topic Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card in Credit Cards

Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 10:17:43 GMT

After hearing amex will only have purchase protection for the higher annual fee cards starting February 2020.
Seriously one big reason I got was for this Benifit. 250$ isn't enough for pp.
Well I'll have to see what they do by May and I'll maybe not cancel.
I have world, and world elite MasterCard that have this, but amex will not get as many swipes on high prices items, also road side assistance. I understand they do this from time to time but they are pushing application for platinum card etc...
I've never used it but like to have options if needed. Fail for Amex imo.

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

wasCB14 — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 16:00:49 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
After hearing amex will only have purchase protection for the higher annual fee cards starting February 2020.
Seriously one big reason I got was for this Benifit. 250$ isn't enough for pp.
Well I'll have to see what they do by May and I'll maybe not cancel.
I have world, and world elite MasterCard that have this, but amex will not get as many swipes on high prices items, also road side assistance. I understand they do this from time to time but they are pushing application for platinum card etc...
I've never used it but like to have options if needed. Fail for Amex imo.

Source? What I've read suggests they're not eliminating it on Gold, but rather shortening the period covered from 120 days to 90.

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

zerofire — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 23:53:34 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
After hearing amex will only have purchase protection for the higher annual fee cards starting February 2020.
Seriously one big reason I got was for this Benifit. 250$ isn't enough for pp.
Well I'll have to see what they do by May and I'll maybe not cancel.
I have world, and world elite MasterCard that have this, but amex will not get as many swipes on high prices items, also road side assistance. I understand they do this from time to time but they are pushing application for platinum card etc...
I've never used it but like to have options if needed. Fail for Amex imo.
Source? What I've read suggests they're not eliminating it on Gold, but rather shortening the period covered from 120 days to 90.

My records also say they are shortening it and not eliminating it. Most likely it is due to the competition completely eliminating the benefit. As a result it is actually more cost effective to shorten the protection period to make the card look better while reducing the time for liabilities to get dumped on the backer.

dtk6802 you might want to double check those MasterCard's. Most of the time purchase protection/price protection is a benefit that the issuer passed through from MasterCard. Since MasterCard has slashed it completely a lot of issuers have also done massive yanking of benefits regardless of the pass through or if they no longer find it worth while doing themselves.

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:10:03 GMT

CSR... I asked her hopeful she's wrong

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:09:48 GMT

I checked when got wmc. I'm sure that at least has purchase protection.. but I appreciate the heads up

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:19:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I checked when got wmc. I'm sure that at least has purchase protection.. but I appreciate the heads up

You'll need to call the issuer and find out if they're continuing the benefits. MasterCard is eliminating them on their end period.

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 19:25:28 GMT

I guess that's why one has renters insurance. JK..

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 17:39:18 GMT

Fwiw. This is on both Citi cards. Is this not purchase protection? This is under Benifits I will continue to have.

Shop with more confidence — You are covered if
Your purchase is damaged or stolen.
If an item is purchased with Your Citi® Card and is damaged or
stolen within 90 days of purchase or delivery of the item, whichever
is first, We may repair it or reimburse You up to the amount paid
with Your Citi Card. You are covered for up to $10,000 per Incident,
up to $50,000 per year, per Citi Card account.
To be eligible for coverage, You must pay for the item at least in
part with Your Citi Card. We will only reimburse the lesser of the
actual amount paid for with Your Citi Card or the maximum
coverage per Incident.
How Long are
You Covered?
Within 90 days of purchase or delivery of
the item, whichever is first.
Maximum Coverage
per Incident
Coverage is limited to the lesser
of the following:
■ $10,000
■ The amount charged to the Citi Card.
Maximum Coverage
per Calendar Year
per Account
$50,000

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

morgacj2004 — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 06:00:36 GMT

They got rid of it because few people ever use it. I have 20+ cards and have never used it..

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 06:30:36 GMT

???

If few people were using it then it would cost them less and therefore they wold be inclined to keep it. They got rid of it because it was costing them too much money because too many people were using it. Having it only on the higher annual fee cards means the cost of the annual fee offsets the cost of running the program.

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

morgacj2004 — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 06:49:06 GMT

Sorry but I would disagree. Most people were not using it and those few who did were most likely abusing the program. There are several recent blogs on line that you might be interested in regarding this topic. Other major lenders are doing the same. Not a popular perk for most

Re: Why would American Express get rid of purchase protection for Gold card

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 11:37:41 GMT

@morgacj2004 wrote:
Sorry but I would disagree. Most people were not using it and those few who did were most likely abusing the program. There are several recent blogs on line that you might be interested in regarding this topic. Other major lenders are doing the same. Not a popular perk for most

Right. The situation where only a few people are using something, but are using it very heavily is a sweet spot for issuers to make cuts. You annoy only a small set of people, and most of them are aware that they were pushing the envelope.

Cutting something widely used does of course happen (nerfing in general) but creates much more annoyance.