American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card

American Express Platinum Travel Card Features and Benefits

Being one of the premium credit cards issued by American Express, the Platinum Travel Card offers some great privileges across different categories, especially travel. To understand all the features and benefits of this card in detail, refer to the detailed information provided further in the article:

Welcome Benefits:

You get 10,000 American Express Membership Rewards Points as a welcome benefit which can be redeemed on e-commerce websites like Flipkart, for shopping e-vouchers from Amex’s store, offline payments using INSTA Pay, and for payment towards your card’s statement balance under the Cash + Points scheme. You get this welcome benefit only if you spend at least Rs. 15,000 in the first 3 months of the issuance of the card.

Milestone Benefits:

• If you spend Rs. 1.9 lacs in a year, you are entitled to 15,000 Membership Rewards Points worth up to Rs. 7,500 (for redemption against Flipkart voucher or Pay with Points on AmEx Travel Online).
• Expenditure of Rs. 4 lacs entitles you to 25,000 Membership Rewards Points worth up to Rs. 12,500 (for redemption against Flipkart voucher or Pay with Points on AmEx Travel Online) and an additional Taj Stay Voucher worth Rs. 10,000.

Travel Benefits:

• It’s a travel card, so it comes with plenty of travel benefits like 8 domestic lounge access (2 per quarter) and complimentary membership of Priority Pass, with USD 99 waived off (however a usage fee of USD 32 is payable for every lounge visit under the Priority Pass benefit) for the international lounge.
• The Membership Rewards Points can be spent for hotel/flight/car bookings on the Amex Travel Online portal.
• Expenditure of Rs 4 lacs also entitles you to a Taj Stay voucher worth Rs. 10,000 from the Taj, SeleQtions, and Vivanta hotels.

Movie and Dining Benefits:

You get up to a 20% discount on your dining bills at select partner restaurants on payment via the Platinum Travel Card. Apart from this, American Express frequently comes up with attractive offers on food delivery portals like Swiggy and Qmin.

Fuel Surcharge Waiver:

You need not pay any fuel surcharge at any of the HPCL fuel stations across India for transactions up to Rs. 5000, however, a surcharge of 1% is payable for all transactions greater than Rs. 5000.

AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card Rewards:

Every Rs. 100 spent using the AmEx Platinum Travel credit card earns you 2 Membership Rewards Points.

Rewards Redemption:

• The Membership Rewards Points can be redeemed on popular e-commerce websites (like Flipkart), by purchasing e-vouchers from Amex’s online shopping portal, INSTA purchases at offline stores, and also making credit card bill payments under the Cash + Points scheme.
• Amex’s Membership Rewards Points can also be transferred to other air miles and hotel loyalty programs like Asia Miles, British Airways Executive Club, Club Vistara, Emirates, Skywards, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, InterMiles, Qatar Privilege Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Points, Marriott Bonovoy and Hilton Honors.

AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card Fees and Charges

• Annual Fee: The annual renewal fee of the AmEx Platinum Travel Card is Rs. 5,000 per annum, however, the first year’s annual fee (joining fee) is just Rs. 3,500, while the renewal fee of Rs. 5,000 per annum is applicable second year onwards.
• Interest Rate: If you are not able to pay off your American Express Platinum Credit Card bill on time, an interest rate of 3.5% per month is applicable on the due amount.
• Cash Advance Charge: A cash advance fee of 3.5% of the withdrawn amount (subject to a minimum charge of Rs. 250) is applicable on cash withdrawals using the AmEx Platinum Travel Card.
• Foreign Currency Mark-up Charge: A mark-up fee of 3.5% of the transaction amount is applicable on all foreign currency transactions made with this Credit Card.

Advantages of AmEx Platinum Travel Card

• Attractive Milestone Benefits: AmEx Platinum Travel Card provides very attractive milestone benefits to cardholders- 15,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points on an annual expenditure of Rs. 1.9 lacs and 25,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points on the expenditure of Rs. 4 lacs in a year. Apart from the Bonus Membership Rewards Points, you get 3700 Regular Membership Points, you also get complimentary Taj Stay vouchers worth Rs. 10,000 with the card.
• Complimentary Domestic Airport Lounge Access: This Credit Card offers 8 complimentary lounge access per annum (max 2 per quarter) at domestic airports across India- which is a decent number of lounge visits for a sub-premium travel credit card.
• Movie and Dining Discounts: Although this Credit Card is a travel credit card, you also do get a discount of up to 20% at partner restaurants across the country.

Drawbacks of AmEx Platinum Travel Card

• Reward Rate: AmEx Platinum Travel Card earns you 2 Membership Rewards Points per Rs. 100 spent with the card. Since the maximum monetary value of 1 Membership Rewards Point is Rs. 0.5, the maximum reward rate that you can get with AmEx Platinum Travel Card is 1%. However, you do get a 3x reward rate on purchases made via American Express Reward Multiplier Portal.
• No Complimentary International Airport Lounge Access: As far as international airport lounge access is concerned, Platinum Travel Credit Card offers no complimentary lounge access at international airports. However, the card does offer a complimentary membership of the Priority Pass lounge access program (worth USD 99) for international airport lounge access. Lounge access under the Priority Pass membership that you get with the Platinum Travel Card is chargeable- USD 27 per visit per guest.
• No Insurance Benefits: While most travel credit cards offer a complimentary comprehensive insurance cover with travel-related insurance benefits like personal air accident cover, insurance against loss/delay of check-in luggage, loss of travel documents, etc., you do not get any insurance benefit with this Card.

Who Should Apply?

American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card is the right credit card for you if-

• you do not want to compromise with your travel experience as AmEx Platinum Travel Card offers complimentary Taj Stay Vouchers to the cardholders on achieving certain stipulated spend milestones.
• you are a frequent domestic traveler as the card entitles you to 8 complimentary airport lounge access at domestic airports across India.

You should look for a better option if-

• direct reward rate is more important for you than add-on privileges like complimentary hotel vouchers.
• you are a frequent international flyer as American Express Platinum Credit Card entitles you to Priority Pass membership, you do not get any complimentary international airport lounge access with the card.
• you want complimentary insurance benefits with your credit card.
• you want a travel credit card with a lower markup fee on foreign currency transactions.

Credit Cards Similar to AmEx Express Platinum Travel

Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card and HDFC Diners club Miles Credit Card are two credit cards that are similar to the American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card in terms of the benefits that they offer. The following table gives a comparison between the three credit cards-

AmEx Platinum Travel Card Eligibility and Documentation

The income and age-based eligibility criteria for the American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card is as per the table below-

Documents Required

You need to submit the following documents to American Express for your application for the Platinum Travel Credit Card to be processed-

• Identity Proof: Aadhar Card, Voter ID Card, PAN Card driving license, passport, etc.
• Address Proof: Aadhar Card, Voter ID Card, electricity/telephone bills, passport, etc.
• Proof of Income: Salary slips or ITR acknowledgments.

How to Apply for AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card

You can apply for an American Express Platinum Travel credit card either online or offline. The application procedure is very simple. You need to provide a few documents including identity proof (like an Aadhar card), address proof, PAN card, and income proof, and submit your application online. The American Express officials will contact you in case any additional documents are required. If your application is successful, you’ll receive your card within 15 days, otherwise, the Amex officials will get in touch with you within 90 days.

Conclusion:

Although the annual fee of the American Express Platinum Travel credit card is slightly on the higher side (Rs. 5000 after the first year), it is a decent credit card for people with wanderlust and for those frequent fliers who travel on business trips. Apart from the travel benefits, the card also offers some shopping benefits, so it might also fit the needs of someone who loves to shop online.

What do you think about this card? Do let us know in the comments, and if you’re an existing user or if you have used this credit card in the past, feel free to comment and let us know about your experience with the card.