American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card Review (November 2024)

AmEx 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 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 ₹15,000 in the first 3 months of the card’s issuance.

Milestone Benefits

• If you spend ₹1.9 lakh in a year, you are entitled to 15,000 Membership Rewards Points worth up to ₹4,500 (for redemption against Flipkart voucher or Pay with Points on AmEx Travel Online).
• Expenditure of ₹4 lakh entitles you to 25,000 Membership Rewards Points worth up to ₹7,500 (for redemption against a Flipkart voucher or Pay with Points on AmEx Travel Online) and an additional Taj Stay Voucher worth ₹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 35 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 ₹4 lakh also entitles you to a Taj Stay voucher worth ₹10,000, which can be used at 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 HPCL fuel stations across India for transactions up to ₹5000. However, a surcharge of 1% is payable for all transactions greater than ₹5000.

AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card Rewards

Every ₹50 spent using the AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card earns you 1 Membership Rewards Points. Certain categories would not be eligible for earning rewards, such as spending on fuel, insurance, utilities, cash transactions, and EMI conversion at the point of sale.

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 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, Qatar Privilege Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Points, Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors.

AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card Charges

• Annual Fee: The annual renewal fee of the AmEx Platinum Travel Card is ₹5,000 per annum; however, the first year’s annual fee (joining fee) is just ₹3,500, while the renewal fee 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.
• 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: The AmEx Platinum Travel Card provides very attractive milestone benefits to cardholders- 15,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points on an annual expenditure of ₹1.9 lacs and 25,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points on the expenditure of ₹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 ₹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 get a discount of up to 20% at partner restaurants across the country.

Drawbacks of the AmEx Platinum Travel Card

• Reward Rate: The AmEx Platinum Travel Card earns you 2 Membership Rewards Points per ₹100 spent with the card. Since the maximum monetary value of 1 Membership Rewards Point is ₹0.5, the maximum reward rate that you can get with an AmEx Platinum Travel Card is 1%. However, you get a 3x reward rate on purchases made via the American Express Reward Multiplier Portal.
• No Complimentary International Airport Lounge Access: Regarding international airport lounge access, the Platinum Travel Credit Card offers no complimentary lounge access at international airports. However, the card does provide 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 for American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card?

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

• You do not want to compromise your travel experience as the 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-

• A direct reward rate is more important 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 a travel credit card with a lower markup fee on foreign currency transactions.

Credit Cards Similar to AmEx Express Platinum Travel

Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card is a credit card similar to the American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card in terms of the benefits that it offers. The following table gives a comparison between the two credit cards-

AmEx Platinum Travel Card Eligibility

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

• Must be a resident of India.
• Applicant should be above the age of 18.
• Both salaried and self-employed individuals should have an annual income of ₹6 lakh or more.
• For self-employed individuals, the company should have been trading for the past 12 months.

How to Apply for AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card

You can apply for an American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card online. The application procedure is effortless. Just click on the “Apply Now” button to get started. You need to provide a few documents, including identity proof like a PAN card and income proofs like ITR or salary slips, and submit your application online. American Express officials will contact you if any additional documents are required. If your application is successful, you’ll receive your card within 15 days.

AmEx Platinum Travel Credit Card Review

Although the annual fee of the American Express Platinum Travel credit card is slightly on the higher side (₹5,000 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 if you’re an existing user or have used this credit card. Feel free to comment and let us know about your experience with the card.