Amex Charge card pay over time offer

[skimmie48]

I received a letter from Amex stating that I qualified for their pay over time on my Amex charge card with a spending limit of $35,000. It went on to say that this should not be interpreted that I could just go out and spend that amount and that they can decline the pay over time request at any time.   Not that I would use it, but it seems a pretty precarious position for some to decide to use this for a major purchase, only to have the pay over time declined. Why would I consider this a perk or a benefit?  

[Anonymous]

You shouldn't. Get a card designed for pay over time.

[ddemari]

Weird they would sell u on that feature which to me I thought would raise a red flag with the Amex computer and me.

[CreditCuriosity]

Have POT with my Platinum with a 35k limit as well..  Not that they would necessarily honor it nor would I forsee myself using it either at 18.x% interest!  Just took them up on the offer and use it as a PIF card.. See no harm in it personally.  Only regret is I didn't wait for the 10k MR offer to enroll in the POT feature that exists.

[skimmie48]

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@ddemari wrote:
Weird they would sell u on that feature which to me I thought would raise a red flag with the Amex computer and me.

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That's what I thought too. Not something I'll be taking advantage of.

[jgodfrey82]

There is no reason to ever use it with the 18.49% rate or whatever it is, but it actually is a cool feature to add for a few reasons. I just recently added to my BRG.

1. It changes billing cycle from due date being 2 weeks after statement to a full 28 days.

2. It automatically takes anything over $100 and throws it in the pay over time bucket, making the min due the sum of everything else. Not that this should be used, I PIF but I prefer seeing a $500 monthly due than the actual $3k. Again I PIF charge cards but I like this.

3! And this is the one that actually matters. 10k MR points for just signing up.


As a side note, I've only had the BRG since may, with the 75k bonus awarded at that time, but last week a rep from Amex called and tried to upgrade me to the platinum foe another 50k MR bonus, no new app required. I told him I would wait for another 75 or 100k offer before I went plat.

Love Amex and they will love you back.

[elim]

i took the offer over a year ago (same 35k) and have never used it.  they have never denied a charge from me and no FR or AA at all.   i just buy stuff and they put up the cash like a good lender, lol.  

any charge over $100 goes in a POT column.    the full balance of the current months charges are your "amount due"  until you select the charges you want to carry (i assume that's how it works).

i'm not sure if it looks better (credit wise) in any way to them or other lenders, i just figured if SHTF  it would be safer to have it than not.

[NRB525]

I also made the mistake of accepting the POT option on the new PRG.

The benefit of having pay over time is like any other credit product: If someone has a credit arrangement, that credit simply costs money. If one is managing cash flow and will be getting reimbursement for expenses or otherwise will cover the current charges soon after, then the POT works as a bridge loan. At 1.5% per month, not altogether bad financing cost if you are only going 2-3 months.

Mine shows some three options; select the items to put into POT, show everything over $100 in POT, and there's one other category. They won't let me fully select it, at least as of last week, not that it's going to get used but like a lot of features, pushing the buttons is fun to do.

[jsucool76]

Only time I'll activate it is if I get a points offer to do so. I'm still waiting.

[12njoy]

Congrats OP and all others who have it.  Amex has never and likely never will offer it to me.