Amex or Discover?

[M_Smart007]

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@pinkandgrey wrote:

I’m just looking to stir up controversy. No lol but I am curious as to which of the two “outsiders” you all prefer. I know some people (such as myself) love them both but have a special affection for Discover. And then there are those who hate Disco. Or maybe you don’t like either....

Go! 

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well given the two, hands down Discover, i mean the people at Amex are nice, but I have 10x The SL with Discover.

so the fussy Bentley just pretty much sits in The Garage.

[iced]

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@pinkandgrey wrote:

I’m just looking to stir up controversy. No lol but I am curious as to which of the two “outsiders” you all prefer. I know some people (such as myself) love them both but have a special affection for Discover. And then there are those who hate Disco. Or maybe you don’t like either....

Go! 

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American Express. They at least are somewhat accepted internationally and offer something useful for travel.

[iced]

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@Anonymous wrote:
We are on exactly the same page then!

I think a charge card does bring a weird sense of only buying something that you know you have cash on hand for. I’m a bit of a tight wad in general but I know when the statement cuts at the end of the month, I know I’m responsible. So it feels like cash.

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The fact that there's people out there, possibly reading this post right now, who even think of buying something on a card that they don't have cash on hand for scares me, regardless of if it's a charge card or not..

[iced]

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@kerplunk wrote:

Discover is the equivalent of a really great Honda car that is dependable and gets you through your younger years, while American Express is a fussy Bentley.

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Eh, they may slap a Bentley badge on it but it's still really just a Volkswagon underneath. Don't let that chrome and price tag fool you into thinking otherwise.

In this analogy, both are regular old cars, it's just one will look the other way if you drive drive like a maniac, while the other one will take away your keys as soon as you start acting like a fool.

[wasCB14]

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@iced wrote:

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@kerplunk wrote:

Discover is the equivalent of a really great Honda car that is dependable and gets you through your younger years, while American Express is a fussy Bentley.

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Eh, they may slap a Bentley badge on it but it's still really just a Volkswagon underneath. Don't let that chrome and price tag fool you into thinking otherwise.

In this analogy, both are regular old cars, it's just one will look the other way if you drive drive like a maniac, while the other one will take away your keys as soon as you start acting like a fool.

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I'm not clear on which is which in your analogy, but Discover has me on a $3k CL while Amex let me take my $13k CL BBP up to $40k (where I stopped...not sure if I could have gone higher). Joint account CLIs are a PITA with Discover, though, so it's not really apples to apples.

Some of the Amex excitement puzzles me. If you're carrying 5 figures at 0%, bringing guests into Centurion lounges, using an extended warranty on a big ticket item, getting tricky dinner reservations, etc...sure, Amex is special.

But if you're using Cash Magnet for 1.5% cash back and get a SP CLI from $2k to $3k, then it's not really different from other decent issuers.

[pinkandgrey]

These analogies are getting serious 

[iced]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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I'm not clear on which is which in your analogy, but Discover has me on a $3k CL while Amex let me take my $13k CL BBP up to $40k (where I stopped...not sure if I could have gone higher). Joint account CLIs are a PITA with Discover, though, so it's not really apples to apples.

Some of the Amex excitement puzzles me. If you're carrying 5 figures at 0%, bringing guests into Centurion lounges, using an extended warranty on a big ticket item, getting tricky dinner reservations, etc...sure, Amex is special.

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Discover is the "maniac" in my example - they offer features such as no late payment fee on first late payment and no penalty APR that is more forgiving to the irresponsible credit user. They're still waiving fees and penalties at a point when more conservative lenders may have already initiated AA.

I don't think CL on an individual card speaks at all to the profile of the user behind it so much as the profile of the user toward that card. I highly doubt Discover would be willing to offer me credit limits that are even in the same ballpark as what Chase would offer me because I'm just not the kind of customer Discover is going after. We can't be all things to all banks, so I wouldn't let a $3k CL mean anything.

To add to your last comment, some of the American Express buzz puzzles me too. None of the items you listed are exclusive to American Express (subsituting Centurion lounge for some other lounge), so why people think American Express when it comes to these types of benefits is the result of great marketing or ignorance. They're going to be the best option for some people; not so much others. Banks can't be all things to all users, either.