How useless is an Amex charge card?

[Anonymous]

I would recommend the Ink Business Preferred.  3% on travel and a ton of other useful things.  $95 per year, waived in the first.  Pretty sick sign-up bonus with 80,000 points.  Plus get 3% back on cell phone plan and free phone insurance. 

[noobody]

May be pooka89 can clarify it
I read somewhere (do not quote me on it) Amex use your average usage for the past 6 month X3 as charge limit, so if your usage is low for a period of time, limit getting lower.
Also check limit function will cut available credit is news to me also, but I do not have a charge card, and credit card limit is much more than I needed

[Anonymous]

The numbers and formulas you see online are largely outdated by now (including that silly $250K number for Centurion). The only formula that remains true is that you cannot request for more than 3x your current limit during a CLI request. While it's true that your spending ability is influenced by your spend on the AXP network, we have a lot more data available to us that allows an appropriate spending ability to be assigned.. and yes to Jamaica.. don't play with that feature because you're telling the system you plan to spend that within 10 days! Lol.. That's one reason why I moved to have the virtual limit simply displayed... It was causing a lot of unnecessary credit-related issues.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The numbers and formulas you see online are largely outdated by now (including that silly $250K number for Centurion). The only formula that remains true is that you cannot request for more than 3x your current limit during a CLI request. While it's true that your spending ability is influenced by your spend on the AXP network, we have a lot more data available to us that allows an appropriate spending ability to be assigned.. and yes to Jamaica.. don't play with that feature because you're telling the system you plan to spend that within 10 days! Lol.. That's one reason why I moved to have the virtual limit simply displayed... It was causing a lot of unnecessary credit-related issues.

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@Anonymous,off topic, but  since you brought up the Black card Centurion, I been wondering for a while. Do you have to have the Platinum card to be invted for the card? Or can you have any charge card as long as you're meeting the spend requirement to be invited for the centurion black card? I been reading mixed reviews, some say having the platinum card is one of the steps and others say it doesn't matter what card you have, etc. Since you're an amex employee, any clear cut answer? Thank you

[Anonymous]

Centurion does what they want. I have seen invitations to non-Platinum Card Members, but at the same time, you cannot call in and request a Centurion review without already being Platinum. Again, there is no solid/official spend requirement to aim for. It's more about the overall relationship we have with you. I have seen Card Members spending over a million dollars annually not be sent an invitation for a Centurion Card.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The numbers and formulas you see online are largely outdated by now (including that silly $250K number for Centurion). The only formula that remains true is that you cannot request for more than 3x your current limit during a CLI request. While it's true that your spending ability is influenced by your spend on the AXP network, we have a lot more data available to us that allows an appropriate spending ability to be assigned.. and yes to Jamaica.. don't play with that feature because you're telling the system you plan to spend that within 10 days! Lol.. That's one reason why I moved to have the virtual limit simply displayed... It was causing a lot of unnecessary credit-related issues.

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Holy cow. They must have been disappointed, then, when I asked if I was approved for 70k and they said yes I wouldn't even know how to spend 70k

So that's why they did this to me, they're getting even with me for being a piker

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would recommend the Ink Business Preferred.  3% on travel and a ton of other useful things.  $95 per year, waived in the first.  Pretty sick sign-up bonus with 80,000 points.  Plus get 3% back on cell phone plan and free phone insurance. 

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Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

[SouthJamaica]

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@redpat wrote:

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
When you use Can I Use My Card, the authorisation system is placing a pre-approval and effectively holding that credit aside for the purchase you just told it you are planning to make. If it's now saying $8,800, it sounds like it's placing that second pre-authorisation above your first one.

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Are you saying that when I click "check my spending power" they're interpreting that to mean I actually intend to spend that much?

If so, (a) that's a rude awakening for me, and (b) they ought to disclose that fact.

I've been doing it just for the hell of it, just to know what outlandish number they'd assigned to me that week.

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Wow every week!

I never checked it, I don't care and use the card if I want to.  If it bounces I have others in that case.  Knock on wood I never had an issue.

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Yeah, it made me feel rich to know I was approved to spend $70k and they figured I could pay that back within a month.

It also made me question American Express's judgment

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Centurion does what they want. I have seen invitations to non-Platinum Card Members, but at the same time, you cannot call in and request a Centurion review without already being Platinum. Again, there is no solid/official spend requirement to aim for. It's more about the overall relationship we have with you. I have seen Card Members spending over a million dollars annually not be sent an invitation for a Centurion Card.

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Have you heard of any invites going to people with sudden windfalls (like lottery winners) who have mediocre credit or no Amex history?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Centurion does what they want. I have seen invitations to non-Platinum Card Members, but at the same time, you cannot call in and request a Centurion review without already being Platinum. Again, there is no solid/official spend requirement to aim for. It's more about the overall relationship we have with you. I have seen Card Members spending over a million dollars annually not be sent an invitation for a Centurion Card.

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Interesting...never knew you could only request a centurion review by being a platinum card holder. In a way then I'm assuming platinum card holders do generally have more of an advantage of being invited than having their other charge cards.