Cheap, No FX, MR Amex?

[Deuter]

Is there something like it? That would be one of my ideal supplemental cards.

Which product do you think in your opinion would be a good value proposition/way to start in MR without paying a considerable "MR tax". I have been eyening the Blue Business Plus as my possible next Amex card but FX fees would eat me alive and maybe offset the rewards?

So as i keep on travelling everywhre i would be interested in No FX. Currently, i have the Hilton but i would wish to transition from Hilton points to MR in the future. Amex it's just expensive. I like the app, the brand,CS. But what i don't like for me is they would always be a -supplemental- card as acceptance is spotty internationally compared to Visa/MC peers. 

[Anonymous]

The only no FTF Amex MRs are the charge cards. Lowest entry would be to Green at $150. Green/Gold are point earners, but Plat could help you with travel benefits like lounge and top status at Hilton and Marriott Gold.

All of their co-brands like Delta/Hilton/Marriott also have no FTF.

WF Propel has no FTF and points work like a pseudo-MR. 

[Anonymous]

Depends what your definition of cheap is, but the cheapest no fx, MR earning card that I see is the green card ($150). Otherwise, the second cheapest card is the Gold card ($250). I think that the BBP is definitely a good addition to an MR-earners wallet, though. Most of us need flat-rate cards for those lovely non-category transactions 

[NRB525]

AMEX Green. If you travel a lot, the $150 fee can contribute annually to get Clear. The Lounge Buddy reimbursements have potential to supplement your Prestige card.  

On this and other travel sites there is much gnashing of teeth because people want the Perfect Payback, want those style points for getting something net free. But if you are actually traveling, the value of a solid travel-oriented bank looking out for your interest and security has some real, non-quantifiable value. When you need it, it best be there NOW.

So in my book, the $150 fee on the Green is more of an insurance fee. Cheap insurance. 

[Deuter]

Well, i was looking at something ideally at $100 tops.. as i pay around $150 for my Prestige after using partially most of the easy benefits. 

In fact i think i read the Insurance agreement of the Green and my Hilton Honors... and it's very similar. Like $150 doesn't buy me much in insurance i already have but just access to MR points. I am also eligible for Amex Internartional Currency Cards (Dollar/Euro): https://www.americanexpress.com/icc/cards/index.html and LAC cards: https://www.americanexpress.com/lacidc/en/laccards/index.shtml

If anyone would use choose a flavor of these cards over the American contemporary? Financially Americans make more sense, but the IDC cards are not so bad.

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1.Dumbee how are WF Propel points pseudo-MR???

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2. Also guys, imagine i use the BBP abroad for a year ... i put it around $3,000-4,000 annually as a card that is not my top of wallet. How much Foreign transactions fees do you think i would pay? Would that be much lower than say the Green AF? And also are some BBP multipliers/point valid abroad??

BTW I'm not eligible for Clear and the likes as i was born in Venezuela, so that benefit i will never be able to use.

[elixerin]

fee is 2.7% if you can manage to get more than 1.35 cpp on your points only then will you break a profit(BBP)... not worth imo, up to you to decide however.

what would stop you from say upgrading to the $95 AF hilton card for those extra benefits and no FTF, then rock something like an ED or BBP like you mentioned for the MR pool🤔 food for thought

if you want straight no FTF mr it's gonna have to be one of the more expensive personal or business travel card lineup :l cheapest being green

[wasCB14]

ICC Green has an AF as low as $100 (for the USD card), but the FTF is 3%, and paying a slightly higher AF for the Euro card only gets the FTF down to 2.7%.

CLEAR can be good for the right travel footprint, *though not in your case. LoungeBuddy is okay, but the network is limited and at their prices $100 doesn't go very far.

BBP has no bonus categories. It's 2x MRs on up to $50k spend per calendar year, 1x after that. It's a great card for things like tax payments where off-category rewards are the main concern and great spend tracking tools are nice, but not so ideal for foreign transactions or things that might fall into a bonus category elsewhere. With little or no SUB, BBP needs tens of thousands a year in spend to really shine.

Do you fly Delta at all? Delta Blue has no AF and no FTF. You might reconsider the need for a no-FTF Amex, given lower acceptance in many countries relative to your Prestige MC.

*As far as the charge cards in your case, I'd say go with Gold or Platinum or don't bother. BBP can be great domestically, but don't use it outside the US.

[wasCB14]

2.7% of $4,000 is $108. At that point, you might as well pay for a charge card AF.

But BBP doesn't really make sense at just $4k spend per year. It needs a lot of spend to make up for the fact that even referral SUBs aren't that great (I see 10k/$3k/3 months atm). At $40k spend per year for a few years it's a wonderful card...no AF and a great earn rate.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@Deuter wrote:

Is there something like it? That would be one of my ideal supplemental cards.

Which product do you think in your opinion would be a good value proposition/way to start in MR without paying a considerable "MR tax". I have been eyening the Blue Business Plus as my possible next Amex card but FX fees would eat me alive and maybe offset the rewards?

So as i keep on travelling everywhre i would be interested in No FX. Currently, i have the Hilton but i would wish to transition from Hilton points to MR in the future. Amex it's just expensive. I like the app, the brand,CS. But what i don't like for me is they would always be a -supplemental- card as acceptance is spotty internationally compared to Visa/MC peers. 

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What does no FX MR Amex mean? Sounds like a hip hop group. Thanks

[Deuter]

Thanks Was that's super handy the insight of BBP... 

Last time i flew Delta was like in 2003. I really don't set a foot in Delta metal as my Hubs have been dominated by AA.. and now that i am in Europe i don't have any loyalty to any airline at all, just whatever works best for each particular trip. 

Delta Blue seems nice, would be my next natural Amex choice... it's just it would be the same as the Hilton Honors.. just that i would never fly Delta while with the Hilton in Europe there's the higher chance that i use points in a hotel stay. Now with the coronavirus i got stuck in Spain, so i don't know when i'll go back to the states, prior the pandemic i was already spending much more time in EU than US. 

And you are right! Perphaps even getting an MR Amex is not much of a good choice for me as i should be getting Visa/Mastercard. No Centurion lounges in Europe.... i'm not able to use Uber/Lyft credits that Amex Plat comes with.. as these are sole like for Uber US. These are the reasons that hold me back from the Platinum. I should probably be eyening Visa cards as i don't have any, wanted a Visa Infinite, but being an individual without an itin/ssn limits me to lenders like: BoA,Citi,Amex,HSBC so my choice is much more worse than most folks. I don't see much interesting in these lenders? What would you rock?

But thanks for BBP insight, i will forget that option as i'm almost exclusively using the cards abroad 100% and each time is least like it for me to swipe them in the US. Been wanting an Altitude Reserve to possibly replace my Prestige but i am not sure how will US Bank approve without the mentioned documents.. 

Regarding the 2,7% of the Amex International Euro Card, if i get it sometime.. i wouldn't be paying that FTF.. as i would be using it inside SEPA paying in Euro and only use it inside Europe. When travelling to the USA i would just use my USA cards instead. So technically it's true that i wouldn't need to pay the 2,7% foreign fee of these International Amex cards?