What's with the AMEX Obsession?

[fittiger]

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@jsickz32 wrote:
People who worry about those things do because they have a reason too. They know they apped to much or have a big balance that they know they can't PIF by the end of the month.

Theres diff kind of people who carry Amex cards. For you to just tittle this "whats the obsession with Amex?" You are pretty much calling all of us crazy just because you dont get why we have our cards.

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This post was meant to be about the contradiction of people highly desiring AMEX products while at the same time living in fear of AA from them.  I do not understand this situation.

If you have AMEX and love them great.  I'm not calling you crazy, please don't take it personally.  I will be applying for my first AMEX in July and hopefully establishing some sort of business relationship with them.  I just don't understand the dichotomous nature of people revering AMEX so highly while tolerating "aggressive" risk metrics and what I would deem poor customer service.  I completely understand if you personally have not experienced this, but it's prevalent enough that one can do a search for AMEX on one of these boards and there is probably a significant number of posts that contain some sort of mention of AA or fear of AA from AMEX.....more so than other for other banks.  For instance, I just did a quick search in myFico Forums under Credit Cards for "adverse" and 5 of the first 10 posts that came up had to do with AMEX.

If my choice of words using "obsession" was offensive, I apologize.  Sometimes colorful words incite more attention and therfore debate.

Edit: they also incite more moderator requirements  -- CareBear

Edit:  sorry -- fittiger

[cashnocredit]

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@fittiger wrote:

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@jsickz32 wrote:
People who worry about those things do because they have a reason too. They know they apped to much or have a big balance that they know they can't PIF by the end of the month.

Theres diff kind of people who carry Amex cards. For you to just tittle this "whats the obsession with Amex?" You are pretty much calling all of us crazy just because you dont get why we have our cards.

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This post was meant to be about the contradiction of people highly desiring AMEX products while at the same time living in fear of AA from them.  I do not understand this situation.

If you have AMEX and love them great.  I'm not calling you crazy,  please don't take it personally.  I will be applying for my first AMEX in July and hopefully establishing some sort of business relationship with them.  I just don't understand the dichotomous nature of people revering AMEX so highly while tolerating "aggressive" risk metrics and what I would deem poor customer service.  I completely understand if you personally have not experienced this, but it's prevalent enough that one can do a search for AMEX on one of these boards and there is probably a high percentage of posts that contain some sort of mention of AA or fear of AA from AMEX.....more so than other for other banks.

If my choice of words using "obsession" was offensive, I apologize.  Sometimes stronger words incite more attention and therfore debate.

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That is a good point and was one of the reasons I was reluctant to get an Amex. I don't fear an FR since I always carry backup and know I would easily pass an FR. But the NPSL thing made me crazy at first. The notion that I wouldn' know how much I could spend just seemed a reason not to use or have the card. I've gotten over that and it is now pretty clear to me that I can charge far more on Amex than any other card I have. That IS valuable to me.

[sarkell]

Okay an amex first most of the problems are person using them. Meaning I spend 6-10k on grocery a year may seem high but we don't go out eat some use the giftcard s to get their spend. But if you are also eating lunch and dinner out charging it looks suspicious right. Also these boards are a good sampling of amex users. My parents in laws use charge cards never have had revolvers always great my dad easily charges 250k on his amex no centurion for him the fees vs perks aren't worth it. He's never been frd. I think if your usage is right for income etc you won't have a problem not pyramiding debt. I know people let debt accumulate on other cards keep their amex clean. I hope to get one in the next year but we see.

And I use my cards for different things I won't use my chase for my Paypal eBay or etsy purchases. I use my c1 .

[fittiger]

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@sarkell wrote:

And I use my cards for different things I won't use my chase for my Paypal eBay or etsy purchases. I use my c1 .

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Why is this?

[LisaPA]

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@fittiger wrote:

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@jsickz32 wrote:
People who worry about those things do because they have a reason too. They know they apped to much or have a big balance that they know they can't PIF by the end of the month.

Theres diff kind of people who carry Amex cards. For you to just tittle this "whats the obsession with Amex?" You are pretty much calling all of us crazy just because you dont get why we have our cards.

---

This post was meant to be about the contradiction of people highly desiring AMEX products while at the same time living in fear of AA from them.  I do not understand this situation.

If you have AMEX and love them great.  I'm not calling you crazy, please don't take it personally.  I will be applying for my first AMEX in July and hopefully establishing some sort of business relationship with them.  I just don't understand the dichotomous nature of people revering AMEX so highly while tolerating "aggressive" risk metrics and what I would deem poor customer service.  I completely understand if you personally have not experienced this, but it's prevalent enough that one can do a search for AMEX on one of these boards and there is probably a significant number of posts that contain some sort of mention of AA or fear of AA from AMEX.....more so than other for other banks.  For instance, I just did a quick search in myFico Forums under Credit Cards for "adverse" and 5 of the first 10 posts that came up had to do with AMEX.

If my choice of words using "obsession" was offensive, I apologize.  Sometimes colorful words incite more attention and therfore debate.

Edit: they also incite more moderator requirements  -- CareBear

Edit:  sorry -- fittiger

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Maybe part of the problem is you assume everyone has this dichotomy, when that's not the case. I have 3 AmExes now, and I don't really fear a FR. And at least with AmEx, they will ask for proof of income rather than just closing all your accounts (Chase, BoA) with no warning.

• I love the backdating because I had an Optima in 1995 right after college. I closed it a few years later, but every card I get now has that date.
• I generally find their customer service to be excellent. They actually respond very quickly and thoroughly to secure messages from your online account. They sometimes do little things like overnight a new card - not that I need them to, but it's a nice touch.
• If you have Membership Rewards, they run bonuses periodically with transfer partners. Right now, if you transfer MR points to British Airways Avios, they will give you a 35% bonus. If you travel, Membership Rewards has a lot of transfer partners in addition to their own travel portal. (Not as good as Chase, but pretty good.)
• I like that Authorized Users get their own separate account number and the transactions are grouped by user - I think they are the only company to do this. It makes it much easier to see what my SO has spent on versus what I have spent on.
• And now I have the Bluebird card, I love them even more, but that's another topic.

I do not like that they take a complete billing cycle to post your points/cash back. It's obnoxious. I'm still waiting for my April points to post even though my May statement closed yesterday.

[fittiger]

I don't assume everyone has issues with AMEX, but like I said, do a forum search for "adverse" and half are regarding AMEX. I didn't just pull this out of my rear, there's a pattern in these threads.

I appreciate the positive aspects you offered though

[FutureBillionaire]

Amex is useful for backdating and the ability to transfer MR points. I don't value MR points as much as I do UR points.  Their annual fees are ridiculous. Many folks justify the fee by using services that they probably don't really need.  Airport lounges mean nothing to me, and I travel much more than I used to.  Amex is getting by on reputation.  The removal of their shopping portal was a slap in the face.  I'm not impressed with those folks.

[longtimelurker]

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@LisaPA wrote:

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@fittiger wrote:

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@jsickz32 wrote:
People who worry about those things do because they have a reason too. They know they apped to much or have a big balance that they know they can't PIF by the end of the month.

Theres diff kind of people who carry Amex cards. For you to just tittle this "whats the obsession with Amex?" You are pretty much calling all of us crazy just because you dont get why we have our cards.

---

This post was meant to be about the contradiction of people highly desiring AMEX products while at the same time living in fear of AA from them.  I do not understand this situation.

If you have AMEX and love them great.  I'm not calling you crazy, please don't take it personally.  I will be applying for my first AMEX in July and hopefully establishing some sort of business relationship with them.  I just don't understand the dichotomous nature of people revering AMEX so highly while tolerating "aggressive" risk metrics and what I would deem poor customer service.  I completely understand if you personally have not experienced this, but it's prevalent enough that one can do a search for AMEX on one of these boards and there is probably a significant number of posts that contain some sort of mention of AA or fear of AA from AMEX.....more so than other for other banks.  For instance, I just did a quick search in myFico Forums under Credit Cards for "adverse" and 5 of the first 10 posts that came up had to do with AMEX.

If my choice of words using "obsession" was offensive, I apologize.  Sometimes colorful words incite more attention and therfore debate.

Edit: they also incite more moderator requirements  -- CareBear

Edit:  sorry -- fittiger

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• And now I have the Bluebird card, I love them even more, but that's another topic.

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OK, now I am intrigued!  What do you do with the Bluebird that makes you love them even more?    It's not exactly your standard Amex card!  (I have one and use it heavily, but only for VR-abuse  purposes).

[jamesdwi]

I have the serve card, the pre-cursor of the bluebird card but controlled by AMEX no linkage to walmart, I love it but don't use it much. Got it initially because of the sign on bonus, fill the card with $25 from a credit card, I used my AMEX Blue card, no fee, 10 minutes later they put another $25 on the card, used it at walmart the next time I was out shopping and told the cashier to take $40 off the card, left a $10 balance on the card, a couple weeks ago I got an email saying they want my back, and offered to give me another $25 for a $25 reload, put it on my Zync card, haven't had the chance to use the card yet but I know there is $60 sitting on it for my next trip to walmart. So $50 in free money with no SP or HP seems like a good reason to love a card.

[ztnjpv]

NJTurnpike said:

"They have a product that I find useful for a period of time. Factoring in sign up bonus, I decide its worth it for me and I go for it. When it not longer suits my needs, its much easier to cancel and amex becuase the next time they have a product/offer that suits my needs, I get backdated."

Tell me, do you still get backdated if you close all Amex cards and then apply for another? What is the common protocol or rule by Amex on honoring backdating in such circumstances?