Interested in an AmEx -- am I overthinking this?

[cottoncrown]

Amex hilton has bonus categories for restaurants gas and groceries with no annual fee. I'm sure some of your "nightlife" is coded as restaurants&bars. Amex fidelity is not backed by amex as a bank, and if you are looking for amex customer service, that would not be the card.

[CalAlumnus13]

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@cottoncrown wrote:
Amex hilton has bonus categories for restaurants gas and groceries with no annual fee. I'm sure some of your "nightlife" is coded as restaurants&bars. Amex fidelity is not backed by amex as a bank, and if you are looking for amex customer service, that would not be the card.

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Trouble is, the Hilton deval means that HHonors points are very often worth less than 0.5 cents each. For low-end properties, it's often less (30,000 points for one night in a hotel that goes for $100/night is common).

This means the 5 points per dollar on gas, groceries, and restaurants is like 1.75%-2.5%. He would be better putting that spend on just about any other card, when you factor in the cost of limiting yourself to Hilton:

Dining/Bars: CSP/Freedom

Gas: Freedom/PRG/Blue Cash/Everyday/Sallie Mae

Groceries: PRG/Blue Cash/Everyday/Sallie Mae

If the no-AF HHonors card offered these bonuses, it would make a lot more sense:

Hilton Properties: 10x

Gas/Groceries/Dining: 7x

Everything Else: 4x

The Surpass card should offer (in addition to HHonors Gold):

Hilton Poperties: 15x

Gas/Groceries/Dining: 8x

Everything else: 5x

[Anonymous]

@celluloid17 sorry for not being clear earlier. in the past, I tried to AU my mom's AmEx TrueEarnings but couldn't since there's a limit 2 cards (Costco cards, not AmEX) per household, and each TE needs to be validated by your own Costco membership. I can't nearly justify buying a Costco membership on my own since I already have meals provided 5 days a week (oh, the wasted wholesale food!).

@CalAlumnus13 Thanks for the clarification -- I remember reading AmEx's PC policies somewhere (apparently a lot of folks have trouble PCing from/to SPG). In that case, I might have to play it safer with an Everyday. The last thing I want is to have to cancel a PRG especially if I have real plans to go Plat in the future (not sure if prior cancellations are looked down upon).

re: Hilton. CalAlmumnus is right. The Hilton just conflicts too much with my current card (CSP/Freedom/Sallie Mae) set. It is a decent free option, I guess.

Going to see what cardmatch can do for me tonight and i'll make my decision then. thanks for the input, guys

[amakol]

milkshakes, I doubt Amex cares if you've canceled a charge in the past when evaluating CC apps. Things change and a card not being suitable for one point in your life doesn't mean that'll be the case forever. Amex gets this.

One thing I'll mention is your MSD will be 14 if you apply from now until the next 9 months. If no card offering jumps out at you, there's no rush to lock in a MSD date. See if Amex targets you with any offers. Last year, I got the PRG 50K MR bonus, my sister got the PRG 50K MR bonus and my dad got a BCE with $250 statement credit. Perhaps that will make your decision for you.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Anonymous]

thanks for chiming in. I checked creditmatch and didnt get any good offers. bonehead, you're completely right about just waiting it out unless there's a card i really want.

looks like it's to be continued for now.

[TVP125]

Like a few others have said the Costco TrueEarnings is worth a look. A basic membership at Costco is $55 a year and right now if you join Costco as an executive member which is $110 and open the Amex they will give you a $55 statement credit.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

24. Part of the reason why AmEx is alluring is because of how highly lauded their customer service is (by family and friends). I don't currently have a relationship with AmEx, but figured it'd be better to start earlier than later.

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So far I have yet to experience this amazing customer service from Amex. The one time I had to call in to get my BCE upgraded to the chip and signature version it seemed like I was asking them to move the Earth for me. My rep hung up on  after telling me the card would ship out and didn't give me a chance to say anything else. 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that -- most of the people I know who have ame and have had to call for CS have been nothing short of pleased.

once again, the TE card is an interesting option (actually triple checking to make sure we don't have any spare household costco cards left), but not worth a $55 annual AF since i don't spend that much at costco

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't nearly justify buying a Costco membership on my own since I already have meals provided 5 days a week (oh, the wasted wholesale food!).

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I think the point being made was that if the rewards earn rates and Costco membership could be of at least some benefit to you then you might as well get a Costco membership in lieu of paying for an AmEx AF if you're considering AmEx cards with an AF anyway.  Costco sells much more than just food and the TE gets 3% at gas stations including Costco.

Shopping at Costco isn't really of much benefit with the TE since Costco shopping only gets 1%.

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@Anonymous wrote:

So far I have yet to experience this amazing customer service from Amex.

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CS does vary by product.  OP should keep that in mind since that was cited as a reason.  Finding a card that fits seems like it would be more important to me but that's a YMMV matter.  It certainly doesn't hurt to lock in MSD IMO.  If you want to do that and pay as little as possible with no suitable cards then the senior green may be your best bet.

[CalAlumnus13]

Oh, and isn't that Garnet Red Discover IT card a little trojan-y for you?