Membership Rewards

Joining ₹1,000 · Annual ₹4,500 · Renewal fee fully waived on ₹1,50,000 of spends in the preceding year, half waived between ₹90,000 and ₹1,49,999

Fee break-even: ≈₹7,50,000/yr through this card at its base rate. Below that, the fee eats the rewards.

Earns Membership Rewards points · assumed 0.3 ₹/point. Assumed ₹0.30 per point via the 18 and 24 Karat Gold Collection vouchers for Taj, Amazon and Tanishq. Amex publishes the catalogue only after login, so this is our estimate of its middle, not a printed rate

Verified 13 Aug 2026

Forex markup3.5%

EMI₹199 plus taxes per conversion at the point of sale processing fee · A converted purchase stops earning rewards · Amex brands its instalments PAYFLEX. Converting at the point of sale costs a flat ₹199, converting after the purchase adds a further 2% of the transaction. Minimum ₹5,000 to convert, and a converted purchase earns no Membership Rewards points. · A purchase converted to EMI at the point of sale earns no points

Fuel surchargeNo waiver. HPCL waives its own convenience fee on transactions below ₹5,000

Milestones

◆ Spend ₹6,000 per month → 1,000 bonus points for using the card 4 times on transactions of ₹1,500 or more in the month Worth ₹300
◆ Spend ₹20,000 per month → 1,000 further bonus points on ₹20,000 of monthly spends, after a one time enrolment Worth ₹300

Return by category

Category	Return	Notes
Online spend	0.6%	Base rate
Amazon	0.6%	Base rate
Flipkart	0.6%	Base rate
Subscriptions & OTT	0.6%	Base rate
Offline spend	0.6%	Base rate
UPI spending	0%	Amex runs its own network with no RuPay variant, so UPI linking is unavailable
Dining	0.6%	Base rate
Swiggy	0.6%	Base rate
Zomato	0.6%	Base rate
Groceries	0.6%	Base rate
Quick commerce	0.6%	Base rate
Swiggy Instamart	0.6%	Base rate
Blinkit	0.6%	Base rate
BigBasket	0.6%	Base rate
Movies & shows	0.6%	Base rate
BookMyShow	0.6%	Base rate
PVR INOX	0.6%	Base rate
Fuel	0%	Fuel earns no points, though HPCL waives its convenience fee below ₹5,000
Travel (general)	0.6%	Base rate
Flights	0.6%	Base rate
Hotels	0.6%	Base rate
MakeMyTrip	0.6%	Base rate
IRCTC rail	0.6%	Base rate
International	−2.9%	0.6% reward − 3.5% forex markup
Utilities & bills	0%	Utility payments earn no points
Rent	0.6%	Base rate
Education fees	0.6%	Base rate
Insurance premiums	0%	Insurance earns no points
Government & tax	0.6%	Base rate
Wallet loads	0.6%	Base rate
Anything else	0.6%	Base rate
Jewellery	0.6%	Jewellery earns the full base rate, Amex excludes nothing here. Mainline gold at Tanishq also earns Reward Multiplier bonuses

Rates are the card's own published rates, before any spend profile. Add this card inMy cards to rank it against the rest of your wallet.

Also worth knowing

Welcome: 4,000 bonus points on spending ₹15,000 within 90 days, after the joining fee
5,000 bonus points every renewal year on fee payment
Reward Multiplier portal pays bonus points at partners including Tanishq mainline gold, Flipkart and Nykaa
Up to 20% off at partner restaurants

Other exclusions

A purchase converted to EMI at the point of sale earns no points

American Express Membership RewardsBest for Small monthly spends, farmed well3.8 / 5

What we liked

The two monthly bonuses turn ₹20,000 a month into roughly 3% back, which no base rate here matches
Jewellery, rent adjacent spends and most categories other banks kill keep earning
A 4,000 point welcome and 5,000 more on first renewal

What to mind

Just 0.6% once the monthly bonuses are exhausted
Fuel, insurance and utilities earn nothing
Amex acceptance thins out fast outside the big cities

Sources

Every figure above comes from the issuer's own pages and documents. Last verified 13 Aug 2026.

Spotted an outdated rate?