Once upon a time (back in the 1980s and 1990s) AMEX was a super-prime card: difficult to get and superlative customer service. I know because I've been an AMEX cardholder since 1982 with an excellent payment history. Recently they raised my interest rate, which has no practical importance because the only interest my wife and I currently pay is our mortgage and we've got over six months of living expenses in our emergency fund, but still I dislike the implicit message in ratejacking one of their best customers. I'm gonna keep the card because it's the oldest tradeline in my credit history, and I'm gonna run a few transactions through my AMEX account every month, but they're gonna get MUCH less in transaction fees than they could if they treated me better. Every one of my cards has a limit far higher than what I ever spend in a month, and I've got much more than that in savings, so I am free to choose who gets my transaction business. Since my wife and both have very good jobs and carry very little cash, we represent a fairly substantial amount of transaction business for somebody every month. Frankly, I feel the credit card companies need customers like me a lot more than I need any of those companies, so I'm gonna vote with my wallet. And since my SECOND-oldest tradeline (Citicard since 1987) has been active for 22 years if they keep getting less customer-friendly I just might even say adios entirely to my personal AMEX card (I've also got an AMEX Corporate Card for travel expenses at my work, but I don't pay that and it does not appear in my personal credit history).
TU 791 02/11/2013, EQ 800 1/29/2011 , EX Plus FAKO 812, EX Vantage Score 955 3/19/2010 wife's EQ 9/23/2009 803
EX always was my highest when we could pull all three
Always remember: big print giveth, small print taketh away
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