Benefits of having an AMEX card?

[Anonymous]

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@jonathanw84 wrote:

Thanks for all of the info everyone! I may have to pull the trigger.

What kinds of credit lines does AMEX typically give? My scores are listed above. My wife and I make roughly 98k anually.

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With your scores you will be able to get any of their revolving credit cards.   I'm not sure what they'll start you with in terms of credit line, but when I got their Starwood card my CL was 10% of my income.

[HiLine]

A lot of people forget that other card issuers offer benefits comparable to those by Amex. Warranty extension is offered for most, if not all Visa cards, as well as all Discover cards. Concierge service is offered for all Visa Signature cards, maybe by Discover as well. The reward mall of Amex is mediocre as best. Discover's shopdiscover consistently offers the best deal. And in terms of customer service, no one can beat Discover.

If anyone is interested, one of my recent blog posts (my own blog, not myFICO's) reviews a regular BofA Visa card and explains the benefits that come with it that are often ignored.

http://hiepsfinance.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/anatomy-of-a-credit-card-bank-of-america-cash-rewards/

One of those days I will review Visa Signature, Discover, and Amex's benefits as well. I don't yet have a Mastercard so can't talk for it.

[E150GT]

I have a green card and what I really like is the way they categorize and organize your spending. I can see what merchant I spend the most at and stuff like that. The only thing I dont like about it is that it is not accepted everywhere. I would be happy with just my amex and maybe a nice visa to compliment it. 

[HiLine]

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@E150GT wrote:

I have a green card and what I really like is the way they categorize and organize your spending. I can see what merchant I spend the most at and stuff like that. The only thing I dont like about it is that it is not accepted everywhere. I would be happy with just my amex and maybe a nice visa to compliment it. 

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I have Discover and BofA cards, and I know that these two issuers give you the same service. I also have Chase and Citi cards, and either they don't have the service, or their online banking websites are hard to navigate.

[L0RDAVENTAD0R]

Presale Playoff Lakers tickets is an AMEX benefit? Someone please confirm this. Now I have a reason to definitely apply for AMEX.

[dodgeball]

Benefiets include FR and declines at your favorite stores, plus your ego can be inflated 

[Cageym]

I have a couple of Amex cards, for different uses. I like the customer service and I use Amex Travel when I head back stateside for vacation. I've found the business class seats to be about $1000 cheaper through them. And I will never do business with BofA again, I have had freakin' nightmare issues with them. Discover isn't accepted in as many places overseas, and I have never had an issue with Amex being accepted.

[webhopper]

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@jonathanw84 wrote:

Thanks for all of the info everyone! I may have to pull the trigger.

What kinds of credit lines does AMEX typically give? My scores are listed above. My wife and I make roughly 98k anually.

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They give amazing credit lines,  They gave me a 22k credit line for my business which has a gross revenue of 24k.  With personal gaurantee of course, and my W-2 wage job gives me an income of about 98k plus child support, which is 4k...  

They are real nice as far as their credit limit increase policy as well.

Edit,  Just realized this was an old thread. 

[ACsteel]

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@webhopper wrote:

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@jonathanw84 wrote:

Thanks for all of the info everyone! I may have to pull the trigger.

What kinds of credit lines does AMEX typically give? My scores are listed above. My wife and I make roughly 98k anually.

---

They give amazing credit lines,  They gave me a 22k credit line for my business which has a gross revenue of 24k.  With personal gaurantee of course, and my W-2 wage job gives me an income of about 98k plus child support, which is 4k...  

They are real nice as far as their credit limit increase policy as well.

Edit,  Just realized this was an old thread. 

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LOL there there Webhopper it's OK you are just so eager to help people!

[Open123]

In my view, the benefits of Amex are:

1.  Backdating - Far and away the most unique and useful benefit of all issuers.  For members 20+ years, the effect AAOA is pricelss when opening new Amex accounts, which completely neutralizes the deleterious effects on AAOA on new accounts.

2.  Amex is an issuer who values tenure and usage over time.  They may not be the best for "brand" new members with short histories, but once that history and tenure grows, I suspect the experience with Amex will improve.  I've seen first hand some 20 - 25+ years members who have used the card consistently receive extraordinary treatment with exceptions made for them all the time.  I've spoken with a few CSRs who've said one of the first things all Amex service people see is your membership since date.  While I'd imagine they strive to give the best experience to everyone, I'd imagine some CSRs may unwittingly make a little more effort for older membership dates.  Amex is different in that for older cardmembers, you may get better treatment than you would if you were...say...to have the same kind of tenure with BofA, Cap One, etc...

3.  Amex is the best with one time large charges.  For example, if you wanted to make quarterly business tax payments, it's very difficult to have revolving line large enough to accomodate.  This is because tax debts (especially IRS ones) are very difficult to discharge via BK, and much easier once on a credit card.  When making single large payments, the Amex charge is far and away the most efficient way to go about it.  While there are other charge cards, Amex has forgotten more about the charge card business than most issuers will ever know.

4.  For most people, using the card as intended over time will lead to a very good experience.  It may not be the cheapest, but if you factor in the intangible values, Amex would be at or near the top of any issuer list.  The downside is it takes considerable time to build the kind of relationship with Amex that some experience and take for granted over a 20 year span of charging, paying, and going through ups and downs together.

While admittedly, I'm partial to Amex (my one failing, I suppose!).  Even for the objective dissenter, everyone has to agree that building a relationship with this lender more worthy of our efforts than with...say...Cap One, BofA, Barclay, Wells and some other lenders.

PS - Some of the many complaints I read regarding Amex goes something like this.  22 year old fresh out of college with low income applies for PR Gold and Plat sign up bonuses.  Meets the minimum spend requirement with "manufactured" spending and never uses the card again; or continues unabated at high amounts to rack up points.  When FR'ed, then post "Oh my God!  Amex FR'ed!  Why?  I pay my bills in full?  Charge $5K per month and always pay in full!"  Then, these same people call and insist their annual fees be waived too.  No business can survive--let alone flourish--without having a system in place to detect and surgically remove these unprofitable customers.

PS 2 - I recall during the "mint" days, when people would assert, "why would they care?  They get the fee, and I pay the bill."  What these people fail to see is what if the $30K of coints were stolen during the trip to the bank?  Unless one has the income, how would you pay for the charge?  That's the point of FRs, more so than for any other reason--to manage risk exposure for "outlier" spending behavior.