Amex, Challenged by Chase, Is Losing the Snob War

[Anonymous]

There's no question in anybody's mind that if Amex expects to maintain their success in the future they need change now. Leadership from the outside is past due.

[Anonymous]

The whole article is bs. Personally, I don't view AMEX as "you're rich", but more like your uneducated or have bad credit. I use cards based on their value. My goal is to maximize my value from every transaction. From the grandma using her Freedom card @ the grocery store to the millennial using their CSR @ the bar. Those are my people. To the dbag who thinks he is cool because of his Amex Platinum, b... please.

It's about being an educated consumer for me. Using a great product like the CSR shows that. It doesn't make anyone more interesting.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous whole article is bs. Personally, I don't view AMEX as "you're rich", but more like your uneducated or have bad credit. I use cards based on their value. My goal is to maximize my value from every transaction. From the grandma using her Freedom card @ the grocery store to the millennial using their CSR @ the bar. Those are my people. To the dbag who thinks he is cool because of his Amex Platinum, b... please.

It's about being an educated consumer for me. Using a great product like the CSR shows that. It doesn't make anyone more interesting.

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Do keep in mind there are alot of people that utilize the benefits the Platinum offer. You can't stereotype everyone that has an Amex. Uneducated or bad credit do not belong in the same sentence as Amex.

[Anonymous]

Didn't the article stereotype Millennials? I guess that is ok...

And yes, to anyone who uses an Amex Platinum (or mostly any other Amex product) is uneducated about better products or cannot get them. Yes, I'm willing to stereotype those people.

The Amex Platinum may be a good sock drawer card, but it's everyday value leaves a lot to be desired.

[Anonymous]

The bottom is line that CSR offers better rewards than Amex Platinum for the vast majority of millenials (and people in general).

Here's a good example: Amex just unveiled $200 in Ubers credits. The problem is that those $15 monthly uber credits and $35 in December expire at the end of each month. What kind of reward is this? This feature sounds appealing, but I would wager to bet most people won't use more than $30 worth. And when you account for the $100 AF increase, Amex's card just got $70 less attractive.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Didn't the article stereotype Millennials? I guess that is ok...

And yes, to anyone who uses an Amex Platinum (or mostly any other Amex product) is uneducated about better products or cannot get them. Yes, I'm willing to stereotype those people.

The Amex Platinum may be a good sock drawer card, but it's everyday value leaves a lot to be desired.

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While there are certainly some people (and maybe a lot) with an Amex Plat who have it only for the status and don't use the perks, there is some subset for whom it really is the best card, with 5x on airfare and a set of perks that aren't all duplicated on other cards.   So "anyone" is far too strong.   And it really isn't positioned as an everyday card (that's another one of theirs!)

And I think the same is probably true for most of the loved cards on MyFico.   Lots of people love(d) the Amex BCE, when, while it was available, the Sallie Mae was better at every price point.   People have the Chase FU and redeem the points for cash, when a 2% would be better etc.

So having an Amex doesn't mean you are uneducated, and not having one doesn't mean you made the right decision.

[pipeguy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous whole article is bs. Personally, I don't view AMEX as "you're rich", but more like your uneducated or have bad credit. I use cards based on their value. My goal is to maximize my value from every transaction. From the grandma using her Freedom card @ the grocery store to the millennial using their CSR @ the bar. Those are my people. To the dbag who thinks he is cool because of his Amex Platinum, b... please.

It's about being an educated consumer for me. Using a great product like the CSR shows that. It doesn't make anyone more interesting.

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Personally I'm NOT a fan of AmEx and I have a 40 year history with them, that said I think your post in short sighted. Back when I did a lot of trabeling and the Amex Platinum cost $300 a year (you had to be invited) it was a very useful tool for me and I used it a lot both as a merchant and a small business owner for expenses. I currently have well over 2 dz bank cards, and fairly high credit scores, but I don't have the time to play the "rewards game" for every purchase every day - not that I mind cash back, but I'm not chasing pennies because I've got a card that fits every purchase. This could be a long discussion, pros and cons, I just have the time or interest to chase another hobby.

On the other hand, I have commented more than once on paying AF's especially high AF's for flashing "ego-cards" which is a waste of money and no one really cares which card you flash. Uneducated? perhaps image over sunstance. Bad Credit? Don't know too many folks that get AmEx Platinum, CSR or CSR-R, Ritz, Simmons, etc etc that have bad credit.  Dirtbag? Jeez, seems a bit harsh I mean those that over pay at J. Crew or Brooks Brothers are not "my people" but if it makes them happy...why judge?

[Anonymous]

Really 5x on airfare that's the best Amex Platinum can do? Yawn. Again, I'm after the best value, of which, in my opinion Amex is not one of them. CSR's 3x on travel and dining is best in class.

Wake me up when Amex actually produces a decent card that is worth my spend.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The bottom is line that CSR offers better rewards than Amex Platinum for the vast majority of millenials (and people in general).

Here's a good example: Amex just unveiled $200 in Ubers credits. The problem is that those $15 monthly uber credits and $35 in December expire at the end of each month. What kind of reward is this? This feature sounds appealing, but I would wager to bet most people won't use more than $30 worth. And when you account for the $100 AF increase, Amex's card just got $70 less attractive.

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If I was dedicated to not owning a car, which I will be if I move to SG or HKG or similar, I could make use of that Uber credit for when mass transit is either not available or not appealing.  As it is now though where I'm only sporadically using Uber either for one-off trips at home (airport) or when I'm overseas, credits that expire aren't of much value to me even if I use more than the monthly credit when I am travelling historically: not that hard to reach that.

It's not like I'm hurting, Uber falls straight to 3X on the CSR anyway which is winning enough for me currently, and with everything else in my current existence the CSR is overwhelmingly the best card on the market, and that was without the 100K UR bonus option. 

[Anonymous]

I don't think rewards/appeal  should be the only reason for using a card or bank. A lot of what I expect is good service.  Good service includes many things 1) fixing fraud 2) helping with emergency cli 3) answering the phone promptly 4) posting payments promptly 5) no unneeded holds 6) posting charges promptly 7) providing correct information.   8) being treated in a fair and reasonable manner.  Snob appeal should not be a reason.   Some card companies only look out for themselves not the client.