Paid ₹9,775 for a ₹97k Japan trip. Breakdown of my transition-year Amex stack inside
Sharing an end-to-end redemption since people keep asking if Plat Travel still makes sense post-devaluation.
Short answer: my exact stack no longer exists, but the math is worth bragging about. And yes platinum travels ROI has dropped down to 5% or even less now
TLDR: I ate my share of benefits, if i am gonna repeat it’s gonna give me points once in two years instead of one for a good economy round trip somewhere.
**The earn:**
Plat Travel :
Base on ₹7L spend @ 1/₹50: 14,000
Welcome bonus: 10,000
₹1.9L milestone (pre-deval chart): 15,000
₹4L milestone (pre-deval chart): 25,000 + ₹10k Taj voucher
₹7L milestone (post-deval chart): 22,500
Caught the transition mid-year, so all three milestones landed in the same card year — the old ₹1.9L/₹4L pair AND the new ₹7L tranche. This is the part that can’t be replicated anymore.
MRCC :
Welcome bonus + base earn + partial monthly milestones (didn’t optimize the ₹20k/month bonus every month, still added up)
**The transfer:**
99,000 MR → Marriott Bonvoy 1:1 → ANA Mileage Club in two blocks: 60k Bonvoy @ 3:1 + 5k bonus = 25,000 miles, then 39k @ 3:1 = 13,000 miles. **Exactly 38,000 ANA miles, zero orphaned points.**
**The burn:**
38,000 ANA miles + ₹9,775 taxes = round-trip India–Japan on a Star Alliance partner, peak season, 30kg baggage, open jaw. Same-cabin cash fare for my dates: \~₹97,000 (checked on the airline’s own site).
Not all airlines offer low tax after mile redemption, that’s also one major point.
**The ROI:**
Cash out: ₹17.4k total (both card fees + award taxes)
Value in: \~₹1.09L (₹87k of fare covered + ₹10k Taj voucher + \~₹11k residual points)
** \~10% net rewards rate on ₹9.5L routed spend. ₹2.29 per airline mile — in economy.**
Cash out: ₹17.4k total (both card fees + award taxes)
against a fixed award chart: cash fares inflated, the chart didn’t.
Edit: only works through Singapore airlines any other airlines will cost 40-50k more