American Express Discussion Area

Frugal_Sharky

Bokken wrote:

This has been throughly dissussed in other threads ,the above is incorrect.
Once you spend more than £7501 the 2% cash back is applied to ALL of your spend for that year. if you don't reach the £7501 threshold then the lower rate applies.
For example if you have spent £12000 you will get £240 cashback on the anniversary date that you joined American Express.

Bokken,

not sure where you've got your info from but your statement above appears to contradict what Martin has detailed in his current Best Cashback Cards article. I refer in particular to the table headed "The Top Cashback Cards" which identifies what cashback you can expect from certain annual spends. These work out at 0.5% on £1 - £3000, 1% on £3001 - £7500 and 2% on £7501+

Frugal_Sharky

JollyNolly wrote:

The Amex Platinum looks really useful for cashback - I've just read Martin's article and fancy giving it a try. The only problem is that I wonder whether I should pace myself with credit card applications a bit - I got myself a Halifax One in November, and a Skycard last month, and I have also opened a couple of current accounts in that time. I will need a card to replace the Halifax in October/November. Should I wait a couple of months before I try for the Amex?

JollyNolly, each of your credit card and current account applications are likely to have generated a search of your credit report and in turn each of these searches would have been recorded. Financial providers may well frown on an excessive number of account applications and as a result they may well reject your application - this rejection may even be recorded on your credit file. I would suggest that if you don't desperately need the Amex card right now, to hold off applying until later in the year.

RDA

Frugal_Sharky wrote:

Bokken,

not sure where you've got your info from but your statement above appears to contradict what Martin has detailed in his current Best Cashback Cards article. I refer in particular to the table headed "The Top Cashback Cards" which identifies what cashback you can expect from certain annual spends. These work out at 0.5% on £1 - £3000, 1% on £3001 - £7500 and 2% on £7501+

Quite right. I think the following extract from the Amex Platinum T's & C's says it all :

An annual rebate on the aggregate amount of all transactions (other than the exclusions stated above) will be payable to you by us as the following rates:
- 0.5% for aggregate amounts up to £3,000; and
- 1% for aggregate amounts from £3,001 to £7,500; and
- 2% for aggregate amounts in excess of £7,501

JollyNolly

Frugal_Sharky wrote:

JollyNolly, each of your credit card and current account applications are likely to have generated a search of your credit report and in turn each of these searches would have been recorded. Financial providers may well frown on an excessive number of account applications and as a result they may well reject your application - this rejection may even be recorded on your credit file. I would suggest that if you don't desperately need the Amex card right now, to hold off applying until later in the year.

Thanks Frugal, that's pretty much what I was thinking - but what is a safe time gap to leave between applications? And what would you say is an "excessive" number of applications?

steve_cov

JollyNolly wrote:

And what would you say is an "excessive" number of applications?

I'm sure I've seen Martin give a comment on this somewhere in the credit section. I think it might say that one a month is reasonable, or half a dozen in one month if you haven't made any for a while.

I fall into the latter and have gone for an Amex Platinum, with a Mastercard as back-up where it's not accepted.

I'll see if I can find Martin's advice on the site...

Bokken_2

RDA wrote:

Quite right. I think the following extract from the Amex Platinum T's & C's says it all :

An annual rebate on the aggregate amount of all transactions (other than the exclusions stated above) will be payable to you by us as the following rates:
- 0.5% for aggregate amounts up to £3,000; and
- 1% for aggregate amounts from £3,001 to £7,500; and
- 2% for aggregate amounts in excess of £7,501

Thanks for the above,I have also got the terms out and checked them again and clarified with the CS at Amex exactly what you do or don't get again.
I did all of this 6months ago so that I would know what cashback I would recieve and have told incorrectly " 2% on all of spend over £7501".
The CS have confirmed that the above % are correct which we knew anyway and that you will only get 2% on your spend on the amount above £7501 upto your total spend.
If you spend a total of £12000 you will get £89.98 cashback as this is the calculated 2% on £4499 the difference between £7501 -£12000.
I am very sorry for causing any confusion I did base my facts on the information given to me by CS.
Any way £89 is still better than a poke in the eye with a sharpe stick.

Frugal_Sharky

JollyNolly wrote:

Thanks Frugal, that's pretty much what I was thinking - but what is a safe time gap to leave between applications? And what would you say is an "excessive" number of applications?

Hey JN,

On the "excessive" applications question - who knows!? From what I can make out all the different lenders use different criteria to arrive at their credit score, depending not only on you but also on the product that's being applied for. I've taken this from the faq section of the Experian
website. Might be worth taking a look here for some more background info on credit scoring as well. Have you ever applied for a credit report from Experian or any of the other credit reference agencies?

As you've had a fair few applications recently it might be an idea to hold out until nearer Oct/Nov when you actually need the replacement for your Halifax card. Otherwise, if you do apply now and get refused that will be recorded on your credit report and will have an even greater effect on any future credit applications...

Frugal_Sharky

A week to the day since applying online for the AMEX Platinum credit card and I have received a "welcome" phone call from American Express. After discussing my likely monthly spend on the card I have been assigned a sensible credit limit. I was also able to setup a direct debit to pay off the full balance on my card each month and was even given the option of choosing the day of the month that the statement is made up and therefore when payment is required. The caller was incredibly helpful and was instantly able to answer all the questions I threw at her. The call only took 5 mins of their and my precious time but already I feel like I have established a good relationship with this financial services company. Perhaps some of the others could take a leaf out of their book...

Would be interested to hear what others think of the AMEX service they've received?

AQUA-IAN

AMEX - although difficult at first - very rewarding.

Privateer

Hi,

Thanks to Martin and the community here, I’ve now got myself a Platinum American Express card for the 2% cashback. However not all places accept Amex, so I’m looking for a second cashback card as a backup. I currently have Barclay Card (Visa and MasterCard), but they don’t give cashback so I wish to use them as little as possible.

My question is this: Which is the best card type out of Visa or MasterCard for security, fraud protection, customer service, etc?

The current choice seems to be either the Conran Card (Visa) or the Morgan Stanley Card (MasterCard). Which would you folks recommend for me?

I only ever purchase on a credit card if I can pay the card off in full each and every month. I never have to pay interest (so far).

Thanks,