Amex moved its card changes to 15 November. Two of them still cost you money.

Worth knowing

Updated 10 October 2026. Amex has moved the terms revision from 11 October to 15 November, and has now published the changes on its own site. The dates and details below follow Amex's page. If you were planning to redeem pooled points before 11 October, you have until 15 November.

This is the third time in two months that American Express India has taken something away.

On 29 August it was the Reward Multiplier programme, closing on 30 September. On 4 September it was the Platinum Travel milestones, restructured on 10 September. Each arrived as its own announcement and was read as its own story, which is how a pattern stays invisible.

The rest arrives in stages between September and the middle of November. Amex describes it as an upgrade to the technology behind your account, with a new app and online experience from 15 November. The upgrade explains the timing. It does not explain the withdrawn benefits, which are cost decisions.

The one that costs the most money

The Membership Rewards Credit Card carries a renewal fee of ₹4,500 plus applicable taxes, and today that fee has two waiver tiers. Amex states them in its Most Important Terms and Conditions:

On full fee American Express® Membership Credit Card product i.e. where first year fee is ₹1,000 and annual renewal fees of ₹4,500, the subsequent Annual Membership Renewal fee of ₹4,500 will be 100% waived off if total spends on American Express® Credit Card in the immediately preceding membership year is ₹1,50,000 and above; if total spends on American Express Credit Card in the immediately preceding membership year is between ₹90,000 to ₹1,49,999, only 50% will be waived off.

Amex has now confirmed that the 50% waiver on spends of ₹90,000 or more ends on 15 November. Spend between ₹90,000 and ₹1,49,999 and you pay the whole ₹4,500 plus taxes where you previously paid half.

Amex's page lists only the 50% tier as going. The ₹1,50,000 full waiver is not mentioned, which suggests it stays, but that is an inference rather than a statement. Check your own renewal notice before acting on the arithmetic below.

If it does stay, the interesting consequence is not the loss itself but what it does to the gap.

Say you put ₹1,20,000 a year through the card. Today, pushing the last ₹30,000 onto it moves you from the 50% tier to the 100% tier, and saves you ₹2,250 plus taxes. After 15 November the same ₹30,000 saves you the full ₹4,500 plus taxes, because the fallback is no longer half a fee. The change does not just cost you money, it doubles what closing that gap is worth.

Set that against earning. The card pays 1 Membership Rewards point per ₹50, so ₹30,000 of spend earns 600 points, worth about ₹300 at the ₹0.50 per point we use for voucher redemption on this card. The same ₹30,000 routed to clear the waiver threshold is worth ₹4,500. Roughly fifteen times more, and the gap widens the closer to ₹1,50,000 you already are.

Key takeaway

If your annual Amex spend lands between ₹90,000 and ₹1,50,000, the single highest-value thing you can do with this card is reach ₹1,50,000. After 15 November that is worth ₹4,500 plus taxes, against roughly ₹300 of points on the same spend.

Note Amex's wording: "total spends on American Express Credit Card". It does not say whether that counts this card alone or every Amex credit card you hold. If you hold more than one, ask, because the answer decides whether you have already cleared the threshold.

The one nobody is pricing

The second change on 15 November has had a fraction of the attention and may matter more.

If you hold two or more basic Amex cards, your Membership Rewards points will be kept separately for each card. From 15 November, redemptions come out of the balance on the card that earned them, and the ability to move points from one card to another is permanently discontinued. Amex says the value of your existing points and the redemption options do not change. Points earned on supplementary cards continue to go to their basic card, so the split is between cards in your own name.

This is the quiet end of a standard Indian Amex strategy: hold two or three cards, let the points collect in one place, and redeem in one large block. Two balances of 40,000 points are not the same asset as one of 80,000, because redemption and transfer minimums apply to each, and a balance below a threshold is one you cannot spend.

If this affects you, the weeks before 15 November are the window. Look at what your combined balance buys today that two separate balances could not, and decide whether to redeem now rather than find out after the switch. Do it before 11 November, when parts of the app and website start going offline.

The week the app goes quiet

Between 11 and 18 November, while Amex moves accounts to the new platform, several services are unavailable:

The card itself keeps working, and Amex says purchases during this week still count towards points and milestones.

Put this next to the 8 October change. Emergency Card Replacement is already gone, and for a week in November you cannot even request a standard replacement online. If you are travelling between 11 and 18 November, carry a second card on a different network and set your overseas transaction limits before 11 November.

Milestones move to the posting date

On the Platinum Reserve, Platinum Travel, Gold, Membership Rewards and SmartEarn cards, monthly spend milestones will be counted by the date a transaction posts to your account, not the date you made it. Bonus points or vouchers are awarded at the end of the calendar month in which you reach the milestone.

Amex's own example: a purchase made on 30 November that posts in December counts towards December. If you are close to a monthly milestone, make the last purchase two or three days before the month ends, not on the last day.

Smaller changes on the same date

Late fees move to Total Amount Due. Late payment charges will be calculated on the total amount due rather than the minimum, in a ₹500 to ₹1,250 range. Paying only the minimum was already expensive because of interest. This makes being late expensive a second way.

An overdue balance stops your points. If a payment is still outstanding when the next statement is generated, you stop earning and redeeming Membership Rewards points on that card until it is paid. Carrying a balance on a rewards card was already a losing trade. This removes the consolation.

Refunds count towards what you owe. Eligible refunds and reversals received by the due date will reduce both your minimum and total amount due, including refunds that arrive after the statement is generated. The one change here that gives you something.

Supplementary and Account Cards. New Supplementary Card applications pause from 27 October, and new Account Cards stop on the same date. Applications must be completed by 3 November. Existing cards keep working.

Ace by Times Prime. The complimentary membership on the Centurion and Platinum cards is no longer offered from 20 October. If you are already enrolled, it runs to the end of its current term.

What to do

1. If you hold two or more Amex cards, check your combined Membership Rewards balance and decide whether to redeem before 11 November. This is the only change here with a closing window.
2. If your annual Amex spend sits between ₹90,000 and ₹1,50,000, work out what it would take to clear ₹1,50,000. It is worth roughly fifteen times what the same spend earns in points.
3. If you want a supplementary card for a family member, apply before 27 October and finish by 3 November.
4. Update your contact details and overseas transaction settings before 11 November.
5. Stop travelling on a single card. There is no fast replacement any more, and none at all online from 11 to 18 November.
6. Never carry a balance on this card. From 15 November that stops your points as well as costing you interest.

Common questions

Did the changes happen on 11 October?

No. Amex first told cardholders 11 October, then moved the terms revision to 15 November. Its own updates page now gives 15 November for the fee waiver, the separate points balances and the milestone change.

Is the ₹1,50,000 full fee waiver going too?

Amex lists only the 50% waiver as ending, so the full waiver appears to stay. It has not said so in as many words, so check your renewal notice.

Can I still get a replacement card if I lose mine abroad?

Yes, through the standard process, which takes around seven to ten business days. Between 11 and 18 November you cannot request one through the app or website at all, so call Amex instead.

I only hold one Amex card. Does the points change affect me?

No. Supplementary card points still go to the basic card. The split applies only between separate basic cards in your own name.

Does this affect the Gold Card or Platinum Travel?

The points separation applies to anyone with two or more basic cards, and the milestone change applies to both cards. The fee waiver change is specific to the Membership Rewards Credit Card.

Sources

• American Express India, Your American Express experience is evolving, for the 15 November date, the fee waiver change, the separate points balances and the end of transfers between cards, the posting date rule for milestones, the overdue balance rule, late fees, refunds, the 27 October supplementary and Account Card dates, the 20 October Ace by Times Prime date and the 11 to 18 November service disruptions, checked 10 October 2026
• Live From A Lounge, 9 October 2026, for the move from 11 October to 15 November
• Business Standard, 3 September 2026, for the withdrawal of Check Your Spending Power on 16 September and Emergency Card Replacement on 8 October, and for the seven to ten business day standard replacement time
• American Express India, Most Important Terms and Conditions for Credit Cards (PDF), for the current fee and waiver structure quoted above
• American Express India, Membership Rewards Credit Card, for the earn rate and fee schedule

Checked against Amex's published updates page on 10 October 2026.