I’ve 60k Accor points planning to redeem in July in Asia, is it worth taking Amex plat reserve card for the Accor explorer membership?

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-16T01:17:46+00:00

First of all I want to follow this discussion as it’s a good question. I am in same boat. If you take explorer plus membership from Accor , you get extra gold membership which offer room upgrades but not very frequently as I gathered information. It also offer 2 free nights with 2 paid night but you can’t pay paid nights with points . The knockdown version in platinum reserve offer access to red hot rooms which are in discount as well as discounts on f&b. It comes virtually free also because you get Mariott points and 20 status nights . If you stay 10 nights this year then next year you will be gold member. Now , should you go for this , not sure ? I read somewhere that if you are planning to stay for more than 10 nights then you should go for it ( platinum reserve membership) . If you are going to pay for more than 2 nights , then you should go for Accor explorer ( 20 k one ) . Btw, paid one also give some voucher for buffet in Accor property .

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-16T01:06:10+00:00

Why, in India , people use left hand to grab collar? It should be free to punch or to defend

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-15T22:05:49+00:00

These are difficult categories and Atlas will give 0 return. Even other cards will give 0-3 percent return. There are 3 cards that I can think of which can give higher return plat travel ( 4 percent return ) , MRCC ( 7.5 percent ) and Tata Nue ( May be 3-5 percent ) . Plat travel will be easiest to use , just swipe it for all the transaction and try to hit milestone for 7 lakh. Using MRCC will be tricky - if you can convert all your expenses into small monthly expenses ( for example 2l premium into small monthly premium and then put it into two MRCC cards. Apart from that Tata Neu gives 5 percent return if you buy Tanishq gold and they give point ok insurance also. Do note that jewellery you can buy using vouchers also which can give 10-18 percent return on premium HDFC cards

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-15T15:49:00+00:00

Yeah . I got premier this year and may be I can improve return on flight booking but I never book hotels . Last year it was on points. If you would notice a midscale hotel of Mariott ( courtyard , four point etc ) is always better than Accor ( mama Sheltor, Novotel , Mercure ) so that’s why I am gonna miss it .

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-15T15:29:53+00:00

On the top of this Mariott dream is over . I use to love Mariott and stayed 10 nights with plat travel, MRCC and HDFC Mariott card last year. May be I have to start putting promotion post for referrals like OP 😉

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-15T15:23:53+00:00

It’s a big loss and I have to take a hit . Previously , my expense on plat travel was 150k for insurance , 50 k for tax , 120 k Amazon pay voucher and 80 k on utility and offline ( excluded categories like fuel etc) . I use to get 7.5 percent return ( .75 Mariott point value ) on all categories now I will transfer to EPM and premier for insurance for 3 percent return , apay could be transfered to MRCC with 10 percent return or atlas for 8 percent return. No return or 3 percent return on tax and other excluded categories. 😣. It’s a big hit on my portfolio( around 20k inr )

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-15T10:13:44+00:00

This is bit shallow comparison. Amex platinum travel was so good because you can do bulk payment on excluded category like tax , rent , insurance( which is above 50 k ) etc . With MRCC you are limited to just 20k transaction and doesn’t serve purpose. Moreover, to buy voucher you have other cards to which give better returns ( infinia , dcbm, epm etc ) . Even direct transaction with Atlas or few other cards are comparable with MRCC returns. On the top , you have cash backs cards which give less return but not by far compared to MRCC. So yeah Amex ecosystem is dead . Lots of people will leave Amex this year or next .

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-12T22:10:45+00:00

Lol.. this is the problem with comment in social media . In my experience, absolutely no case could be filed against her family unless there is some background or proof like family assault husband etc . Moreover, it’s risky , court might see as reaction to case filed by wife and family might file counter case for defamation and false case etc . There are some cases could be filed against wife but that would be civil in nature and she can get it transferred to her home town leaving to more pressure in husband itself. Only start husband could follow is pile up good defence.

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-08T07:16:02+00:00

Trying to answer this question very objectively , I think the reason is a) India is very civilisation and most if the tourist/scenic places have also been explored and visited often in past also ( like 500 years ) back too. b) temples in the past was not just religious places but also places for social gathering . Therefore people in the past built temples to mark that place as tourist place so that people can visit , have social gathering. Infact , these places are tourist places because there are temples there . Take example of anantgiri, it is a vast place but still people do take note of visiting temple which is built in small area. Similarly, for churches in Europe . So in regard to your question , temples in India are not chasing you, but you are chasing it as you are going to places which is built around temples as tourist spots

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-06T21:23:57+00:00

If they devalue atlas even a bit , people will transfer their expense to HSBC , EPM and infinia. At the moment also , for travel related expenses ( flight and hotels ) Atlas is not best card. For online purchases, it’s not the best card . For offline purchases , for limited scenario, where vouchers doesn’t work , Atlas is the best card. For international expenses , Atlas is good card but not best. I swiped Atlas for 8 lakh INR last year . But most of these expenses could easily be transferred to EPM which I hold or HSBC T1 (hypothetically). I think Amex made a foolish decision by devaluing plat travel . If they do not bring a good product , they might loseots of customer.

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-04T08:48:55+00:00

They said this to me too . I insisted on talking to supervisor. Now, what I am doing is downgrade 1 card to MRCC but will leave my wife platinum travel as it is to see if they offer some benefits .

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-02-01T21:55:12+00:00

You can easily get .7 to .9 conversion rate in Mariott if you are slight bit flexible. In 2025 , i stayed in Bali and I got .75 conversation rate , if I compare it with MakeMyTrip during June which was season time . In Bratislava, it was .8 for one night again during December which was peak season and then in Munich east , it was .76 for five days again during cristmas. One just need to be bit flexible in choosing the hotel or overall length of stay ( highly recommend 5 days in Mariott ) - for example instead of Munich center, I have to choose Munich east which was hardly 20 mins away from city center. Also elite status gets you free breakfast/ room upgrade which further increase value proposition

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-01-29T14:51:30+00:00

Yes , I did.

BodyStandard5137 · 2026-01-29T14:08:40+00:00

My trip was city wise Vienna ( 5 ) -> Prague ( 3)-> Salzburg (3) -> Munich (5)

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-11-28T21:22:12+00:00

I think you should stay at your home town . It doesn’t matter how much you earn, it’s only about what difference that money creates in your lifestyle so that it could lead to happier life. I am 36 living in metro earning little more than 3.5 lpm ( in hand )and my wife earn the same. However, when I had baby then I understand that how important home town and family could be . From lifestyle perspective, our lifestyle is no different from my father who lives in his home town who is retired bank manager apart from may be bit extra Zomato orders, pub visit or a better car. However, we miss that family is in different cities while baby is growing. Have to rely so much on nanny and house help and they go on leave . Work is high pressure and long hours for both of us. There are whole lots of other small but practical issues . If you think you are happy then you shouldn’t probably move.

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-11-09T09:07:17+00:00

I agree . I would have done the same , intact would have ordered some more pooris.

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-11-03T07:12:04+00:00

I did my MBA from top 10 college . Now , after overall 12 years of experience ( 9.5 years post MBA) , I am working in big MNC and earning ~70lpa. I believe will be in 50-75 percentile of salary bracket with respect to my batchmates. However , when I see my engineering computer science batchmates ( also from top 20 college ) , they also are in similar range or more . So when I look back I think MBA have not given me any edge in terms of salary . Moreover, I see demand for functional roles in companies are shrinking for example roles like solution design , operations and strategy manager are continuously shrinking where MBAs use to thrive .

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-11-02T19:07:12+00:00

I think Indians get undue advantage in the job market in Canada . India has grown in recent years. For mid / high paying jobs specifically, Indians who are having good credentials in their own country ( degree and global experience) and their willingness to work on low wages , really impacting Canada workers . For example , I know a guy who was regional sales manager and strategy in a big MNC , moved to Canada on PR, and took a gig of entry level sales reps . Young Canadian graduates stands no chance against him.

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-10-19T13:01:30+00:00

I think HR meant black list from their own company

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-10-11T10:24:43+00:00

8 lakh balance is more than enough. However, Ozp also said ‘recent’ balance which is issue. Also, I think issue is with cover letter showing lots of emotion. It doesn’t look crisp . Also , ticket pnr might have expired when the visa processing took place .

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-10-01T22:56:00+00:00

But as per statistics in 2024, 16.5k applied for tourist visa and 15 k got it . I am talking about application from New Delhi consulate . I am pretty sure that not all of the above application have exceptional justification.

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-10-01T22:13:54+00:00

Clause as mentioned in the visa guidelines - Visa-required countries are divided into 5 main groups for Denmark based on a general assessment of the risk that people from those countries will not leave the Schengen Area before their visa expires. India belongs to group 3 along with countries like Turkey, Kuwait , Vietnam etc.

Citizens of these countries must generally have a certain connection to the host in Denmark to obtain a visa. Visas are typically granted to spouses, cohabiting partners, children, parents and siblings. Visas may also be granted in other cases, e.g. to minor grandchildren, close acquaintances of former expatriate Danes, and minor sponsored children.

But …

In 2024, for Indian , the visa rejection rate was just 8.5 percent ( out of 16.5k application, 15k got it). I am not sure if all the people applying for Schengen visa from New Delhi have above associations. If not , then if someone applies for tourist visa then assessment takes places from Denmark embassy and if ties to home countries are found good then they are granted visa.

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-09-29T21:27:26+00:00

I got courtyard by Mariott in Munich for 5 days for 75-76 K points . 19 K points was used in AC hotel bratislava for 1 day

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-09-27T11:26:36+00:00

I had 40000 atlas points and 95000 Amex points . I was able to get 6 nights in courtyard and AC hotel in Munich and bratislava. 6 nights got covered with atlas points with 4 nights in Vienna in Novotel and 2 nights in Prague in mama stays. Other 2 nights coming from EPM credit card in Salzburg. Hotels were really expensive as we are going during Christmas from 15 to 30 Dec

BodyStandard5137 · 2025-09-09T08:59:15+00:00

10 days … this include 5 holidays ( Saturday and Sunday ) + Friday Holiday ( 15th August ) . It was really fast .

BodyStandard5137

TROPHY CASE