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Depends what you want in a card.
Pros:
Good travel rewards and perks, especially on annual fee cards.
*New accounts often come with a big bonus.
Great customer service on Platinum.
Some cards have a long intro 0% APR period on purchases.
With good income, history, and spend a credit limit can grow very quickly. Spending power can sometimes even temporarily exceed a credit limit (for an established customer with a very healthy profile). *Charge card spending power can also grow quickly.*
Customers are generally happy with a smooth process of making benefit claims (like extended warranties offered by some Amex cards) and disputing transactions.
Cons:
The travel rewards cards often have quirks that can make them harder to get value from if you like simplicity.
The travel rewards programs can be very lucrative but can also lack flexibility.
Cash back cards are generally underwhelming.
Lower acceptance than Visa or MC.
Balance transfer opportunities are limited.
*Most no-AF cards, and even a few of the Annual Fee cards, charge a 2.7% Foreign Transaction Fee.
Neutral:
Customer service on most cards may not be as good as what a credit union offers.
Credit standards are neither very relaxed nor terribly strict for most cards. That said, Amex can hold decades-long grudges against customers who default on one of their cards.
Benefit terms are not as good as they once were, but are still pretty attractive compared to most competitors.
Personally I would say a definite yes. They have great customer service and a good lineup of cards for almost anyone. Plus, the cards can grow pretty quickly if you use them well.
@wasCB14 wrote:Depends what you want in a card.
Pros:
Good travel rewards and perks, especially on annual fee cards.
Great customer service on Platinum.
Some cards have a long intro 0% APR period on purchases.
With good income, history, and spend a credit limit can grow very quickly. Spending power can sometimes even temporarily exceed a credit limit (for an established customer with a very healthy profile). *Charge card spending power can also grow quickly.*
Customers are generally happy with a smooth process of making benefit claims (like extended warranties offered by some Amex cards) and disputing transactions.
Cons:
The travel rewards cards often have quirks that can make them harder to get value from if you like simplicity.
The travel rewards programs can be very lucrative but can also lack flexibility.
Cash back cards are generally underwhelming.
Lower acceptance than Visa or MC.
Balance transfer opportunities are limited.
Neutral:
Customer service on most cards may not be as good as what a credit union offers.
Credit standards are neither very relaxed nor terribly strict for most cards. That said, Amex can hold decades-long grudges against customers who default on one of their cards.
Benefit terms are not as good as they once were, but are still pretty attractive compared to most competitors.
A moderate number of Amex cards charge a foreign transaction fee.
That is a very fair assessment of American Express. You should totally save that as a macro for future use!
As for the question, I would certainly say that I have been an extremely happy Amex cardholder since 2002. Their welcome offers for many cards are industry-leading. Acceptance (in the US at least) is becoming less of an issue as it gets bundled with new merchant accounts via OptBlue and businesses aren't obligated to deal directly with Amex for rate negotiation. If a card fits your spending and the type of rewards you'd like, Amex will usually have a very competitive card if not one of the best credit cards of that type. (General cash back cards not being a great example of this, of course, as there are lots of 2% cards out there now.)
I like my BCE, had it for 7 years. Pretty much everything is covered in "the list". They seem to keep up with the times with offerings (Pay It, access to things via website, etc.) Takes a couple more clicks to get to past statements, and a whole lot of searching to find the Year End Summary (under My Trends link??, even though Y.E.S.s are backward looking).
Amex offers are great, especially the ones that are not merchant specific ($20 off insurance bill, $10 off cell phone bill up to $20).
They still hold a small amount of prestige (not like they used to), unless you go for a, eh, um, uhhh Credit One Amex lol.
I don't live life without mine.
@wasCB14 wrote:Depends what you want in a card.
Pros:
Good travel rewards and perks, especially on annual fee cards.
Great customer service on Platinum.
Some cards have a long intro 0% APR period on purchases.
With good income, history, and spend a credit limit can grow very quickly. Spending power can sometimes even temporarily exceed a credit limit (for an established customer with a very healthy profile). *Charge card spending power can also grow quickly.*
Customers are generally happy with a smooth process of making benefit claims (like extended warranties offered by some Amex cards) and disputing transactions.
Cons:
The travel rewards cards often have quirks that can make them harder to get value from if you like simplicity.
The travel rewards programs can be very lucrative but can also lack flexibility.
Cash back cards are generally underwhelming.
Lower acceptance than Visa or MC.
Balance transfer opportunities are limited.
Neutral:
Customer service on most cards may not be as good as what a credit union offers.
Credit standards are neither very relaxed nor terribly strict for most cards. That said, Amex can hold decades-long grudges against customers who default on one of their cards.
Benefit terms are not as good as they once were, but are still pretty attractive compared to most competitors.
A moderate number of Amex cards charge a foreign transaction fee.
My one additon would be that all Amex cards without FTF have an AF except the base level Hilton Honors. The importance of this depends on where your foreign transactions occur (Amex acceptance isn't always awesome overseas so less of an issue maybe as you can't charge a fee on a transaction you can't make, but even benign and legitimate online transactions can be processed overseas and result in FTF).
@wasCB14 wrote:Depends what you want in a card.
Pros:
Good travel rewards and perks, especially on annual fee cards.
Great customer service on Platinum.
Some cards have a long intro 0% APR period on purchases.
With good income, history, and spend a credit limit can grow very quickly. Spending power can sometimes even temporarily exceed a credit limit (for an established customer with a very healthy profile). *Charge card spending power can also grow quickly.*
Customers are generally happy with a smooth process of making benefit claims (like extended warranties offered by some Amex cards) and disputing transactions.
Cons:
The travel rewards cards often have quirks that can make them harder to get value from if you like simplicity.
The travel rewards programs can be very lucrative but can also lack flexibility.
Cash back cards are generally underwhelming.
Lower acceptance than Visa or MC.
Balance transfer opportunities are limited.
Neutral:
Customer service on most cards may not be as good as what a credit union offers.
Credit standards are neither very relaxed nor terribly strict for most cards. That said, Amex can hold decades-long grudges against customers who default on one of their cards.
Benefit terms are not as good as they once were, but are still pretty attractive compared to most competitors.
A moderate number of Amex cards charge a foreign transaction fee.
Nailed it !
My take on the AMEX line:
Pros:
-Good earning rates on their cards. Blue Cashback is 6% for groceries (though limited to 6k).
-Can earn membership rewards on Rakuten.
-Transfer bonuses on membership rewards points to airlines.
-High end perks on the Platinum and Gold cards.
Cons:
-Annual Fees are the highest across the product line.
-Cards do not stack together well.
-Platinum is $550 for x5 Airfare, Gold is $250 for x4 dine/grocery, Green is $150 for x3 travel, ED Preferred is $95 for x1.5 everyday spend after 30 monthly uses. That is $1045 annual fee to have the best of all categories.
-Transfer partners aren't as good as Chase and Citi.
If you paired Green/ED Preferred with the idea that you would only use the green for travel and big dinners out while ED gets the bills and lunch spending it could work. The AF between both is $245. Compare this to a CSR with a CFU. $550 annual fee on the CSR but a $300 dollar credit and a broad definition of restaurants. Unlimited priority pass with the CSR and x10 lyft rides. CFU is 1.5 back regardless of swipes.