishan11]

Yes. But you don't have many wallet options

Amazon ( buying gv & load ), mobikwik, payzapp ? If it works in these 3, I will be fine.

 

[Lobogris]

Amazon ( buying gv & load ), mobikwik, payzapp ? If it works in these 3, I will be fine.

What would be the benefit of loading Mobikwik and Payzapp? Where would you use it?

 

[Nishan11]

What would be the benefit of loading Mobikwik and Payzapp? Where would you use it?

Groceries, insurance using Amazon pay balance. Will buy gv to load amazon wallet. I am heavy amazon shopper. Buying app store code.

Still you didn't replied whether we get the Milestone benefit or not ? If anyone can answer, it will be easier for me to decide whether I should apply or not.

Other than this use of amex, I will have acceptance issue of amex in Raipur.

 

[HOME_CARDER]

Groceries, insurance using Amazon pay balance. Will buy gv to load amazon wallet. I am heavy amazon shopper. Buying app store code.

Still you didn't replied whether we get the Milestone benefit or not ? If anyone can answer, it will be easier for me to decide whether I should apply or not.

Other than this use of amex, I will have acceptance issue of amex in Raipur.

Yes, you get milestone benefit for wallet loads. Instead of loading through Mobikwik & Payzapp better buy Amazon Pay GV (10K monthly limit per mobile number) and Amazon Shopping vouchers from rewards multiplier as it gives 3X MR points.

 

[vinrey287]

Groceries, insurance using Amazon pay balance. Will buy gv to load amazon wallet. I am heavy amazon shopper. Buying app store code.

Still you didn't replied whether we get the Milestone benefit or not ? If anyone can answer, it will be easier for me to decide whether I should apply or not.

Other than this use of amex, I will have acceptance issue of amex in Raipur.

Yes for milestone on travel and bonus on gold and MRCC. Payzapp does not allow amex card

 

[Lobogris]

Groceries, insurance using Amazon pay balance. Will buy gv to load amazon wallet. I am heavy amazon shopper. Buying app store code.

Ok. Being used to getting 16.5% actual cashback on Infinia for purchasing Amazon vouchers, the 1.5 to 2% on Amex multiplier seems really low to me.

 

[SubhankarSubhankar is verified member.]

How can we get Rs 1, let alone Rs 2 value from MB points? When redeemed, most hotels are 3x to 5x more via points compared to their cash price. So the actual value seems to be 20 to 30 paise in the best case scenario. Please review the attachment. Four Points by Sheraton, Jaipur in May 2024 (peak off season) is 3.2k by cash but 15,000 via points! Marriott Jaipur is similar. I understand, some very expensive properties could be cheaper via points sometimes but for normal hotels, it seems like a very poor value.

@Tejas

If you always look for value, Marriott won’t be ideal for you. I can even show you ₹15+ value per point, but that’s not a question. What I and most other people who’re much more knowledgeable than me believe, it’s the need of yours if it’s getting fulfilled or not. That’s the end goal

 

[TheCoinCollector]

If you always look for value, Marriott won’t be ideal for you. I can even show you ₹15+ value per point, but that’s not a question. What I and most other people who’re much more knowledgeable than me believe, it’s the need of yours if it’s getting fulfilled or not. That’s the end goal

15rs+!Thanks very interesting! Please share some info
Tnx!

 

[SubhankarSubhankar is verified member.]

15rs+!Thanks very interesting! Please share some info
Tnx!

Will be doing soon of such redemptions.

 

[sodapop]

Will be doing soon of such redemptions.

I am interested as well. Please do post some strategies for better redemption.