@Repairman wrote:My question is what do you consider to be the best AMEX to have and why?
Doesn't matter unless your spend and needs/wants/preferences are sufficiently similar to my own but there's nothing in your OP that indicates that to me. Best is always highly subjecitve on any topic. You need to select using your specific needs/wants -- not by polling others with varying needs/wants. Provide us with what you're specifically looking for from a card and we can guide you to the one best suited to you. If you're after rewards then help us understand your major spend categories and volumes. If rewards are important to you then you should be running the numbers for your spend for any card you're considering to help you in your decision making. Can you leverage the transfer partners with Membership Rewards to make the most value per point?
Why have you selected AmEx? You should be considering specific products and not just selecting a creditor and trying to justify it. Regardless, you're going about it backwards.
@Man-Of-Steel wrote:Takeshi won't hesitate to let you know that you should not rely on popular opinion to determine which card is best for you and your needs.
The idea that there is one single best anything is one one my windmills. If there was a such a thing we wouldn't need these disucssion forums. We could just refer to a webpage that told us what was best and be done with it.
I know that most asking such questions either don't know much about what they're asking about or can't see past their own specific needs/wants and assume that everyone else is exactly the same as them.
@galahad15 wrote:Why not instead get a rewards card that also has a single-digit APR, that would really seem to be better all-around, in MHO?
If you're not PIF'ing and subject to interest then any rewards are easily wiped out. A low APR is just gravy for rewards cards.
If you try to get the best everything you end up with something that not really good at any particular thing (the old "jack of all trades, master of none" thing) no matter what the topic. My lowest APR cards have the worst rewards and vice versa. Pick what you want to maximize and where you're willing to compromise. If you need low APR's for carrying balances (not recommended) then you're going to sacrifice rewards. If you want to max out rewards then you need to PIF and you're likely to end up with a higher APR and possibly an AF.
@Repairman wrote:
@Ghoshida wrote:
@Repairman wrote:
@takeshi74 wrote:I know that most asking such questions either don't know much about what they're asking about or can't see past their own specific needs/wants and assume that everyone else is exactly the same as them.
I previously addressed this and stated that I was curious to hear what others consider to be the best for THEM, and why. I don't know why a few are having such a hard time understanding that I'm interested in hearing the personal experiences of others.
Valid point.
My response is: I don't find AMEX useful at all except for padding utilization at no cost. Right now it's my highest credit limit (just got there last month) but sees one of my lowest card spending.
I applied for the BCE (because it's cashback and was giving me best grocery % without AF at my spend levels) before I got to know about Sallie Mae. There was a point in my life when I could not PIF and the 0% APR came in handy. Since then, I use Sallie Mae for almost all of my groceries + gas + Amazon and use the BCE for any overflow. Now that my SO has the ED, we'll use that for the overflow.
I don't travel a lot personally and therefore higher tier cards like Plat or PRG means nothing to me. SO uses SPG and Delta quite a bit and has corp AMEX green so MR points are worth something in that case; the ED had higher than regular bonus offering and we took it.
AMEX posts points one cycle too late; has a high-enough threshold to reach and then redeems in multiples of that threshold. Points are hard to track because of the lag and often there are coding errors. Their chat CSR is sometimes knowledgeable and sometimes just as good as Cap One. Sallie Mae or CSP does a far better job, more number of times.
I'd still keep the card because (a) no AF (b) good limits and (c) non-zero rewards.
AMEX does have one good card for heavy spenders, and that's the Old Blue Cash. If your spend pattern justifies it, go for it, if only for the fantastic cash back.
Good info.
I, too, will probably not use the card a lot, as I have others I think will benefit me better in terms of spend, but your right that cl and utilization will be beneficial.
I just want to clarify, the Rewards structure of the BC...you can ONLY redeem for cash, right? And it takes a $2500 spend to get $25 cash back? If that is the case, in a rewards scenario, that's not useful to me, as I don't plan on using it as my primary card. Therefore it would take a very long time just to get $25.
Well all the three Blue Cash cards: BC Everyday, BC Preferred, and (Old) Blue Cash are cashback cards. While you could theoretically redeem for gift cards, not the best option.
You need to redeem at least $25, for $25 multiples. Now if you're applying for BCE, you get 1% everywhere else but 3% on groceries ($6,000 a year), 2% on gas + supermarkets. For BCP those figures are 6% and 3% I believe, with a $75 fee. So you might be able to get to $25 cashback by spending less than $2,500 ideally. In my case, it was approx $1,000 on the BCE. It could be a bit more if you spend much more on other categories like dining out etc.
On the old BC you'll take $2,500 (or more, if you don't spend all on gas / groceries / drugstore) to reach the $25. But once you spend $6,500, you're going to race to that $25 in no time. Make sure that your gas / grocery / drugstore spend annually is at least low 5 figures before you think of getting it 
Of course, you can use it in better ways; e.g. you need to buy coffee from starbucks, get into your neighborhood grocery store and get a starbucks gift card 
If you want an AMEX for AMEX's sake (which I'm not sure is important, now that backdating is no longer a thing), get the BCE but get some other cards, from some other lender, that matches your spending more. For e.g. if you're going to spend a lot on dining, get the Chase AARP card (yes, you don't have to be a retired person) for 3% cashback. That's only one example; there are many others.
