Redeeming American Express Points - Beginner's Guide

The complete guide on how to make the most of your Amex Membership Reward Points.

American Express, also known as AMEX, offers a variety of cards suitable for both beginners and experts in the credit card ecosystem. AMEX stands out for its straightforward reward structure, quick credit point turnaround, and exceptional customer service.

AMEX provides cards that reward you based on your spending. Their offerings include a mix of charge cards and credit cards. Unlike credit cards, charge cards do not have a pre-set spending limit and do not allow for unpaid balances to be carried forward. The Platinum and Gold cards are charge cards, while the Platinum Travel, Platinum Reserve, MRCC, and Smart Earn are credit cards.

All cards earn Membership Rewards Points, also known as MR points.

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AMEX Reward Currency - Membership Rewards (MR) Points

MR points can be redeemed for a variety of benefits, including statement credits, gift vouchers, travel bookings, and transfers to airline and hotel partners.

One of the great features of MR points is that they never expire!

Each card in the AMEX ecosystem offers unique benefits, with each having its own method of earning points.

While you review the summarized table above and strategize how to maximize your MR points based on your spending (if you need tips on this, feel free to ask), let's explore the redemption options:

Maximise your MR Redemptions

While you might see screenshots of massive MR point balances, even up to a million or more, I advocate for an "earn and burn" philosophy. Don't wait for a devaluation to force you to transfer points unexpectedly. Instead, use them on your next trip to add a touch of luxury to your vacation!

Another pitfall in the redemption world is the value derived per point. You might see many discussions about redeeming at 3, 4, or even 5 Rs per point. However, I believe the best value is what's available when you need it, even if it's as low as 0.5 Rs per point.

With that in mind, let's explore the redemption options available with MR points:

Statement Credit

One straightforward method to redeem your MR points is by applying them as a statement credit. To do this, log into your AMEX account, navigate to the rewards and benefits section, and select the 'Cover Card Charges' tab.

Here, you can choose a transaction and redeem your points against it at a rate of ₹0.25 per point. However, I wouldn't typically recommend this option as there are usually more better alternatives available.

Gift Vouchers

Redeeming for Gift Vouchers is another similar option. However, it also offers a similar return rate of approximately ₹0.25 per point.

These vouchers cover a variety of brands across E-Commerce marketplaces, Jewellery, F&B, Electronics, etc. However, due to the return ratio, it is not the most ideal redemption option, as previously suggested.

Travel Bookings via AMEX Portal

AMEX operates a travel portal called AMEX Travel Online (ATO), which offers a slightly better redemption ratio of ₹0.33 per point.

Sometimes, low-cost carriers may not be available on the portal, but it generally functions well. While certainly not the best option to use your MR points for, this can come in handy when award tickets are not available, I would not usually recommend it though unless you have absolutely no other use for your MR points.

Gold Collection Vouchers

If you hold the Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC) or the Gold Charge card, you get access to the 18K and the 24K Gold collection, where the reward return becomes significantly better.

Some of the options are listed below:

Taj Hotels: ₹9000 voucher for 18,000 MR points or ₹14000 voucher for 24,000 MR points .
Tanishq: ₹9000 Voucher for 24,000 MR points.
Myntra: ₹7000 Voucher for 18,000 MR points.
Amazon & Flipkart: ₹8000 Voucher for 24,000 MR points.

Almost a 0.6 Rs per point conversion ratio for Taj vouchers.

This comes in handy when you want to redeem your 10,000 Taj Voucher received from Platinum Travel or Platinum Charge card and you need more vouchers to cover for your stay.

AMEX Experiences

Under the Insta Vouchers rewards section, you'll find an exciting feature called Experiences. The image above showcases the currently available options, some of which are well worth the point redemption.

Highlighted below are a couple of redemption-worthy options:

Gir Jungle Safari with Stay includes a 2-night stay at the Gir Postcard Hotel and a private jeep safari once during the stay (breakfast included). Given its value, it's a steal at 80K at the revenue rate and can be booked using AMEX Experiences for 1.11L points.

Another great redemption under experiences is The Post Card Hotel on the Arabian Sea (Maravanthe Beach, Karnataka). This package includes a 2-night stay and a boat ride to watch Dolphins swim. It can also be redeemed for 1.11L MR points.

These options are definitely worth considering redemptions.

Transfer MR Points to Transfer Partners

This is where things get interesting and can potentially offer outsized value for your MR points.

Redeeming your MR points through the partners listed in the image below is likely the best option. Standout partners include Virgin Atlantic, Avios Partners, and Singapore Krisflyer.

However, Marriott Bonvoy offers a superb transfer ratio of 1:1, making it the top choice, while the transfers to airline partners are on a 2:1 ration.

Keep an eye out for the annual transfer bonus, which grants an additional 30% of Marriott Bonvoy points upon transferring, effectively making the ratio 1:1.3.

To illustrate why transferring miles is the best option, let's explore some potential redemptions you could make with early booking:

Marriott Bonvoy: Book The Westin Resort & Spa, Himalayas for 42K points for 2 nights. The regular rate is 70K for 2 nights.

Virgin Atlantic: Travel from BLR to LHR in economy for 10,000 Virgin Points (20,000 MR points) + 100 GBP in taxes.

Qatar Avios: Travel from BOM to CDG (Paris) in economy for 27,500 Avios (55,000 MR points) + 11K INR in taxes.

Conclusion

By now, it should be evident that AMEX offers a variety of excellent benefits to meet all needs, whether you're interested in Amazon/Flipkart vouchers or travel redemptions (for hotels or flights).

The return on these cards ranges from 4% to 10%, so you can choose the one that best fits your lifestyle and spending habits.

I hope this helps you getting started with your redemptions. If you do not have AMEX cards yet, my recommended cards are the Membership Rewards (MRCC), Gold Charge and the Platinum Travel.

You can get all of these cards with no annual fees for the first year plus additional sign up bonuses when using my referral link. The Gold charge comes with a discounted annual fee of ₹1000 for the first year, instead of the usual fee of ₹4500.

🎁 Bonus: If you do use my referral link to apply for a card, please send an email to me at jay@rightonpoints.com to receive an additional Amazon Gift Voucher worth ₹1000 from me. Must email me as soon as you apply though.

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✈️ Right on Points - Award Booking Service

Since the launch of this service back in March, I have helped around 20 odd readers of my blog maximize their points by helping them book flight award tickets using their points.

If this is something you need help with do check out my Award Booking Service.

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