AMEX Charge Cards.....Is there any benefits?

sleep_loser

All,

I've got a new Egg card for Balance transfers, and ordered a Platinum Amex credit card for chashback on spending, but I was sent in the post yesterday a Gold "Charge" card application form with a starting balance of 12,000 points which is like a pound a point, it does seem to have good rewards scheme and I do spend alot for my own business and personal use, and just about to move into a new house and need to buy alot of furniture which I'll buy cash most likely, so should I apply and use an AMEX Charge card or Credit Card?

Is it better to get cash or points, as I'll break the spend of 10k this year!

Thanks for all your tips so far Martin, spot on!!
Paul

westernpromise

sleep_loser wrote:

Is it better to get cash or points, as I'll break the spend of 10k this year!

You pay I think about £80 a year to have the charge card. In addition to being free, the credit card pays actual cash off the bill, rather than just reward poinst you can only spend rather than use to save.

So on those 2 grounds there's no contest, you want the cash. What you'll save will more than likely more than fund any of the things you can redeem reward points for.

mark_jones13

I have the Gold Chargecard and I've found it very useful. The fee is £95 p/a and its great to delay payment for some things. The balance has to be paid off within 14 days of the statement date. You get travel inconvenience benefit as well as MR points. You also get great offers with the statement every month. I think its worth it.

westernpromise

mark_jones13 wrote:

I have the Gold Chargecard and I've found it very useful. The fee is £95 p/a and its great to delay payment for some things. The balance has to be paid off within 14 days of the statement date. You get travel inconvenience benefit as well as MR points. You also get great offers with the statement every month. I think its worth it.

I had a Gold Charge Card for about 5 years in the early 90s back when there were 4 key benefits.

One was that you could use it in cash points almost anywhere in the world and it was far cheaper to do so than use travellers' cheques. The second was the overdraft facility, where they'd guarantee your overdraft to your bank. The third was the absence of a credit limit. The fourth was the Travel Service, which was very good at finding decent hotels at very short notice.

The first has been copied by other cards, the second and third were quietly withdrawn, and the 'net provides the last for free. So I ditched it and last year, rather than paying them £95, they paid me £377 for using their credit card.

deadthings

Why would anyone pay £95 for a debit card? I thought this was MSE?

D.

pin

Amex charge cards are not debit cards. With debit cards the money comes out of your bank (current account) straight away (or there abouts). With charge cards you pay the money off at the end of the month, i.e. the full amount. Also with charge cards there is no pre-set spending limit

deadthings

I think you know what I mean; I'm being sarcastic.

You've got to repay it inside a month and you pay £95 PA for the privilege.

Is it just me or does that sound like a waste of money?

Does Amex not have a spending limit now then?

D.

westernpromise

deadthings wrote:

Does Amex not have a spending limit now then?

When I last had a Gold Amex the limit was vaguley described as 'whatever you have shown us you can afford to repay'. I am pretty sure they then proceeded to assign a limit. It was quite high but it was a limit.

pin

According to the AMEX website there is no pre-set limit. But I guess for example if for years you were spending say £1,000 a month, then suddenly you had £10,000 a month they would have raised some queries.

In terms of whether its worth paying any sort of fee for an AMEX charge card, some people may see some benefits. Quickly looking on the AMEX website the gold card offers complimentary tickets for a second person on flights, amonst other benefits.

Galstonian

Amex do offer some things that are useful to some people and they certainly offer more for the business market. Emergency replacement is definitely better with Amex than most cards.

If anyone is considering emigration then Amex are useful because you can get them to transfer the history from their operating company in one country to another which means you arrive at your destination with some credit history. Mind you, that probably applies to their credit cards too.

zx2011

Section 75 Consumer Credit Act does not apply to charge cards. You are only protected when you pay with a credit card.