What makes a high end card better?

[Anonymous]

Funny this topic came up. I used my Amex platinum inside a gas station the other day and the cashier literally said " that's a high end card buddy!" Which was weird cause when i got the card I thought it'll be more low key which I liked just cause of its silver color and the gold Amex would stand out more. Lol. I look at my cards for its perks but when I hear comments like that when I'm using it I can understand why people may steer towards certain high end cards for other reasons like its a prize or status symbol. 

[ryox03]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Funny this topic came up. I used my Amex platinum inside a gas station the other day and the cashier literally said " that's a high end card buddy!" Which was weird cause when i got the card I thought it'll be more low key which I liked just cause of its silver color and the gold Amex would stand out more. Lol. I look at my cards for its perks but when I hear comments like that when I'm using it I can understand why people may steer towards certain high end cards for other reasons like its a prize or status symbol. 

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LOL. I get what you mean. The only thing that stopped me from the Plat was that annual fee and it not being worth it. A certain forum made it seem like the centurion lounges werent worth it due to the amount of people in them. Then there were the snooty Centurion card holders that would pop in and **bleep** on the platinum card holders as if they shouldn't be taking advantage of the perk anyways. What has your experience been?

[Anonymous]

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@pipeguy wrote:

I know this is not an especially popular card on MyFico, but the GM BuyPower card offers 5% Earnings on your first $5,000 in purchases every year, then 2% unlimited Earnings on purchases after that as a "credit" toward a future purchase of a GM vehicle. I understand that it's not direct cash back and the awards are kind of like a savings account where you are saving for a new car, but that said if this fits your needs, its a good deal. Mercedes has a similar product which credits you for future repairs or purchases. 

Truth in advertising, I have the GM BuyPower Card with an $11,000 CL and I generally only buy GM Cars/Trucks so this product works for me at 5% payback each year. 

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I wish Toyota issues a CC like that, but it's from GM, so I don't jump to it

[Anonymous]

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@ryox03 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Funny this topic came up. I used my Amex platinum inside a gas station the other day and the cashier literally said " that's a high end card buddy!" Which was weird cause when i got the card I thought it'll be more low key which I liked just cause of its silver color and the gold Amex would stand out more. Lol. I look at my cards for its perks but when I hear comments like that when I'm using it I can understand why people may steer towards certain high end cards for other reasons like its a prize or status symbol. 

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LOL. I get what you mean. The only thing that stopped me from the Plat was that annual fee and it not being worth it. A certain forum made it seem like the centurion lounges werent worth it due to the amount of people in them. Then there were the snooty Centurion card holders that would pop in and **bleep** on the platinum card holders as if they shouldn't be taking advantage of the perk anyways. What has your experience been?

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To be honest my Amex plat is fairly new, I recently got approved for it. I compared it to the Amex gold prg and it was a tough decision , I like to travel and I already had the CSP for dining and travel points so I figure the  200 airline credit, complimentary upgrades and hotel credits, centurion lounge, free priority pass membership for other lounges, all would be great perks. I went to Vegas 3 times and all 3 times I walked by the Amex lounge wishing I could get in lol without paying of course. So experience wise I can't speak of yet but I'm hoping to put some use in it this year. If it doesn't work out I'll probably product change it to the gold prg down the road. I'm glad there's an option of keeping your same account but just product changing to another charge card that flexibility and option made it easier to go for the  plat for now knowing I won't be stuck with it if I didn't want it. The gold Amex prg is a decent flashy looking card to since its " gold" but I guess the platinum has its looks too. 

[Anonymous]

Most cards are 1% rewards with some categories of purchase that could be 1.5% or 2.0% or 5.0%. But rewards on all purchases are 2% or less. Quicksilver is one of the better cards, not so much in limits, but that it's 1.5% cash back on everything and VISA is taken nearly everywhere unlike american express or discover.

Otherwise there aren't really that many perks on having several cash back reward cards. Travel cards often have an annual fee but can be helpful for business travelers, such as lounge access or airline upgrades. I agree with you, there's not much point in have so many cards for general purposes. I don't think they have significantly better APR, but that shouldn't matter as you should pay in full. They could have higher credit limits like Venture, but each issuer is different.

1-3 cards is enough for many people. Discover gives lots of credit line increases, decent rewards, and a real FICO score. PenFed gives huge credit lines, but not great rewards. They do give great auto loan rates, I suspect many people get an auto loan and then are approved for a credit card at the same time. I don't know why people like Amex though.

[UncleB]

Many excellent points have already been brought up, but I'll just emphasize that 'high end' is always subjective.

Synchrony Bank is usually not though of as being 'high end' but my Sam's Club MasterCard is actually the top rewards earner I have. 

It's not the 'coolest' looking piece of plastic I carry, but for my spending patterns it works out very well.

I have each of my cards for a reason, and there's very little overlap (what overlap there is I plan to have 'cured' by the middle of the year).  For some folks "the fewer the better" but I like rewards, so having more than a couple of cards works for me.  I also like having diversity among my lenders, that way if there is ever an issue I always have a way to get past the cashier.  Even if you pay your bills like clockwork, something as minor as a security flag can cause havoc if you're not where you can quickly (or easily) call the bank.

I've always preferred to have at least one card on each network, at least when I was able.  Now that Sam's will start taking Visa (effective Feb 1) Costco is the only 'major' merchant that restricts their customers to one network; most merchants will take both MasterCard and Visa at a minimum, with Discover and Amex trailing behind.

To give you an idea of how/why I came about my own accounts, here is a condensed-version of how I use my major cards:

• Amex BCP - Groceries (6%), and department store purchases (3%)
• Discover - Whatever the current quarterly category covers (5%), especially 4th quarter when historically Amazon is included.  Rewards are doubled through July, so using as general-spend until then for effective 2%
• Sam's Club MasterCard - all hotel and fast-food/restaurants (3%) and gasoline (5%)
• Capital One Quicksilver Visa/MC - General spend (1.5%), plan to move MC credit line to Visa in June
• USAA Visa - Overdraft protection for checking account, also no-fee cash advances directly to checking
• NFCU MasterCard - no rewards, but low APR (10.99) and no-fee balance transfers; my 'whoops' card if I ever need to carry a balance
• Amex Green - NPSL (no preset spending limit) so doesn't impact utilization, but I haven't found a good use for MR points.  Will close before AF is due

For the moment, my 'wish list' is pretty complete.  My recommendation would be to evaluate your own spending patterns, and choose your credit cards to help you meet your goals.  At the moment I'm concentrating on maximizing rewards, so I tend to favor cards that will help me earn the most cash back. 

Hope this helps!

[Loquat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Funny this topic came up. I used my Amex platinum inside a gas station the other day and the cashier literally said " that's a high end card buddy!" Which was weird cause when i got the card I thought it'll be more low key which I liked just cause of its silver color and the gold Amex would stand out more. Lol. I look at my cards for its perks but when I hear comments like that when I'm using it I can understand why people may steer towards certain high end cards for other reasons like its a prize or status symbol. 

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Most places here in my area (gas stations included) have the machine where you swipe yourself...so more and more I find myself not having to hand my card over to anyone.  I was at the local Chili's restaurant the other night and even they now have self swipe machines at your table so now you never have to hand your card over to the waiter/waitress.  With that being said, ApplePay/SamsungPay are starting to show up in many places I frequent so as they continue to add additional merchants there may come a time when even having to actually use my physical card may become a rare occurrence.