American Express Platinum Credit Card vs Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card- Which on to pick?

If you are a high net-worth individual and are considering applying for a top-end premium credit card, American Express Platinum Card and Axis Bank Reserve Card would have definitely come to your mind. Both these credit cards are super-premium credit cards and come with a hefty membership fee of Rs. 50,000 (for Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card) and Rs. 60,000 (for American Express Platinum Credit Card).

As both the cards are super-premium credit cards, apart from a decent reward rate you also get a plethora of additional benefits and perks such as complimentary domestic and international airport lounge access, comprehensive insurance cover, complimentary hotel gift vouchers, and many more. In this article, we will be giving a pointwise comparison between AmEx Platinum Credit Card and Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card.

American Express Platinum Credit Card

American Express Platinum Credit Card is a super-premium credit card by the card issuer. With an annual fee of Rs. 60,000, it is one of the top-few credit cards with the highest membership fee in the Indian credit card market. Some of the key features of the American Express Platinum Credit Card are as under-

• AmEx Platinum Card is a Charge Card, i.e., it does not come with a predefined credit limit- the credit limit varies based on the spending behavior of the customer.
• You get 1,00,000 Membership Rewards Points and gift vouchers worth Rs. 45,000 from Vivanta Hotels, Taj, and SeleQtions as a welcome benefit on joining the card membership.
• The card earns you 1 Membership Rewards Point per Rs. 40 spent except spends on fuel, utility and insurance transactions.
• You earn up to 5 Membership Rewards Points per Rs. 100 spent on fuel.
• The card also entitles you to unlimited domestic airport lounge access and international lounge access at over 1,200 airport lounges including Centurion Lounges, American Express Lounges, Priority Pass Lounges, Escape Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges.
• You earn 3X Membership Rewards Points on all spends abroad and 5X Membership Rewards Points via Reward Multiplier.
• You also get a discount of up to 50% at over 1,800 premium restaurants in India and complimentary membership of the EazyDiner Prime.
• You also get a 24×7 global concierge service with American Express Platinum Card for assistance regarding hotel/flight booking.
• American Express Platinum cardholders also get a complimentary upgrade to a higher tier of leading hotel loyalty programs including Taj InnerCircle Silver Tier, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status, Radisson Rewards Gold Status, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and Hilton Honors Gold Status.
• You also get pre or post-departure fine dining up to USD 100 per person on overnight Platinum Luxury Rail Journeys in Europe with your American Express Platinum Credit Card.
• You can also avail of a discount of up to 25% at Taj, Vivanta and SleQtions hotels and many other complimentary benefits worth Rs. 37,000 at 5-star hotels including guaranteed 4 PM late check-out, room upgrades at check-in (if available), daily breakfast for two, WiFi, or a special amenity at each property worth USD 100.
• You are also entitled to a comprehensive insurance cover including insurance against personal air accidents (worth Rs. 5 crores), loss of check-in baggage, passport, or other documents (worth Rs. 50,000), overseas medical expenditure (worth USD 50,000) and wallet protection (worth Rs. 15 lacs).
• Apart from the insurance benefits, you also get an emergency hotel and travel assistance worth Rs. 2 lacs with your American Express Platinum Card.
• The card also entitles you to complimentary access to over 30 golf courses in India and 50+ golf courses worldwide every year.
• For more information on American Express Platinum Card, you may refer to this article on our website.

Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card

Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card is also a super-premium credit card. It is the second most premium card by the bank after the Burgundy Credit Card. The card offers a decent reward rate of 1.5% on domestic spends and 2x reward rate on international transactions. Being a super-premium credit card it comes with a hefty membership fee of Rs. 50,000 per annum and offer a number of add-on benefits such as complimentary airport lounge access, exclusive offers at premium hotels/restaurants, BOGO offer on movie tickets and many more. Some of the key features of Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card are as under-

• 50,000 Edge Reward Points as a welcome benefit on card activation and every year the card membership is renewed.
• 15 Edge Reward Points per Rs. 200 spent on domestic transactions and 2x reward rate on international transactions.
• Unlimited domestic airport lounge access and 12 international airport lounge every year with Priority Pass membership.
• You get VIP assistance at airports 8 times a year for assistance regarding processes such as immigration, security check and porter services. You also get 8 luxury pick-up and drop-offs at airports 8 times a year.
• The card also entitles you to a complimentary Club ITC Culinaire Membership which provides benefits such as complimentary third-night stay (2+1 night stay), discounted rates on room tariffs and suits, Green Points on food and beverages and many more.
• You also get a complimentary Accorplus membership with benefits such as complimentary room upgrade, complimentary night stay, complimentary buffet,  50% off on dining and across Accor hotels in India.
• The card entitles you to multiple attractive benefits at Oberoi hotels like discounted room tariff, complimentary 3rd-night stay (2+1 night stay), 50% off on the best available rates on suites, etc.
• You also get multiple benefits at Postcard hotels such as a discount of 15% on the best available room rates, anytime check-in and check-out facility and complimentary lifestyle consultation (only for Postcard hotels in Goa).
• Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card also entitles you to BOGO offer on BookMyShow tickets- max benefit of Rs. 500 on movie tickets and Rs. 1,000 on non-movie tickets.
• You also get a discount of up to 25% on dining bills at partner restaurants with complimentary Eazydiner membership and a discount of up to 20% at over 4,000 partner restaurants with Axis Bank Dining Delights program.
• You also get 50 complimentary rounds of golf every year with your Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card at some of the most premium golf destinations across the country.
• Axis Bank Reserve credit cardholders also get a comprehensive insurance cover including an air accident cover worth Rs. 4.5 crores, purchase protection cover worth Rs. 2 lacs, cover against loss/delay of baggage/personal documents worth USD 500, credit shield cover worth Rs. 5 lacs, and lost card cover up to the credit limit of the card.
• You might want to go through this article for more detailed information on Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card.

Quick Comparision

Now that you are aware of the features and benefits offered by AmEx Platinum Credit Card and Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card, we will now give you a pointwise comparison of the two cards for quick reference-

The Verdict

As you can see from the comparison above, both American Express Platinum Credit Card and Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card offer best-in-class travel benefits such as complimentary airport lounge access, discounted rates at premium hotels and restaurants, airport assistance services, and many more. The annual fee of Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card is Rs. 50,000 while that of AmEx Platinum Card is Rs. 60,000- Rs. 10,000 more than that of Axis Bank Reserve Card.

As far as travel benefits are concerned, American Express Platinum Credit Card offers discounts and benefits at Taj hotels, while Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card offers benefits at ITC hotels. Also while AmEx Platinum Credit Card provides unlimited domestic/international airport lounge access, you get unlimited domestic and 12 international airport lounge access per year with Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card. Overall, both the cards are more or less the same in terms of the reward rate, features and benefits offered and even in terms of the annual fee.

Also Check: American Express Platinum Card Vs Citi Prestige Credit Card