Start here: American Express Membership Rewards in India — earn, redeem, transfer and keep your points

Step 1: What Membership Rewards in India is and who it suits

You will learn: what the terms mean by American Express, Card, Rewards and Program Account, and which Cardmembers the programme is built for.

"Card" and "Card Account" mean a Basic Card Account for any Indian Rupee denominated proprietary card issued by American Express, and the "Membership Rewards Program" is the loyalty programme in which Cardmembers accumulate Points from their spending on their American Express Cards [1].

Two limits shape everything else. Points accrued do not constitute any property of the Cardmember and are not transferable by operation of law or otherwise to any other person or entity, and cannot be transferred to or combined with any other Program Account [1]. American Express also reserves the right to cancel, change or substitute any Reward or the Program Terms and Conditions at any time at its sole discretion and without prior notice, and may suspend or terminate the Program, in which case it gives advance written notice to Basic Cardmembers [1].

The programme suits Cardmembers residing in India who hold an Indian Rupee billed Card that allows enrolment and whose Accounts are in good standing; a person residing in India who holds an American Express Card of any other denomination and billed from any other country is not eligible [1].

Go deeper: the India credit card points transfer guide for how Indian card points move into airline and hotel programmes, and the credit card points term for the vocabulary.

Step 2: How you join: eligibility and enrolment

You will learn: who can enrol, when enrolment formally starts, and how Corporate, Supplementary and linked Cards are treated.

Participation is open to all Cardmembers residing in India who have an Indian Rupee billed Card which allows enrolment into the Membership Rewards Program and whose Accounts are in good standing [1]. The "Program Enrolment Date" is the first day of the month in which the enrolment application is received by American Express, and an "Enrolment Year" is any twelve-month period commencing on that date; for all Cards where auto enrolment applies, the enrolment date is two days after the Card application is approved [1]. A Cardmember may link any number of Basic Card Accounts for the purpose of accruing Points, provided the Cardmember is listed as the Basic Cardmember for all of them, and American Express designates one of the Linked Accounts as the Primary Account [1].

Enrolment for Corporate Cardmembers is subject to approval of the Corporate Cardmember's Organisation, and enrolled Corporate Cards from the same Organisation cannot be pooled into one Program Account; Points earned on a Corporate Card accrue to the respective Corporate Cardmember for personal use and not to the Corporate Account [1]. Points earned by any Additional or Supplementary Cards accrue automatically to the Basic Card Account on which they are issued, and those Cards cannot accrue Points separately under an independent Program Account [1].

Go deeper: the authorized user term for how additional cards sit under a main account, and the card selection framework for deciding which card to run your spending through.

Step 3: How earning works

You will learn: where earn rates are published, which charges never accrue Points, and when accrual starts.

Earn rates vary by card and are set out in the terms [1]. American Express may at its sole discretion increase or decrease the accrual of Points either during a promotional campaign for a specific product, or at specific Service Establishments where the charge is incurred, or as a feature of a specific product, or any combination of these [1].

For all American Express Cards, two groups of charges are not eligible for accruing Points: cash advance and other services — cash withdrawals, emergency cheque cashing, cash advance, foreign exchange purchases in cash or on the Card, and balance transfer; and fees and charges — any annual fee on the Card, any surcharge or transaction fee levied on a charge, charges for dishonoured cheques, financial charges, delinquency charges such as late payment and collection charges, finance charges, charges and credit card account interest charges, foreign currency conversion charges and overlimit charges [1]. No Points accrue for the amount of any charge processed by American Express prior to the Program Enrolment Date, or for any charge prepaid on a Linked Account prior to generation of the first Card Statement of Account following that Enrolment Date [1]. Adjustments are made to accrued Points if there are credits — including those arising from returned goods or services or billing disputes — or debits posted to a Linked Account [1].

Go deeper: the earning rate term and the eligible card spend term for the definitions behind these exclusions.

Step 4: How to use points: rewards, Pay with Points and transfers

You will learn: who may redeem, how Pay with Points credits work, what happened to Travel With Points, and what transfers depend on.

Only Cardmembers enrolled in the Program and in good standing can redeem Points, from a specific selection of Rewards, and all Rewards are subject to availability with certain restrictions [1]. Only Basic Cardmembers have the option of redeeming Points for Rewards; Supplementary Cardmembers do not [1]. Points once redeemed against any Reward cannot be reversed under any circumstances [1].

Under the option that covers Card charges with Points, Points are redeemed for a credit to the Card Account for outstanding transactions available in the Card Statement of Account, with a minimum of 1,000 Points at one time per redemption transaction; a transaction can be redeemed after it appears on the Card Account, from the date of the following Card Statement of Account until the day before the date of the fourth Card Statement of Account [1]. Such a credit does not constitute a payment and does not satisfy the minimum payment due, and Cardmembers must still make a separate payment of at least the minimum payment due [1]; a credit can take up to three business days to appear [1]. At select participating merchants, Points can also be redeemed at enabled POS terminals at a conversion rate determined by American Express from time to time [1]. The Travel With Points option, under which Points were redeemed on the American Express Travel Online platform accessible through www.americanexpress.co.in, was temporarily paused effective 27 January 2026, as communicated by email on 22 December 2025 and/or 23 December 2025 [1].

For transfers, Points can be transferred to select participating loyalty programmes as available on www.americanexpress.co.in from time to time, and the list of participating partners and programmes and the Point conversion levels are at American Express's sole discretion and subject to change without notice [1]. Transfers are subject to the specific participating programme or partner requirements, and Cardmembers must comply with the terms and conditions of the participating Frequent Customer/Guest Programs and partners [1].

Go deeper: the India credit card points transfer guide, Amex Membership Rewards transfer times and minimums, the Pay with Points term and the transfer ratio term.

Step 5: Keeping your points: no expiry, and the 30-day rule on cancellation

You will learn: the expiry position, how long you have after cancellation, and the other events that can cost you Points.

There is no expiry date for Points earned by Cardmembers who are enrolled in the Program, although American Express reserves the right to institute an expiry date at any time, whether or not the Points have already been accrued or are accrued later [1]. Effective 3 May 2022, Points earned by American Express Platinum Travel Credit Cardmembers and American Express Corporate Cardmembers no longer expire after the standard three-year period, and from that date, subject to the reservation above, all Points earned by these Cardmembers have lifelong validity [1]. Points can be viewed through the Online Card Account or the American Express Mobile App only [1].

On cancellation, if a Cardmember cancels Cardmembership, Points already earned that have not been redeemed for Rewards or transferred to a participating programme must be redeemed within 30 days of cancellation, failing which they are automatically forfeited [1]. Where the Card Account is cancelled, Points already earned can only be redeemed for a credit to the Card statement of account, at INR 1 = 4 MR Points with a minimum of 1,000 Points on the Card account, and any Points not redeemed within 30 days of cancellation are automatically forfeited; redemption in that window requires that no amount is outstanding to American Express on the Card, and while any enrolled Card Account is overdue no Points can be redeemed until all Card Accounts are back in good standing [1]. Two further events cost Points: if the amount due on the monthly Card Statement of Account is not paid by the Payment Due Date — the Minimum Amount Due for a Credit Card and the Full Amount Due for a Charge Card — Points accrued for that statement are forfeited, and may be reinstated at American Express's sole discretion upon payment of the applicable fee, which does not apply to the American Express Platinum Corporate Cards but applies to all other Cards including those linked to a Platinum Corporate Card [1]; and if a Card Account or any Linked Account is not in good standing, meaning overdue or in collection, enrolment may be cancelled and Points forfeited immediately [1].

Go deeper: the card points expiry term and transferable points when closing a card.

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: five checks to run now, so you know exactly where your Points stand.

Work through these in order. First, open the terms and confirm that your Card is an Indian Rupee billed American Express Card, that it allows enrolment and that you are enrolled, with the Program Enrolment Date the first day of the month in which your application was received [1]. Second, check your Points balance through your Online Card Account or the American Express Mobile App, which are the only channels listed for viewing Points [1]. Third, look at the ineligible charges list in Step 3 and note that cash withdrawals, balance transfers, annual fees, financial charges, foreign currency conversion charges and the other listed items do not accrue Points [1]. Fourth, before any transfer, confirm that the partner programme account is the one you intend and check the current participating partners and Point conversion levels on www.americanexpress.co.in, since those can change without notice, and remember that transfers are subject to the receiving programme's own requirements [1]. Fifth, if you ever cancel your Cardmembership, redeem accrued Points within 30 days, because Points not redeemed in that window are forfeited [1].

Then read the transfer points checklist before you move any Points out, and use the transfer ratio calculator and the points value calculator to put numbers on a transfer. Everything else about this programme sits on the American Express Membership Rewards India programme hub.

Next: the transfer points checklist and the programme hub.