@GApeachy wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:Personal gold classic
Largest charge: 11,286.88
Largest monthly balance: 52000
Spend power: it didn't exist back then because they never declined charges
Now that's Gucci!
I went MC Hammer with my friends. 🤷♂️
Let's see both
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:Let's see both
Business spend is just going to be corporate salesbros vs. small business owners for seeing who can rack up the most expenses on OPM in a month. That's going to get boring fast. 
@FlaDude wrote:
said "my spending was outside of my normal pattern"
That's why I don't do nothing "normal" or do do anything "normal" too! Seriously, make the 'puters smoke
Naw, that's really a good safe-guard to have in place until something like that^^^ out of town mess happens. Thank goodness for text messages now, Discover is real good about asking, "Was this XXXXXXX you?" Reply yes or no
@GApeachy wrote:
@FlaDude wrote:
said "my spending was outside of my normal pattern"That's why I don't do nothing "normal" or do do anything "normal" too! Seriously, make the 'puters smoke
Naw, that's really a good safe-guard to have in place until something like that^^^ out of town mess happens. Thank goodness for text messages now, Discover is real good about asking, "Was this XXXXXXX you?" Reply yes or no
Having cards with available balance from at least two or three different issuers is part of my travel plan since then, but at the time my financial situation was pretty tight and cards weren't as easy to come by. The new "job" I mentioned was actually working as an independent contractor, so no company to fall back on.
@FlaDude wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:Personal gold classic
Spend power: it didn't exist back then because they never declined charges
That must have been a long time ago. I know as far back as 1995 or so that they declined charges. I've told this story on another thread a while back, but here goes. I had had the Gold card a little over a year and changed jobs where I went from 1-2 trips a month to a lot more than that. A typical week of travel was around $1500 including airfare, car, gas, hotel, meals. Towards the end of my first month on the new job, I landed in a far city on Sunday evening, went to get my rental car, and my card was declined. I called Amex and they said "my spending was outside of my normal pattern" so they had put a hold on my card until the credit department (which worked normal business hours) could review it Monday morning. After a bit of pleading (probably sounded more like whining) the CSR agreed to allow the car rental, but not my hotel. At the time I had no other cards but my debit on a near empty checking account. When I got to the hotel I explained and they let me stay the first night on what cash I had on hand (most of one night's rate) with the understanding that I'd work it out the next day. Called Amex credit dept. on Monday morning and they upped my internal limit, everything was good again, and I've had no problems since other than a stray 30 day late here and there.
There was always a chance of a decline, but for the most part, as long as you didn't go gonzo, they let you be. Maybe a phone call asking if you were planning to make a payment soon if the balance got really high. In your case, it was fraud prevention, not an internal limit issue, which is what's common today.
@GApeachy wrote:
@FlaDude wrote:
said "my spending was outside of my normal pattern"That's why I don't do nothing "normal" or do do anything "normal" too! Seriously, make the 'puters smoke
Naw, that's really a good safe-guard to have in place until something like that^^^ out of town mess happens. Thank goodness for text messages now, Discover is real good about asking, "Was this XXXXXXX you?" Reply yes or no
I tend to max my cards soon after I get them. I'll carry a large balance for a few months with heavy charges and large payments. Shows that it'll get paid. Never had AA or balance chasing when carrying a large balance for an extended (12+ months) period of time. While I try to pay all cards in full every month, I don't need them side eyeing me if I decide to pay for something I can't.