American Express Green Card

zerog

US Amexes are a much better deal than UK ones.

It is profitable when you get a new card and cancel it after taking the signup bonus, so for long-term spending not such a great deal which may be why it isn't seen in the wild - but also the majority of people use debit cards to spend money.

As Maestro. says, you need to spend large amounts for it to be worthwhile, and large amounts are usually spent online booking flights/hotels.

The worst place for Amex seems to be Hong Kong. You need to pay a fee to get MR points, and then you need to pay a fee every time you want to convert them to airline miles! The centurion card costs HK$38000 or about £3000, and while it is possible to get that back in value, that's only if you would have spent the money on the benefits anyway.

chattychappy

Maestro. wrote: »

Please don't think that I am calling you a liar, but can you say for sure that AmEx is an easy card to get? I ask because I've never seen one out in the wild, ever, and have never known anyone with an AmEx card, so the theory of them being easy to acquire isn't borne out for me.

I think their rarity is more because they are simply not attractive to many because of the annual fee and you must pay in full each month. I got a green card whilst still a student (many years ago) at a time when although I had a couple of CCs, I had been turned down for a couple of others. Perhaps "relatively easy" was the wrong way to put it - I really meant "relative" to what they might have you believe or you might expect. At a guess, I would say I would say it is just as easy as, say, a good mainstream CC. Bear in mind that as a chargecard the lending is shorter term and compliance costs are lower. I think the willingness of someone to pay a fee for a card probably serves as some loose indication of credit worthiness - ie the kind of people that apply are the kind of people who are less likely to be a problem.

Maestro.

chattychappy wrote: »

I think their rarity is more because they are simply not attractive to many because of the annual fee and you must pay in full each month. I got a green card whilst still a student (many years ago) at a time when although I had a couple of CCs, I had been turned down for a couple of others. Perhaps "relatively easy" was the wrong way to put it - I really meant "relative" to what they might have you believe or you might expect. At a guess, I would say I would say it is just as easy as, say, a good mainstream CC. Bear in mind that as a chargecard the lending is shorter term and compliance costs are lower. I think the willingness of someone to pay a fee for a card probably serves as some loose indication of credit worthiness - ie the kind of people that apply are the kind of people who are less likely to be a problem.

That's interesting, the idea of charge cards appeals to me as I generally pay in full, but I've read horror stories of where AmEx charge cards actually have an "invisible limit" which can lead to payments being declined in shops? Seems easier just to have a limit spelled out to you so you know you're not going to go over it.

chattychappy

Maestro. wrote: »

but I've read horror stories of where AmEx charge cards actually have an "invisible limit" which can lead to payments being declined in shops? Seems easier just to have a limit spelled out to you so you know you're not going to go over it.

Amex used to say "there is no pre-set spending limit - you can usually spend as much as you have shown us you can afford". Ha ha ha. They also advised you to call in advance if you intended to spend outside of your regular pattern. I remember a while back they went through a phase of doing "financial reviews" where they would demand evidence of income etc., for existing customers. It happened alot in the US, less so here.

I never had a decline, but like you I'd just prefer a limit. Of course even with CCs they can cut your limit and decline transactions with little or no notice.

I abandoned Amex because most of my spend was foreign so I was using it less and less. I ended up on the Platinum one and for a while kept it just for the travel insurance and priority pass (airport lounge access). But they kept fiddling with the insurance - sometimes whilst I or my fellow cardholders was away. So I switched to buying a policy annually - at least that way the terms were fixed for the duration. I used PP less and less as increasingly I was either flying business class or with airlines with whom I had frequent flyer cards (and so had lounge use anyway). So I just cancelled it.

Maestro.

Thanks, so it seems that their charge cards are still a bit ambiguous then.

I know someone who puts thousands upon thousands through a regular mainstream card each month, and it's not even a Signature/World card (although it does earn him points - lots of them). He actually said he used to use AmEx but dumped it because surcharges here and fees there, as well as the unfortunate odd place where they didn't accept it, lead to him not being able to totally rely on it.

reclusive46

Maestro. wrote: »

Thanks, so it seems that their charge cards are still a bit ambiguous then.

I know someone who puts thousands upon thousands through a regular mainstream card each month, and it's not even a Signature/World card (although it does earn him points - lots of them). He actually said he used to use AmEx but dumped it because surcharges here and fees there, as well as the unfortunate odd place where they didn't accept it, lead to him not being able to totally rely on it.

Don't know what he means about surcharges and extra fees, other than in Australia I've never been charged extra to pay for anything with Amex compared to any other credit card.

Maestro.

reclusive46 wrote: »

Don't know what he means about surcharges and extra fees, other than in Australia I've never been charged extra to pay for anything with Amex compared to any other credit card.

it's mostly online. We use a few websites to order stuff that state they will charge you an extra few £ or % of the bill for using AmEx.

zerog

Maestro. wrote: »

it's mostly online. We use a few websites to order stuff that state they will charge you an extra few £ or % of the bill for using AmEx.

I didn't think that was allowed (by Amex - either you accept it with the same fees as other cards or you don't accept it)

Maestro.

Just checked the t&c of the company in question - 2.5% surcharge for using Amex since 2005. The company is huge - a worldwide distributor of hardware.