American Express, which is right now in their 25th year of operation in India, is stepping up the gas on bringing out promotions for their customers. It is no secret that American Express is the only card issuer in India who finds their correlation with the customer to be at the airport to be very high, reason enough for them to set up sourcing counters at various airports, including Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

No wonder then, that Amex is now chasing your spends at the airport, where you spend at least 60 minutes of your time before the flight, by offering you bonus Membership Rewards points to shop with one of their cards.  

American Express Membership Rewards bonus offer at Airports

The offer is simple. You get 5 bonus MR per INR 50 (usually you get 1 MR), making it a total of 6 MR points at the airport, at select outlets.

To avail of this promotion, you will have to first register for this promotion. Once registered, you earn five bonus Membership Rewards points for every INR 50 spent at select retail, F&B and wellness outlets when you fly in and out of Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru till October 31, 2018.

The list of participants is quite exhaustive with about 600 stores, restaurants, spas, and cafes to choose from. Duty-free outlets too are in the mix which makes this an offer worth considering next time you go clearing out the confectionery shelves there. There are some interesting aircraft spots to spend your cash at, places where you would anyways be spending money:

• Starbucks (Habitual coffee preflight)
• Apollo Pharmacy (Hangover medication? Throat Lozenges?)
• Mumbai Airport Lounge (your Beers & Cocktails don’t come free, right?)
• ITC Kiosks (Preflight smoke?)
• Travel Food Services (All that food you eat out of boredom at the airport?)

Not just that, you could be outside the airport and still be earning these 5X MR, if you are dining or staying, for instance at the Taj Santacruz or the Chaayos right outside Mumbai Terminal 1B.

Key terms and conditions of this offer include:

• Registration is mandatory for the Cardmembers to avail the Offer
• Supplementary Card would be treated as a separate card and would have to be registered separately.
• Bonus Membership Rewards points should appear on your billing statement within 5 business days from qualifying spend but may take up to 90 days from the offer end date.
• Credited Bonus Membership Rewards Points may be withdrawn if a transaction is refunded or cancelled.

As a reminder, the following cards earn Membership Rewards:

• American Express Gold Card: 1/INR 50
• American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card: 1/INR 50
• American Express Platinum Card: 1/INR 40
• American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card: 1/INR 50
• American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card: 1/INR 50

So next time you grab a frappe at Starbucks or pick up Haldiram’s gift boxes for your friends and family at the airport, make sure you use any of the above cards to avail this promotion.

Before you ask, this promotion is only for non-cobrand cards and does not even work for corporate cards.

Bottomline

This new promotion from American Express is an excellent opportunity to rack up Membership Rewards points, which are quite versatile regarding redemption options. And if picking up a cup of coffee and a paperback is part of your travel ritual like mine, it is a good idea to register for this promotion before you head to the airport.

What are all the shops you are planning to swipe your Amex the next time you are flying out from BOM, DEL or BLR then?