American Express Platinum

[Desmoire]

A man's financial business is personal, and the choices they make so long as they are successful is up to them. I don't say a word, I don't question them personally and I leave it alone. That being said I have this wonderful community to possibly explain why my Father in law would use the Platinum card by AMEX. He is a civil engineer/project manager for a very successful company here in the midwest. Although partly retired, he still travels every week to either New York, Montreal, or Toronto. Prior to his retirement he basically traveled the world for months at a time. He never uses UBER, probably rarely uses the airline fee credit (unless airlines make those mistakes that frequently) and I am pretty confident he rarely see's AMEX's exclusive lounges the card offers. Any ideas?

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Because he's comfortable with it and sees no point in changing something that works for him?

[wasCB14]

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@Desmoire wrote:

A man's financial business is personal, and the choices they make so long as they are successful is up to them. I don't say a word, I don't question them personally and I leave it alone. That being said I have this wonderful community to possibly explain why my Father in law would use the Platinum card by AMEX. He is a civil engineer/project manager for a very successful company here in the midwest. Although partly retired, he still travels every week to either New York, Montreal, or Toronto. Prior to his retirement he basically traveled the world for months at a time. He never uses UBER, probably rarely uses the airline fee credit (unless airlines make those mistakes that frequently) and I am pretty confident he rarely see's AMEX's exclusive lounges the card offers. Any ideas?

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It could be that he likes the customer service, particularly concerning disputed transactions.

His home airport(s) in the midwest? His favored airline(s)? Favored hotel chain?

[Desmoire]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

Because he's comfortable with it and sees no point in changing something that works for him?

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Well that was my first rationale. But he is a frugal man and at this point in his life I am sure there are other travel cards that would benefit him better. This card has a massive annual fee, unless he is grandfathered into it or something? Hell this could be a card he's had for 20 years. 

[Desmoire]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Desmoire wrote:

A man's financial business is personal, and the choices they make so long as they are successful is up to them. I don't say a word, I don't question them personally and I leave it alone. That being said I have this wonderful community to possibly explain why my Father in law would use the Platinum card by AMEX. He is a civil engineer/project manager for a very successful company here in the midwest. Although partly retired, he still travels every week to either New York, Montreal, or Toronto. Prior to his retirement he basically traveled the world for months at a time. He never uses UBER, probably rarely uses the airline fee credit (unless airlines make those mistakes that frequently) and I am pretty confident he rarely see's AMEX's exclusive lounges the card offers. Any ideas?

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It could be that he likes the customer service, particularly concerning disputed transactions.

His home airport(s) in the midwest? His favored airline(s)? Favored hotel chain?

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From what I have heard he typically stays at Hilton, sometimes Marriot, rarely Sheriton. His main airline these days- Air Canada. For New York- United. 

[longtimelurker]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

Because he's comfortable with it and sees no point in changing something that works for him?

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Certainly could be this.   It's also possible that he is at most vaguely aware of alternatives, and is not at all motivated to spend time examining them.

All of us are like this in some ways, making decisions (or not even knowing we HAVE made a decision!) that may appear sub-optimal to an expert.    And, providing you are not spending tons on interest, getting credit cards "right" is really small in the scheme of things, for all the thousands of posts here and in similar forums.    Other financial choices have much bigger impacts, and that's just in the money realm!

[Anonymous]

If he is travelling that much, $550 a year is probably a drop in the bucket for him.  It sounds like its just not worth his time to sit down and crunch numbers figuring out the optimal card strategy.

[wasCB14]

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@Desmoire wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Desmoire wrote:

A man's financial business is personal, and the choices they make so long as they are successful is up to them. I don't say a word, I don't question them personally and I leave it alone. That being said I have this wonderful community to possibly explain why my Father in law would use the Platinum card by AMEX. He is a civil engineer/project manager for a very successful company here in the midwest. Although partly retired, he still travels every week to either New York, Montreal, or Toronto. Prior to his retirement he basically traveled the world for months at a time. He never uses UBER, probably rarely uses the airline fee credit (unless airlines make those mistakes that frequently) and I am pretty confident he rarely see's AMEX's exclusive lounges the card offers. Any ideas?

---

It could be that he likes the customer service, particularly concerning disputed transactions.

His home airport(s) in the midwest? His favored airline(s)? Favored hotel chain?

---

From what I have heard he typically stays at Hilton, sometimes Marriot, rarely Sheriton. His main airline these days- Air Canada. For New York- United. 

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Amex Platinum does give status at Hilton and Marriott. Sheraton is a subsidiary brand of Marriott.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@Desmoire wrote:

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

Because he's comfortable with it and sees no point in changing something that works for him?

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Well that was my first rationale. But he is a frugal man and at this point in his life I am sure there are other travel cards that would benefit him better. This card has a massive annual fee, unless he is grandfathered into it or something? Hell this could be a card he's had for 20 years. 

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That's possible. The PRG wasn't always $199. Just because hes frugal doesn't mean he can't find value in that high AF. He could be using the concierge service. When I had my Gold and it had that service, I used it for everything. Set dinner reservations, ordered things for me from stores, got me directions to stores where they would call ahead and have the item I'm looking for set aside, set up hotel stays, etc. It was like having a personal assistant back in the day. Have no idea how it is now, but I was extremely disappointed to see it was only available on platinum since that card doesn't fit me. One of my rebuild goals was to get a gold again, but it just wouldn't be the same. I'm tempted to go for the platinum just to have that level of service again.

[Appleman]

You see a better option for your Father in Law but he likely comes from a day when loyalty meant something and not everyone had an AMEX Plat card.

The best you can do is the research for him and show him some numbers. He is an engineer and may take the numbers and run with the idea. If he doesn't want to change, let it be...

Do you think he gets 5X points on the airline? Have you asked him about his airline of choice so that he gets the annual $200.

The status with Marriott was great until the Gold nerf this month.