I am considering the AMEX Platinum Charge Card. It has an annual fees of appx 71K including tax. Now, on paper, I get 45K worth vouchers + benefits against this which help recover the balance and a lot more (so they say).
Do any of you have this card? Does AMEX indeed offer a compelling alternative to online booking sites like MMT/ Goibibo for discounted domestic/ international travel and stay?
Does the concierge service really work? Or, is it an oversell?
You get the Charge Card for only one service. The Concierge. The Concierge is the greatest in the world. They once arranged a boat for me when I missed a ferry.
My parents had this card for a couple of years before they gave it up. Yes, on paper you get a lot of benefits that set-off and even exceed the annual fee, but the question is: 1. How often will you be able to avail these benefits 2. What are these benefits worth to you
Cool, you get vouchers for Taj/Marriott whatever their new partnership is. This is the main thing that is supposed to set-off the annual fee. Everything else is frivolous math just for marketing purposes. We may have had the Plat Charge, but we are distinctly upper middle class. We are content with a Treebo/Radisson Blu. We don't need a Taj/Marriott. So it was an issue of diminishing marginal utility: sure, nice benefit which is supposedly monetarily worth 45K, but that 45K itself is not worth it to us.
The only reason one should even consider Amex is because of their customer service, it truly is unparalleled. There are cheaper cards with similar benefits, but it takes so much effort to avail those benefits. The concierge service definitely works and Amex Plat concierge is the best one there is. But again, the point is, how often will you use it? It came in handy once when we had to travel at like an hour's notice and didn't have time to book the tickets ourselves but for the most part it's just a superfluous luxury, esp since in India, you can't even just tell them what to do and then disconnect. You need to stay on the line because no transactions can be made without the OTP.
P.S: Hadn't Amex stopped taking on new customers a few years back?
I would strongly advise you to hustle more and aim for the HDFC Infinia Card, which has more privileges in India.
Till then, aim for 2 cards - 1. Axis Bank-Vistara (F+B plus Airmiles and the Vistara benefits) and 2. SBICap Gold (for general kharche)
Amex Platinum is reasonable (I used to have it before they offered me the Centurion) but not for those who spend most of their time in India, as it is not widely accepted (unless you spend half of your time in SoBo or play golf half of the day on weekends like me - then go for it). The sole benefits that I liked were the Vistara 2-hour prior change facility, and the 50% suite discount at Oberoi (p.s: Associates ke liye suite book hona mushkil hai and 2-hour prior change ka kya hi faida unless you're a Partner). Vistara pe overall 15% off is also okay, but service fee aur surge karke baat ghoom phir ke aas paas aajati hai. Plus, when you're living a busy life, you really can't choose your flights on the basis of airline preference.
Outside India, the benefits are much better, and the benefits are actually realised.
For now, try to grab some outstation visits on the Law Firm's bill and master the Hotel Points (Taj, Oberoi, Accor, Hilton, or Marriott - pick a group and stay loyal) + Airmiles (join Vistara for Domestic ofc, KLM/Flying Blue for SkyTeam, United Airlines for Star Alliance - avoid unallied carriers like Spicejet, Akasa, TruJet, GoFirst, and ofc Indigo) and always look at small schemes with your card or airline and hotel group membership (for e.g. Kiehl's + Vistara collab).
All of the aforementioned advice is with the presumption that you have at least 18L post-tax and post-investment (stonks, FDs, and whatever you call it) disposable income if married and 12L if unmarried live in Bombay or Delhi.
Many cards way above infinia, Axis Reserve or Magnus are now running sky high. Plus many other good cards. Learn these things first before parcelling out such gyan, sitting in ivory tower.
Axis Magnus and Rserve don’t hit the same benefits on flight bookings (15% RP). Infinia is usually offered free if you have your salary account there.
Also, I see a significantly detailed explanation on Infinia plus Vistara Infinite. Your comment is half assed with unnecessary comments. Either add value or really don’t pitch in.
Here is a general rule of thumb. It you're asking if 71k is worth it, the card is not meant for you. The card is meant for people who don't care if they get the money back.
My favourite is the MRCC. The one advantage that Amex has is the Pay with Points, which as far as I know nobody else offers. They are also not cheap in the sense that your points accumulate as you spend and not as you pay your bills. Their customer interface has absolutely no parallel, even sans the concierge.
If you want to enter their ecosystem, both the MRCC and the Gold are good options. The Plat is only an ego booster. If you really made it big, you'll be offered a Black.
On a related note. I (A2 at T1 firm, T1 NLU grad) am currently using the HDFC Infinia credit card. I had to hustle my RM hard early on to get it. The fee is not insignificant, but the card is quite sexy, the metal card always makes a point/statement when I take it out at bars/restaurants at work dinners, dates etc. I use it for all my bills/payments/tickets/shopping/travel. What card should I upgrade to?
Do any of you have this card? Does AMEX indeed offer a compelling alternative to online booking sites like MMT/ Goibibo for discounted domestic/ international travel and stay?
Does the concierge service really work? Or, is it an oversell?
1. How often will you be able to avail these benefits
2. What are these benefits worth to you
Cool, you get vouchers for Taj/Marriott whatever their new partnership is. This is the main thing that is supposed to set-off the annual fee. Everything else is frivolous math just for marketing purposes. We may have had the Plat Charge, but we are distinctly upper middle class. We are content with a Treebo/Radisson Blu. We don't need a Taj/Marriott. So it was an issue of diminishing marginal utility: sure, nice benefit which is supposedly monetarily worth 45K, but that 45K itself is not worth it to us.
The only reason one should even consider Amex is because of their customer service, it truly is unparalleled. There are cheaper cards with similar benefits, but it takes so much effort to avail those benefits. The concierge service definitely works and Amex Plat concierge is the best one there is. But again, the point is, how often will you use it? It came in handy once when we had to travel at like an hour's notice and didn't have time to book the tickets ourselves but for the most part it's just a superfluous luxury, esp since in India, you can't even just tell them what to do and then disconnect. You need to stay on the line because no transactions can be made without the OTP.
P.S: Hadn't Amex stopped taking on new customers a few years back?
I would strongly advise you to hustle more and aim for the HDFC Infinia Card, which has more privileges in India.
Till then, aim for 2 cards - 1. Axis Bank-Vistara (F+B plus Airmiles and the Vistara benefits) and 2. SBICap Gold (for general kharche)
Amex Platinum is reasonable (I used to have it before they offered me the Centurion) but not for those who spend most of their time in India, as it is not widely accepted (unless you spend half of your time in SoBo or play golf half of the day on weekends like me - then go for it). The sole benefits that I liked were the Vistara 2-hour prior change facility, and the 50% suite discount at Oberoi (p.s: Associates ke liye suite book hona mushkil hai and 2-hour prior change ka kya hi faida unless you're a Partner). Vistara pe overall 15% off is also okay, but service fee aur surge karke baat ghoom phir ke aas paas aajati hai. Plus, when you're living a busy life, you really can't choose your flights on the basis of airline preference.
Outside India, the benefits are much better, and the benefits are actually realised.
For now, try to grab some outstation visits on the Law Firm's bill and master the Hotel Points (Taj, Oberoi, Accor, Hilton, or Marriott - pick a group and stay loyal) + Airmiles (join Vistara for Domestic ofc, KLM/Flying Blue for SkyTeam, United Airlines for Star Alliance - avoid unallied carriers like Spicejet, Akasa, TruJet, GoFirst, and ofc Indigo) and always look at small schemes with your card or airline and hotel group membership (for e.g. Kiehl's + Vistara collab).
All of the aforementioned advice is with the presumption that you have at least 18L post-tax and post-investment (stonks, FDs, and whatever you call it) disposable income if married and 12L if unmarried live in Bombay or Delhi.
Cheers.
Also, I see a significantly detailed explanation on Infinia plus Vistara Infinite. Your comment is half assed with unnecessary comments. Either add value or really don’t pitch in.
The card is meant for people who don't care if they get the money back.
If you want to enter their ecosystem, both the MRCC and the Gold are good options. The Plat is only an ego booster. If you really made it big, you'll be offered a Black.