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)

 

[Sriim]

Hi. I'm holding an MRCC for 2 months now. Tried to apply for add on for my spouse who is living with me but has aadhar address in non serviceable area, so entered my address in addon application. During vkyc they mentioned that address could not be verified. So they have to cancel the application.

How to proceed? Can i give non serviceable address for addon card? Since primary card has been issued in serviceable address

 

[cardio_guy]

Good post! Thanks for the explanation. I haven't used or explored Amex yet.
I need some help/suggestions to consolidate my cards.

1. My monthly spends on credit card easily come around 20-25k, and it is spread across 3 cards right now (Amazon Pay ICICI, Swiggy HDFC, and Sapphiro ICICI). [There are some exceptional spends like fee payments once 6 months around 50k too].
Do you think it is reasonable to combine them all into just one Amex card? If so, what would be a good Amex card to start with?

2. You mentioned buying online vouchers and paying at Reliance Trends, etc. Where can I buy those vouchers? Is it from Gyftr? (Basically, I haven't used Gyftr and don't know how it works, so it would be great if you could tell me a little about Gyftr as well).

3. Also, I'm not a big traveler and don't stay in hotels very often. Maybe once or twice a year for work stuff, but even then, I usually go for decent hotels near where I'm going, not fancy places like Taj or Marriott. So do you think this will help me in some way?

 

[coolguy1]

Good post! Thanks for the explanation. I haven't used or explored Amex yet.
I need some help/suggestions to consolidate my cards.

1. My monthly spends on credit card easily come around 20-25k, and it is spread across 3 cards right now (Amazon Pay ICICI, Swiggy HDFC, and Sapphiro ICICI). [There are some exceptional spends like fee payments once 6 months around 50k too].
Do you think it is reasonable to combine them all into just one Amex card? If so, what would be a good Amex card to start with?

2. You mentioned buying online vouchers and paying at Reliance Trends, etc. Where can I buy those vouchers? Is it from Gyftr? (Basically, I haven't used Gyftr and don't know how it works, so it would be great if you could tell me a little about Gyftr as well).

3. Also, I'm not a big traveler and don't stay in hotels very often. Maybe once or twice a year for work stuff, but even then, I usually go for decent hotels near where I'm going, not fancy places like Taj or Marriott. So do you think this will help me in some way?

Absolutely,

1. The cards you mentioned are good but the rewards on Amex are better so yes, it's worth replacing them with Amex Platinum Travel Card.
It offers 40K MR points and 10K Taj vouchers on 4L annual expenses. The MR points could be valued at anywhere between ₹0.5 to ₹2 depending on whether you're using them for vouchers or international hotels.

You also get airport lounge access and spend-based offers now and then which could be a great addition if you travel.

The first year is completely free if you apply using someone's invite link or Rs.3500 if you apply directly on the website!

That's the most optimized route but if you don't/can't move all your expenses, then you get the Amex MRCC card.
It offers 1000 MR points on 6K monthly spends and 2000 MR points on spend 20K monthly spends.

So, if you spend around that range, MRCC is the card to go! No lounge access in this though.

The first year is free with this too if joined using any invite link or Rs.1000 if you apply using the website!

Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions!

 

[CardGame]

Can i give non serviceable address for addon card?

Yes, U can and it is not a reason for rejection or cancellation.

Since primary card has been issued in serviceable address

Card delivery will be made to primary holder address

 

[bug_88]

They said that there is no option of completion of this existing application as it's cancelled.


Only option is to reapply after 48 hrs cooling.

My only gripe is that they just tried to communicate once and the straight away cancelled the application. I am not even told what the issue was with the earlier application so that it can be avoided with the new application.

Earlier card that I had applied was with the same organisation I am working with but I was posted in a different branch. Can that be a reason?
Also the address as peer my aadhaar card and passport is slightly different. As in plot no is not mentioned in the address of passport can that be a reason?

Utilisation of the existing card has never crossed 25% of the limits ever.

Finally reapplied for the gold card yesterday.

Got an email confirmation that the same was approved today.

Apparently it seems i had inadvertently selected previously employed with Amex as yes hence the previous application was cancelled without even doing Vkyc.

However sending an email that the application is fraud is way too much.

They could have sent an email stating invalid application or something.

 

[bug_88]

As per further communication with Amex

They are saying that the card application is not declined but cancelled hence I can reapply after 48 hrs.

The customer service is saying that there might have been a discrepancy in the application and they tried to call me (just once). And since I was not able to attend the call, the card was straight away cancelled.

No further communication is possible not and call from the concerned dept can be arranged.

I had reapplied for the gold charge card and the same was approved and has been couriered to me.

Today I received a call from amex about my 1st application that it cannot be processed as I have already been issued a gold charge card via my 2nd application.

I told them that I was suggested to apply 2nd time since the 1st application was cancelled and was told that it cannot be reopened.

The customer service guy said that application can be reopened and that i was informed incorrectly by the previous agent.

Amex was known for its service quality however I feel it's going down the drain. Gave the agent an earfull about my onboarding experience.

 

[bug_88]

Received the gold card today.

The ending 5 digit no is same as my MRCC card.

Have requested them to issue a new card as it's confusing which card is which once the card is added for payments

 

[Sriim]

Received the gold card today.

The ending 5 digit no is same as my MRCC card.

Have requested them to issue a new card as it's confusing which card is which once the card is added for payments

For me, it's the last 4 digits. I'm able to manage. But Mobikwik confuses between them. So i changed the billing date of one of them to separate them

 

[bug_88]

Hi

Anyone received spend based offer for their MRCC card?

I have received the following offer

 

[sousnake]

Hi

Anyone received spend based offer for their MRCC card?

I have received the following offer

Got for plat travel

 

[bug_88]

I also recently acquired gold card

Will the spends done on that count towards this milestone?

 

[manojvijaychauhan]

Absolutely,

1. The cards you mentioned are good but the rewards on Amex are better so yes, it's worth replacing them with Amex Platinum Travel Card.
It offers 40K MR points and 10K Taj vouchers on 4L annual expenses. The MR points could be valued at anywhere between ₹0.5 to ₹2 depending on whether you're using them for vouchers or international hotels.

You also get airport lounge access and spend-based offers now and then which could be a great addition if you travel.

The first year is completely free if you apply using someone's invite link or Rs.3500 if you apply directly on the website!

That's the most optimized route but if you don't/can't move all your expenses, then you get the Amex MRCC card.
It offers 1000 MR points on 6K monthly spends and 2000 MR points on spend 20K monthly spends.

So, if you spend around that range, MRCC is the card to go! No lounge access in this though.

The first year is free with this too if joined using any invite link or Rs.1000 if you apply using the website!

Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions!

Bro what is the validity of the points which we get?

 

[Vignesh M]

Bro what is the validity of the points which we get?

the MR points dont expire. thats one important benefit of Amex.

 

[Vignesh M]

I also recently acquired gold card

Will the spends done on that count towards this milestone?

there will be mention of the last 5 digits of card eligible for this spend based offer on the top right corner of the email you received.

and anyway gift voucher purchases via RM are always excluded. Useful for Apple, mmt, tanishq purchases via RM

 

[Zacobite]

Thanks. I have enrolled for the 1k for ₹20k spends a few days back.

1.How many days for it to get active?

2. Do these bonus MR points 1k for 1.5kx4 and 1k for 20k get credited automatically or should we call customer care.

3. I need to buy ₹14k worth Amazon gift card to reach the 20k milestone. Since we can buy only 10k AGC through reward multiplier portal, is it rewarding to buy 4k directly from Amazon website using MRCC card?

active immediately.. you will get an email confirmation of date and time of enrollment

points get credited generally once transaction is settled

use diff ph nos..

 

[coolguy1]

Bro what is the validity of the points which we get?

Lifetime validity as long as you hold any Amex card.

 

[SonyTom]

Installed Phonepe today. Did Min KYC with driving licence number. Didn’t activate UPI. Tried to load wallet with MRCC. After typing the amount and clicking 'Proceed to topup' , the payment method windows comes up. On clicking the Add Card, got the message - “Something went wrong, please try again”. Tried again, but same message. In the select payment method window its showing Visa, MC, Diners, Amex etc and on entering the card number, its recognising the card as Amex. But still it’s showing error. Is anyone else facing this error.

Tried with SC Smart. Was able to progress to next step. But showing 3% convenience fees. So stopped there. Anyway had no plan of loading Phonepe wallet with Smart.

 

[SonyTom]

After trying many things, I understand that this is due to issues with tokenisation of Amex cards. Phonepe HELP says Amex and Diners cards can't be tokenised.

HELP also says payment can be done without adding the card (only if card added, tokenisation issue arises). But I am unable to find a way to load wallet or purchase gift voucher or for that matter, make any payment by Amex.

If anyone has any idea, do reply

 

[100Rabh_negi]

After trying many things, I understand that this is due to issues with tokenisation of Amex cards. Phonepe HELP says Amex and Diners cards can't be tokenised.

HELP also says payment can be done without adding the card (only if card added, tokenisation issue arises). But I am unable to find a way to load wallet or purchase gift voucher or for that matter, make any payment by Amex.

If anyone has any idea, do reply

What kind of payment you are trying to do on phonepe?
For gift vouchers you can try other apps ( park+,magicpin,woohoo,gyftr,paytm ) and they should work without any issue.
For bill payment and recharge you can use paytm or mobikwik.

 

[SonyTom]

What kind of payment you are trying to do on phonepe?
For gift vouchers you can try other apps ( park+,magicpin,woohoo,gyftr,paytm ) and they should work without any issue.
For bill payment and recharge you can use paytm or mobikwik.

I was trying wallet load and buying voucher. Didn't work. Created a ticket. Phonepe support told Amex can be used on Phonepe for these.

Thanks for the suggestions. Is magicpin and Woohoo reliable? Like will there be transaction failure where the money gets deducted and we don't get what we buy. How has been your experience with these two sites?