2026 is proving to be quite an un-rewarding year for credit card holders. So far, this year has already witnessed a whole bunch of changes to credit card rewards, benefits, retention criteria, and so on. This includes a double devaluation of the American Express Platinum Travel Card.
As I’d mentioned in a previous post, any email from a bank about an “Update” is now a mix of dread and curiosity, and so it was a while ago today with American Express. They sent a bunch of emails (depending on how many Amex cards you have) to cardmembers about an upcoming update.
What goes away – Reward Multiplier Program
They have decided to discontinue their Reward Multiplier Program w.e.f September 30, 2026. This program allowed cardmembers to get 5X, 3X, 2X points based on the card variant if they shopped on select merchant partner sites through the Amex website, which was via an affiliate link. These accelerated points accrued in addition to the base reward points.
What stays
| Base Reward Rate: | Remains the same, depending on your card variant |
| ShopWise: | 5X/3X/2X reward points to continue for e-voucher purchases |
| RewardXcelerator: | Continue to earn 10X/20X reward points on 20+ brands if you hold the Centurion or Platinum Charge Card |
If you’re thinking of making purchases from any of the participating merchants who are part of the Reward Multiplier Program, now’s the time to do it. All points you earn on eligible purchases till 11.59 pm on September 29, 2026 will be credited to your account.
Is this a “devaluation”?
Depends on your perspective.
I felt this program had lost its charm over the years. Not just in the number of merchant partners, but even the quality. There’s also a plethora of exclusions which made several offers pointless. One example is Apple, where they’ve excluded most of the latest models of phones/laptops from this program.
The mechanism is quite convoluted, and I’ve given them feedback also about this over the years.
Of course, from their POV, I do get they want to track consumer behaviour, earn a commission from their partners via attribution, pay out points only on intentional clicks v/s all the time etc, but for a consumer, it is irritating to use.
Maybe they’ve finally taken that feedback seriously 😉 and possibly the merchant and reward economics of this program were becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile.
Personally, I’ve not used the Reward Multiplier Program for quite a long time now, so won’t really miss it.
How about you?
