Big deal about AMEX??? I am still learning =)

[Anonymous]

So what's the big deal about having an AMEX CC?  I'm not being snooty just curious???  A lot of places I've seen do not even take AMEX any more, and it looks like quite a few of their cards have AF's anyway?  So is it just a "staus" thing, or are they really great cards to have?  I"m still in the beginning stages of credit, but starting to look forward to getting a "big girl card" possibly by next year as my UTI will be close to 1-5% by Jan...I"ve sock drawered the starter cards i've had, and currently really only using my NFCU cashrewards card as it's my biggest limit card at $3k...thanks for input! =)

[Anonymous]

It's a status thing for some of their cards (platinum and centurion comes to mind).

Some other cards are mostly for the rewards, such as 6% ok groceries for BCP, etc.

Another benefit of Amex is that customer service is generally a lot better compared to certain other lenders, though many other lenders have been catching up on this aspect as well. There are nice built-in benefits as well for all cards except their prepaid, such as free extended warranty. For instance, my friend's iPad broke after the first year. Called Amex, filled up a form, sent it back, and got a statement credit for full amount within a few days. He has been a card member for many years and that was his very first claim, so Amex might have cut him some slack in that aspect as well.

[Anonymous]

Amex is very generous with cli and most of the cli are soft pulls. Once you have a high limit card with Amex probability of getting a high limit cards from other issuers increases. Amex grants 3x cli after 61 days of account opening and after that every 6 months. Many people are stuck with low limits cards with other issuers for years. Some of the issuers require HP for every increase. I personally see Amex as a way to achieve higher credit limit with other issuers. Also some of the Amex cards have good benefits to compensate for the annual fee.

[Anonymous]

Lets not forget backdating!

[Anonymous]

With regards to CLI, the only advantage Amex has over other creditors is that CLIs are SPs. To be honest I don't see what's the big deal with getting a HP for a CLI increase, but I guess to some people they think its a legitimate concern. Personally I'm a lot more concerned with the amount of increase I can get than anything else. Nevertheless, SP CLI still a nice feature.

3X CLI is considered generous, but to some people, being only able to increase CLI by 3X, nothing more, is instead a limitation.

Your credit limits and any increase you get thereafter is mostly dependent on your income, credit report and history. Even with Amex, CLI is never guaranteed if you do not have the income or scores/history to back it up. You might get a counteroffer, or a straight up denial. Most lenders work in a similar fashion. The exception to this rule are those credit builder and secured cards, which is limited in the amount of CL or CLI one can get.

There have been a number of examples where people were able to get limits raised 3-10x withChase, citi, BofA, Wells Fargo etc. For those same people they are still restricted to a 3X increase with Amex.

Oh and I forgot about the backdating. Thanks lexie!

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the input! =)  and what's "backdating"?

[Anonymous]

For example you got your first Amex card December 2013.

In the future, when you get other Amex cards, they will backdate the account to December 2013, so the "new" account will not appear as "brand new" and thereby not dropping your AAoA in most circumstances:

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, any new accounts (primary or ACM) would use the 2013 - the month would be the actual month of that new cc.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It's a status thing for some of their cards (platinum and centurion comes to mind).

Some other cards are mostly for the rewards, such as 6% ok groceries for BCP, etc.

Another benefit of Amex is that customer service is generally a lot better compared to certain other lenders, though many other lenders have been catching up on this aspect as well. There are nice built-in benefits as well for all cards except their prepaid, such as free extended warranty. For instance, my friend's iPad broke after the first year. Called Amex, filled up a form, sent it back, and got a statement credit for full amount within a few days. He has been a card member for many years and that was his very first claim, so Amex might have cut him some slack in that aspect as well.

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Yep.  I think a lot is "status" in the sense people have the impression that Amex is high status from past history while at the same time being able to get the cards with fairly moderate scores/history  (and not always seeing the disconnect!).

Enharu has addressed the much-praised CLI issue in another post, I agree it's not so different from other lenders.  With NFCU/PenFed etc, you can get very high initial CLs, Amex can also get you there in a few months, but that doesn't make it special.

Customer service still seems to be the strong point, along with Discover.

The SP for new cards IS a useful feature for those trying to keep inqs down, I still think it's very strange and weakens the whole credit reporting system (along with backdating, but that can be detected, unlike SP) but since it is allowed you may as well take advantage of it!

And Global Transfer is a great feature for the small number that can use it....

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So what's the big deal about having an AMEX CC?

Subjective matter.  If you don't see the big deal then move on and find a card better suited to you.  No single card is a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.

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@Anonymous wrote:
So is it just a "staus" thing, or are they really great cards to have?

A little from column A, a little from column B. Backdating can be useful if it's beneficial to your AAoA. I find my BCP and TrueEarnings to both be good cards for me. YMMV as with any subjective matter.

For some, AmEx is just status.