American Express Basic Charge Card

chattychappy

slackinside wrote: »

I would say the amex service is one of the best in the UK.
I bet it's harder to get a job in Amex compared to Barclaycard, Halifax, MBNA, etc...

Bear in mind, that much of what they do is outsourced. For example, when I last tried to buy a flight ticket through them, it was outsourced to Thomas Cook (and they couldn't do it anyway).

thegoodman

chattychappy wrote: »

Bear in mind, that much of what they do is outsourced. For example, when I last tried to buy a flight ticket through them, it was outsourced to Thomas Cook (and they couldn't do it anyway).

I bet most people have not used the service. A friend of a friend told me the service is good..type of thing

Ben8282

chattychappy wrote: »

When I started with Amex you got a month to pay. If you were late - no problem. No charges, no interest. This was pretty handy if you had to extend a trip and needed time to shuffle cash around. Eventually they'd call you up or send you a letter and perhaps stop the card. Those days are gone, of course

Thats right. Then sometime during the 80's I set up a direct debit. At first, 21 days after the statement date. Then 14. Then 7. Then the statements started being posted in Florida rather than Brighton with a direct debit (full amount as chargecard) to be taken 7 days after the statement date. The statement started arriving after the direct debit had already been taken. Complaint received the response that I should not spend what I didn't already have in my account! Stopped DD and started to pay be cheque again.

chattychappy

thegoodman wrote: »

I bet most people have not used the service. A friend of a friend told me the service is good..type of thing

I originally got the green card as part of a promotion. I had taken out a 3 year subscription with the Economist and was targetted - "fee free for a year". I enjoyed bragging to my mates - I was only 20 at the time. The brochures said you had to be 21! I suppose the kind of people that subscribe to the Economist are potential high spenders (??).

A bit later, just as I was debating whether or not to pay the fee, I got an offer of a gold card. It was called something like the "gold card for business travellers". It was basically a gold card but with insurance thrown in. Lots of nonsense about being the card they prefer not to publicise, the special level of service, account managers etc. The promotional stuff they sent oozed quality.

So I signed up. I was travelling alot and it made sense. About 6 months later they told me they were discontinuing the card. They wouldn't even let me keep it for the rest of the year I'd paid for. I either had to downgrade to "normal" gold, (albeit with pro-rata refund) or upgrade to platinum (pay the difference). I argued on the phone - surely given all the promotion and "service" they should at least honour the first year and wait for renewal before shifting me. Well, they weren't having it. I held out for a bit until I got a letter giving a date that my cards would cease to work and the insurance would be invalid. So I upgraded to platinum because it did make more sense than downgrading.

Well, I won't go into all the details. But essentially every time I wanted something a bit different/unusual they couldn't help. Eg a flight ticket not starting in the UK (a normal high street agent sorted that), US$100 in cash from their branch (wouldn't do it - "amex is not a credit card" - yes, its true, but it was only US$100 and I didn't have any other cards with me - and I had ID etc. Got stuck in the US without a hotel - they couldn't find one and suggested I call back the next day(!) during office hours, but I walked around the corner and checked-in and they even took Amex) etc etc. I asked them for a USD card, but they said they could only do that if they cancelled my GBP card though their earlier publicity said clearly I could have a second card in a different currency.

I won't say they did much wrong, but they never failed to miss an opportunity to do something extra which would have distinguished themselves. For routine stuff (eg mysterious declines, disputed transactions) they were the same as normal credit cards. Ie call centre staff can sometimes help, sometimes can't. Still had to deal with silly phone systems where I had to press "1" for this, "2" for that etc. Sometimes had to wait along time in a queue. In fact, I got rather sick of the somewhat snooty attitude - I think it was part of their training that they were told that their service was better. Typical was when I asked for the USD card they suggested I just put my USD spend onto my GBP card. I said that I didn't want to do this because of the approx 3% loading and that currently I was using Nationwide Visa to avoid this. She insisted for foreign transactions, no CC is ever as competitive as Amex, especially for USD.

At one point I was putting £5K to £10K a month through Amex. I did buy into the image at first and by spending the fee I wanted to believe I was getting something different/superior/exclusive. I'm guessing it was that way once. But based on much experience, I'm now of the view that you must ignore all that "profile" stuff - just weigh up the tangible features. The general "service" is nothing special. I've had better (and worse) from normal CCs.

Showing my age now, but anyone remember the Alan Whicker Barclaycard adverts where he "has a go" at Amex?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqGZiGKHTsg

thegoodman

I agree with you 100%. The Amex with high profile adverts and marketing made people into thinking the card is something exclusive and many will show off. Like Amex card holders are members not holders. Most people have the card for this reason only.

Even it's reward program is not that good once you take the fee etc. Into the count. All extras provided can be purchase cheaper else where. For example on the website it says collect up to 4 nectar points, however if you look into this 2 nectar point can be collected on your nectar card any way. So you are getting 2 extra points per£. This is 1% in value, one nectar point is 0.5%. Cash back card willngive you more and you can use it in all places.

slackinside

chattychappy wrote: »

Bear in mind, that much of what they do is outsourced. For example, when I last tried to buy a flight ticket through them, it was outsourced to Thomas Cook (and they couldn't do it anyway).

Absolutely. Nowadays everyone outsource insurance but talking about customer service I believe Amex is one of the best out there.

Also I would like to mention that every time I have a problem when I shop online they sort it straight away without burocracy.

slackinside

You need need to earn at least £40k a year and If you do £300 a year shouldn't be a problem. If you spend 1k every month you get around 12k membership rewards which is equal to a free flight zone 1 in europe. This usually cost around £150, let's say the travel insurance would cost you around £50 a year and the airport lounge £80 a year. That's already £280 quid...

I like the membereship rewards points to transfer to my BA miles. If in case I need to flight somewhere tomorrorw in europe I won't need to pay for a fortune for it.

I usually travel 8 times during a year and use the airport lounges everytime (I have to say that is absolutely worthy paying £15 for an airport lounge if you like drinking) and that would cost me £240 without the priority pass.

So... you have to work out whether it's benefitial or not...

Why don't all of you do a test?
Apply for the card through topcashback as they are offering £80 and change your 40k membership rewards for £200 so the card will cost you £20 for the first year?

slackinside

in Switzerland, Brazil and some others countries you need to earn a minimum 85k (British Pound) to be consider for the card. That's why maybe in other countries the people must think that you are really wealthy. Here in the UK I think it's easy to get an Amex as long as you haven't missed any payment in the past and meet the minimum criteria.

chattychappy

slackinside wrote: »

You need need to earn at least £40k a year and If you do £300 a year shouldn't be a problem.

I was earning well over that when I got the Platinum card - but still assessed it (and later cancelled it) by reference to its value. £300 is no problem to me if I'm getting value. I sat next to the CEO of a listed PLC on a long haul business class flight. The guy owns a yacht and the island it's parked at! We were talking about CCs. He too gave up Amex. He used Diners (can't remember why) and Nationwide Gold/Flex debit (this was before they introduced charges). My experience of many rich people is that any amount is a problem if they don't get value. That's how some of them get rich.

slackinside wrote: »

If you spend 1k every month you get around 12k membership rewards which is equal to a free flight zone 1 in europe. This usually cost around £150, let's say the travel insurance would cost you around £50 a year and the airport lounge £80 a year. That's already £280 quid...

I like the membereship rewards points to transfer to my BA miles. If in case I need to flight somewhere tomorrorw in europe I won't need to pay for a fortune for it.

Agree that this is the kind of analysis you have to do. MR was pretty good until they kept fiddling with it. If I have one overarching gripe with Amex is the constant changing benefits.

Bear in mind: 1K of foreign spend a month = £30 of loading. That's £360 year. If all/most of your spend is UK£, not such an issue.

But I don't get your BA miles comment about flying somewhere tomorrow without paying a fortune. Airlines restrict "free" flight availability. If the only last minute fares are expensive ones, then it is unlikely you will get an airmiles flight confirmed, unless either 1) you are a sufficiently frequent flyer (often on premium tickets) to get "status" (eg gold or whatever) and priority or 2) you standby at the airport.

slackinside wrote: »

I usually travel 8 times during a year and use the airport lounges everytime (I have to say that is absolutely worthy paying £15 for an airport lounge if you like drinking) and that would cost me £240 without the priority pass.

It probably makes it worthwhile for you just on the basis of PP then - especially if you are in economy on different airlines (ie not flying enough on a single airline to get lounge access via a frequent flyer card).

I "did the test" - over 20 years with Amex, mostly platinum and my colleague still has it. For me:

1) Most of my spend is foreign. No way does MR compensate for the 3% loading on forex.
2) I'm generally in business class and/or have a FF card with the airline I'm on. So I would rarely use PP nowadays.
3) The bundled insurance wouldn't cover me because I'm out of the UK too much.

I have 2 or 3 specialist travel agencies I use (each in a different country). They know me and it's much easier to deal with them as a result. For insurance I shop around each year. Once purchased, I know it's good for a year - unlike Amex that change it at any time.

chattychappy

slackinside wrote: »

in Switzerland, Brazil and some others countries you need to earn a minimum 85k (British Pound) to be consider for the card.

It's common for Amex to publicise criteria (age limits/income) that they don't apply.