A Complete Guide to Buying Amex Points in India
American Express lets you buy Membership Rewards points directly through customer care. ₹4,000 for 10,000 points, no taxes, and they show up almost instantly.
Are you just a few thousand points short of booking that dream reward flight or hotel stay? American Express offers a little-known option to purchase additional Membership Rewards points directly through their customer service. This guide walks you through everything you need to know about buying Amex points in India.
Cost of Amex Points
American Express offers Membership Rewards points at a standard rate of ₹4,000 for 10,000 points, which translates to an effective cost of ₹0.40 per point. There are no additional taxes or processing fees on your purchase. When you check your statement, the charge will simply appear as a regular purchase transaction.
Purchase Limits and Eligibility
You can purchase a maximum of 10,000 points per card per year. One advantage of having multiple American Express cards is that these purchase limits apply to each individual card, not your entire account. So if you have both an Amex Platinum Travel and a Membership Rewards Credit Card, you can buy 10,000 points on each.
How to Buy Amex Points
The process involves a direct debit to your card, handled exclusively by American Express customer service representatives. For security reasons, there are no payment links or third-party platforms involved in the transaction. You'll typically receive points instantly, though it may take 2-3 days in some cases.
You can't buy points through any online portal. It has to be done through Amex customer care only, either via chat or on a call.
When Should You Buy Points?
The best scenarios for purchasing Amex points include:
- When you're close to a redemption goal
- For time-sensitive reward bookings
- If you find high-value redemption opportunities
Here's one such high-value redemption Shruti and I made during our SAS 1 Million Challenge, where we booked a 13-hour Emirates fifth freedom flight using Amex points transferred to Emirates Skywards.
Is It Worth It?
There are multiple opportunities throughout the year to buy airline and hotel points directly, but Amex offers a unique proposition in India: they let you buy reward points on a credit card. If you think Amex points are worth more to you than ₹0.40 each (and with transfer partners like Emirates Skywards, KrisFlyer, Marriott Bonvoy, and others, they usually are), this is worth doing every year. It's also helpful that Amex points never expire.
You can check all Amex MR transfer partners and their ratios on the Magnify app.
