American Express doesn't change its India cards often, which is part of why the Platinum Travel Credit Card built such a loyal following. When it does change something, it tends to be structural rather than cosmetic, and 2026 delivered two separate rounds of changes to the same card in under six months, plus a quieter shift in which Amex cards new applicants can even get.

Here's everything that changed, ranked from the one genuine improvement down to the change that's going to sting the most people.

5. Milestone points now credit automatically (Genuinely good)

Starting with the March 9, 2026 update, milestone bonus Membership Rewards points began crediting automatically instead of requiring cardholders to call or chat with Amex support to manually trigger them. This sounds minor, but the old process was a persistent source of friction, people forgetting to claim, support delays, points sitting unclaimed for cycles. This is the one change on this list that's a straightforward win with no fine print attached.

4. New applications paused for three cards (Structural, not a cost to existing holders)

Amex has paused new applications for the Gold Charge Card, the Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC), and the Platinum Travel Credit Card. That leaves the Platinum Reserve and Platinum Charge cards as the main options currently open to new applicants.

This doesn't directly cost existing Platinum Travel holders anything, but it's a meaningful signal. Amex appears to be narrowing its India lineup rather than expanding it, and combined with the milestone cuts below, it reads like a broader repositioning rather than an isolated tweak to one card.

3. Lounge access gated behind quarterly spend, effective October 1, 2026 (Moderately costly)

Airport lounge access on Platinum Travel is moving behind a quarterly spending requirement starting October 1, 2026. Previously a straightforward cardholder perk, lounge access now needs to be earned each quarter through spend, similar to the pattern several other Indian premium cards adopted through 2026.

If you already comfortably clear whatever the quarterly threshold turns out to be, this barely registers. If you were holding the card mainly for occasional lounge access without tracking spend closely, budget for the fact that it's no longer unconditional.

2. The March 9, 2026 milestone restructure (Significant for ₹4-5 lakh spenders)

This was the first of the two rounds, and it fundamentally changed who the card works for. The old structure rewarded ₹4 lakh in annual spend with 40,000 Membership Rewards points plus a ₹10,000 Taj Experiences e-gift voucher, a milestone widely considered one of the strongest mid-segment rewards in the Indian card market.

The new structure spread rewards across three tiers instead of one clean milestone:

The practical effect: anyone spending in the ₹4 to ₹5 lakh range, previously the card's sweet spot, saw their effective reward rate drop from roughly 10%+ to closer to 4%, with the Taj voucher gone entirely at that tier. To get anything resembling the old ₹4 lakh payoff, you now need to push spend to ₹7 lakh, three lakh more than before.

1. The second devaluation, announced roughly six months later (The one that actually hurts)

Just as cardholders were recalibrating around the new ₹7 lakh tier, Amex went further. Effective from milestone changes on September 10, 2026, the ₹1.9 lakh tier's 7,500-point bonus is being removed entirely, and the ₹7 lakh milestone is losing its 22,500 Membership Rewards points, leaving cardholders with only the ₹10,000 Taj Experiences voucher at that level.

Combined with the lounge access change landing three weeks later, this is the round that actually changes the math for people who had already adjusted their spending patterns around the March update. Two rounds of cuts within six months on the same card, on top of each other, is a materially different situation than a single reworking, and it's the reason the Platinum Travel card has gone from "spend it all" recommendation to something that needs a genuine recalculation before renewal.

What this means if you're holding Platinum Travel right now

The card isn't dead, but the mid-spend sweet spot that made it a default recommendation for years is gone. If your annual spend on the card comfortably clears ₹7 lakh, there's still real value here. If you were spending ₹4 to ₹5 lakh specifically to hit the old milestone, it's worth running the new math before assuming the card still pays for its ₹5,000 annual fee, and worth comparing against alternatives like the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card if hotel value matters more to you than flexible Membership Rewards points.

Membership Rewards transfers to Marriott Bonvoy remain unchanged at 1:1, for what it's worth, so if you're sitting on a large MR balance from previous years, that redemption path is still intact even as the earning side gets harder.

If you're not sure whether your current spend still clears the new milestone tiers, or whether it's time to route festive and big-ticket spend to a different card instead, that's exactly the kind of recalculation Wisor tracks so you're not the one re-reading Amex's terms every time they change them.

If you want to know how good the Amex cards are for you based on your spends. Just ask Wisor.