Should I take the platinum charge card? Looking for suggestions

[the_collector]

Hello everyone!

I am currently being offered an upgrade from my amex plat travel to amex platinum charge and being given 1,35,000 points on paying the fee.

I also have an MRCC.

I understand this offer is pretty common although I have a specific use case and I was hoping for guidance from the community.

So I have an Australia trip planned later this year. I am planning to fly Singapore airlines, Malaysian airlines or indigo+ Qantas via Delhi, Bangalore or Chennai( waiting on visa and will choose appropriately after).

Now what I would like to know is by paying fees of Rs,70,800 and in return getting 1.35L points, can I get more value per point ( in comparison to buying the ticket from the airline directly )for any of the above airlines? Preferably round trip ticket?

If I get the above, I see it as great value as I would anyways spend that money for the ticket but now I can get access to the lounges and also a few hotel tiers that I can make use of this year.

Please note: my spends don't match what a typical amex platinum charge holder would spend and that's why I don't intend on renewing it after the first year as I won't be able to maximise the rewards through spends.

I'm also very new to the miles game so please take that into consideration in your explanation and suggestions. Thanks!

Edit: I also have 40k amex points accumulated and happy to use that if it helps

 

[jeevanreddy58]

Platinum Charge Review by SpendWisely youtube channel

Please check this once

 

[Swastik]

Not sure about flights, but if you're planning to stay in hotels in Aus ,transferring points to marriot and using it with marriot gold will get you good value with room upgrades and breakfast

Or you can wait till next 30% bonus marriot points to get even more value out ,but not sure when that'll happen

 

[drsel]

Expert Spend wisely has clearly given it a big thumbs down.
Watch his expert video in post number 2, it is very interesting and comprehensive.

 

[the_collector]

Platinum Charge Review by SpendWisely youtube channel

Please check this once

Expert Spend wisely has clearly given it a big thumbs down.
Watch his expert video in post number 2, it is very interesting and comprehensive.

Thank you, I'll look at the video and come back with any query here!

 

[the_collector]

Not sure about flights, but if you're planning to stay in hotels in Aus ,transferring points to marriot and using it with marriot gold will get you good value with room upgrades and breakfast

Or you can wait till next 30% bonus marriot points to get even more value out ,but not sure when that'll happen

Not hotels in Aus, I have friends and relatives and plan to stay with them. So expense is mainly flights

 

[the_collector]

Thank you, I'll look at the video and come back with any query here!

I went through the video, although there is nothing conclusive about what I asked. I'm already aware it doesn't meet my lifestyle but I'm anyways spending on the flight ticket so if I can cover that with the points, I don't mind taking it for a year and using it for the benefits it offers.

So if anybody is in the miles game and has an amex , hopefully they can answer if I can use the points for a round trip to Aus and if it'll give me better value than directly buying

 

[Slayer]

The fact you posted this at 3:49 AM should be the reason you should take it

 

[the_collector]

The fact you posted this at 3:49 AM should be the reason you should take it

😅

I have off working hours currently and some jetlag

 

[Slayer]

😅

I have off working hours currently and some jetlag

All komedi aside 50p per MR point is good value as these points never expire and when Amex/Marriot runs any bonus for points transfers then you would be able to extract more value out of your MR points and to extend Marriot points validity you just need to transfer a bit from one of your Credit Cards to your account or there are people who would be happy to buy it from you at 0.45-0.5 per Marriot point

 

[sxchzy]

The fact you posted this at 3:49 AM should be the reason you should take it

acha
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[abhishek12333@rediffmail.]

Very simple answer. It is clear that you are thinking of taking this card only to exploit the welcome points (which also do not cover the astronomical joining fee plus GST). Further, you have mentioned that you have no intention of continuing with this card in the second year. This clearly shows that you do not actually need this card. One should never take cards just for the welcome benefits. One should take the card which suit one’s needs and for their long-term use and value. Don’t jump in FOMO. AVOID THIS CARD LIKE PLAGUE!!

 

[the_collector]

Very simple answer. It is clear that you are thinking of taking this card only to exploit the welcome points (which also do not cover the astronomical joining fee plus GST). Further, you have mentioned that you have no intention of continuing with this card in the second year. This clearly shows that you do not actually need this card. One should never take cards just for the welcome benefits. One should take the card which suit one’s needs and for their long-term use and value. Don’t jump in FOMO. AVOID THIS CARD LIKE PLAGUE!!

Yeah I wouldn't have taken it in any other scenario, but I do know you can extract more value from each MR points in different scenarios ( I use it for MB).

I was thinking purely from that perspective as I anyways have to spend for my flight ticket, so it would be the same.

If it covers it, I see no harm taking the card for a year. I stay in MB and Taj properties and travel quite a lot so can make use of the lounge benefits

 

[sgoyal9]

I have thought of getting this card at least 10 times in the past year. I have what I consider high credit card usage and still have never been able to pull the trigger.
Two major reasons:
Insane fees, I just cannot justify paying so much for "conceirge services" no matter how magical they may be. The other benefits hardly add anything that you cannot get one way or the other.
Super low acceptance. In India acceptance is terrible. Not in jewellery stores, not in petrol pumps, not in grocery stores, not online, etc. Cannot even use it much.

In short, not worth it

 

[neo.puneet]

N o .

 

[ccrnc]

I went through the video, although there is nothing conclusive about what I asked. I'm already aware it doesn't meet my lifestyle but I'm anyways spending on the flight ticket so if I can cover that with the points, I don't mind taking it for a year and using it for the benefits it offers.

So if anybody is in the miles game and has an amex , hopefully they can answer if I can use the points for a round trip to Aus and if it'll give me better value than directly buying

I am in the miles game somewhat. I would advise against it for your very specific use case. Indian amex has bad transfer ratios for all airlines. The simplest one to book with for your trip would be Singapore, and there you’d get 3:1 ratio, shrinking your bonus considerably. You probably wouldn’t even get return economy in 45k, maybe one way at best. Definitely not worth 70k inr. Only take it if you can use the points in Marriott, and those rates are dynamic too.