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Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

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jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

Ive used Amex at every place you could imagine and nothing has happened.
Amex BCE (2500) / Amex SPG (4000) / Amex GoldPR / Merrill+ Visa siggy (5000) / BofA Amex (6000) / Bofa cash rewards (5000) / BofA Privileges Cash Rewards (5000) / Citi Forward (4400) / Citi DP (2000) / Chase Freedom (4000) / Chase CSP (5000) / Chase Hyatt (5000) / Discover IT (1700) / FNBO AMEX (3600) / NFCU cashRewards Visa signature (15000) / NFCU Flagship Visa signature (12500) / NFCU Navcheck (5000) / Nordstrom (500) / MetroCU Visa Elite (5000) / Walmart (4500) / Kays Jewerels (6600) / Kohls (300) / Macys Platinum (2500) / DCU platinum Visa (17500) / Citizens bank cash back (1100) / Bill Me Later (1631) / PayPal Smart connect (2200) / BestBuy store card (2000)
Message 11 of 31
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

I don't think it really matters unless you're dining at some really questionable places (strip clubs for instance....)

 

Like CreditScholar said, Amex seems to be the only lender that is known to keep track. Other lenders might keep track, or they might not, depending on the tier of card you have and the clientele that card is supposed to cater to. 

 

At the end of the day, a whole lot of "low-scoring" transactions are not going to get you into trouble or affect your account drastically. It might just affect whatever targetted promotion they have for you and if the promotion isn't suitable for you in the first place, it's still going to be useless even if they do send it to you. Just use your card as much as you can, and pay on time, and preferably in full. Lenders, especially Amex, are very scared of people defaulting on them. 

JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 12 of 31
jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

Who goes for dinner at strip clubs?? And ive used Amex at strip clubs multiple times before and nothing has happen.
Amex BCE (2500) / Amex SPG (4000) / Amex GoldPR / Merrill+ Visa siggy (5000) / BofA Amex (6000) / Bofa cash rewards (5000) / BofA Privileges Cash Rewards (5000) / Citi Forward (4400) / Citi DP (2000) / Chase Freedom (4000) / Chase CSP (5000) / Chase Hyatt (5000) / Discover IT (1700) / FNBO AMEX (3600) / NFCU cashRewards Visa signature (15000) / NFCU Flagship Visa signature (12500) / NFCU Navcheck (5000) / Nordstrom (500) / MetroCU Visa Elite (5000) / Walmart (4500) / Kays Jewerels (6600) / Kohls (300) / Macys Platinum (2500) / DCU platinum Visa (17500) / Citizens bank cash back (1100) / Bill Me Later (1631) / PayPal Smart connect (2200) / BestBuy store card (2000)
Message 13 of 31
JonStur
Established Contributor

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?


@jsickz32 wrote:
Who goes for dinner at strip clubs?? And ive used Amex at strip clubs multiple times before and nothing has happen.

I bounced for a strip club, all I saw was AMEX flashing all night.  It was nothing for guys (an some ladies btw) to run five figures thru their cards....


Starting Score: TU 595 EX 600 EQ 585
Current Score: TU 820 EX 825 EQ 812
Goal Score: 800 Club (Mission Accomplished)

Amex Platinum, Amex BCP $17.5K, 5/3 Sig $10K, Capital One Quicksilver 15K, Walmart 10K, US Bank Cash+ 15K, Sam's Club 10K, Chase Freedom $6K, Discover More $15K, Chase United Club MileagePlus $33K, Costco $6K, CapOne Quicksilver One $7K, Cap One Quicksilver $5K, Amazon $3K, Barclays $12.5K, Home Depot $7.5K, AppleCard $6K
Message 14 of 31
CreditHammer
New Member

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

Nothing could be further from the truth! As long as you use your card and make the payments on time then you're good to go.. Their is no analyst who is hires to watch your account for "suspicious restaurant spending" ...

 

"alright, let’s cancel this joker’s card.. he's spent 50 bucks at McDonalds in the last 2 weeks alone.. we can't have that" haha..  Trust me.. you're good to go

Message 15 of 31
phillyguy12
Frequent Contributor

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

i for the most part don't believe any of this, mainly because the CC company makes money every time your card is used, reguardless of the amt. you know the hold merchants put on your card for your purchase amt, they pay a fee for that hold, they also pay fees if the amt doesn't match the final amt and if they don't settle the transaction in a certain time frame, and they could pay a whole bunch more fees depending on what info is or isn't sent. i almost never use cash anymore, i just use my cards and pif and nothing has happen to me.  there was a something about this on world news a few months ago and they were calling it a spending profile score or somthing to that effect, they said spending at discount stores ect lowers the score, but in the end they said no one was tying it to financial decisions.  i think its nothing more than a way for cc's to make extra money off you by selling people's spending profiles to marketers

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Discover-24k, Khols-2k
Message 16 of 31
katiecakes
Established Member

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

Its absolutely true-credit card companies hate when you eat out and pay with a credit card! Bring cash and tip your server with lots of cash as well if you want to keep your cards!!

 

Lol, just kidding, I am a waitress at Uno Chicago Grill and I hate credit card tips. Smiley Very Happy 

Of course, nobody pays with cash anymore, everyone charges lunch. Like the posters before me, they only care that you pay it back. Smiley Very Happy

Message 17 of 31
jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

I tip with cash lol and if the waitress is pretty is a nice tip too Smiley Happy lol
Amex BCE (2500) / Amex SPG (4000) / Amex GoldPR / Merrill+ Visa siggy (5000) / BofA Amex (6000) / Bofa cash rewards (5000) / BofA Privileges Cash Rewards (5000) / Citi Forward (4400) / Citi DP (2000) / Chase Freedom (4000) / Chase CSP (5000) / Chase Hyatt (5000) / Discover IT (1700) / FNBO AMEX (3600) / NFCU cashRewards Visa signature (15000) / NFCU Flagship Visa signature (12500) / NFCU Navcheck (5000) / Nordstrom (500) / MetroCU Visa Elite (5000) / Walmart (4500) / Kays Jewerels (6600) / Kohls (300) / Macys Platinum (2500) / DCU platinum Visa (17500) / Citizens bank cash back (1100) / Bill Me Later (1631) / PayPal Smart connect (2200) / BestBuy store card (2000)
Message 18 of 31
R0C
New Member
New Member

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

I can personally attest for the so called profiling that Amex does. I won't go into details, but if you are a big spender and make a few purchases at certain places that the vast majority shop at  an AA, FR or etc can commence. This was during the credit crunch and they will deny it. I've had TIER 1 credit for years and pushed 4 to 5 figures through them on a monthly basis for quite some time and I was the least of their worries, but they did CLD me. I've even purchased a car on their cards. So if they are capable of doing it once don't think that history can't repeat itself. Now when I had normal limits they could care less at where I shopped and such, but I do watch where I use my Amex at. I even tracked their SPs and the higher the limits they would consistently SP me more often. I know plenty of others that do the same also because the same has happened to them. According to the information that we researched at the time and gathered within us, people that shop at certain places were more likely to default and I do believe this to be true. Regardless, it's called profiling and Amex isn't stupid and do risk mitigation. For the vast majority this won't apply, but for the minority it's a reality.

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Message 19 of 31
katiecakes
Established Member

Re: Myth or Truth: Paying for Lunch on a CC Is Bad for You?

Nice, 5 stars for jsickz32!! You are on your way to credit sucess! Smiley Very Happy    lol!

Message 20 of 31
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