I’ve been planning to start a review of all the travel credit cards in India for a while now, but various things have kept me busy to be able to commit some time to this. But, it is a go now and I hope to update it as frequently as possible. I will start the series with The American Express Gold Charge Card this week. I got this card when the benefits on the Kingfisher First American Express card were modified.

American Express revamped the Gold Charge Card in 2011, and made it one of the most competitive charge card products in the Indian market. Except for people who get their company-sponsored American Express cards way back, people usually did not know of the ‘Charge Card’ concept around India much.

Sign-up bonus: None.

Fee: Free for the first year, INR 4,500 plus taxes on renewal (5,000 MR points bonus on renewal which almost pays for the fee).

Eligibility: A minimum gross annual income of INR 8,00,000.

Features: This is not a travel credit card actually, but a great card for everyone who cares to put their spends on plastic rather than cash and debit cards. No rollovers allowed since you will pay up everything at the end of the month. One of the reasons I love the American Express Gold card is the fantastic level of service you receive as a cardholder. Yes, you are not Platinum, but the service is great and prompt. I’ve had a couple of times when bonuses did not credit to my account in time, and a simple call would help you get your points credited instantaneously.

You got to remember this is a charge card, so no pre-set spending limits. But that does not mean you’re going to go out and buy that six-figure jewellery set on day one and be approved the charge. Your spend and repayment history will gradually dictate how your charges will be approved.

Another particular feature I like a lot is the Online Fraud Protection Guarantee. This being the only charge card I carry around, I use it all the time for online purchases as well. And sometimes, those details can be reaching the wrong hands (unintentionally!). I personally experienced this Fraud Protection Guarantee a few months back.

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The Kingfisher First American Express Credit Card was my first American Express Card ever and I had picked it up for all the good flying benefits that came with it in late 2010. You got a KingClub Gold tier membership straight away, and the ability to earn American Express MembershipReward Points which you could use to transfer to Kingfisher’s KingClub. All this was adding up well till the good times lasted and Kingfisher Airlines was going to join oneworld.

Down the line, last April (2011) Kingfisher and American Express decided to take the co-branding a step further, and compulsorily transfer all the accumulated MR Points every month to the KingClub Account. So, my rant on this was that I could no longer in control of my mileage earning and use my miles for anything else but the KingClub program, which was not the product concept I had signed up for. Regardless, I continued to use the card and accumulate miles, hoping I would be able to use them on oneworld sometime. I got the free business class tickets though!

With the downward spiral that Kingfisher Airlines is in right now, I’d been asking the American Express Executive Office in India the same question a few times, “Why are you guys still forcing me to accumulate KingClub Miles when they are practically turning worthless every moment?”. I also requested people to burn their miles as fast as they could.

A tad bit late, but American Express did decide to do something about it. First up, I hear they’ve stopped issuing new American Express Kingfisher First Credit Cards. On their own lead-generation website, the links to the Kingfisher Amex are gone.

Next, I got an email from American Express last afternoon, which informed me that the card was going back on its old ways of collecting MR points, which could be used to transfer on KingClub, or any of the 600 MR Reward partners in India.  Here is a part of the official communication:

As you are aware, your American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card automatically earns you King Miles on all your spending on the Card. With effect from April 27, 2012, all your future spending on the American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card will earn you Membership Rewards Points.

What this means is that you can redeem these Membership Rewards Points for King Miles at your convenience. In addition, as a member of the Membership Rewards Programme you also have the flexibility and choice to redeem your Points for hundreds of Rewards offered by the one of the most powerful Rewards Programme in the country – The American Express Membership Rewards.

However, what is clearly stated is also that you cannot use the MR points on this card to transfer them to your Air India Flying Returns account or your Jet Airways JetPrivilege Account. The other benefits such as complimentary Gold KingClub membership remains.

The email also stated:

Please do note that King Miles already accrued and credited to your King Club Account will continue to be governed by King Club terms and conditions of Kingfisher Airlines.

Now this is where there is a fundamental disconnect between myself and American Express, something I have told them directly in the past but not addressed yet. The change to the features of the card was not something I had initiated but Amex-Kingfisher did on their own. And if American Express means to safeguard our interests, they should really do something about all the KingMiles forcefully converted from MR points via monthly sweeps. And then, I read this part of the email:

For how long will this  change of getting Membership Rewards Points on all spending in place of King  Miles be valid?

As of now this change has been made to protect the interest of our Cardmember. Any further changes going forward shall be notified to you appropriately.

Yeah right guys, you are partly there, but not fully. But I’m glad you’ve started the change.

Related Posts:

• 1800 Rupees, a 1 hour long phone call and a couple of free round trips in Kingfisher First!

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How I love my American Express plastic is something I have talked about in the past. I’ve been using them only for a year and a half now almost, but along with my Citibank Premier Miles Credit Card, the American Express Gold Charge Card is my go-to card. I’ve written about my views on the American Express Gold Charge Card customer service and will do a full review on this card in my upcoming series on Travel Credit Cards for India.

LinkedIn and American Express India had tied up in September 2011 to source referrals for new American Express Kingfisher First Credit Cards and Platinum Reserve Credit Cards via existing LinkedIn members. Now, they are back.

Under the new promotion from American Express launched on 16th April and valid till 30th July 2012, for every application which has been been recommended by an existing card holder, the new card holder gets a discounted fee on the Platinum Reserve card, and the Gold Charge Card for free for the first year (which is their regular offer in the first place!)

The details of the offer are as follows:

• The applicant of the card gets the American Express Gold Charge Cardfor free for the first year. This is a lovely entry level American Express product, which allows you to earn 1,000 bonus MR points per month by just making a minimum of 4 INR 250 (USD 5) transactions in a month. In total, you have an opportunity to earn about 25K bonus Membership Reward points in a year which are over and above what you get for your spend (INR 50 earns you 1 Membership Reward point). The entry requirements are very low, so if you earn more than INR 8,00,000 per annum, you can apply for this card.
• The applicant for the Amex Platinum Reserve CC gets a 20% off on the Lifetime foundation fee of INR 50,000 (USD 950), so comes to INR 40,000 (USD 770). On approval of the application you get 65,000 Membership Reward points, which in my opinion, more than make up for the value of the Rs. 40,000 spent on the credit card fees (for a lifetime!). Apart from other privileges, you get access to the American Express Lounge at Mumbai and Delhi Airports (10 vouchers).
• In case the applicant wants to go with Amex Platinum Reserve CCwith an annual fee option, it is priced at INR 10,000 (~USD 190). Again, you get 22,000 Membership Reward points for approval which are almost double the cost of the card fees for the first year. You also get 2 lounge access vouchers to access the American Express Lounge at Mumbai and Delhi Airports.
• The holder of the existing American Express card gets 10,000 Membership Reward Points for the reference (on approval). Upto 15 references can be made per annum.  Alongside, various freebies are on offer such as travel vouchers, premium LinkedIn accounts, business card holders etc.

Overall, a win-win proposition for the applicant and the referrer. The applicant gets an Amex at a discount, and the referrer gets 10K Amex MR Points in India. Overall, 150K MR Points can be made with this offer.

For the benefit of my readers, I will be writing detailed reviews of various Travel Credit Cards in India very soon, and I will start with these ones. So watch out for that section.

If you’d like to help me travel a bit more, you sure can use my reference via LinkedIn and I’d appreciate your support . Drop me a mail on aj@livefromalounge.com with your key details (name, email address, city and which card you’d like to sign up for) and I’ll add you on LinkedIn and send you the card reference. Only Indian residents (including expats) can apply!

I would also invite readers, if they want to get a reference for themselves, to send me an email as well. Don’t put it in the comments since you’re inviting invasion of privacy, but I will try and put out a system to help you with some references as well.

Enjoy the benefits.

Related Posts:

• Why my American Express Gold Card is fast gaining walletshare!?
• 10,000 MR points/King Miles for referring Amex applications in India
• And now its American Express India’s turn to downgrade Membership Rewards
• Finally, a credit card which earns me lots of miles in India!

Disclosure: Take note that no commissions accrue to me when you sign-up for any credit cards around here or any other cards that I would write about in the future.

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