They do make ones siggy look pretty
@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.)
@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 !
