What is the point of American Express cards?

chanz4

I have the costco one, earned £7 in 2 months. Only 1 restaurant didnt accept, and sone online takeaways

sweetstudent

I got my MBNA AMEX whilst I was at uni - I got last year an additional Amex issued AMEX Card for the £65 TCB and the foursqaure offers. In a few months I had saved several hundred pounds on items that I would have purchased anyway!

Yes not every retailer accepts Amex and at the moment it is not worth my while having a credit card with an annual fee but if my circumstances change then I would most likely go with another American Express

zerog

H&M - buy gift cards in Tesco with Amex - 150 extra clubcard points per £50, double MR on Amex Gold if in first year

Toys'r'us - gift cards at WH Smith, who take Amex.

[Deleted User]

chanz4 wrote: »

I have the costco one, earned £7 in 2 months. Only 1 restaurant didnt accept, and sone online takeaways

Many online places that don't accept Amex will take payment via paypal. You can register your card with Paypal and use it that way. There are no fees to do this and once it's set up it's no more hassle than using the card direct.

SpacemanSpiff

What is an example of the customer service you would need from a credit card?

p00hsticks

SpacemanSpiff wrote: »

What is an example of the customer service you would need from a credit card?

reporting and replacement of lost or stolen cards, handling of fraudulent transactions, and handling of Section 75 claims for three examples.

chanz4

p00hsticks wrote: »

reporting and replacement of lost or stolen cards, handling of fraudulent transactions, and handling of Section 75 claims for three examples.

Courrier of replacement card anywhere in the world

vikingaero

The attraction to retailers is that Amex users are higher spending customers. I've spent on cards (within my credit limit) and had problems with getting transactions authorised. With Amex I find high spend transactions are immediately authorised (I've only had one queried but then authorised on the spot).

For instance I bought my Mum & Dad 2 business class tickets for £6,200 which was declined on my Visa card. I got calls on my mobile and homeline from NatWest Fraud. So I simply used my Amex card and the transaction went straight through.

reclusive46

vikingaero wrote: »

The attraction to retailers is that Amex users are higher spending customers. I've spent on cards (within my credit limit) and had problems with getting transactions authorised. With Amex I find high spend transactions are immediately authorised (I've only had one queried but then authorised on the spot).

For instance I bought my Mum & Dad 2 business class tickets for £6,200 which was declined on my Visa card. I got calls on my mobile and homeline from NatWest Fraud. So I simply used my Amex card and the transaction went straight through.

Agreed with that. I've never had a genuine transaction blocked.

They also caught on a couple of years ago when my card details went on a trip to Singapore when I was in New York City. I even got a replacement card (Temp magnetic stripe only card) within a couple of hours. Someone hand delivered it to my hotel in the Financial District (I assume directly from HQ) and I picked it up from the front desk. They also authorised a transaction for me in a restaurant before I could pick up the new card.

zerog

vikingaero wrote: »

The attraction to retailers is that Amex users are higher spending customers. I've spent on cards (within my credit limit) and had problems with getting transactions authorised. With Amex I find high spend transactions are immediately authorised (I've only had one queried but then authorised on the spot).

For instance I bought my Mum & Dad 2 business class tickets for £6,200 which was declined on my Visa card. I got calls on my mobile and homeline from NatWest Fraud. So I simply used my Amex card and the transaction went straight through.

... why didn't you just use the Amex in the first place? Do Natwest cards have better rewards or something?