AMEX Platinum

theejudge

im thinking of getting an amex platinum and after some advice.

1. are there any other cards i should be aware of which offer similar things?

my bills will be cleared in full and i wont be spending any huge amounts as I pay for things in cash/ upfront all the time.

this will be my first "credit" card as such, i mainly want one for hotel incidentals&charges when abroad as over Christmas and new year in the US i had a $1600+ hold on my account from the hotels which takes forever to get back and some of the places ive been get funny with using a debit card ?

2. this is my only concern, although i meet all criteria easily i do have a lack of borrowing which in my eyes is good because everything is paid for but in the eyes of amex probably not good.

one of their reps said i should be fine but i don't know :think:

Ill probably apply next month then if accepted be on the road to my own centurion :j

grumbler

I don't quite understand what 'things' you mean and what your concern is.
It's a norm for many people to pay their CC balance in full on or before the due date to avoid paying interest on purchases.

There are better CCs for spending abroad, but Amex is worth having too when traveling to USA.

• Cheap Travel Credit Cards

stephane_2

If you've never had a credit card before then I would be surprised if you got accepted for the Amex....

reclusive46

stephane wrote: »

If you've never had a credit card before then I would be surprised if you got accepted for the Amex....

Agreed, although the Amex charge cards are not too hard to get accepted for.

Agreed with one of the above posts as well, if you want to be able to fully depend on the cards in the USA, good idea to have an Amex. Been to several restaurants (In NYC) that only take Amex, one shop and hotel that would only take Amex or a cash.

Also Amex is great at avoiding AVS (Address verification) if its in another country. Great for digital goods that only let you purchase with a card from that country (Like an AT&T iPad subscription).

zerog

You should apply today if you want to get 50000 membership reward points opening bonus (if you can spend £2000 in the first 3 months) and £80 cashback on topcashback or quidco. It's probably going down from Monday.

Russinating

You can get 52,000 points if you get referred too. My referral post is here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=59335857&postcount=49

zerog

Hmm the cashback has been reduced to £50 - which is still better than the extra 2000 points you'd get from being referred.

theejudge

i think i will get rejected due to age and lack of borrowing

analyst_2

Just looking at it now, for a forthcoming USA trip
but . . . a £450 annual fee!!!

That's gotta take a bit of covering surely?

zerog

analyst wrote: »

Just looking at it now, for a forthcoming USA trip
but . . . a £450 annual fee!!!

That's gotta take a bit of covering surely?

Well the point is to get the 50K points and then cancel it after the trip, resulting in a fee refund of £350 or so. You get to keep most of the elite status cards for that year, and the points are worth more than the fee you paid if you use them properly.

1 year later you apply for the gold card which hopefully will still be free the first year.

Then if the gold card fee is not worth the benefits, you downgrade to the green card, and if that's not worth the fee, then amex is probably not for you

analyst_2

Hmmm
50,000 points can get me:
Travel - one return flight to Dubai with Virgin Atlantic*
Shopping - £200 Harvey Nichols gift card
Experience - £200 gift card for the fabulous Elemis Spa in London.


Dubai? - very unlikely
Harvey Nichols? - equally unlikely
Elemis Spa? - no idea what or where that is, but it seems even less likely than the two above combined.