Planning to retire my Amex MRCC

[niks]

I have been an Amex user since 2010. Had a Platinum Travel card earlier which I downgraded to MRCC. I did earn a lot of Bonus points using 1500*4 but now I plan to retire (not close) my card and put it in the drawer.

Here is why:
1. I am tired of the card being rejected everywhere. Guess most of us who use Amex, when we hand over the card to any vendor, we have a backup card ready in our hands in case the vendor says no. I am tired of doing this offline.
2. I got my MRCC directly from Amex for Rs. 4500 per year from second year onwards. Most others got it through the referral scheme for Rs.1500 per annum. I requested Amex to shift me to the 1500 plan but they refused. That’s unfair for old loyal users like me. Amex actually has a higher Customer Acquisition Cost for the referral scheme but still they choose to penalise other users for whom they didn’t have to cough up a referral bonus.
3. I have never got any spend related offers ever on my card while many others do.
4. I have HDFC Infinia and SBI Cashback both. With these cards I don’t see any role of MRCC in my credit card mix. Happy to stand corrected.
5. I don’t need the mental pressure of doing 1500*4 every month especially when the acceptance level is so low

Amex MRCC may be good for some but I am unwilling to use it further. I have crossed my 1.5 lakh milestone so I will possibly keep the card for another year or so. But the hype of Amex MRCC is more than its value for me personally.

 

[Buttman]

All these months I used it for loading Paytm and MobiKwik but now both of them levy charges for loading. For Amazon pay loading I’m better off loading with my Infinia

Is apay loading free?

 

[AlgoTrader]

Is apay loading free?

In amex? Yes

 

[bonheur]

Yes. And in my view if anyone has a SBI Cashback card which gives 5%, using MRCC to try and get around 6-7% returns is still not worth the hassle. Unless you are aiming for Taj Vouchers from the MRCC points

I will offer you a counter perspective.

Cashback card gives you 5% only on restricted online transactions while MRCC exceeds 5% for all spends up to 25K (given you’re hitting both milestones).

MRCC also beats Infinia on base reward rate (3.3%) for spends up to 21.5K, even if you don’t bother about 1500x4 and only achieve the 20K milestone. But again if you are able to hit both monthly milestones, MRCC has a better reward rate up to 42.5K per month.

 

[niks]

I will offer you a counter perspective.

Cashback card gives you 5% only on restricted online transactions while MRCC exceeds 5% for all spends up to 25K (given you’re hitting both milestones).

MRCC also beats Infinia on base reward rate (3.3%) for spends up to 21.5K, even if you don’t bother about 1500x4 and only achieve the 20K milestone. But again if you are able to hit both monthly milestones, MRCC has a better reward rate up to 42.5K per month.

Agreed. However the whole issue is offline acceptance. If that wasn’t issue, I would have easily used it for all my offline spends.

 

[devine_mortal]

Cashback card gives you 5% only on restricted online transactions while MRCC exceeds 5% for all spends up to 25K (given you’re hitting both milestones).

Ok I'm confused with this number of 25k. How did you calculate that since you can meet both milestones by 20k if it includes 4 transactions over 1500.

Same goes for the number of 42.5k later in that comment. Do explain if possible.

 

[bonheur]

Ok I'm confused with this number of 25k. How did you calculate that since you can meet both milestones by 20k if it includes 4 transactions over 1500.

Same goes for the number of 42.5k later in that comment. Do explain if possible.

Here I’m comparing the reward rate of MRCC at the point where it begins to even out against the best reward rates of Cashback (5%) and Infinia (3.3%), assuming 1MR = 50p. This is just a hint, I leave the rest as an exercise to the reader 😉

 

[sv004]

If u have infinia then u hardly need anyother card

 

[aceventura]

I have been an Amex user since 2010. Had a Platinum Travel card earlier which I downgraded to MRCC. I did earn a lot of Bonus points using 1500*4 but now I plan to retire (not close) my card and put it in the drawer.

Here is why:
1. I am tired of the card being rejected everywhere. Guess most of us who use Amex, when we hand over the card to any vendor, we have a backup card ready in our hands in case the vendor says no. I am tired of doing this offline.
2. I got my MRCC directly from Amex for Rs. 4500 per year from second year onwards. Most others got it through the referral scheme for Rs.1500 per annum. I requested Amex to shift me to the 1500 plan but they refused. That’s unfair for old loyal users like me. Amex actually has a higher Customer Acquisition Cost for the referral scheme but still they choose to penalise other users for whom they didn’t have to cough up a referral bonus.
3. I have never got any spend related offers ever on my card while many others do.
4. I have HDFC Infinia and SBI Cashback both. With these cards I don’t see any role of MRCC in my credit card mix. Happy to stand corrected.
5. I don’t need the mental pressure of doing 1500*4 every month especially when the acceptance level is so low

Amex MRCC may be good for some but I am unwilling to use it further. I have crossed my 1.5 lakh milestone so I will possibly keep the card for another year or so. But the hype of Amex MRCC is more than its value for me personally.

Cant you use it to load 20K to Paytm and pay off part of Infinia CC and then use HDFC Plat DC to pay Amex off? It will be around 8-12K per annum after Paytm fees, depending on Paytm offers + redemption option.

 

[sm9811911]

I have been an Amex user since 2010. Had a Platinum Travel card earlier which I downgraded to MRCC. I did earn a lot of Bonus points using 1500*4 but now I plan to retire (not close) my card and put it in the drawer.

Here is why:
1. I am tired of the card being rejected everywhere. Guess most of us who use Amex, when we hand over the card to any vendor, we have a backup card ready in our hands in case the vendor says no. I am tired of doing this offline.
2. I got my MRCC directly from Amex for Rs. 4500 per year from second year onwards. Most others got it through the referral scheme for Rs.1500 per annum. I requested Amex to shift me to the 1500 plan but they refused. That’s unfair for old loyal users like me. Amex actually has a higher Customer Acquisition Cost for the referral scheme but still they choose to penalise other users for whom they didn’t have to cough up a referral bonus.
3. I have never got any spend related offers ever on my card while many others do.
4. I have HDFC Infinia and SBI Cashback both. With these cards I don’t see any role of MRCC in my credit card mix. Happy to stand corrected.
5. I don’t need the mental pressure of doing 1500*4 every month especially when the acceptance level is so low

Amex MRCC may be good for some but I am unwilling to use it further. I have crossed my 1.5 lakh milestone so I will possibly keep the card for another year or so. But the hype of Amex MRCC is more than its value for me personally.

I agree. Amex is all hype you people who want referral bonus.

 

[devine_mortal]

I agree. Amex is all hype you people who want referral bonus.

I don't agree. Its usability depends on what other cards you have in your kitty.

 

[jade]

I agree. Amex is all hype you people who want referral bonus.

MRCC, for an entry level card, you get a 6 to 7% return. That is better than many premium cards. As someone said, what you can get out of MRCC depends on what other cards you have in your kitty. If you have infinia, probably you don’t have much use for MRCC.

 

[sm9811911]

MRCC, for an entry level card, you get a 6 to 7% return. That is better than many premium cards. As someone said, what you can get out of MRCC depends on what other cards you have in your kitty. If you have infinia, probably you don’t have much use for MRCC.

I agree with you as well. Its a great card for beginners.using it to get az voucher etc.but that's it.
My comment was for the op. And for someone who has infinia or sbi cb etc. I don't want to have this card or any other amex card like plat etc.

 

[bonheur]

I have Infinia and still think MRCC is a great card. If you're into maximising rewards, every percentage point counts, and here MRCC compares more than favourably at 6% vs Infinia's 3.3% (without Smartbuy, of course). But of course MRCC is super gamified, so most of my Amex spends are currently on Plat Travel, which happens to be even better (8.5%).

 

[maheshspanicker]

MRCC at 4500 is totally worthless, though majority of people I suppose would have got it on referral. With the double milestones every month, it still can be very handy though it doesn't offer attractive features like lounge access. However, the offline acceptance of Amex is beyond pathetic, and they just don't seem interested in fixing the same. Have to use it mostly as an online only card, and Amazon giftcards through Reward Multiplier seems the one viable option as of now. Even fuel stations outside top cities, don't accept Amex, neither do recognizable brands.

 

[maheshspanicker]

MRCC, for an entry level card, you get a 6 to 7% return. That is better than many premium cards. As someone said, what you can get out of MRCC depends on what other cards you have in your kitty. If you have infinia, probably you don’t have much use for MRCC.

The problem though, is that at 4500 per year, MRCC is far from an entry level card in terms of fees. The charges are close to SC Ultimate, and a lot more than BOB Eterna. Wouldn't have been a major issue had the card been useful for offline transactions even though it doesn't offer as many other benefits as the other cards.

 

[CVR]

The problem though, is that at 4500 per year, MRCC is far from an entry level card in terms of fees. The charges are close to SC Ultimate, and a lot more than BOB Eterna. Wouldn't have been a major issue had the card been useful for offline transactions even though it doesn't offer as many other benefits as the other cards.

Take under referral offer for 1500 fees

 

[aceventura]

The problem though, is that at 4500 per year, MRCC is far from an entry level card in terms of fees. The charges are close to SC Ultimate, and a lot more than BOB Eterna. Wouldn't have been a major issue had the card been useful for offline transactions even though it doesn't offer as many other benefits as the other cards.

It has its use cases where Infinia would not provide any points such as Fuel (offline + HP Pay app) and Wallet Loads. While it is not ideal at 4500, it does have a fairly low spend waiver criteria of 1.5L. Even 6 months of 20K usage + another six months of 6K usage will take over that limit.

 

[jade]

The problem though, is that at 4500 per year, MRCC is far from an entry level card in terms of fees. The charges are close to SC Ultimate, and a lot more than BOB Eterna. Wouldn't have been a major issue had the card been useful for offline transactions even though it doesn't offer as many other benefits as the other cards.

on referral the charges are Rs 1500. Also if you spend at least Rs 90000 in a year, you will be charged half the annual fee, and if you spend Rs 150000, the total fee will be waived,

 

[amit]

whats the cooling period if I close my MRCC and Gold charge in OCT before I can apply again.

 

[aceventura]

any way to do 1500x4 now...all options i know have gone.

can you elaborate on the options that you tried?