topic Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit? in Credit Cards

what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

Agent86 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:32:55 GMT

The charge cards all have fees of at least $95, which is higher than the $75 for the Blue Cash Preferred; you only get 1 point per dollar on charge cards (okay sometimes up to 3 on the gold preferred) vs. up to 6 cents per dollar on blue cash preferred, and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, while blue cash cards are regular credit cards. I understand the platinum comes with fancy lifestyle perks like airport lounges, but in that case aren't you really just paying for a club membership rather than monetary incentives? I also understand that the psychological motivation of having to pay in full every month helps some manage their money and avoid a debt spiral, but you can still pay off your credit cards in full every month. What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:43:03 GMT

@Agent86 wrote:
The charge cards all have fees of at least $95, which is higher than the $75 for the Blue Cash Preferred; you only get 1 point per dollar on charge cards (okay sometimes up to 3 on the gold preferred) vs. up to 6 cents per dollar on blue cash preferred, and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, while blue cash cards are regular credit cards. I understand the platinum comes with fancy lifestyle perks like airport lounges, but in that case aren't you really just paying for a club membership rather than monetary incentives? I also understand that the psychological motivation of having to pay in full every month helps some manage their money and avoid a debt spiral, but you can still pay off your credit cards in full every month. What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?

The charge cards are NPSL, while the revolvers are not. This is useful for people who need to make big purchases and have the ability to repay them back in full.

Using the pay over time feature will not freeze charging ability or cause account closure. It's just rumors.

Treat it as a club membership or a card membership or whatever you want to. The perks benefit certain group of people and there's really no wrong in having it.

Different cards also have different benefits and serve different purposes.

There's no one card that is suitable for everyone. Just because a card might suit someone more, or just because one card may seem more prestigious, may not necessarily mean it's the right card for everyone else. If you don't see a point in getting a charge card, then chances are the card isn't really going to suit you well and you should therefore not get it.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

CEOriginal — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:57:54 GMT

@Agent86 wrote:
The charge cards all have fees of at least $95, which is higher than the $75 for the Blue Cash Preferred; you only get 1 point per dollar on charge cards (okay sometimes up to 3 on the gold preferred) vs. up to 6 cents per dollar on blue cash preferred, and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, while blue cash cards are regular credit cards. I understand the platinum comes with fancy lifestyle perks like airport lounges, but in that case aren't you really just paying for a club membership rather than monetary incentives? I also understand that the psychological motivation of having to pay in full every month helps some manage their money and avoid a debt spiral, but you can still pay off your credit cards in full every month. What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?

I've also heard that their charge cards are easier to obtain.... For most people, the charge cards are their foot in the door with AMEX.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

navigatethis12 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:32:42 GMT

I don't usually defend charge cards, but the 6 cents per dollar for the Blue Cash Preferred is only on groceries and only up to 6,000 a year. The charge cards have no limit on the points you can earn, that I know of.I'm with you that charge cards are worthless, but I don't think you made a fair comparison.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

Open123 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:53:45 GMT

The main benefits for a charge card.

1. NPSL allows a person to charge amounts much higher and much faster than static lines.

2. Amex has some unique benefits available only in charge cards.

3. Unlimited rewards for spending.

For example, let's say you have no credit or bad credit, but have a high income. You'd either not qualify for a revolver or be approved for one with a very small limit. It would take years before your CLs hit $10K. With an Amex charge, you can charge $5 - $10K per month after the 3rd or 4th month. By the way, this is the ideal card for those who need to charge large amounts of reimbursable expenses, but don't have a high enough limit card on their own.

And, finally for large amount of quarterly business taxes, the only card that efficiently accomodates this would be the NPSL Amex.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

espnjunkie — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:58:32 GMT

I use my green card for daily spending, except on the bonus categories for the bcp. The MR points are valuable if you convert them to frequent flier miles when a promotional bonus is going on. By doing so you can often get 25-50% more miles for your points. Also charge cards generally will be allowed a significantly higher limit than revolvers.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

ibmrad7 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:38:58 GMT

My cousin has used Pay Over time feature on this Platinum for over 6 months and never received any adverese action.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

thom02099 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:11:43 GMT

@Agent86 wrote:
The charge cards all have fees of at least $95, which is higher than the $75 for the Blue Cash Preferred; you only get 1 point per dollar on charge cards (okay sometimes up to 3 on the gold preferred) vs. up to 6 cents per dollar on blue cash preferred, and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, while blue cash cards are regular credit cards. I understand the platinum comes with fancy lifestyle perks like airport lounges, but in that case aren't you really just paying for a club membership rather than monetary incentives? I also understand that the psychological motivation of having to pay in full every month helps some manage their money and avoid a debt spiral, but you can still pay off your credit cards in full every month. What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?

There's more to a credit/charge card than just points. Many of us remember the days when cards didn't offer much of anything. And then there's this:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/THIS-is-why-I-carry-AMEX/td-p/2187845

Benefits such as this make it worthwhile, and as I stated in this message, I've yet to be disappointed in AMEX for an entertainment purchase.

EDIT: the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, = Urban Legend

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

NonSufficientFunds — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:56:23 GMT

@Agent86 wrote:
What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?

The Gold and Platinum Cards have glitter in them that makes them sparkle under the halogen lights at the shopping mall !!

Definitely worth every penny !!

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:42:06 GMT

Also charge cards IMO are good tools for budgeting and building discipline with using credit. With the exception of the pay overtime feature you can use on certain purchases you are responsible for paying the balance in full each month. When I was rebuilding 3yrs back and used my Zync I thought about all my purchases and didn't go buck wild. No that I am back in Primeville, I am very responsible with my cards and make sure I don't carry huge balances.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

FinStar — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:00:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Agent86 wrote:
The charge cards all have fees of at least $95, which is higher than the $75 for the Blue Cash Preferred; you only get 1 point per dollar on charge cards (okay sometimes up to 3 on the gold preferred) vs. up to 6 cents per dollar on blue cash preferred, and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, while blue cash cards are regular credit cards. I understand the platinum comes with fancy lifestyle perks like airport lounges, but in that case aren't you really just paying for a club membership rather than monetary incentives? I also understand that the psychological motivation of having to pay in full every month helps some manage their money and avoid a debt spiral, but you can still pay off your credit cards in full every month. What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?
The charge cards are NPSL, while the revolvers are not. This is useful for people who need to make big purchases and have the ability to repay them back in full.
Using the pay over time feature will not freeze charging ability or cause account closure. It's just rumors.
Treat it as a club membership or a card membership or whatever you want to. The perks benefit certain group of people and there's really no wrong in having it.
Different cards also have different benefits and serve different purposes.

There's no one card that is suitable for everyone. Just because a card might suit someone more, or just because one card may seem more prestigious, may not necessarily mean it's the right card for everyone else. If you don't see a point in getting a charge card, then chances are the card isn't really going to suit you well and you should therefore not get it.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

n777ua — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:58:33 GMT

@Agent86 wrote:
and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure

I'll never understand why people think this. Amex isn't setting some elusive trap so they can fire their customers. I've used POT many times to spread out large purchases over a few months...

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

kampfer09 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:17:31 GMT

The visa sig have both CL and NPSL as well.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:19:30 GMT

Visa signature NPSL are set by the respective lenders themselves. Some might be really generous while some might give you like a 100 dollar wiggle room so that NPSL can be effectively useless in some cases

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

boomhower — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:49:56 GMT

To me there benefits are more in the business world than the personal world. Being able to charge business travel on a charge card that you are reimbursed for rather than maxing out a personal card. The higher level cards also offer nice travel perks that for a high mileage business person are well worth the yearly fee.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

LS2982 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:55:17 GMT

@Agent86 wrote:
The charge cards all have fees of at least $95, which is higher than the $75 for the Blue Cash Preferred; you only get 1 point per dollar on charge cards (okay sometimes up to 3 on the gold preferred) vs. up to 6 cents per dollar on blue cash preferred, and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure, while blue cash cards are regular credit cards. I understand the platinum comes with fancy lifestyle perks like airport lounges, but in that case aren't you really just paying for a club membership rather than monetary incentives? I also understand that the psychological motivation of having to pay in full every month helps some manage their money and avoid a debt spiral, but you can still pay off your credit cards in full every month. What actual benefit do these charge cards offer?

Totally inaccurate.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

LS2982 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:57:10 GMT

@n777ua wrote:
@Agent86 wrote:
and the pay over time feature will apparently feeze your charging ability and possibly cause account closure
I'll never understand why people think this. Amex isn't setting some elusive trap so they can fire their customers. I've used POT many times to spread out large purchases over a few months...

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

jamesdwi — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 01:26:10 GMT

Power, Flexibility, Benefits far beyond what you can achive with Revolvers at any early stage of rebuilding, All it takes is a 650 fico and 6 months of credit experience, and decent income to get a Charge card, when you have a 650 FICO most people have credit cards that have at most $1000 CL when you are making 2-3k a month and want to charge $2000 a month you end up paying your bill 2-3 times a month perhaps more, a Charge card and a good income can give you an internal CL of 3-5k and perhaps more in a few months. A charge card used to pay bills allows you to not worry about when bills are due, $300 dollar phone bill due 3 days before you get paid no problem, put it on the charge card let it float (you collect the interest) till its due date, $300 on a $500 CL card is 60% UTL, take the DW out for dinner, and you are at 80% UTL, gas for the car at the wrong place $100 hold (cheap by many stations these days) oh your $500 CL is 100% taken of course when the Gas payment actually hits you are only $420 of the UTL and you are going to pay the bill that day anyway. Its all part of Life with a $500 limit trying to get a few rewards. Travel always involves many holds for things that may never hit the bill, $50-100 hold for incidentals at a hotel that will probpably never post, a full week auto rental hold for a 2 day rental.... All this can easily be handled with a charge card no questions or hassles, it just adjusts to your spending habbits and reported income. It can change daily or weekly because its internal no one notify when it goes up or down unless it goes lower than your typical spend.

If you ever feel you have to make multiple payments per month on a card because the CL is too low it may be time to look at a charge card.

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 03:22:39 GMT

What CEOriginal said +1

Re: what is the point of Amex charge cards, when there's blue cash credit?

improvingmycredit — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:36:47 GMT

Hello OP!
Besides all the various reasons listed- I find that one of the most valuable perks of a Charge Card over a revolver.... No effect to Utility allowing the balance to report. This is not true of revolvers be they siggys or not. This alone makes the charge card worth having.