Amex Platinum charge card or Axis reserve card?

[kkk]

Hi,

I already have Axis Magnus card, Amex Platinum travel card and some other cards. I am looking to take either Amex platinum charge card or Axis reserve card mainly for abroad transaction.

I have upgrade offer from Amex which is 1.25Lakh MR points and my Amex travel card would become LTF(atleast until I keep Platinum charge card).
Axis reserve - No additional benefit. 50k edge rewards at the time of joining. I have atleast couple of abroad travel plans.

Please suggest whether it makes sense to take any of the card?
Amex platinum travel card - Already spent 4 lakh, so all milestone achieved.
Axis Magnus card - Currently, my(/family's) spend goes over 1 lakh per month.

 

[caabhi]

Hi,

I already have Axis Magnus card, Amex Platinum travel card and some other cards. I am looking to take either Amex platinum charge card or Axis reserve card mainly for abroad transaction.

I have upgrade offer from Amex which is 1.25Lakh MR points and my Amex travel card would become LTF(atleast until I keep Platinum charge card).
Axis reserve - No additional benefit. 50k edge rewards at the time of joining. I have atleast couple of abroad travel plans.

Please suggest whether it makes sense to take any of the card?
Amex platinum travel card - Already spent 4 lakh, so all milestone achieved.
Axis Magnus card - Currently, my(/family's) spend goes over 1 lakh per month.

Have a look at the wonderful article available in our community. This will help you to decide for yourself.

Axis Reserve: Worth the 50,000 fee or not?

"Are Super Premium cards really worth the fee they come with?" "That's a huge fee to pay upfront to get such card" "How I can value out the fee I am paying for a Super Premium card?" "Super Premium cards are not as good as cash back cards as I am getting all the value back as cash" I hope...

www.technofino.in

PS: I opted for the Reserve

 

[kkk]

Have a look at the wonderful article available in our community. This will help you to decide for yourself.

Axis Reserve: Worth the 50,000 fee or not?

"Are Super Premium cards really worth the fee they come with?" "That's a huge fee to pay upfront to get such card" "How I can value out the fee I am paying for a Super Premium card?" "Super Premium cards are not as good as cash back cards as I am getting all the value back as cash" I hope...

www.technofino.in

PS: I opted for the Reserve

Even I went ahead with Reserve. Now trying to get add-on card for Reserve.

 

[caabhi]

Even I went ahead with Reserve. Now trying to get add-on card for Reserve.

Congratulations! Good to know.
How many add-on card you plan to get or have you already applied? Do share your experience.
For accorplus, how many days complimentary stay did you get ?

 

[kkk]

Congratulations! Good to know.
How many add-on card you plan to get or have you already applied? Do share your experience.
For accorplus, how many days complimentary stay did you get ?

I plan to take 3 add-on cards. Still trying to apply.
Still not received accorplus membership. I was late in sending consent form.

 

[purush]

Even I went ahead with Reserve. Now trying to get add-on card for Reserve.

Yes reserve is somewhat winning the race in terms of reward points transfer

 

[rohit12345]

I have opted for the platinum charge card

 

[anirban.choudhury]

I would suggest take plat charge with the upgrade offer and get those 1.25 lakhs MR.
from next year , try to bargain with Amex to give same benefits for renewal, if they didn’t agree take Reserve .

Or

If you intent to use the card primarily for forex transactions, then without any thoughts go with Reserve .

 

[CC_Fire]

I have also been looking into this h2h comparison. Following are my thoughts

1. If you are looking for the best reward rates, axis reserve would > Amex Platcharge for 90% of the people.

• Reserve yields points 6MB (Marriott bonvoy equivalent points) for Rs100 spent while PlatCharge gives 2.5MB for each Rs100. So you get 3.5 MB points for each Rs100 extra on reserve
• 125k MR points on signup vs 40k for axis means if you spend c.25L+ annually then will get more points on Axis. Also remember Axis has 12k< in fees than the amex PC
• important to note that reserve gives these points annually while with plat charge you will have to seek some sort of renewal offer
• Earn rates on FX spends / multipliers / gyftr are better for Reserve or same as Amex

2. But Amex PC has some nice features if you use them

• 25% off Taj hotels and 3 nights at Oberoi for the price of 2nights. If you do stay in a very expensive Taj or Oberoi property, you will get a decent deal.
• Elite tier memberships at Marriott, Radisson etc
• 10-15% off business class tickets on some airlines
• The "everything" concierge!

If you are one of those customers that can use these benefits, the card will more than payback for its hefty annual fees.

In essence, I would believe that 90%+ people would be happier with a Reserve but for some it may make sense for the plat charge depending on their spending profile.

 

[caabhi]

I have also been looking into this h2h comparison. Following are my thoughts

1. If you are looking for the best reward rates, axis reserve would > Amex Platcharge for 90% of the people.

• Reserve yields points 6MB (Marriott bonvoy equivalent points) for Rs100 spent while PlatCharge gives 2.5MB for each Rs100. So you get 3.5 MB points for each Rs100 extra on reserve
• 125k MR points on signup vs 40k for axis means if you spend c.25L+ annually then will get more points on Axis. Also remember Axis has 12k< in fees than the amex PC
• important to note that reserve gives these points annually while with plat charge you will have to seek some sort of renewal offer
• Earn rates on FX spends / multipliers / gyftr are better for Reserve or same as Amex

2. But Amex PC has some nice features if you use them

• 25% off Taj hotels and 3 nights at Oberoi for the price of 2nights. If you do stay in a very expensive Taj or Oberoi property, you will get a decent deal.
• Elite tier memberships at Marriott, Radisson etc
• 10-15% off business class tickets on some airlines
• The "everything" concierge!

If you are one of those customers that can use these benefits, the card will more than payback for its hefty annual fees.

In essence, I would believe that 90%+ people would be happier with a Reserve but for some it may make sense for the plat charge depending on their spending profile.

Good one @CC_Fire !!
Plus with Reserve you know what to expect from year 2, whereas in Plat the value would depend on the kind of retention offer you are able to land. Nevertheless it all depends on the spending pattern and profile as you rightly mentioned.

 

[anirban.choudhury]

Plat charge card is more of a lifestyle card and not rewarding like Reserve or Infinnia.
The card give elite tier status with hotels , access to invite only events , access to centurion lounges etc . Someone who is fond of having a luxuries lifestyle will find more value in plat charge than Reserve. Plus plat charge paves way for “Black card” the ultimate flaunt card.

 

[CC_Fire]

Plus with Reserve you know what to expect from year 2, whereas in Plat the value would depend on the kind of retention offer you are able to land. Nevertheless it all depends on the spending pattern and profile as you rightly mentioned.

Also Edge has better conversion for airlines. In the above case, I have used MR points for MB redemptions which are sort of the best case ones. In edge rewards, airlines conversions have a much better ratio

 

[CC_Fire]

Plat charge card is more of a lifestyle card and not rewarding like Reserve or Infinnia.

Absolutely, it is unmatched for someone who has the lifestyle to benefit from Amex PC. Not to mention their impeccable customer service. You cant compare it to Axis 😃

 

[Deleted member 6719]

Absolutely, it is unmatched for someone who has the lifestyle to benefit from Amex PC. Not to mention their impeccable customer service. You cant compare it to Axis 😃

AmEx is usually TRASH. Overhyped cards for sweet-talking customer support.

In 2016, i called them up to report fraudulent activity on my account (someone used it on an american site using apple pay - and i never used anything apple). The cusDUMBer care didn't agree with my suspicion and needed 25 mins of haggling and argument to finally connect with fraud detection team that confirmed the fraudulent activity.

Do you expect a card with annual fees of $100 upwards mentioning 'you must have received the card usage SMS by mistake'. Lost all trust with them - they are nowhere close to actual banking since unauthorized card usage does not bother their customer support.

Such occasions remind Citi was such a champion !

 

[CC_Fire]

Do you expect a card with annual fees of $100 upwards mentioning 'you must have received the card usage SMS by mistake'. Lost all trust with them - they are nowhere close to actual banking since unauthorized card usage does not bother their customer support.

My experience with them has been top notch so can only talk on the basis of that. And have used only their Plat Charge so no idea if its different for other cards

Its not as rewarding as Magnus etc but compared to Axis, I will take Amex customer service any day !!

 

[faraaz303]

My experience with them has been top notch so can only talk on the basis of that. And have used only their Plat Charge so no idea if its different for other cards

Its not as rewarding as Magnus etc but compared to Axis, I will take Amex customer service any day !!

Ditto, best customer service for any CC. Amex irrespective of the card, rules in this domain.

 

[pathik92]

Good one @CC_Fire !!
Plus with Reserve you know what to expect from year 2, whereas in Plat the value would depend on the kind of retention offer you are able to land. Nevertheless it all depends on the spending pattern and profile as you rightly mentioned.

Is there any updated version for this ? As per current TNC ? Reserve VS Plat charge ?