American Express Discussion Area

dark_star_3

Hi again,
I have sent AMEX an email asking then to clarify this. If they reply (AMEX customer service is at best inconsistent) I will post it, that way at least if they try to change their mind later there will be proof of what was agreed

steviewander

Thanks darkstar.

Please do post up your reply as I am interested in this. I will be spending over £8,000 in the next coming 6 months and would like to get as much cashback as possible.

I understand "aggregate" to mean the total sum of the constituent parts. I think the constituent parts are the tiered calculations added together. So I'd be surprised if you got 2% cashback on all of the first £5,000 spend.
But here's hoping!

Steve

theloft

The trouble with all AMEX CARDS, (I've had the BA one for years) is finding enough outlets to use them.  Anyone taking out an Amex card for the first time will be amazed at how many outlets will not accept them.  I understand that this is because their merchant charge to the retailer is higher than most others.  So Martin's article in todays Newsletter (see main board) is all well and good but I find that I still have to use my Visa card in most places.
So it could be difficult spend £6000 in a year on Amex.
                                                           
                                                        ::) ::) ::)

dark_star_3

Hi
theloft is quite right about the "accepability" of AMEX I have had a Blue for nearly a year and it is not as widely accepted as visa/masercard, fortunately my local tesco take it and that makes up quite a lump of my regular spend. However I was still going to swap to my circle rebate card when I get my cash back refunded in about a month (hopefuly)
This platinum c/c is pretty much their last chance to retain me as a customer as I exceed a £6K annual spend. Failing that it will be Circle rebate all the way. ;D

ps just this week I was told if I used the blue card there would be a 3% surcharge!! from one retailer...so if you are using it...watch out for that kind of thing

System

Watch out and be extra careful if applying for ANY American Express card, especially online. They are dangerous.

I applied online and it wanted my office address. They then checked up to see if I worked where I claimed I worked. Unfortunately there are several very similarly-named subsidiary companies in the same building, they got the wrong one's switchboard, and ended up with the incorrect idea that really I didn't actually work there.

So from one phone call to a dozy receptionist Amex decided I lied on my application and got me put on a national fraud database. (Note, actual fraud not mere bad credit.) Getting off again and getting links to it cleaned up off Equifax and Experian was a nightmare and certainly not worth a few cashback quid. Be warned!

dark_star_3

Thanx for the warning Joe.
For those still interested, I phoned them up again today, because I wanted to clarify what Martin has posted in the main site about applying quickly, as they have lifted the "invitation only" status for a limited time.
The girl I spoke with seemed fairly clued up and said it was normal practice when they introduced a new card to start it as invitation only so they could see how it was working out. Then if they are happy with the card it goes out on "general release" subject to the usual criteria.
The girl stated that this was in fact the case with the Platinum c/c and it was unlikely it would go back to invitation only.
This however conflicts with what Martin has found out and he is generally right about this sort of thing (being a money saving expert and all)
so I would be inclined to apply quickly if you are thinking about it just in case.
I cant because I have a blue card and they have said if I take out the platinum they will cancel the blue and I'll lose my cash back  >:( so I'll have to sweat it out for a couple of months.
update: Just checked my emails...there is a reply to an earlier inquiry I made regarding carrying over my cash back...they are now saying I can :-/ which is good news, but leads me to conclude their customer service people are all idiots and shouldn't be beleived....get it in writing if you can folks

Systemaddict_2

I would agree with the above.
I received an Invitation to apply for Amex platinum when Amex platinum was not listed on any of the search sites.

System

Just spoke to someone in Amex who was definitely in the UK and who did not seem to be a droid reading from a script.

The information they gave was that it was tiered rates for the money back. i.e. spend 8K and 2K earns 0.5%, 3K earns 1% and 3K earns 2%.

I challenged them that they didn't mean 2% on the whole amount, and they were absolutely positive that it was not.

dark_star_3

Thanx for that,
It's looking like kbeatie versus the world on this one.

kbeatie,
If you're still looking in on this can you confirm your last post please as it looks more and more like the rest of us are being offered a lesser deal than you got.
Was there an annual fee for your c/c?
Any further info you can provide will be helpful.

As for the reply to my email, I have just checked and they are saying...due to a high level of inquiries they may take a while to answer  :-/

But it's looking more and more like a £6K plus spend is required. If you apply on that basis and it is £5K then you'll get even more cash back  :)
I for one will be applying...as soon as their web site starts working again

Update: website has been down for ages, so I have applied by telephone, they confirmed the £6K annual spend cashback scenario

System

We have recently applied for Amex platinum card from their web site and received the card no problem. The only problem is - we don't seem to shop in the places that accept Amex!!! As you have already suggested, have a backup card ready because there have been loads of situations where we haven't been able to use it and have needed 'the reserve' card to pay!!