Amex heavy...is this bad?

[Anonymous]

I got pissed off at chase and signed up for amex amazon business prime card this morning. It got me thinking... nearly every card I actually spend money on is an amex. And, the majority IN GENERAL are amex....but I freaking LOVE amex. I've even been thinking of replacing my marvel with a consumer gold card.

I use every single one of my amex cards except for the business gold card which I'm debating cancelling. I have a restaurant that buys TONS of supplies on BCP at 6%, way more than the 100 AF. I have about 20 people on a business cell plan that I get 5% back on SCP, I also buy several thousand dollars of supplies from Office Depot every month also at 5%. The BBP is my "go to" for any non-category spend. As of this morning I have replaced my chase amazon prime visa with amex business prime visa. I spend PLENTY at amazon at 5%. All my restaurant and entertainment spending currently goes on my marvel at 3%. My gas purchases go to sams club at 5%.

My big problem, if it is one... is everything outside of amazon and marvel is staying relatively stagnant. I only buy a couple hundred dollars of gas per month on sams. My QS was PC from QSO which is my first card since the rebuild at end of 2016, it was my non-category spend card before getting the BBP card; now it is pretty much unused. My chase amazon prime will go unused once I get and spend my bonus points for the month. I have store cards at both home depot (me) and macys (ex shopped there a lot) which pretty much never get touched anymore but they are my oldest trade lines now that I sold my house.

I put a charge on each of them every 6 months to keep them relevant on credit report...but...really none of them get used outside of that.

Question is... I feel like I'm putting too many eggs in one basket. Does amex ever get uncomfortable if you have too much with them and not enough outside? Worse yet is almost all my amex cards are business cards which don't even show on my report. I hate chase, and they hate me back (different subject for a different day) so... I was going to get those next but no longer want anything to do with them.

Who else is worth having?  Discover used to look interesting until they dropped all their benefits. I don't like the low spending limits on their bonus categories either. Maybe I should sign up for some no AF cards with high bonuses just to round out the profile?

Are there any travel cards (other than chase) with airline credits, tsa precheck, lounge access and good transfer partners/redemption rates...which also have respectable restaurant/entertainment or other bonus categories (currently getting 3% on entertainment). I love all the perks and am considering getting some of them knowing they'll go unused outside of the perks because I don't travel frequently, but I'd hate to pay a high AF on a card that doesn't get transactions (even if the bonuses are still worth it). 

[Anonymous]

I think you should try and work it out with Chase. Stagnant cards or only using AMEX I don't think will hurt your credit score. I have 21+ cards and only use 4 of them monthly. The reason I say figure it out with Chase, is they offer some of the best cards, so by not using them you lose out on those perks. 

[redpat]

Never worry.  Most of my spend is on Amex now.  Since the PRG change my CSR is basically SD'd, my citi card is only for lounge and I do use Barclay Silver for 3x AA at times.  Chase Ink+ for 5x categories and some of my employees use it.  Bus plat amex for purchases over 5k for 1.5x and BRG for everything else.

Nothing wrong with just using Amex if you get the best bang for your dollars and you pay the bill.

As far as I'm concerned Amex loves my spend.

[RicHowe]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Question is... I feel like I'm putting too many eggs in one basket. Does amex ever get uncomfortable if you have too much with them and not enough outside? 1  Worse yet is almost all my amex cards are business cards which don't even show on my report. I hate chase, and they hate me back (different subject for a different day) so... I was going to get those next but no longer want anything to do with them.

Who else is worth having?  2  Discover used to look interesting until they dropped all their benefits. I don't like the low spending limits on their bonus categories either. Maybe I should sign up for some no AF cards with high bonuses just to round out the profile?

Are there any travel cards (other than chase) with airline credits, tsa precheck, lounge access and good transfer partners/redemption rates...which also have respectable restaurant/entertainment or other bonus categories (currently getting 3% on entertainment). I love all the perks and am considering getting some of them knowing they'll go unused outside of the perks because I don't travel frequently, but I'd hate to pay a high AF on a card that doesn't get transactions (even if the bonuses are still worth it). 

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1 AMEX does not care whether you have another line of credit with another network. As long as you maintain your relationship with AMEX you are good as gold. The only issue will be for CLI's if your other cards have high utilzation - it may affect your ability to get a CLI with AMEX (but this is true for other banks as well). In general, having a relationship with a bank on another network (VISA, MC) is advantageous when you find the odd supplier that does not accept AMEX.

2 I have 5 AMEX cards and also have relationships with Chase, Citi, BMO Harris, PenFed and Discover. AMEX has a card for all the perks you mention (hotels, restaurants, travel).

My current active setup is AMEX Platinum for travel (Airfare, Hotel) AMEX Gold (Restaurants, Grocery), AMEX Everyday (for non category spend to get MR points) Chase Sapphire Preferred (Car Rental for Primary Insurance coverage). PenFed PowerCash Rewards (2% cash back on all spend).

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think you should try and work it out with Chase. Stagnant cards or only using AMEX I don't think will hurt your credit score. I have 21+ cards and only use 4 of them monthly. The reason I say figure it out with Chase, is they offer some of the best cards, so by not using them you lose out on those perks. 

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Nah, they are getting no more love from me. They've spontaneously closed my checking account 3 times and forced me to deal with the fallout. Complete BS. I have a complaint going in to the executive office, cancelling my marriot after this months bill is paid. Since chase is one of my only tradelines showing on personal credit and theres no AF other than amazon prime itself...I wont cancel my amazon card but I'll stop using it. Amex amazon card is better. I have loved my 5% back but always cringe (or change payments and lose 5%) when I use it on expensive stuff because I know chase wont back me up like amex will if anything breaks...

The chase credit card department loves me right now... they'd probably give me the cards I wanted... or at least start by giving me one or two...but they screwed me 3 times on checking and thats too many times...each time has cost me a good $1000 in fees from everybody wondering why my account is closed and bouncing everybodys payments. like I said, a issue for a different day lol

[Anonymous]

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@redpat wrote:

Never worry.  Most of my spend is on Amex now.  Since the PRG change my CSR is basically SD'd, my citi card is only for lounge and I do use Barclay Silver for 3x AA at times.  Chase Ink+ for 5x categories and some of my employees use it.  Bus plat amex for purchases over 5k for 1.5x and BRG for everything else.

Nothing wrong with just using Amex if you get the best bang for your dollars and you pay the bill.

As far as I'm concerned Amex loves my spend.

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Wouldn't you be better putting 5k spend on BBP and get 2x points on ALL spending?

Otherwise, thanks. This makes me feel better

[staticvoidmain]

Somehow, I understand this sentiment. Sometimes, it's the principle that counts. The only reason I still do business with Chase is because I could not replace their Amazon card. And AMEX is a really goood lender — only used their Delta card, but thinking of adding SPG, Gold and Platinum in the near future. I think you'd be fine.

[Shadowfactor]

The BBP 2X is capped at 50K in spend for the year. Larger businesses can blow through that pretty quickly.

The 1.5X on business platinum is only for purchases that exceed 5K in a single transaction so if you making several 5K or larger purchases you can see how fast that 50K cap goes out the window.

There’s nothing wrong with only using Amex. If they had greater world wide acceptance and bonus points on purchases outside the US they would likely be the only lender I would use.

Avoid having your eggs in all one basket. That doesn’t mean you can’t only use the eggs in the Amex basket but if **bleep** hits the fan (like it did with chase) you have a established second basket to use.

The average American that only has 1-2 credit cards in his wallet probably are from the same lender or the only lender and those people do just fine.

[blindambition]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I got pissed off at chase and signed up for amex amazon business prime card this morning. It got me thinking... nearly every card I actually spend money on is an amex. And, the majority IN GENERAL are amex....but I freaking LOVE amex. I've even been thinking of replacing my marvel with a consumer gold card.

I use every single one of my amex cards except for the business gold card which I'm debating cancelling. I have a restaurant that buys TONS of supplies on BCP at 6%, way more than the 100 AF. I have about 20 people on a business cell plan that I get 5% back on SCP, I also buy several thousand dollars of supplies from Office Depot every month also at 5%. The BBP is my "go to" for any non-category spend. As of this morning I have replaced my chase amazon prime visa with amex business prime visa. I spend PLENTY at amazon at 5%. All my restaurant and entertainment spending currently goes on my marvel at 3%. My gas purchases go to sams club at 5%.

My big problem, if it is one... is everything outside of amazon and marvel is staying relatively stagnant. I only buy a couple hundred dollars of gas per month on sams. My QS was PC from QSO which is my first card since the rebuild at end of 2016, it was my non-category spend card before getting the BBP card; now it is pretty much unused. My chase amazon prime will go unused once I get and spend my bonus points for the month. I have store cards at both home depot (me) and macys (ex shopped there a lot) which pretty much never get touched anymore but they are my oldest trade lines now that I sold my house.

I put a charge on each of them every 6 months to keep them relevant on credit report...but...really none of them get used outside of that.

Question is... I feel like I'm putting too many eggs in one basket. Does amex ever get uncomfortable if you have too much with them and not enough outside? Worse yet is almost all my amex cards are business cards which don't even show on my report. I hate chase, and they hate me back (different subject for a different day) so... I was going to get those next but no longer want anything to do with them.

Who else is worth having?  Discover used to look interesting until they dropped all their benefits. I don't like the low spending limits on their bonus categories either. Maybe I should sign up for some no AF cards with high bonuses just to round out the profile?

Are there any travel cards (other than chase) with airline credits, tsa precheck, lounge access and good transfer partners/redemption rates...which also have respectable restaurant/entertainment or other bonus categories (currently getting 3% on entertainment). I love all the perks and am considering getting some of them knowing they'll go unused outside of the perks because I don't travel frequently, but I'd hate to pay a high AF on a card that doesn't get transactions (even if the bonuses are still worth it). 

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You should have at least one MC, or Visa. I love Amex, but not accepted everywhere. Especially in Europe.

Have you thought to PC your QS? Maybe Saver available. More value with dining and entertainment. That’s if Saver available.

I understand Chase frustration. They are my bank. You don’t want to completely dismiss them.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think you should try and work it out with Chase. Stagnant cards or only using AMEX I don't think will hurt your credit score. I have 21+ cards and only use 4 of them monthly. The reason I say figure it out with Chase, is they offer some of the best cards, so by not using them you lose out on those perks. 

Chase cards are only the best if you use them for what they offer,  mainly travel related stuff imo. Too many people think Chase is the be all  or no all and it isnt true. Plenty of better cards out there if the person maximizes that card for their spend. I dont lose out on their perks because those perks dont relate to me. Discover nerfed alot of benefits but most of us never used them lol. Just my humble opinion lol

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