@rgd51 wrote:I opened up my first Amex card, the cash magnet. Thought I would see if the hype of the great customer service is what it's made about to be without having to worry about an annual fee. I read that 99% of merchants in the US that take credit cards take Amex. Is that true? I only know of a couple places near me that don't take it but since I've never used Amex before i wasn't really paying attention to it in the past. In this country will I run into issues with people merchants accepting it?
Their customer service is ok.
I've run into plenty of places where Amex is not accepted.
As @Aim_High said, it's ok as long as it's not the only card in your wallet. Whenever I have a Discover or Amex, I always make sure to have a Visa or Mastercard as well.
@rgd51 wrote:Yeah so I feel I should definitely earn the SUB on the cash magnet first before I request a PC. I realize I can easily get a 1.5% card from a number of issuers but 3% on online retail purchases is very unusual!
I wasn't talking about the CM SUB. I meant the SUB of the card you're PCing *to.*
For example, let's say you want to PC to a Blue Cash Preferred (BCP), which currently has a $250 bonus for spending $3k within the first 6 months of account opening. If you proceed with the PC, and your CM is turned into a BCP, even if you close it out say next year, then wait a year, then try to apply for a brand new BCP, you'll get a pop up basically telling you you'll be ineligible for the SUB since you had owned the card before.
@Anonymous wrote:<begin preach mode>
Re acceptance, we run into the "My situation is the universal truth". So yes, in some places every single store you want to use will gladly take Amex. In the SAME place, someone else may find that many of the stores that they want to use don't. And choosing a different location, the picture would change again.
Don't tell people it's no problem. when that is based only on what you have found
So the advice to carry a backup V/MC makes sense!
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Agreed. The fact that we're having this discussion about AMEX network acceptance (and have had it multiple times before) while you don't see such chatter about Visa or Mastercard is that it is somewhat of an issue. How much of an issue is definitely YMMV, but it's an undeniable issue that members should consider with AMEX. There have been a handful of times in my 40 years of credit cards that a merchant didn't accept credit cards at all, but except for those situations I've found that Visa or Mastercard are almost universally accepted in US domestic markets. That is not the case with AMEX. I'll note that even those who defend it above acknowledge they they've seen it occassionally.
Having alternative methods to pay is always a good idea for planning purposes, whether that is VS/MC, cash, check, Debit, gold nuggets, or bartering with chickens. 
@ways2go wrote:Why do people keep saying to pay in full or don't carry a balance with them? Maybe that is for their charge cards but I haven't found that is the case for their revolvers. What is the point of offering a revolver, if you want your customers to pay in full every month? I have a balance on my BCE and my everyday card. I've always had a balance since I've had them. I've have gotten auto cli's on both and since Feb, I have gotten 3 on BCE. I getting pre-approved offers on all their cards and the crazy personal loan.
Many lenders have varying sensitivities to carrying a balance, @ways2go, and not just AMEX. Yes, they are offering the ability to carry a balance and of course they enjoy earning interest charges off those balances. But the interest charges are to offset the risk of default. The larger a balance a consumer carries or the longer a consumer carries a balance, the more risk the lender perceives for risk of default.
I believe one reason they may prefer transactors (as @coldfusion mentioned) has to do with their business model. They have one of the more dominant positions as a US credit card issuer but they are not one of the largest banks in terms of assets. In 2020, they had the third largest US domestic market share (11.3%) behind Chase (16.6%) and Citi (11.6%.) However, they were 21st in assets. While they do offer some online banking products, they don't have a physical banking presence like Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, or US Bank. IMO, less assets to back up the consumer borrowing = greater sensitivity to default.
On a side-note, if you are indeed routinely carrying a balance on your BCE and ED cards, I would ask why? If you're doing it because you think it helps put you in AMEX's good graces for using your cards, you're unnecessarily wasting your money on interest charges. Using your cards and paying-in-full accomplishes the same goal of showing responsible usage without having to incur fees. If you're doing it because you need to carry the balances to make ends meet, you'd probably be better off forgeting about rewards cards from major lenders like AMEX and instead focusing on getting the lowest APR card (no AF, probably no rewards) you can get from a credit union. The interest charges are more than wiping out any rewards that you are earning.