topic Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3 in Credit Cards

AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 08:27:16 GMT

Looks like AmEx is increasing the annual fee on Blue Cash Preferred to $95 for new applicants after 8/3/2016. If you're on the fence about it, time to decide soon!

Link

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

creditguy — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 09:04:24 GMT

Makes sense since a majority of their lower AF's are $95, nonetheless good info for fence sitters.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

UncleB — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 09:36:34 GMT

Excellent catch, even if less than excellent news!

Hopefully they'll leave the fee at $75 for a little longer for the existing cardholders. <fingers crossed>

In any case it's still worth it... I would prefer to keep the extra $20, though.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

MASTERNC — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 12:33:50 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Excellent catch, even if less than excellent news!

Hopefully they'll leave the fee at $75 for a little longer for the existing cardholders. <fingers crossed>

In any case it's still worth it... I would prefer to keep the extra $20, though.

Wonder if any existing cardholders can confirm how long they will be grandfathered.

Under the higher AF, it's definitely worth it if you spend more than $260 per month on groceries. Hard for a single adult to do, though, so BCE or Sallie Mae (for those who have it) are still the better options in that case.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

UncleB — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 12:40:17 GMT

@MASTERNC wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
Excellent catch, even if less than excellent news!

Hopefully they'll leave the fee at $75 for a little longer for the existing cardholders. <fingers crossed>

In any case it's still worth it... I would prefer to keep the extra $20, though.
Wonder if any existing cardholders can confirm how long they will be grandfathered.

Under the higher AF, it's definitely worth it if you spend more than $260 per month on groceries. Hard for a single adult to do, though, so BCE or Sallie Mae (for those who have it) are still the better options in that case.

I agree that it would be hard for a single adult to do on food alone, but I also run all my Amazon and eBay purchases through my BCP by way of the grocery store (also earning fuel points). For the record, this is legit spending.

Doing this, I easily get $350 of grocery spend each month, especially early in the year before Amazon is covered by Discover categories. Once you figure in Hulu, Netflix, and various gift cards for the fast food places I frequent it works out well.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

takeshi74 — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 12:45:19 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
For the record, this is legit spending.

Though you're walking the fine line with MS. Be careful with that here.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

UncleB — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 12:57:58 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
For the record, this is legit spending.
Though you're walking the fine line with MS. Be careful with that here.

While I appreciate your concern, I'm not taking any chances at all.

Without derailing this thread, I'll just say that there's nothing manufactured about my spending; neither Amex or the grocery store cares one bit what I put in my basket.

I think you're conflating gift cards that can be redeemed for merchandise/services with gift cards that are convertable to cash, which is beyond the scope of this forum.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Thomas_Thumb — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 13:03:00 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Excellent catch, even if less than excellent news!

Hopefully they'll leave the fee at $75 for a little longer for the existing cardholders. <fingers crossed>

In any case it's still worth it... I would prefer to keep the extra $20, though.

I have an AMEX Green charge card. The annual fee was increased to $95 quite some time ago. However, I continue to pay $55. Best I can tell is I am grandfathered in at the lower fee indefinately. Perhaps the same policy will be applied to the BCP card.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

UncleB — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 13:04:20 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
Excellent catch, even if less than excellent news!

Hopefully they'll leave the fee at $75 for a little longer for the existing cardholders. <fingers crossed>

In any case it's still worth it... I would prefer to keep the extra $20, though.
I have an AMEX Green charge card. The annual fee was increased to $95 quite some time ago. However, I continue to pay $55. Best I can tell is I am grandfathered in at the lower fee indefinately. Perhaps the same policy will be applied to the BCP card.

That's good to hear... thanks for letting us know!

Hopefully they will follow that 'trend' with the BCP as well.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 13:24:51 GMT

I've been thinking of re-upgrading my BCE to BCP and downgrading my EDP to ED...sounds like I should get on that!

Thanks OP!

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

jacetx — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 13:55:58 GMT

I'm hoping this change doesn't come to the Hilton Surpass card which is at $75 now. $20 more won't break the bank as the free breakfast saving alone is greater than the AF but it would be nice not having an increase.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 13:56:58 GMT

Not sure how they figure a cash back card is worth that much of AF. If you spent a ton at grocery stores i guess it could be, but as mentioned a single person would really not benefit at that point.

I spend around 200 per month on groceries, and that is the only reason i had been considering this card as a fall back if Sallie Mae ever is shut down but creeping that AF up even more likely would make it not even worth using.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Imperfectfuture — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 14:03:49 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@takeshi74 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
For the record, this is legit spending.
Though you're walking the fine line with MS. Be careful with that here.
While I appreciate your concern, I'm not taking any chances at all.

Without derailing this thread, I'll just say that there's nothing manufactured about my spending; neither Amex or the grocery store cares one bit what I put in my basket.

I think you're conflating gift cards that can be redeemed for merchandise/services with gift cards that are convertable to cash, which is beyond the scope of this forum.

Amex has no problem with legit gift cards. I always put one in the basket. . Though if the fee goes up, this card may go back to BCE (are they that hard up for cash? Costco must have hit them hard, and all us bad folks not carrying interest ).

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Imperfectfuture — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 14:10:01 GMT

Man, I am using same browser, and they are hiding the fee from me everywhere. Have no idea what the fee is.

All it points out is no cash back on additional cards. Well, I did not think there were fees for additional cards before. Pay attention to your statements folks.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

kdm31091 — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 14:30:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Not sure how they figure a cash back card is worth that much of AF. If you spent a ton at grocery stores i guess it could be, but as mentioned a single person would really not benefit at that point.

I spend around 200 per month on groceries, and that is the only reason i had been considering this card as a fall back if Sallie Mae ever is shut down but creeping that AF up even more likely would make it not even worth using.

Pretty much agree. For a single person, a $95 annual fee is steep for a cash back card. Yes you can buy merchant gift cards, but honestly, that's kind of a hassle and then you lose any purchase protections. Just depends how far you want to go for the cash back. For me, I wasn't really a fan of the buying gift card thing.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 16:23:30 GMT

@Imperfectfuture wrote:
Man, I am using same browser, and they are hiding the fee from me everywhere. Have no idea what the fee is.

All it points out is no cash back on additional cards. Well, I did not think there were fees for additional cards before. Pay attention to your statements folks.

Does that mean what it looks like it means? I'll have to go look.

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

satasat360 — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 17:22:45 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Excellent catch, even if less than excellent news!

Hopefully they'll leave the fee at $75 for a little longer for the existing cardholders. <fingers crossed>

In any case it's still worth it... I would prefer to keep the extra $20, though.

I'm still paying 175 for my PRG (current is 195), so i believe you will pay 75 for the BCP

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 17:36:10 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@takeshi74 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
For the record, this is legit spending.
Though you're walking the fine line with MS. Be careful with that here.
While I appreciate your concern, I'm not taking any chances at all.

Without derailing this thread, I'll just say that there's nothing manufactured about my spending; neither Amex or the grocery store cares one bit what I put in my basket.

I think you're conflating gift cards that can be redeemed for merchandise/services with gift cards that are convertable to cash, which is beyond the scope of this forum.

Grocery stores only care in they end up on the hook for fraud. It's probably the case that stolen cards are more likely to be used to buy $500 Visa cards than $500 Amazon cards. Amex doesn't really care with low capped cards like the BCP anyway.

But: a colorable case could be made why CCCs might not like merchant gift cards. Mainly, as in Uncle's case, it makes it much easier to meet caps, reducing profits. When designing a card, their calculations might include things like "average spend on grocery" and not take into account that cards allow you to shift spend from other categories to grocery.

But, again, with a BCP, no-one will care, except maybe MyFico

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 17:40:46 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Not sure how they figure a cash back card is worth that much of AF. If you spent a ton at grocery stores i guess it could be, but as mentioned a single person would really not benefit at that point.

I spend around 200 per month on groceries, and that is the only reason i had been considering this card as a fall back if Sallie Mae ever is shut down but creeping that AF up even more likely would make it not even worth using.
Pretty much agree. For a single person, a $95 annual fee is steep for a cash back card. Yes you can buy merchant gift cards, but honestly, that's kind of a hassle and then you lose any purchase protections. Just depends how far you want to go for the cash back. For me, I wasn't really a fan of the buying gift card thing.

exactly. annual fees only make sense to me for point rewards or big perks that end up being worth more than the AF itself. For a cashback card that was really only special for grocery spending, $95 AF doesn't make any sense at all unless you are feeding a small militia, as there are many 3% cashback for groceries cards with no AF that I speculate would net a higher return outside of very high grocery budgets.

And this thing still has Foreign Transaction Fees...

Re: AmEx BCP Fee Increasing to $95 for new apps after 8/3

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 17:42:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Not sure how they figure a cash back card is worth that much of AF. If you spent a ton at grocery stores i guess it could be, but as mentioned a single person would really not benefit at that point.

I spend around 200 per month on groceries, and that is the only reason i had been considering this card as a fall back if Sallie Mae ever is shut down but creeping that AF up even more likely would make it not even worth using.
Pretty much agree. For a single person, a $95 annual fee is steep for a cash back card. Yes you can buy merchant gift cards, but honestly, that's kind of a hassle and then you lose any purchase protections. Just depends how far you want to go for the cash back. For me, I wasn't really a fan of the buying gift card thing.
exactly. annual fees only make sense to me for point rewards or big perks that end up being worth more than the AF itself. For a cashback card that was really only special for grocery spending, $95 AF doesn't make any sense at all unless you are feeding a small militia, as there are many 3% cashback for groceries cards with no AF that I speculate would net a higher return outside of very high grocery budgets.

Oh, there is a range of grocery spend where BCP makes sense (just narrower now than it was). With Sallie Mae demise for new apps, BCE also makes sense.

Depending what you mean by "very high grocery budgets", BCP usually doesn't make sense for those, you need the Blue Cash (OBC)