I don't get the Amex thing...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Wait, what did you do?

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Woops, wasn't clear there lol - I apped for the Zync, and got it... It'll likely keep my socks company and come out of the drawer once a month to buy a snack, but hopefully in the future paying the $25 annual fee (waived the first year) will be worth it when I pick up a BCE that's backdated a couple years lol

[pipeguy]

You have to understand MyFICO forums, in general, as a rule, most of the time when you see a reoccurring thread about AmEx (et al), you'll find that these boards LOVE AmEx, Adore Discover, HATE anything Capital One and Accept First Premier as a necessary evil. Remember this and it'll save you reading thousands of lines of past and future threads.

(ducking for cover and now looking for a corner to hide in.....)

[Anonymous]

You're not the only one that doesn't get the AMEX thing. Their BCE/BCP cards are the best out there for cashback on everyday spending if you ask me, but their charge cards have always been their bread and butter.

A Membership reward point used to be quite valuable, but now unless you are lucky a MR point is worth less than 1 cent. I think you can get 1 cent per point on gift cards but the major part of MR points have been the ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners and AMEX has lost some major partners recently like southwest and continental. Delta is the biggest domestic airline left, and their miles are quite hard to redeem at the lowest levels. Most of their foreign airline partners have fuel surcharges on award tickets which in some cases  are so expensive it is almost as much as buying a ticket outright. Makes the points/miles completely worthless.

So you are paying 95, 175, or 450 per year AF for in most cases less than 1 cent per point. Not too appealing. Looking at it that way for the average Joe a Zync is the best charge card, but you get better rewards elsewhere.

The only things I see that still make AMEX great is if you are a frequent traveler and big spender the perks on the Platinum or 15k MR point bonus on the Gold make it worthwhile, but other than that you can get better rewards and card perks elsewhere. As a travel geek Chase UR kick the pants off of MR, not only because United and Southwest are the two biggest airlines at my home airport, but there are no online booking fees through UR, and no point transfer fees either.

[Anonymous]

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@pipeguy wrote:

You have to understand MyFICO forums, in general, as a rule, most of the time when you see a reoccurring thread amount AmEx (et al), you'll find that these boards LOVE AmEx, Adore Discover, HATE anything Capital One and Accept First Premier as a necessary evil. Remember this and it'll save you reading thousands of lines of past and future threads.

(ducking for cover and now looking for a corner to hide in.....)

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LOL, Very true - but there must be a reaon right?  I'll admit to not hating Cap1 though, although I understand why people do... They were sending me mail before my old CO with them even fell off.  I finally bit and app'd with them last month and was approved for a no AF card.  At this point, I honestly think that they'll be outliving my BofA which has been stagnant for 3 of it's 4 years at $800 with an AF... If BofA doesn't show some love next March, it's out!  (It's nice to be able to say that now that I've got new cards to replace it lol)

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on the Zync, maybe eventually you'll "get it" lol

[Open123]

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navigatethis12 wrote:ee.

I myself have initiated chargebacks but they were legitmate. I am not saying you would buy something and use an American Express card so you can later get the money back but people do. This is great for cardholders but not the merchant. Cardholders are important but if there are no more establishments that accept the card, then cardholder will be worthless.

Sorry to go off topic but I saw that and just felt the need to chime in. I hope you do not take it that I am attacking you or anything, I am not.

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Yes, I do see your point, of course.

As a consumer--and purely from own perspective as one--I couldn't care less what is or isn't important to a merchant.  My underlying aspiration is what is good for the individual--me--and not so much what is good for the whole.  That's a question better left to others much wiser than I to figure out.

As to the merchants, they should of course decide on what is or isn't beneficial for them.  Is taking Amex and the added revenues worth the risk of arbitrary chargebacks from Amex holders?  If it is, they should continue to take Amex.  If it isn't--or when it is no longer beneficial--they should fire Amex. 

Likewse, Amex will be forced to change their policies if all merchants refuse to accept them.  In the end, supply and demand from the free market of consumers, merchants, and issuers to decide on what is beneficial to each will take care of itself.

Oh, I don't see this as an attack.  Discourse and ideals challenged leads to a better though out concept than it otherwise would be.  What good is an idea or concept that can't stand up to scrutiny, right? 

Even if it were an attack, I'm far too old take it personally anymore.

[Open123]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The only things I see that still make AMEX great is if you are a frequent traveler and big spender the perks on the Platinum or 15k MR point bonus on the Gold make it worthwhile, but other than that you can get better rewards and card perks elsewhere. As a travel geek Chase UR kick the pants off of MR, not only because United and Southwest are the two biggest airlines at my home airport, but there are no online booking fees through UR, and no point transfer fees either.

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As a person who is admittedly partial to Amex, I'd have to agree the UR program offers some benefits far greater than Amex's MR.  The CSP for the fee with no forex and bonuses (especially the travel and restaurant 2X & 7% bonus) is a better general value than any Amex card especially considering the 1:1 transfers to UA and Hyatt.

The only Amex card I see that rivals this value is the SPG, if you use the points to redeem solely for category 4 "cash + points."

Edit - Clearly, I bungled this quoting beyond repair.

[Anonymous]

I find the charge cards useful as I don't have to worry about paying oftentimes before statement generates so it reports little no balance. Also, Amex charge cards are more flexible in raising spending limit. You can go higher on it faster. If you are trying to get our credit line up on other credit cards, you can point to your charge card charges on reconsideration and they will take that into account. For example, if you have 1k credit lines, you build your charge card limit up fast and have 5k on it and pay. Apply for new card or call current card and ask for reconsideration on credit line to 5k and point to Amex charge card to show you can handle it responsibly. Modernsurrender I would just add autopsy on your zync and put a recurring charge on it.

[ajh5408]

I've been with AMEX for a few years now and, invariably, expensive purchases always go on one of their cards, even if it means losing a bit of cashback. The benefits are just second to none... I don't do a lot of traveling, so I'm not talking concierge type services, but the purchase benefits are by far the easiest to access of any card type available. I just got through with a warranty claim for a cell phone on my old Zync (which is actually now closed), and they had no problem approving the claim on day one; no sillyness, runarounds, or fetching quotes from the local repair shop. On more expensive purchases (laptops/TVs, for example), I understand the need for that type of thing, but I trust they'll be equally easy to work with in those situations. Claims for most purchase benefits can be filed online or over the phone as well, which is a definite plus compared to the paper forms many issuers force you to deal with.

That having been said, I see no reason to use their charge products (based on my personal spending habits), except for the Zync if you need a foot in the door. There are certainly some unique benefits available on the higher-end products (i.e. Platinum), but, as I said, without traveling enough to really make use of those unique benefits, I can't justify the annual fee for what boils down to the visual appeal of the product, and occasional compliments from cashiers. 

[Anonymous]

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@ajh5408 wrote:

I've been with AMEX for a few years now and, invariably, expensive purchases always go on one of their cards, even if it means losing a bit of cashback. The benefits are just second to none... I don't do a lot of traveling, so I'm not talking concierge type services, but the purchase benefits are by far the easiest to access of any card type available. I just got through with a warranty claim for a cell phone on my old Zync (which is actually now closed), and they had no problem approving the claim on day one; no sillyness, runarounds, or fetching quotes from the local repair shop. On more expensive purchases (laptops/TVs, for example), I understand the need for that type of thing, but I trust they'll be equally easy to work with in those situations. Claims for most purchase benefits can be filed online or over the phone as well, which is a definite plus compared to the paper forms many issuers force you to deal with.

That having been said, I see no reason to use their charge products (based on my personal spending habits), except for the Zync if you need a foot in the door. There are certainly some unique benefits available on the higher-end products (i.e. Platinum), but, as I said, without traveling enough to really make use of those unique benefits, I can't justify the annual fee for what boils down to the visual appeal of the product, and occasional compliments from cashiers. 

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+1. My thoughts exactly. I plan to apply for a no-fee AmEx later this year just to setup a backdating entry point. No use for a Platinum for at least a couple of years.