What is the point of American Express cards?

beefturnmail

Most 'major' retailers accept Amex I've found (B&Q are a notable exception, but the only one I've come across). Smaller or independent retailers do not

enator

Amex also enable you to get tickets for shows that are sold out. I got tickets for Lady Gaga & Katy Perry - great for the kids, not so good for me as I had to take them and sit through it

pacontracting

Vectis wrote: »

Must admit I'm struggling a bit with the concept of people from this Moneysaving Expert site jetting around the world on BA flights, using Premium Lounges at the airports, dining at 'top London restaurants' and staying at Hilton hotels around the world.

But maybe that's just me? Maybe other people have different ideas of money saving.

I guess it's easy to confuse MoneySaving with not spending. My wife is the expert on Saving Money while travelling. Getting the best prices on flights, getting room upgrades for the price of standard rooms etc. It's amazing how much money you can save on travel without compromising on quality / facilities.

Equally - on another subject, I noticed on a new AMEX Gold Card that it has a contactless symbol - perfect for using in coffee shops (see a previous thread!)

Stephen_C.

pacontracting wrote: »

I guess it's easy to confuse MoneySaving with not spending. My wife is the expert on Saving Money while travelling. Getting the best prices on flights, getting room upgrades for the price of standard rooms etc. It's amazing how much money you can save on travel without compromising on quality / facilities.

Equally - on another subject, I noticed on a new AMEX Gold Card that it has a contactless symbol - perfect for using in coffee shops (see a previous thread!)

I'm so annoyed that Harris+Hoole don't take Amex. The only decent coffee of the chains!

mrchiggles

pacontracting wrote: »

I guess it's easy to confuse MoneySaving with not spending. My wife is the expert on Saving Money while travelling. Getting the best prices on flights, getting room upgrades for the price of standard rooms etc. It's amazing how much money you can save on travel without compromising on quality / facilities.

Equally - on another subject, I noticed on a new AMEX Gold Card that it has a contactless symbol - perfect for using in coffee shops (see a previous thread!)

Weirdly in lots of places that both do contactless and take Amex the contactless with Amex doesn't actually work...M+S is a notable exception - not sure if it works in boots now, last time I tried I crashed the till!

20aday

mrchiggles wrote: »

Weirdly in lots of places that both do contactless and take Amex the contactless with Amex doesn't actually work...M+S is a notable exception - not sure if it works in boots now, last time I tried I crashed the till!

I've managed to use contactless at M&S Simply Food.

There's one till in my local Boots where the card reader crashes and reboots itself when attempting contactless but have used it aOK on another!

iAMaLONDONER

Stephen_C. wrote: »

I'm so annoyed that Harris+Hoole don't take Amex. The only decent coffee of the chains!

Interesting as Tesco owns a significant part of it!

Fingerbobs

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

Interesting as Tesco owns a significant part of it!

I'd previously thought they were a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tesco, but it appears from a quick Google that Tesco's stake is only 49%.

System

I've found the same thing - it doesn't work in many places that are Visa / MasterCard contactless but take Amex including the Coop and Starbucks. M&S and McDonalds always work.

mrchiggles wrote: »

Weirdly in lots of places that both do contactless and take Amex the contactless with Amex doesn't actually work...M+S is a notable exception - not sure if it works in boots now, last time I tried I crashed the till!

reclusive46

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I've found the same thing - it doesn't work in many places that are Visa / MasterCard contactless but take Amex including the Coop and Starbucks. M&S and McDonalds always seems work.

It depends on who the merchant uses for their terminals. Amex now has all of the UK merchant terminal providers on board so all terminals are now being updated or replaced with terminals that support Amex contactless.

Costa, Waitrose and any small business using Barclaycard terminals have recently started taking Amex contactless.