American Express is one of my favourite Credit Card issuers. Everything is top-notch because of the process, from onboarding to earning points to burning points to customer support. I have held my oldest Amex for four years and have never been disappointed. Its acceptability, however, outside of Metro cities may be an issue, yet there are multiple ways to earn lots of Amex Points in India.
Earn Amex Points with New Sign-up
This is probably the easiest way to earn Amex Points. Amex offers sign-up bonuses on most of its credit cards. Here is how many amex points you can earn with sign-ups
- Membership Rewards Credit Card: 4000 Points
- Platinum Reserve Credit Card: 11000 Points
- Gold Charge Card: 4000 Points
- Platinum Travel Credit Card: 10000 Points
You can also earn more bonus points on these cards if you apply via a referral link:
- SmartEarn Credit Card: 2000 Points
- Membership Rewards Credit Card: 6000 Points [Referral Link]
- Platinum Reserve Credit Card: 15000 Points
- Gold Charge Card: 6000 Points [Referral Link]
- Platinum Travel Credit Card: 12000 Points [Referral Link]
- Platinum Charge Card: 10000 Points
The additional Points on signing up with a referral is 2K Points, which is increased to 4K for the Platinum Reserve Card and 10K for the Platinum Charge Card. Until last month, most amex credit cards used to be first-year if applied via a referral link; however, that benefit is no longer available.
You can apply for any of these cards via this link and click on view all cards.
Earn Points with Upgrade
Amex frequently sends upgrade offers, and you may also receive bonus points. Usually, an American Express Platinum Charge card upgrade comes with a hefty Sign-up bonus. The maximum offer I know of is 1,35,000 points, and I received a maximum offer of 1,25,000.
Earn Points on Base Spending
For every INR 50 spent on eligible transactions, you will earn one American Express Point. However, the Platinum charge earns one point for every INR 40 spent. You won’t earn points on Insurance, Fuel, & Utilities on most cards.
Earn Amex Points with Milestones
Most Amex Credit Cards come with milestone benefits. These milestones are not too high and are easy to achieve with regular spending. Here is how many points you earn with milestones:
- Membership Rewards Credit Card:
- 1K Points after four transactions of INR 1500 in a month
- Additional 1K points on spending INR 20K in a month [requires enrollment]
- Gold Charge Card:
- 1K Points after six transactions of INR 1000 in a month
- Platinum Travel Credit Card:
- 15K points on spending INR 1.9 Lakhs in the card anniversary year
- Additional 25K points on spending INR 4 Lakhs in a card anniversary year.
Earn Points with Amex Reward Xcelerator
This year, Amex launched the reward Xcelerator for Platinum Charge and Centurion cards. As a cardholder of these cards, you can earn 10x to 20x points on your spending. There is no need to shop via a specific link; you must purchase on the brand website or store to earn these points. And there is no limit on points earned.
Some of the prominent brands eligible for Reward Xcelerator are:
- Air India
- Darveys
- Forest Essentials
- Tata CLiQ
- Tata CLiQ Luxury
- Tata CLiQ Palette
- Bvlgari
- Kapoor Watch Co.
Accelerated Earning with Reward Multiplier
Reward Multiplier allows you to earn more points if you purchase select brands via Reward Multiplier.
Each American Express card has different accelerated earnings on shopping via a reward multiplier:
- 2x Points: SmartEarn Credit Card & Membership rewards credit card
- 3x Points: Platinum Travel & Reserve Credit Card
- 5x Points: Gold Charge & Platinum Charge Card
You can shop from over 60 brands via the reward multiplier. Some of the popular brands are:
- AJIO
- Flipkart
- Myntra
- Nykaa
- Make My Trip
- Etihad
- Apple
- Croma
- Samsung
- OnePlus
- Tanishq
- Uniqlo
- Fossil
Some items may not be eligible for accelerated shopping points via a reward multiplier. You will receive the bonus points within 120 to 150 days. And you can earn a maximum of 25K Bonus Points via a monthly reward multiplier.
Accelerated Earning by Buying Gift Vouchers
If you buy gift vouchers, buying them via a reward multiplier will get you accelerated earnings. The accelerated earnings are the same as you shop via reward multiplier:
- 2x Points: SmartEarn Credit Card & Membership rewards credit card
- 3x Points: Platinum Travel & Reserve Credit Card
- 5x Points: Gold Charge & Platinum Charge Card
Earn Points on Applying Add-On Cards
Amex used to offer bonus points when applying for add-on cards. These days, no bonus points are offerred; however, it may come back as a promotion.
Earn Points on Insurance During Promotion
Usually, you won’t earn any points on Insurance Spending. However, almost every year, Amex runs a promotion that allows you to earn 5 Points on every INR 100 spent. Last year, though, we didn’t receive this promotion. You may need to Enrol for such promotions. Another way to pay Insurance via Amex is by buying Amazon Pay and paying insurance with it.
Earn up to 24x Points During the Promotion
Amex runs an x bonus points promotion on shopping twice yearly via a reward multiplier. Usually, the offer is between 20 and 24 points for every 100 INR spent via the reward multiplier. However, the monthly limit of 25K Bonus Points applies, and gift voucher purchases are excluded. Amex also offers spend-based offers twice a year, with which you get gift vouchers.
Earn Bonus Points During Promotions
Amex also sometimes offers bonus points on spending a certain amount. These days, Amex is sending promotions wherein you earn vouchers; however, bonus point promotions can also make a comeback.
Earn Points with Accelerated Partners
American Express SmartEarn credit card earns accelerated spending at select brands.
- 10x Points at Ajio, Nykaa, BookMyShow, Uber [Max 500 in a month]
- 10x Points at Zomato [Max 500 in a month]
- 5x Points at Amazon [Max 250 in a month]
Earn Points on Wallet Loading
Most credit card issuers don’t let you earn points when loading a wallet. However, Amex is an exception; you earn base points when you load your wallet. I would not recommend loading a wallet with Amex unless you want to complete your milestones.
Earn Points on Fuel
Only two Amex cards that allow you to earn points on Fuel Spending:
- Gold Charge: 1 Point for every INR 50
- Platinum Charge: 1 Point for every INR 100 & 4 Bonus Points for every INR 100.
Earn Points on Utilities
Only the Amex Gold Charge card allows you to earn points on utilities spending. You will earn one base point for every INR 50 spent on utilities.
Buy Amex Points
An Amex member can buy 10000 Amex points in a year for INR 4000. So, an Amex point costs INR 0.40. This limit is not per card but per member. However, 10K Amex points are helpful if you’re short of them.
Opt For Fee Waiver Promotions
Amex doesn’t have fee waivers on most of its cards except MRCC. So, you will be charged an annual fee. However, if you contact Amex Customer Support, they usually offer three fee waivers options:
- 100% Fees Wavied on Spending X Amount
- 50% Fees Waived
- 5K-10K Bonus Points
The Platinum Travel Card’s 100% fee waiver option could be better, but you can choose which option you prefer.
Refer a Friend
You can earn points on every successful referral if you already have an Amex card. For every referral, you can earn 8K Amex points. However, a limit of 1.5 Lakh points applies to such referrals.
How many minimum points can you earn in a year?
You can have three amex credit cards and one charge card. Using these cards in a year and spending 7.42 lakh can earn at least 82K Points. That’s like earning one Amex point for every INR 9 spent. There are points multiplier options, too, which you can use to earn more points.
| Amex Card | Spending | Minimum Earnings | How? |
| SmartEarn | 30K | 6K | 10x Partners |
| MRCC | 2.4 Lakhs | 24K | Monthly Milestone |
| Platinum Travel | 4 Lakhs | 40K | Annual Milestones |
| Gold Charge | 72K | 12K | Monthly Milestone |
You can apply for any of these cards via this link and click on view all cards.
Bottomline
There are several ways to earn lots of Amex Points. Plus, the Amex card doesn’t require high spending to earn huge chunks of points. With multiple promotions during the year and a combination of reward multipliers, you can rack up lots of Amex points.
