American Express Clear

[Creditaddict]

What exactly are the rewards??

we got the card for the bt rate back when it first came out, but what do i do with it now?! or get with it i should say.

Wanted costco, not an option. maybe starwoods... but 1for1 point doesn't seem that great.

[Anonymous]

A card with no fees of any kind. You can even not pay the bill once a year without being penalized. 1% rebate auto generates $25.00 gift cards whenever you qualify. Not much more than that except it's harder to get than Blue.

[athensguy]

if you pay late enough, they won't hesitate to mark it late on your CRs, so be careful.

[Creditaddict]

right. the fact that it offers no fees of any kind is no care to me... because if you are taking advantage of any of those offerings they are going to CLD or close the account!!

[score_building]

just curious - what makes you think it is harder to get than the blue?

Exactly- if you do anything to trigger "no fee" on the card you will be left with "no card".  And that's not so nice

ps. it's also really easy on the eyes

Message Edited by score_building on 09-18-2008 01:57 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

Members have posted that they were able to get Blue, but didn't quite have the scores for Clear, so it's a reasonable assumption that it's tougher.

I can't decide if I like its looks or not. It's eye-catching, but it also looks like something that went splat on my windshield one summer on the Interstate.

[Anonymous]

I like the automatic gift cards. I put them in birthday cards or use them to purchase gas at Costco!

[Phoenix-rising]

I just recently did a PC from Clear to Blue.  I didn't like the reward cards.  I'd forget to bring them with me to use them.  I'm absolutely certain I lost at least one $25 card.  If you misplace it, it's impossible to get any assistance unless you wrote down the reward card number before hand.  We always had trouble using them at restaurants because the waiter didn't ring it up right even though we specified that only the EXACT amount of the card was to be used when we paid with one reward card along with a credit card.

Nope.  Just give me cash back and I'll be a happy camper.  I don't mind if I have to wait.  At least I won't lose or misplace my rewards.

Message Edited by Phoenix-rising on 09-18-2008 09:03 PM

[score_building]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
Members have posted that they were able to get Blue, but didn't quite have the scores for Clear, so it's a reasonable assumption that it's tougher.

I can't decide if I like its looks or not. It's eye-catching, but it also looks like something that went splat on my windshield one summer on the Interstate.

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Thanks Hauling, interesting - i would have thought that they were about the same.

I know what you mean lol it has an odd appearance but my take is that it's totally cool and mod looking   

by the way i didn't get a response from anyone to my query on a recent thread about Experian PLUS and Amex Clear but recently found this post in a dell thread:

"yep...that's why i was denied initially for AMEX..that's what they pull [Experian PLUS Score] and not the FICO...hope that helps some" GETNUMBERSUP

does anybody have a clue if amex still pulls the ex proprietary (PLUS score)...  this is the score you can pull for free once a year with the Amex Clear card.  it would stand to reason that they'd give you a relevant score rather than one they don't use.  can anyone chime in on this? 

[Anonymous]

Well my situation is the opposite but for a possibly dumb reason on my part. I wanted the Blue Cash for its potential to earn 5% cash back and lower min APR as compared to Clear's 1% "gift card back" and higher min APR. I applied for the card not realizing that I was on the wrong page. I was accepted for the Clear but was hoping that perhaps their systems might not reconcile immediately and could snag the Blue Cash instead. So right away I went back to the Blue Cash application but was then denied. A link was sent to my email so I could retrieve my letter. In it was this "Your consumer credit bureau score from Experian is too low (See below) High utilization of credit lines or insufficient utilization information (Experian) Minimal or low credit limits (Experian) Proportion of revolving balances to revolving credit limits is too high (Experian)" My scores are TU 683 EQ 712 EX 688. I was looking to increase my revolving credit as I managed the rest of my balance by transferring it to a lower interest rate.