Amex Reward Credit Cards

ZacharyJohn

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

I'll be mindful of the direct debit method of paying the balance. I don't tend to use direct debit to pay off my credit card balance anyway - I feel a lot more in control identifying the exact amount that's owed myself and paying it off manually.

Stigmeister

For what it's worth, i have used an AMEX card issued by MBNA for years and years getting points to use on Virgin Atlantic. I find it very beneficial, always paying off every month and they issue a 'Companion' card by Visa to use whenever AMEX is not.

Mr_Goodkat

Anthorn wrote: »

So what exactly is it that you say I failed to understand in the Amex T & Cs?

Repayments with the Amex credit card as with most other credit cards are very easy to understand and I don't need to reproduce them here. The point is that I arranged for a flat monthly payment and Amex took the full balance without my prior agreement.

No I didn't claim under the Direct Debit guarantee. For a start one just doesn't do that with Amex and secondly the full statement balance to me was virtually a drop in the ocean.

I suspect you probably had a direct debit in place to take the full amount each month. You spent a little too much wafting your new Amex card around and decided to make a change to the direct debit from payment in full to a fixed amount but the statement had already been produced so the statement balance was taken in full as agreed or another similar user error issue.

Amex pride themselves on providing excellent customer service so if the error was on their side I am sure they would have put it right for you and failing that a claim under the direct debit grantee would have been justified and one would be justifiable to do that with Amex.

If the statement balance was virtually a drop in the ocean why would one set a direct debit for a fixed rather than full balance meaning interest would be paid on that balance and future purchases?

Sarastro

I've used the Amex cashback card for a couple of years and usually get about £200 cash back a year. It's great for bigger purchases and holidays. I've found it's accepted at most stores but not usually smaller independents.

Jasonh2015

On my charge card and credit card Amex have never done any errors on my direct debit. It tells you and on it says on their website when the balance is due. Ive been with them about 9 years. They’ve even refunded me for a hotel saying I used the mini bar when I didn’t without further discussion.

MallyGirl

I use my Amex cashback platinum wherever possible for the cashback but they are about to drop the rates. It used to be 0.5% on first £3.5k, then 1% up to £7.5k and 1.25% above that (spend in a year). From Jan 2018 it will be 0.5% on first £3.5k, then 1% above that. With 0% on purchases it is still a good card. There are random extra offers but most are a bit London centric - occasionally there is a relevant one for me. Shop Small in December can earn quite a lot of extra.
You do need another card for the places that don't accept it.

lisyloo

My question is, is there anything I should be aware of?

Make sure you'll meet any minimum spend requirements for cashback.

Bear in mind you might not be able to use it as much as you think.
I live in central London and find that about 2/3rds of the restaurants we use don't take it (perhaps that's because we tend to avoid chains and go more for independents and even some cinemas e.g. picturehouse, in central London don't take it.
It really does depend on your circumstances, but I'd say we're about 50% of the time and we're in central London.