Why Amex???

[CYBERSAM]

So I was thinking,why Amex? Why should I care about getting Amex anymore?

I was planning to get Amex Blue or other Amex by the end of the year, for couple of reasons. 1st for prestige of having Amex and 2nd for back dating! Now that Amex has stopped backdating what would be the reason to go for Amex?

Visa Signature and World MC are in same class as Amex prestige wise, so what else? I do have Amex for Business and I can say that their CS is good, but same as CapOne or others that I have dealt with. So I don’t see any advantage there at all!

As far as perks and bonuses, there are many Visa and MCs that have similar or better incentives vs. Amex! So no advantage there either!

Now as far as negatives about Amex, we all know that they are NOT accepted everywhere, also they don’t offer free FICO score as many Visa and MC cards do!

Just to be clear I’m not trying to knock Amex and I respect many fans that they have, but what would be the reasons for me and others like me that want to consider Amex in the future should even care to have it? What do we get for less perks by having Amex that we can’t get from Visa or MC?

Just thinking out loud!

[jsucool76]

Nothing special about amex. I'd say the only cards worth anything (except for signup bonuses) are the ED and EDP, and maybe the SPG card. 

The ED card redefined transferrable travel cards since it has no AF, and it and the EDP really offer a great bonus if you can get enough swipes in. 

[cashnocredit]

The principal distinguishing characteristic Amex has over other cards is true, usable NPSL. There is, of course, a limit but it is much higher than other CCs. I have charged amounts that exceed all my regular card CLs combined without any issues at all. The other important feature for me is the ability to set individual CLs on my additional card holders, one of which I provide for business reasons. Amex segregates spending by each card which makes it easy to track additional cards.

D* would have been nice but was never that important to me even when rebuidling. It might have shaved a year off the time it took to get to 800 but how important is that in comparison to these other factors?

[newhis]

3X SP CLIs.

One time extra offers (like $5 back with $25 gas at Chevron/Texaco, $15 back with $15 purchase or more at Amazon)

There is a card with 6% cash back for groceries.

Some of their cards look cool 

[JustBPatient]

I will just chime in with great customer service and I like not having all my tradelines in one basket....Variety baby!!

[TheGardner]

Only problem with npsl is if you don't use it often it may be set lower. I only use for maybe 2k a month and imagine my other cards would go higher than my npsl with amex (other limits up to 28k)

But would keep one no AF Amex just for sake of having one from each issuer. Although if you spook one Amex will likely be the one.. or follow shortly after so eh

[TURNERHOOVER]

One number. Four letters. 3X CLI. That's why.

[Zorasmiles]

Personal Preference

[Anonymous]

I have a pretty diverse set of cards.  So having an amex was important for me to have just incase I ever needed it for whatever reasons.  But on top of that, like already mentioned they give out good credit limits.  It's nice to have the Util padding, because even though I PIF, I let my balances post (for the most part) because my util is high enough that it doesn't hurt me.

I also really like my BCP.  Yes it has a $75 AF.  But it is made up very easily.  For starters I had a $250 sign up bonus.  So thats 3.5 years of AF right there.  Then, the 6% on groceries pays for it on its own.  We have a $320 grocery budget every month.  That is below the $6000 annual cap and still pays out $230 a year in cash back.  Well over the AF and that doesnt include gas or department stores.  For me, the BCP is the easiest card to hit the AF with.  If I used my Sallie Mae for groceries instead I would make $150 a year on the groceries.  Add in the $75 for the AF and I still make more with the BCP.  So it's nice to have.

[Anonymous]

For me us bank is my new favorite. High credit line without the red tape Amex is known for. Also it's a visa so it has higher acceptance so as each day goes by I'm finding less reason to even carry an amex.