American Express Basic Charge Card

Venusflytrap

I have three CCs: 1st one only for personal and household spend - AmEx; the 2nd strictly for use abroad - Halifax Clarity; and the 3rd for emergencies/back up in case AmEx isn't accepted - Barclaycard Platinum.

I spend only what I can repay - simple!

InsideInsurance

thegoodman wrote: »

Some Amex fan boys make it sound like Amex have the best reward when this is not the case.
If not true send me the link or information showing Amex rewards are better than 1.25% cashback.

It depends which types of "reward" you are talking about.

Dont have AmEx any more but it certainly used to be that with Starwoods hotels you used to get free upgrades to the best room available room irrespective what card you used to pay with as long as you initially give the AmEx at checkin.

Many times when I used to travel a lot I'd book a "classic" room fully prepaid with the likes of Cap One card to get cashback/ points.

At the hotel show the amex and get a club room or junior suite etc and then pay up on the Cap One on leaving.

Similar sort of thing with flights etc.

Mine was a company card so no fees for me to pay but it would only have taken a couple of weeks away a year for the upgrades in rooms, flights etc to pay off any loss in cashback or fees. Of cause may all have changed since my day and if you didn't fly with their partners or stay at the partner hotels then of cause no benefit.

chattychappy

I think Amex chargecards work best if you go for one of the "higher ones" - eg Platinum and can justify it on the basis of bundled benefits - eg Priority Pass, travel insurance for yourself and non-family cardholders - colleagues etc.

I never spent anything on it (had other cards with better deals for that). Acceptance was sometimes an issue - some tight-margin places wanted to charge a loading or wouldn't take it at all. Most of my spend was foreign and I certainly wasn't prepared to pay Amex's loading.

When they kept messing around with the insurance and I started travelling more in business class or with airlines with whom I had a frequent flyer card, the lounge access with PP became superfluous and insurance a pain, so I cancelled it.

thegoodman

Venusflytrap wrote: »

I have three CCs: 1st one only for personal and household spend - AmEx; the 2nd strictly for use abroad - Halifax Clarity; and the 3rd for emergencies/back up in case AmEx isn't accepted - Barclaycard Platinum.

I spend only what I can repay - simple!

What rewards are you getting with AmEx?
If you moved to CapOne cashback at 1.25% would you save more?
Also with charger card you have to pay the full balance in case one month for what ever reason you can't its a negative on your credit file.
With Credit Card even you pay the balance in full at least in case if you can't you can pay the minimum without any damage to your credit file.
The cashback is nice to get once a year and you can buy somthing for yourself, partner or family. I use the cashbck for weekend break.

If you can get the 1.25% cashback card may be you can do:

1st one only for personal and household spend - Cashback card; the 2nd strictly for use abroad - Halifax Clarity; and the 3rd for emergencies/back - AmEx

rodmace

thegoodman wrote: »

Trying to advice people mainly 1st times not to fall into Amex card thinking it is the best for reward, when it is not. For very high spender travel reward may work out better, however 95% of people are not.

If ths is the case why do people go on about having two cards one master or visa card.

The cashback or rewards offered by Amex are worest than the cash back offered by Cap One at 1.25%.

The reason I go on about it is because some people will get the Amex card and than get 2nd visa or master card. When Cap One card would have given the batter reward to start with and no need to carry two cards. Also more chance of going into debt. Less cards one have the better in a lot of cases.

Some Amex fan boys make it sound like Amex have the best reward when this is not the case.
If not true send me the link or information showing Amex rewards are better than 1.25% cashback.

Well, Amex is not just about its cash back cards and clearly the OP is up for a charge card, which has nothing to do with cash back.

thegoodman

rodmace wrote: »

Well, Amex is not just about its cash back cards and clearly the OP is up for a charge card, which has nothing to do with cash back.

What do you get more with Amex which you dont get with other cards?
Making it konw to OP that credit card is batter than charger card and if after rewards one can get more with cashback cards. May be OP think charger and credit card are the same.

If after the logo on the card to show to friends, see what I have than Amex is fine.

Whats wrong with that?

rodmace

thegoodman wrote: »

What rewards are you getting with AmEx?

Also with charger card you have to pay the full balance in case one month for what ever reason you can't its a negative on your credit file.
With Credit Card even you pay the balance in full at least in case if you can't you can pay the minimum without any damage to your credit file.

the essence of having a charge card is not about carrying a balance months after months without paying it off. In fact, the charge card is all about a higher level of flexibility than a fixed credit limit on typical credit cards. You simply don't want to have a card with a limit which can be easily maxed by a couple of business class flights.


BTW, AMEX platinum charge cards do offer you the option to carry a balance and paying the minimum for any purchase with a value of £250+ at a standard rate.

rodmace

thegoodman wrote: »

What do you get more with Amex which you dont get with other cards?
Making it konw to OP that credit card is batter than charger card and if after rewards one can get more with cashback cards. May be OP think charger and credit card are the same.

If after the logo on the card to show to friends, see what I have than Amex is fine.

Whats wrong with that?

first of all, it's called charge card not charger card... :rotfl:

You get what you paid for. AMEX charge cards, in particular its platinum charge cards provide all sorts of perks for biz travellers, the PP cards, HH gold membership, insurance for the whole family, etc. On top of that, AMEX has its own reward scheme for its charge cards. you can transfer your points to any frequent flyer cards you have and I always use those reward points for my holiday flights.

I guess AMEX is simply not for you.

Ben8282

30 years ago an American Express charge card WAS essential for regular travellers. These days, as VISA/MC acceptance has grown around the world, it is not.

There are problems with getting the Amex card accepted. Problems experienced by myself have included:

Airline that I travel frequently with (NOT the RyanAir/Easyjet crowd) stopped accepting the Amex card due to high charges by Amex. Tried to make booking through Amex travel service but was told they cannot accept card as airline does not accept it. Amex travel service then refused to accept card in their own right as they will have to pay the fees themselves.

Amex travel service are of dubious competence anyway. They once arranged travel ticket to one city with late evening arrival time and hotel accomodation for the same night at a city hundreds of miles away in a different country. When brought to their attention, staff couldn't see what the problem was and tried to charge me to correct their error. Amex travel service will charge you to issue a ticket even if it is a full fare business class ticket on which they are already receiving very substantial commission from the airline. Pure greed.

Restaurants when presented with the card saying 'Don't you have a Visa or Mastercard'.

Having to argue with a car rental company used regularly to force them to accept the card; they wanted Visa or MC due to high charges by Amex.

Stupid comments from restaurant staff about 'Millionaires' card and having card shown round the entire staff of a Dixons branch 'Have you seen one of these before'.

Got fed up with having to have arguments to get a card that I was paying a very high annual fee for accepted. Told Amex what was going on and eventually cancellled card after over 15 years of Amex membership.

The comments made by another poster about good perks/insurances are correct IF YOU GET THEM! I had to wait over a year to get the Priority Pass card and a promised Hilton Hotels (?) gold card of some sort never ever arrived.

Dabooka

thegoodman wrote: »

For your information I am not mixed. The places that accept Amex also accept other cards mainly VISA and msater cards. The reward on Amex are not worth more than 1% on average, so no point to carry two cards when one card will give you 1.25% cashback which you can use it on anything you like.
By having two cards more chance of people going into debt or unable to keep an eye on spending.

It's not just about cashback though is it? And it's your insistence that they'r not accepted anywhere which I take issue with. They are taken in loads of places, you focus on where they're not and think therefore everyone must hold a Cap One for the 1.25%. How much has that earned you then?

I have 3 cards (one of each, Amex, Cap One MC and Barclaycard Visa) and generally use them for different things. I have no problem keeping a eye on my spending and pay them off in full, although if I ever had a rolling balance it used to be on the Amex as they had the lowest apr by far.

Maybe you're also unaware that travelling with the right Amex card is very handy. And there are some people who do travel you know.