Over the past few years, American Express has run attractive festive promotions for cards issued through ICICI and IndusInd. Some past promotions were particularly appealing and provided useful rewards for cardholders.
For instance, in 2018 there was a Marriott dining voucher offer that I used during a stay at Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram. In 2019, there was a Taj e-gift card offer, which I used at Taj Connemara, Chennai. Those were genuinely valuable promotions.
This year’s offers, however, felt less compelling compared with earlier ones. ICICI ran a 5X rewards promotion on online spends, which was strong, though a quarterly cap might have been better than a monthly limit. IndusInd offered a “top spender” promotion alongside its Rewardz Festival, which seemed less attractive or at least uncertain in its appeal.
IndusInd has repeated a top-spender style offer on its Amex cards. Below are the details for this promotion:
Offer Details
- Offer Type: 100 cardholders with the highest spends during the offer period will each receive a Rs.4,000 Amazon voucher.
- Offer Period: 1st December to 7th December 2020.
- Minimum Spend: Rs.75,000 (this threshold may differ between card variants).
- Excluded Spend Type: Wallet loads are excluded from eligible spends.
- Fulfilment: Voucher delivery by 31st January 2021.
- Source: IndusInd terms and conditions for the offer.
I received this offer on my IndusInd Iconia American Express card. It’s possible other Amex variants received slightly different communications or thresholds.
Bottomline
The main drawback of top-spender contests is the uncertainty: even if you reach the advertised threshold, there’s no guarantee you’ll be among the winners. That uncertainty discourages some cardholders from participating.
If luck favors you, you could win the voucher, but I chose not to pursue the previous IndusInd Amex festive offer and am not planning to chase this one either. For many, a confirmed, guaranteed reward is more appealing than a lottery-style promotion.
I prefer offers with clear, guaranteed outcomes rather than relying on chance. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.