Credit Cards

[Elcid89]

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trumpet-205 wrote:

First, terrible idea to put business spending on personal card. AMEX frowns on that. Usually AMEX will hit you with FR right after that.

To your question, AMEX rarely reopen account. I'm pretty sure MR points are lost the moment you did something bad (like not pay in full). Be advised AMEX will charge $25 should they decide to reopen your account.

At this point, it sounds like the debt is already on the hands of collection agency. Which means legally AMEX is no longer the debt holder but collection agency is. You will have to pay the collection agency. Preferably asking them for pay for deletion and sending a notice to AMEX acknowledge the debt is paid. From there AMEX may or may not let you in again.

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Not necessarily. Unless Amex has sold the debt, it remains on their books and the CA is simply acting as an agent for AMEX. In that scenario, you can bypass the CA and pay Amex directly.

[stan_the_man]

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Ephraimite wrote:

I had 168,000 points on my account.

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Why would anyone leave 168K points in any credit card account?

[Walt_K]

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stan_the_man wrote:

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Ephraimite wrote:

I had 168,000 points on my account.

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Why would anyone leave 168K points in any credit card account?

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Because you are not sure where you want to use them yet.  Amex's points are transferable to many different FF programs, and the points post immediately once you transfer.  That flexibility allows you to leave them in your MR account until the point where you want to book an award so that you can make sure the award is available before you move the points.  Once you transfer them, you're stuck using them for that airline or its alliance partners.  And you might miss out on bonus opportunities.  Better to leave them with Amex until you know what you are going to do with them.  I have 250K MR points but that's still pretty small by some people's standards. 

[stan_the_man]

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Walt_K wrote:

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stan_the_man wrote:

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Ephraimite wrote:

I had 168,000 points on my account.

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Why would anyone leave 168K points in any credit card account?

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Because you are not sure where you want to use them yet.  Amex's points are transferable to many different FF programs, and the points post immediately once you transfer.  That flexibility allows you to leave them in your MR account until the point where you want to book an award so that you can make sure the award is available before you move the points.  Once you transfer them, you're stuck using them for that airline or its alliance partners.  And you might miss out on bonus opportunities.  Better to leave them with Amex until you know what you are going to do with them.  I have 250K MR points but that's still pretty small by some people's standards. 

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The entire program could get devalued with no notice (see Citi's ThankYou program).

[Walt_K]

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stan_the_man wrote:

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Walt_K wrote:

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stan_the_man wrote:

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Ephraimite wrote:

I had 168,000 points on my account.

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Why would anyone leave 168K points in any credit card account?

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Because you are not sure where you want to use them yet.  Amex's points are transferable to many different FF programs, and the points post immediately once you transfer.  That flexibility allows you to leave them in your MR account until the point where you want to book an award so that you can make sure the award is available before you move the points.  Once you transfer them, you're stuck using them for that airline or its alliance partners.  And you might miss out on bonus opportunities.  Better to leave them with Amex until you know what you are going to do with them.  I have 250K MR points but that's still pretty small by some people's standards. 

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The entire program could get devalued with no notice (see Citi's ThankYou program).

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Anything could happen, but I don't think an across the board devaluation is likely.  Any devaluation is more likely IMO to be as a result of specific programs devaluing their FF programs, which is another reason I'm better off leaving the points with MR for the flexibility.    

[Koop10010]

Yeah, I can't see Amex devaluing MR points across the board in a meaningful way.  I mean, the only thing they are really good for is transferring to the loyalty programs.  Most programs are 1:1, so I can't see Amex suddenly going 2:1 or 1.5:1 or anything like that.  I think it makes more sense to worry about specific frequent flier and guest programs devaluing their miles/points.  Amex also frequently runs promotions where you get a bonus for a transfer to a certain partner.  So it makes sense to accumulate MR points until you have a specific use for them.

[Wolf3]

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Ephraimite wrote:

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!

Wow... things appear to have worked out somehow...

I called the Responsible Landing Action Department.

Spoke to the nicest lady.

Advised me that I have 24 MONTHS to keep points but only after my account is in good standing.

Was not able in her department to accept payment.

I tried to pay online as I successfully did ($687.62) 10 days ago.

This time, the online would not accept my payment.

FORTUNATELY, I was able to have an agent on the phone from Membership Rewards Depart accept my payment IN FULL without having to 

go through the outside credit agency.

After my payment posts (Tuesday or Wednesday) I can call back to redeem points and reapply for a new card (Green Card).

So overall, things worked out well IT APPEARS.  

It's not over until it's over.

Albeit, I am amazed all each of your responses.... thank you for your HELP!

God Bless!

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Glad you were able to settle it.    They screwed you by demanded payment on things that were pay over time. 

They closed my account after 19 years of heavy use and never late, because I got behind in other credit cards.  I suggest you take a hint and find some better creditors. 

[CruzImperial]

I'm glad everything worked out for you.