Fees
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Travel | Dining | Shopping |
Reward Type
Reward Points
American Express, or AmEx, is a US-based multinational financial corporation known for its premium credit cards and charge cards around the world. It is both a card issuer and a credit card network as you can get cards issued by AmEx for which the payment is processed over its own network, and also cards issued by other financial institutions in partnership with the AmEx card network. The corporation forayed into the Indian credit card market in 1993, and very soon, American Express Cards became one of the most premium cards in the country.
As of January 2024, there were more than 13.4 lakh American Express credit cards outstanding in India. Being a card issuer as well as a credit card network, AmEx has become unique in its own way and hence provides its customers with some exclusive offers across different categories. In this article, we will help you understand the best AmEx Cards of various types.
American Express doesn’t issue many credit cards like HDFC Bank or SBI Card, but all the cards issued by AmEx offer great privileges over different categories. You can find the best AmEx Credit Cards, their detailed features & benefits, and other information below in this article:
Travel | Dining | Shopping |
Reward Points
Travel | Shopping |
Reward Points
Travel | Shopping |
Reward Points
Travel |
Reward Points
Shopping |
Reward Points
Shopping |
Reward Points
AmEx offers different credit cards with several exclusive features and benefits over different categories, including reward programs, travel, movie & dining benefits, and many more. You can compare AmEx Cards on the basis of all the benefits offered by them and choose the one that suits your requirements. Following are the type of benefits that you can enjoy if you are having an AmEx Credit Card:
Welcome Benefits: You get the welcome benefits when you join the card membership, i.e., when you get a credit card and pay the joining fee. The welcome benefit can be given to you in the form of bonus membership rewards, accelerated cash back, or gift vouchers, and it varies from one Amex card to another.
Reward Points: With AmEx Cards, you are rewarded with Membership Rewards every time you make a transaction using your credit card. However, the reward rate on every Amex card can be different, and you can also get accelerated rewards on selected categories.
Milestone Benefits: The milestone benefits are offered when the cardholders achieve a minimum spend threshold within a specific time period, which can be every month, after every few months or after an anniversary year.
Travel benefits: You also get exciting travel benefits with some of the top AmEx Credit/Charge Cards. Travel benefits offer complimentary airport lounge access, complimentary memberships to selected airlines/hotels, complimentary hotel/airline vouchers, exclusive discount offers over travel-related spends, and many more.
Movie & Dining Benefits: The movie and dining benefits offered by American Express Cards generally include discounts on dining/movies, complimentary memberships with dining benefits, free movie tickets, buy one get one (BOGO) and many more.
Other Benefits: Other benefits offered by the AmEx cards include a 1% fuel surcharge waiver, a spend-based annual fee waiver, insurance benefits over different categories, golf privileges, and more.
Refer to the following points for detailed features and benefits of the top AmEx Cards in India:
AmEx Platinum credit card is the most premium card by AmEx. It is a Charge card, therefore there is no preset credit limit. The card comes with a hefty annual membership fee of Rs. 60,000 and earns you-
Being a premium card, it offers a plethora of travel, movie, dining, and insurance benefits, including unlimited access to domestic and international airport lounges, discounts on movie tickets and at partner restaurants, and personal air accident cover worth Rs. 5 crores.
It is another Charge card offered by American Express. This card gives the choice to choose between the annual and the monthly membership plan. The membership fee of the Gold Card is Rs. 4,500 per annum. The reward points benefits that you get with this card are as follows-
Apart from these benefits, you get many other premium privileges, including travel, movie and dining, with the American Express Gold Charge Card.
The Platinum Reserve card is also a premium offering by AmEx. The membership fee of this card is Rs. 10,000 per annum (joining fee of Rs. 5,000) and it comes with a welcome gift of 11,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points. The card earns you a flat 1 Membership Rewards Point on every Rs. 50 spent with the card (excluding for fuel purchases and spends on utilities, insurance, and EMI transactions). Apart from the Membership Rewards Points, you get a plethora of other premium benefits including a 24×7 concierge service, golf privileges, complimentary domestic and international lounge access, personal air accident cover worth Rs. 1 crore, etc.
As the name suggests, it is a premium travel credit card by AmEx. This card earns you 1 Membership Rewards Point for every Rs. 50 you spend using the card and comes with a plethora of benefits including (limited) complimentary domestic airport lounge access, Priority Pass membership, discount on movie tickets, and dining benefits. Since it is a travel card, you get a Taj Stay voucher (worth Rs. 10,000) as a special travel benefit on spending Rs. 4 lacs in the card’s membership year.
It is a mid-level card by AmEx and offers you a decent reward rate. As a welcome gift of 4,000 Membership Rewards points; you earn 1 Membership Rewards Points per Rs. 50 spent using the card. Also get many milestone benefits and other benefits like zero liability protection, fuel surcharge waiver, etc.
The SmartEarn card is an entry-level shopping credit card by AmEx. It comes with a nominal annual fee of Rs. 495 per annum, and you get Rs. 500 cashback as a Welcome Benefit on eligible spends of Rs. 10,000 in the first 90 days of the card membership. Apart from this, you get the following Reward Points benefits with this card-
You earn Reward Points on AmEx cards as Membership Reward Points. The following table summarizes the reward point/cashback benefit that you get with the aforementioned cards –
Credit Card | Reward Points / Cashback |
American Express Platinum Credit Card |
1 Membership Rewards Point on every Rs. 40 spent using the card.
3X Points on all expenditures abroad. |
American Express Gold Credit Card | 1 Membership Rewards Point for every Rs. 50 spent with the card. |
American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | 1 Membership Reward Point for every Rs. 50 spent with the card. |
American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | 1 Membership Rewards Point for every Rs. 50 spent using the card. |
American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | 1 membership reward point for every Rs 50 spent excluding fuel transactions, Utility bill payments, insurance, and cash transactions |
American Express SmartEarn Credit Card |
1 Membership Reward Point/Rs. 50 spent (with a few exceptions), accelerated Reward Points on Amazon and Flipkart (10X), Uber (10X) and on other merchants like Paytm, Swiggy, PVR, etc (5%). |
Reward Multiplier is American Express’s proprietary portal on which you earn Membership Reward Points at an accelerated (2X to 5X) rate. You can purchase shopping vouchers from popular brands like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, etc; you can also buy products from third-party merchants including Apple, Lenovo, OnePlus, etc (you are redirected to the merchant’s page from the Reward Multiplier page when you click on the link). When you shop via Reward Multiplier, you earn-
The Membership Reward Points earned on AmEx cards can be redeemed against Instant Vouchers, hotel vouchers/gift cards, partner airlines’ AirMiles, or cash back (adjustment against the card’s statement). The monetary value of the Membership Rewards Points is between Rs. 0.25 and Rs. 0.50 depending upon the redemption category. The maximum redemption value of AmEx Membership Rewards Points is for redemption against Taj Stay Vouchers (1 MRP = Rs. 0.50).
Different AmEx Credit Cards charge different annual fee, which can be lower or higher on the basis of features & benefits of that particular card. Low annual fee Credit Cards are generally targeted at low-income individuals or people who are new to the world of credit cards, and high annual fee cards target high net worth individuals having a good prior experience of using credit cards:
Credit Card | Joining Fee | Renewal Fee | Spends Based Waiver |
American Express Platinum Credit Card | Rs. 60,000 | Rs. 60,000 | None |
American Express Gold Credit Card | Rs. 1,000 | Rs. 4,500 | None |
American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | Rs. 5,000 | Rs. 10,000 | None |
American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | Rs. 3,500 | Rs. 5,000 | None |
American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | Rs. 1,000 | Rs. 4,500 | 50% renewal fee waiver on annual spends between Rs. 90,000 and Rs. 1,49,999. 100% renewal fee waiver on annual spends Rs. 1,50,000 and above. |
American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | Rs, 495 | Rs. 495 | Annual fee waived on spends of Rs. 50,000 in the previous year. |
Apart from the the annual fee, credit cards have some additional fees and charges as well, including interest rates, cash advance fee (fee charges on withdrawing cash using a credit card, foreign currency markup fee (fee charged on making transactions in a different currency), late payment fee, over-limit fee, and a few more. Refer to the following table to understand some most important charges:
Interest Rate | 3.5% per month on all cards. |
Cash Advance Charges | 3.5% of the withdrawn amount subject to a minimum of Rs. 250. |
Foreign Currency Markup Fee | 3.5% of the transaction amount. |
For detailed fees and charges of AmEx Credit Cards, click here.
The essential eligibility criteria that the applicants need to fulfil in order to get an American Express Credit Card are mentioned below:
Check more details about the AmEx Credit Cards Eligibility Criteria.
You need to submit KYC documents, including an ID proof (Aadhar Card, Voter Card, PAN Card, etc.), address proof (Aadhar Card, Voter Card, electricity/telephone bill, etc.), and proof of income like salary slips or audited ITR acknowledgment to the card issuer for your card application to be processed.
To apply for an AmEx Credit Card, you need to visit the credit cards page on the official AmEx website and select the card you wish to apply for. Now a new page will open with details (features, benefits and fees, and charges) of the card you selected. On this page, you can either directly apply for the card by clicking/tapping on the Apply Now option, or you can also click/tap on Compare to compare the card against other AmEx cards and then decide to apply.
After you click/tap on Apply Now, a registration form opens, which you need to fill out for your application to be processed. You will also need to provide a few documents like an ID proof (Voter Card, Aadhar Card, etc.), address proof (Aadhar Card, Passport, Voter Card, electricity/telephone bill), and proof of income (salary slip/ITR acknowledgment) to proceed with your application.
In case you have already applied for an American Express Card, you have the facility to track the status of your application either by visiting your nearest branch or by contacting AmEx Cards customer care via call/email. Just make sure to note down your application id at the time of applying for the card so that you can track your credit card application status easily.
After receiving a new American Express Credit Card, the very first thing you need to do is to activate it. You can do the same online as well as offline at your convenience using any of the methods that are mentioned below:
The American Express Credit Cardholders can make several cards related tasks easier for them by registering for the internet banking services. Following are the steps you need to follow to register your AmEx Credit Card for netbanking:
For more detailed information on AmEx Credit Cards netbaking/login, click here.
Along with all the great credit card offerings, the American Express bank also offer its cardholders with a dedicated customer support. For any doubts/complaints regarding your AmEx Credit Cards, you can always contact the AmEx Credit Card customer care as follows:
For more details about AmEx Credit Cards customer care, check this page.
AmEx offers some credit cards with exciting travel benefits, including complimentary airport lounge access to domestic as well as international airports. Following are the American Express Cards that provide you with some world-class travel privileges:
The Platinum Credit Card is the most premium card offered by AmEx and hence comes with lucrative benefits over all the categories including travel. Following are the travel benefits offered with this card:
– Unlimited complimentary domestic lounge access.
– Complimentary international lounge access to over 1,600 Priority Pass & Delta lounges.
– 25% discount at Taj & Vivanta hotels.
– Exclusive deals & offers over some of the major airlines.
The AmEx Platinum Reserve is also one of the finest cards offered by American Express. The following are the travel privileges that you get with this card:
– 12 complimentary domestic lounge access every year.
– Complimentary Priority Pass membership.
– Complimentary Taj Epicure membership.
As suggested by its name, the AmEx Platinum Travel Card is targeted at individuals who love to travel. It offers several exciting travel benefits, which are as follows:
– 8 complimentary access to domestic lounges every year.
– Complimentary Priority Pass membership.
– Taj stay vouchers worth up to Rs. 10k on achieving the spend milestone.
AmEx doesn’t issue any lifetime free credit card as of now, you can have a low annual fee card from AmEx, which is the AmEx SmartEarn Card that comes with an annual fee of Rs. 495. This nominal annual fee can also be waived off on spending Rs. 40,000 or more in the previous anniversary year.
All the AmEx Credit Cards earn you Reward Points on all your spends but the reward rate can be different on different cards and on different categories. Following are some of the AmEx Cards with the best Reward programs:
The SmartEarn Credit Card issued by AmEx is the most basic card, but comes with the best reward rate. It earns you 1 Membership Reward on every spend of Rs. 50 and up to 10x Rewards on selected spends, including Amazon, Flipkart, Uber, etc.
Being the most premium AmEx Card, the Platinum Card comes with a great reward rate. It earns you 1 membership reward on every spend of Rs. 40 and up to 5x Rewards on selected spends via the Rewards Multiplier portal.
The AmEx Gold Credit Card offers 1 Membership Reward Point on every retail spend of Rs. 50 as a basic reward rate and up to 5x Reward Points on the Rewards Multiplier portal.
Rewards Rate 5% of spends as Fuel Points at IndianOil outlets, groceries, and bill payments, 1 Fuel Point on every Rs. 150 spent on all other purchases, reward rate of up to 4.8%
Apply NowRewards Rate 25 reward points for every Rs. 100 spends at BPCL fuel stations (reward rate = 6.25%), 10 RPs for every Rs. 100 spends on groceries, departmental stores, and movie ticket purchases (reward rate = 2.5%), and 1 reward point for every Rs. 100 spent for all other expenditures (reward rate = 0.25%) except mobile wallet uploads and fuel purchases at non-BPCL stations.
Apply NowRewards Rate 20 Reward Points per Rs. 100 on fuel transactions at IOCL stations, 5 Reward Points per Rs. 100 on online shopping and 1 EDGE Point per Rs. 100 on all other spends with the card
Apply NowRewards Rate 4% cashback on fuel spends at HPCL pumps, 5% cashback as RPs on departmental store spends & utility purchases, 2 Reward points per Rs. 100 spent for all other domestic and international transactions.
Apply NowRewards Rate Save up to 5% as rewards on grocery and utility expenses of up to worth Rs. 2,000 per month, Save up to 5% as a reward on IDFC FIRST FASTag recharge max Rs. 1,000 per month, and 3X rewards on all other retail transactions.
Apply NowRewards Rate Get 24 Reward Points on every Rs. 150 spent on fuel. Get 12 Reward Points on every Rs. 150 spent on grocery and dining. Get 3 Reward Points on every Rs. 150 spent on other transactions.
Apply Now