topic Re: Best Revolving Amex CC???? in Credit Cards

Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:55:00 GMT

Currently I am gardening, but would like to upgrade my Amex Zync in about 8-12 months to a revolving CC with Amex. My question is which CC do you guys think is the best? I was thinking about applying for the Amex Blue Cash, Clear, or the Starwoods. Any suggestions based on experience (cli’s, rewards, credit score upon approval, etc..)? Also, I would probably close my Zync account if approved for a revolving CC, would Amex have a fuss about that?

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

Walt_K — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:32:25 GMT

What kind of rewards are you interested in and how much money do you run through the card?

If you like to travel and value staying in nicer hotels, the Starwood card is great. The cash and points redemption for hotels is one of the better values for the card. You can also use it to top off airline miles programs that you don't fly frequently enough to earn an award. For example, say you have 19000 AA miles. They're fairly useless. But you could transfer your starpoints to get up to 25K so you can redeem a roundtrip domestic ticket (although it's a better value when you transfer starpoints in 20K increments because you then get a 5K bonus on the transfer).

If you don't travel that much, you're probably better off with Blue Cash or Clear.

Also, if you have a lot of MR Express points in your Zync account, if you upgrade to a Green or Gold card, they become regular MR points which can be transferred to frequent flier miles. I believe Gold card still waives fee for first year, so you might want to look at that option if you have a lot of points saved up.

Finally, you said upgrade your Zync to a revolver. I think you were using upgrade in a general sense, but just to be sure, you can't upgrade (i.e., product change) from a charge product to a CC. You'll have to fill out a new app. I don't think Amex will care if you close down your Zync after you get a revolving product.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:02:37 GMT

@Walt_K wrote:
What kind of rewards are you interested in and how much money do you run through the card?

If you like to travel and value staying in nicer hotels, the Starwood card is great. The cash and points redemption for hotels is one of the better values for the card. You can also use it to top off airline miles programs that you don't fly frequently enough to earn an award. For example, say you have 19000 AA miles. They're fairly useless. But you could transfer your starpoints to get up to 25K so you can redeem a roundtrip domestic ticket (although it's a better value when you transfer starpoints in 20K increments because you then get a 5K bonus on the transfer).

If you don't travel that much, you're probably better off with Blue Cash or Clear.

Also, if you have a lot of MR Express points in your Zync account, if you upgrade to a Green or Gold card, they become regular MR points which can be transferred to frequent flier miles. I believe Gold card still waives fee for first year, so you might want to look at that option if you have a lot of points saved up.

Finally, you said upgrade your Zync to a revolver. I think you were using upgrade in a general sense, but just to be sure, you can't upgrade (i.e., product change) from a charge product to a CC. You'll have to fill out a new app. I don't think Amex will care if you close down your Zync after you get a revolving product.

Thanks walt_k.... Honestly i'm looking for the best card that offers great rewards on common purchases (gas, dining, shopping) with a great points system. I'll probably run about 1k-2k a month thru my card. I don't get a chance to travel much, so I guess the Starwoods card is out. Looks like i'll probably go with the Blue Cash, no annual fee & it offers rewards. I understand that I will actually have to apply for this card, do you think Amex will hard pull me for that if i'm already an Amex cardholder?

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

jefftca925 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:18:49 GMT

Amex will hard pull for the new card on EX. From what you spend per month, the Blue Cash would be the best card for you. Good luck!

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

cdtotten — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:20:24 GMT

Yes, they will usually pull hard. You are applying for a new card, not a product change.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:23:57 GMT

@jefftca925 wrote:
Amex will hard pull for the new card on EX. From what you spend per month, the Blue Cash would be the best card for you. Good luck!

Darn, I was hoping they would only soft pull me....Lol. This brings up another question (if you don't mind), would it be better to just keep my Zync then? What advantages would I have with the Blue Cash over the Zync (other than the obvious rewards points)?

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:24:13 GMT

Look at Costco TrueEarnings Amex.

Cash backs:

3% on restaurants

3% on gas up to $3000/yr, then 1%

2% on travel

1% on everything else

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:32:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Look at Costco TrueEarnings Amex.
Cash backs:
3% on restaurants
3% on gas up to $3000/yr, then 1%
2% on travel
1% on everything else

Thanks, note taken. I’m not really a Costco shopper though, is this like a Super Target or Sam’s Club? Will I get great discounts as a card member there? That 3% on restaurants would be ideal!

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

Walt_K — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:34:45 GMT

@daytrade5 wrote:
@jefftca925 wrote:
Amex will hard pull for the new card on EX. From what you spend per month, the Blue Cash would be the best card for you. Good luck!
Darn, I was hoping they would only soft pull me....Lol. This brings up another question (if you don't mind), would it be better to just keep my Zync then? What advantages would I have with the Blue Cash over the Zync (other than the obvious rewards points)?
I don't have either card, but my impression is Blue Cash has the better cash redemption option and no annual fee.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:38:45 GMT

It's a-la Sam's club. You get 1% cash back from Costco purchases and Costco's annual fee ($50) is waived.

You can get 5% rewards for restaurants from Citi Forward, but it's pretty much 1% for everything else.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:44:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It's a-la Sam's club. You get 1% cash back from Costco purchases and Costco's annual fee ($50) is waived.

You can get 5% rewards for restaurants from Citi Forward, but it's pretty much 1% for everything else.

Thanks! I appreciate your input.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:45:36 GMT

@Walt_K wrote:
@daytrade5 wrote:
@jefftca925 wrote:
Amex will hard pull for the new card on EX. From what you spend per month, the Blue Cash would be the best card for you. Good luck!
Darn, I was hoping they would only soft pull me....Lol. This brings up another question (if you don't mind), would it be better to just keep my Zync then? What advantages would I have with the Blue Cash over the Zync (other than the obvious rewards points)?
I don't have either card, but my impression is Blue Cash has the better cash redemption option and no annual fee.

Thanks!

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

Walt_K — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:02:25 GMT

Penfed also has a travel rewards Amex with no annual fee that has pretty decent benefits. This isn't a "true" Amex, but worth checking out.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

jefftca925 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:08:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It's a-la Sam's club. You get 1% cash back from Costco purchases and Costco's annual fee ($50) is waived.

You can get 5% rewards for restaurants from Citi Forward, but it's pretty much 1% for everything else.

You do have to pay the Costco membership fee ($50 I think for the basic membership) and then no additional amount for the Amex card. I have the Costco Amex card and I use it for gas, restaurants, and my Costco purchases. The rewards (rebate) is paid once a year by American Express (in Feb). It's a great card if you have more than one card that you like to use regularly for other things. I like to use my Chase Freedom card too for the 5% back categories.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:20:15 GMT

@jefftca925 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
It's a-la Sam's club. You get 1% cash back from Costco purchases and Costco's annual fee ($50) is waived.

You can get 5% rewards for restaurants from Citi Forward, but it's pretty much 1% for everything else.
You do have to pay the Costco membership fee ($50 I think for the basic membership) and then no additional amount for the Amex card. I have the Costco Amex card and I use it for gas, restaurants, and my Costco purchases. The rewards (rebate) is paid once a year by American Express (in Feb). It's a great card if you have more than one card that you like to use regularly for other things. I like to use my Chase Freedom card too for the 5% back categories.

Funny you mentioned Chase Freedom jefftca925, I was actually thinking about applying for that card (mainly because of the commercials). But seriously, it does sound like a great card to have. But the overall reviews of Chase cards have not been the best. What's your take?

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:21:42 GMT

Anybody have experience with the BOA Amex?

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

jefftca925 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:42:12 GMT

@daytrade5 wrote:
Anybody have experience with the BOA Amex?

LOL! I have both! I love both cards for different reasons. I really like the Ultimate Rewards program that Chase has with the Freedom card. It's easy to build up points with them and they have pretty decent redemption values for them. The BofA program is ok IMO (redemption is not as good as Chase) but their customer service is better. Plus BofA gives better CLs and increases than Chase. Honestly, I think you'd be better getting an Amex revolver as their CS is top notch and the Blue Cash card (based on your spending) would be most beneficial to you. I just don't put that much through ONE card every month so it doesn't fit my needs.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:55:45 GMT

I don't have the BofA AmEx, although I'll probably try to PC from my current BofA World MC to get the better cash back.

I have the PenFed AmEx and the USAA AmEx. I use the first for the travel rewards (plus they just popped up with 5% in other areas again), and I used to use the second for big-ticket purchases for the consumer protections. Now that so many Visas and MC's offer the same thing, I don't use it much any more.

I have two AmEx AmEx's: Blue and Costco TrueEarnings. I don't use the Blue much any more, because I'm not a big fan of points. I love the Costco card. I go to Costco maybe once a month, and I could happily keep using the card without ever shopping at Costco again, because the rewards are good, and because I greatly prefer cash rewards.

IMO, it's a great card, even if you never set foot in Costco. It's just that there's the $50 fee. But the membership CSR at my local Costco swore that they refund the fee if you shop at Costco. We shall see.

Oh, and I had a Gold (charge) card first. I opened the Blue a month before the annual fee was going to pop up, and then I canceled the Gold (pre-fee.) No problems from AmEx.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:02:53 GMT

@jefftca925 wrote:

@daytrade5 wrote:
Anybody have experience with the BOA Amex?
LOL! I have both! I love both cards for different reasons. I really like the Ultimate Rewards program that Chase has with the Freedom card. It's easy to build up points with them and they have pretty decent redemption values for them. The BofA program is ok IMO (redemption is not as good as Chase) but their customer service is better. Plus BofA gives better CLs and increases than Chase. Honestly, I think you'd be better getting an Amex revolver as their CS is top notch and the Blue Cash card (based on your spending) would be most beneficial to you. I just don't put that much through ONE card every month so it doesn't fit my needs.

Haha, well having both is a good thing! You're CC profile is rather impressive, congrats on that! I appreciate your input, I think i'll be going for the Amex Blue Cash since Amex will back date my account. I love the customer service that Amex offers & don't think i'm willing to sacrifice that.

Re: Best Revolving Amex CC????

daytrade5 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:14:57 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
I don't have the BofA AmEx, although I'll probably try to PC from my current BofA World MC to get the better cash back.

I have the PenFed AmEx and the USAA AmEx. I use the first for the travel rewards (plus they just popped up with 5% in other areas again), and I used to use the second for big-ticket purchases for the consumer protections. Now that so many Visas and MC's offer the same thing, I don't use it much any more.

I have two AmEx AmEx's: Blue and Costco TrueEarnings. I don't use the Blue much any more, because I'm not a big fan of points. I love the Costco card. I go to Costco maybe once a month, and I could happily keep using the card without ever shopping at Costco again, because the rewards are good, and because I greatly prefer cash rewards.

IMO, it's a great card, even if you never set foot in Costco. It's just that there's the $50 fee. But the membership CSR at my local Costco swore that they refund the fee if you shop at Costco. We shall see.

Oh, and I had a Gold (charge) card first. I opened the Blue a month before the annual fee was going to pop up, and then I canceled the Gold (pre-fee.) No problems from AmEx.
Thanks haulingthescoreup! Great to know I could cancel my Zync without being put in timeout by Amex! I was under the impression that I would have to shop at Costco often to really take advantage of the card offerings. Did you apply for this card in store or online? Just when I thought I had my mind set on the Blue Cash, you share this awesome news (minus the $50 fee)!