topic Re: Why American Express? in Credit Cards

Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 17:29:12 GMT

Why did you choose American Express? How does it benefit you? Which type of card do you have? Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it?

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:13:22 GMT

Travel, Delta airlines, and making sure I have cards with multiple banks.

Re: Why American Express?

B335is — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:14:50 GMT

At the time they still backdated, so 1998 MSD was a big appeal for me. Once you're in, subsequent applications are SP if denied and HP if approved. They're generally known for good CLI if you take care of your accts and credit profile. Amex has also been good to me when I travel domestically and have moved and forgotten to update my address. When other cards have frozen, Amex always came to the rescue in those circumstances. Finally, they almost always stand behind the customer when fraud or disputes occur.

I currently have Platinum, SPG, JetBlue, Hilton Surpass and Gold Business.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:15:06 GMT

Why did you choose American Express? - Diversity
How does it benefit you? - 10k credit line is nice, backs up SM for 3% groceries, 2000 backdate was an unexpected but welcome perk.
Which type of card do you have? - BCE
Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it? - N/A. Not all Amex cards come with an AF.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:26:16 GMT

Why did you choose American Express? - they mailed me with a good bonus deal, I app'd thinking they wouldn't accept a college student but they did. a lot of good benefits that come with being an Amex customer

How does it benefit you? - I have BCE for cashback on groceries, gas, dept stores. My ED also earns me Membership Rewards points on groceries and if I use the card 20x I get 20% more MR points that I use on flights and nice hotels. Both cards come with purchase/return protection and assistance for when you're traveling, and also known for siding with customer in disputes.

Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it? - Neither of my cards have AF

Hope this helps!

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:26:46 GMT

I have the EveryDay.

At first, I got the card because I royally screwed them and wanted to see if they'd forgiven me after settling. They did.

I ended up, however, making the card my everyday card because the bonus category (grocery) and the MR points are actually useful to me. Don't do a lot of eating out, mostly do grocery shopping, and Delta's a decent airline transfer partner (or was). I've already taken two round trips on Delta this year... one of which was paid for with MRs.

Thinking about dropping my PRG (got for signup bonus) next spring and upgrading the ED to the EDP, to cover the gas category. Though, I'm only loyal to programs that have value... there's no sentiment here for me. If the MR gets less useful over the next year or two, there will be no hesitation in switching to something else (UR or TY) if it's valuable.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:28:15 GMT

I have the EveryDay... no AF, so yes, the rewards have been more valuable to me than $0.

At first, I got the card because I royally screwed them and wanted to see if they'd forgiven me after settling. They did.

EDIT: Sorry for the duplicate. Have no idea how that happened.

Re: Why American Express?

yfan — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:37:49 GMT

Originally, I got an Amex - the Costco TE - for.. Costco. But now I also have the BCE. There are a couple of things beyond the cashbac that I really enjoy with Amex:

Cheap primary car rental CDW coverage. I rent cards maybe twice a year, but when I do, it's really useful to have primary CDW for $17.95 for up to 42 days (I'm a Californian).
Amex Offers. I find useful ones quite often.
No hassle fraud and extended warranty claim process.

I have also found that businesses that take Amex tend to treat me better as a customer (in general), whether or not I am actually using my Amex for a given purchase.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:38:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why did you choose American Express? How does it benefit you? Which type of card do you have? Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it?

Initially I chose Costco, which resulted in an AmEx. I'd had cards in a former life, so that one's backdated to 1987 which I'm sure has benefitted me imensely. That one has no fee.

I then chose the BCP for the grocery category. I'd have easily benefitted enough for the AF from groceries alone as we'd more than max that in a year. I have a great CL with it after a 3x CLI when I got the card and I've been pretty happy with it.

I got multiple mailers for the 50k PRG and DH for the 100k Plat, so I looked more closely at MR. I decided it's a good fit for us, so we've recently switched nearly everything over to MR cards.

Chose to go for the Plat for the 100k bonus and will use some of the perks. Since I think I made a poor airline choice for this year, I likely won't be able to (almost) cancel the AF by travel credit x2 over the first year, but between what we will use in perks and the bonus, it's definitely worth it for the first year. We'll see after that.

Then I got an EDP to 'replace' the BCP. I would have happily converted it, but that's not possible, so I've got a new TL. I need to chat them up to downgrade the BCP to BC to get prorated AF back (I appreciate that they do that). The AF will still be covered with grocery spend but we'll use it for gas and most general spend for the 1.5 MR min with the 50% bonus. It allows me to make DH juggle less cards and keeps rewards less spread out.

And I also got a PRG. As I mentioned, it came with the 50k, which is nice. It'll otherwise mostly be used for restaurants. Nice that it came with the first year's fee waived. Again, we'll evaluate next year and see if it's worth it.

I've been very happy with their service up until I started trying to do something about the low SL on the EDP. I had to go round and round with chat, phones, chat, phones. But in the end, I think we came up with a servicable solution for now.

ETA: ooh, yeah. And Amex offers have been good too.

Re: Why American Express?

Sharingan — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:43:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why did you choose American Express? How does it benefit you? Which type of card do you have? Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it?

American Express was my very first break into the big banks when I was 19. I knew as soon as I started on my credit that I had to have a card with them, and sure enough, it happened unexpectedly. 5 years later, I am still as satisfied of a customer now as I was back then, and I rank them higher than many other banks I do business with (especially Capital One and Barclays).

That that being said, I currently have 6 cards with them: Zync, BCE, Platinum, ED, Hilton HHonors, and SimplyCash Business. I'd say that my BCE, Platinum, and SimplyCash are the most useful to me. The Platinum's benefits have more than defrayed the cost of the AF for me, and the BCE serves as a very useful grocery backup. My SimplyCash is simply amazing for what it does best. Lastly, the AmEx offers are a fantastic value, although this month is loaded with stores I've never even heard of across all 6 cards .

Re: Why American Express?

Open123 — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:56:08 GMT

In addition to everything else already mentioned, I just like Amex better than all the rest. Not sure why, but it's like a favorite color. I just like Amex period.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:02:39 GMT

I have the Amex BCE. It does not have an annual fee. I applied for this Amex because it best fit my needs and spend. I was lucky enough to get in when the backdating was still going on.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:12:40 GMT

I have the ED and the SimplyCash. The benefit of the ED is the 1980 backdate. The benefit of the SimplyCash is the 5% cash back on office supplies and cell phone, and the 3% cash back on shipping. Neither have an annual fee.

Re: Why American Express?

UncleB — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:34:29 GMT

This is a very interesting question, and I'm enjoying reading everybody's responses.

As for me, I burned them 15 years ago in a BK7, and I was fairly sure they woudn't approve me, but I wanted a free copy of my credit report/score so I applied for the Green card... and almost fell off the chair when it was approved!

I had already been reading the boards here for months, so I was aware that many times a charge product and a credit product can be applied for in the same day with only one HP, so I figured the BCP was the card that would really fit my spending, so I app'd for it, and was approved as well. I nearly needed my inhaler.

Next year when the AF is due on the Green card, I plan to cancel it since (honestly) I really didn't want it to begin with. I don't have a good use for MR points, and my credit lines are high enough on my no-AF revolving accounts to allow me the flexibility I need. As for the BCP, even after you subtract the $75 AF it is still making me far more in cash rewards for my spending pattern than any other card out there (at least, ones easily available to me).

Hope this helps!

Re: Why American Express?

UFGuy2006 — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:41:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why did you choose American Express? How does it benefit you? Which type of card do you have? Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it?

My first Amex was the green card while I was in college. Since then the only card I carry with an annual fee from Amex is the SPG. I keep it because I primarily stay at SPG hotels weekly for work and the extra point per dollar spent adds up. If I stop traveling I may need to reconsider this card...

Re: Why American Express?

jbsea — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:51:59 GMT

Well this was my BIG goal card when I started my rebuilding. I burn them in anyway so I think I got back with them a little earlier then I thought that I would. They have always been good to me and I love the MR points. I love to travel so this really is the card to me. I just got the ED card last week and it will be my everyday card. I have two PRG (one AU with DW) Costco (AU) Delta. American Express does dominate most of my cards but because of my personal experience of dealing with them I'm good with that. I use them and my NFCU CR cards as my two main cards.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 22:46:13 GMT

I have the Delta card because I travel on Delta and its international mile share partners. I get offers from AMEX for their other products quite frequently but don't want any. AMEX is not a lender I want a relationship with, unless I have to. I hope Delta dumps them soon just like Costco did.

Re: Why American Express?

SouthJamaica — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 23:06:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why did you choose American Express? How does it benefit you? Which type of card do you have? Do you use the benefits enough so that the yearly fee is worth it?

I don't know why I chose it. I'm not thrilled.

Have an Amex business platinum which charges $450 per year, extends no credit, does not report to credit bureaus, and has perks I never use.

And have 2 Amex credit cards, which have no balance transfer offers, haven't given me a CLI despite 13 months of perfect handling of all accounts, and which both have annual fees.

Re: Why American Express?

kdm31091 — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 23:32:06 GMT

Honestly, I fell for the whole "Amex prestige" type of thing when I got my BCE back in early 2014. I mean yeah, the rewards are nice, but they take a long time to post and that darn $25 increment redemption thing sucks. I have upgraded to BCP, but still doubt I will keep it forever. Their rewards system is just not very user friendly.

For travel people, the high-end travel cards can have some serious value. But their reward systems for cash back really need to be overhauled.

On the plus side for Amex, they are generally accomodating with CLIs and APR reduction.

Re: Why American Express?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 23:44:38 GMT

Platinum: first year annual fee waiver, centurion lounge access, good amex offers, global entry, warranty on some big purchases this year, decent sign up bonus.

BCP: groceries and large-ish SL with a good 0% intro period, will probably switch to EDP at some point. Decent amex offers.

PRG: Honestly, sign up bonus. I've gotten some good amex offers and the airline credits pay the AF.

Overall: reasonably good customer service