Great post, MV.
Thanks for reminding me why I got mine in the first place, too (similar reasons to yours), and why I need to grit my teeth and tough it out through my own 'training wheels' phase of dealing with them. 
UpUpUp wrote:
cheddar wrote:
UpUpUp wrote:
Does the Costco Amex actually report as Amex? I thought it reported and was handled through the card issuing bank? Thus, you would not be entitled to a lof the benefits with exception to the actual cards rewards program. Is that correct? I'm still trying to figure out the difference.
The Costco Amex is issued by Amex the bank, so yes, it reports as Amex.FWIW, the Amex benefits like purchase protections and extended warranty coverage apply to any card that uses the Amex network and carries the Amex logo, even those issued by other banks.
Message Edited by cheddar on 07-25-2008 09:58 AM
Ahhhhhh.....for some reason I was under the impression that it was basically any old card with the Amex logo on it. So, basically you do get all the benefits minus the concierge and the possible F/R?
Message Edited by UpUpUp on 07-25-2008 02:55 PM
Well, we seem to be talking about two different things here. 
The Costco Amex is issued by Amex the bank, so there is still the possiblity of F/R, as with any Amex-issued Amex.
Any other Amex-logo-carrying card issued by a bank other than Amex gets all the purchase protections of an Amex card, without the danger of F/R.
The concierge service is dependent on the issuer. For Amex cards issued by Amex, only the Platinum charge card and above come with a concierge service. Other banks may or may not offer a conierge service on their Amex-logo-carrying cards. (Citi and BofA both do. I don't know about others.)
fused wrote:
Another kewl Amex thread...
Agreed! I also agree with MV's points in his original post, which I should have mentioned earlier.
I do wonder about the reasoning behind not using an Amex in public, though. I understand that it's because they may shut you off with no notice at all and you don't want to have an authorization declined in public. I guess what I don't understand is why that would be such a big deal.
I've actually had my Amex declined in public twice. It wasn't because of anything I did or anything wrong with my card. In both cases, it turned out that the merchant didn't even accept Amex but the employee wasn't bright enough (or perhaps just wasn't well-trained enough) to know the difference between an Amex and a Visa.
In both cases, when I was told my Amex was declined, I just took the card back and handed over an alternate card. I did, of course, get on the phone with Amex to find out what was going on as soon as I left the store, but I didn't give a second thought about the opinions of the person behind the counter or anyone in line behind me. I'll probably never see them again in my life anyway.
By the way, the next time I visited that store, I asked to speak to the manager to tell him he might want to train his employees on which cards are accepted and which ones aren't. I gave up, though, when I realized I wasn't getting anywhere after he told me that I was wrong because they did accept Amex. In fact, he said, a woman had just paid with a MasterCard five minutes ago. 
(Yes, this was the actual store manager.)
(Yes, this was the actual store manager.)
cheddar wrote:
fused wrote:Another kewl Amex thread...Agreed! I also agree with MV's points in his original post, which I should have mentioned earlier.I do wonder about the reasoning behind not using an Amex in public, though.
Actually, Amex is not one of the cards I carry with me. I have 3 cards that have specific purposes that do not include regular use, so I have lightened my wallet
It also means that those at home are waaay easier to track! They all have regular payments on them, so they do get used