American Express MRCC Card Benefits and Optimal Usage

[coolguy1]

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)

 

[D₹V]

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: https://bit.ly/49GPlCw

If you can spend 4L a year, get the Platinum Travel variant: https://bit.ly/3SF1BNL
(Offers you even higher rewards - 40K points + Taj voucher on 4L annual purchases)

Great explanation 😄. Do you have any trick unserviceable area? 😉

 

[ashwink]

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:  DM FOR ASSISTANCE.

If you can spend 4L a year, get the Platinum Travel variant
(Offers you even higher rewards - 40K points + Taj voucher on 4L annual purchases)

Good Explanation 👍

.

 

[coolguy1]

Great explanation 😄. Do you have any trick unserviceable area? 😉

There are workarounds but depends on how badly you want the card.
DM me if you're really interested and can share more details.

 

[AlgoTrader]

For those who are into miles conversion, take value of every MR point as 0.4

 

[D₹V]

There are workarounds but depends on how badly you want the card.
DM me if you're really interested and can share more details.

H m m...

 

[coolguy1]

For those who are into miles conversion, take value of every MR point as 0.4

With the current MB offer, you can transfer your points to your Bonvoy account at a 30% bonus.
And then transfer them to your preferred flyer with further bonus(MB offers 5k bonus points for every 60k transferred).

 

[coolguy1]

Good Explanation 👍

.

Thank you, let me know what more can be added! I was thinking of going into details for best vouchers and redemption process but it was getting too long to read so anything other information that feels essential can be added or can write a new thread on it.

 

[lakshmi_seth]

There are workarounds but depends on how badly you want the card.
DM me if you're really interested and can share more details.

Unable to DM you. Coud you please dM me? Thanks.

 

[coolguy1]

Unable to DM you. Coud you please dM me? Thanks.

Sure. Just sent you a DM!

 

[maynigam]

Good explanation but I disagree with your conversion ration. Marriot Bonvoy is not giving the value of 1. In most practical cases it gives MAXIMUM 0.5 value. And even that is difficult in most cases.

Here is a more practical conversion

1 MR = 0.375 Amazon/Flipkart
~ 0.75% base return
~ 7% return with 1500x4 milestone
~ 4.4% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.58 Taj Vouchers
~1.16 base return
~ 6.9% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.5 Asia miles/Krisflyer/Etihad/Avios/Emirates
~1% base return
~ 6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.3 Club Vistara
~0.6% base return
~ 3.6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 1 Mariott Bonvoy = 0.5 INR
~ 1% base
~ 6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

Also, I believe that Mariott Pricing is not at all worth it

 

[TheGuy]

Reliance Trends, instead of paying with your card there, just buy the voucher online instantly and pay with those instead.

Pardon me for my ignorance. I haven't shopped using GV at offline locations. In Myntra or Flipkart or Amazon when we add GV it gets added to account and we can buy in pieces. Like for 1000 GV- 500 today, 500+100 (Cash) tomorrow. Is it same case with Reliance Trends, Pantaloons, Westside etc?

Offline also?

 

[coolguy1]

Good explanation but I disagree with your conversion ration. Marriot Bonvoy is not giving the value of 1. In most practical cases it gives MAXIMUM 0.5 value. And even that is difficult in most cases.

Here is a more practical conversion

1 MR = 0.375 Amazon/Flipkart
~ 0.75% base return
~ 7% return with 1500x4 milestone
~ 4.4% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.58 Taj Vouchers
~1.16 base return
~ 6.9% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.5 Asia miles/Krisflyer/Etihad/Avios/Emirates
~1% base return
~ 6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.3 Club Vistara
~0.6% base return
~ 3.6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 1 Mariott Bonvoy = 0.5 INR
~ 1% base
~ 6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

Also, I believe that Mariott Pricing is not at all worth it

You're right! The values will change depending on where and how you plan your trip. If someone uses them for Goa, that could be a waste of a lot of points. There are other places, like I randomly searched Jaipur, one of the properties is offering close to Rs.1 per point rate and the other one is an insane Rs.2.7 per point rate.

There are even more properties in Africa, Sri Lanka and Maldives where the rates get valued really well and way above Rs.1 so those could be good options too. Since the validity of these points is not a concern, I suggest people save them for a bit and only use them when they think they're getting great value.

 

[coolguy1]

Pardon me for my ignorance. I haven't shopped using GV at offline locations. In Myntra or Flipkart or Amazon when we add GV it gets added to account and we can buy in pieces. Like for 1000 GV- 500 today, 500+100 (Cash) tomorrow. Is it same case with Reliance Trends, Pantaloons, Westside etc?

Offline also?

It varies from brand to brand and this can be seen by going into the T&C on the voucher purchase page.
For example, Uber offers GVs that can be added to your account and you can use them for any number of trips but if you buy an Ola voucher, you have to use it in FULL in one trip or you lose the remaining value.

Similarly, for Lifestyle and Trends, they have to be used in full so I suggest buying multiple 500/1000 vouchers so that if the bill is 2100, use just 2k vouchers and pay the remaining by card. This way, you can save your remaining GVs for later.

 

[ak1423]

You're right! The values will change depending on where and how you plan your trip. If someone uses them for Goa, that could be a waste of a lot of points. There are other places, like I randomly searched Jaipur, one of the properties is offering close to Rs.1 per point rate and the other one is an insane Rs.2.7 per point rate.

There are even more properties in Africa, Sri Lanka and Maldives where the rates get valued really well and way above Rs.1 so those could be good options too. Since the validity of these points is not a concern, I suggest people save them for a bit and only use them when they think they're getting great value.

Yep mostly tourist places the value is less I observed mostly 0.4-0.5

 

[Yugi]

One of the other benefits that is less talked is their chargeback system, if you issues with the merchant that they didn't deliver product or not refunding after taking it as return, you just call Amex customer service and raise a chargeback, for smaller amounts they accept the chargeback instantaneously for other cases have the proofs and they are processed in a month.

I am tension free when I am ordering from new unknown website that if something goes wrong, I can easily do a chargeback to the merchant.

 

[maheshspanicker]

As for Amex rewards, travel rewards don't seem to offer consistent value. The higher values are offered for a very limited set of properties for MB, and even with Taj, I am told there are issues in availing discounted rates, thus canceling out the benefits when paying at full rates. So, the gold collection seem the better option, and considering the base rate at 0.75 percent...
Amex has a lot going for it, but their offline acceptance rate in India is just absolutely pathetic. Effectively an online card. Even had difficulty convincing Apollo Hospital to accept an Amex card. Have had difficulties even in top malls in Delhi... They also are said to have insurance benefits both health and motor. I found their health plans to be a touch more expensive though they do have some interesting benefits. The motor team is the one disgrace in the otherwise outstanding Amex Customer Service, all the hopeless people in the Amex India team seem to have been aggregated there. The main Card support can't connect to them, the dedicated number if you manage to get connected, will tell you to mail with RC and other details and would not engage with any of your questions.
But if you are into credit cards, an Amex card you should surely try to have. Think MRCC is the best option you can go for. Smartearn if you want it only for Amex discount offers...

 

[coolguy1]

One of the other benefits that is less talked is their chargeback system, if you issues with the merchant that they didn't deliver product or not refunding after taking it as return, you just call Amex customer service and raise a chargeback, for smaller amounts they accept the chargeback instantaneously for other cases have the proofs and they are processed in a month.

I am tension free when I am ordering from new unknown website that if something goes wrong, I can easily do a chargeback to the merchant.

Absolutely, this is my second favourite feature of the card. Any transaction, any issues - zero worry.
So far, I've only used it once but considering how smooth the reversal was, now I am more confident in using the card at any merchant.

 

[abhiver]

True AMEX charge back saved me from Etihad worst customer care service.

 

[insight]

Good explanation but I disagree with your conversion ration. Marriot Bonvoy is not giving the value of 1. In most practical cases it gives MAXIMUM 0.5 value. And even that is difficult in most cases.

Here is a more practical conversion

1 MR = 0.375 Amazon/Flipkart
~ 0.75% base return
~ 7% return with 1500x4 milestone
~ 4.4% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.58 Taj Vouchers
~1.16 base return
~ 6.9% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.5 Asia miles/Krisflyer/Etihad/Avios/Emirates
~1% base return
~ 6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 0.3 Club Vistara
~0.6% base return
~ 3.6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

1MR = 1 Mariott Bonvoy = 0.5 INR
~ 1% base
~ 6% return with 1500x4 and 20k milestone

Also, I believe that Mariott Pricing is not at all worth it

This is the kind of realistic maths I've been trying to garner from the forum and collect here:

Comparative Maths between cards? Esp between SBI CB 5% Flat, Amex MRCC 4 x 1600? and Magnus?

BROADLY: Compare how these numbers from following charts play. SPECIFICALLY: ONLINE largely, not much offline. I do not yet or will have Huge spends.. until medical issues are fully fixed so... Note: AMEX MRCC acceptance offline not an issue. Magnus fees not an issue (Paid & used 10k...

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