American Express Membership Rewards - AmEx Plum Card - "Charter" member

I received a letter several weeks ago from AmEx Plum Card letting me know that I was number 100 something to have received the Plum Card and that they had already passed the 10,000 charter member limit in issueing the card.

So, what does it mean to be a Charter Member of the Plum Card?

By the way, this is a wonderful card with 2% cash back applied to your next statement and no preset spending limit.

So, what does it mean to be a Charter Member of the Plum Card?

I would guess that it means very, very, very little in tangible benefits.

So, what does it mean to be a Charter Member of the Plum Card?


(from the "Welcome Plum Card Charter Member" letter we received...)

~ Opportunity to promote your business through PlumCard.com and Plum Card Advertising.
~ Create a digital card with your business name on it
~ They provide you with a customized Plum Card “Who’s getting one?” arrow to display on your own business website
~ Opportunity to be on the Plum Card advisory board

So...yeah, very little...

By the way, this is a wonderful card with 2% cash back applied to your next statement and no preset spending limit.

It is a cool looking card and I actually thought about getting one myself. However, depending on tax brackets and ultimate planned use of miles/cash back, 2% cash back isn't necessarily the best option.

This has been discussed several times here, but for instance, one can redeem 100,000 Membership Rewards points (plus taxes/fees) for a business class ticket US-Europe. In this case, assuming one was spending $100,000, they would be trading $2,000 in cash back, but that is essentially taxable income since it will be a credit to your account/decrease in expenses. Assuming a 40% overall tax rate, this is actually only worth $1,200. Some would value a business class ticket to Europe at more than $1,200, some wouldn't.

It really depends on what you want to accomplish with the card, and that is why I have both the Plum and a standard MR charge card as well, that way I can choose which way to funnel my business money that makes the most sense for me at the time.

I must say, the Plum card is pretty sweet looking, and it has very unique benefits. One of the best for me is that I get a 5% discount on Yahoo Search Marketing online advertising (because of the OPEN Savings benefit) plus the 2% back on top of that. So I am saving almost 7%. Considering I spend $30,000/month through Yahoo, this is nearly a $2100 savings per month pre tax. That's incredible.

I just got my card early last month, and I'm sure I'm in that initial 10,000 (that's what the activation guy said anyway) but I never got a Charter Member letter though.

Ethan

The 5% back for Yahoo is a great deal, but the yearly maximum savings is $500.00 . But you can multiple Open Accounts (Starwood,Plum,Delta.....)

So I am saving almost 7%. Considering I spend $30,000/month through Yahoo, this is nearly a $2100 savings per month pre tax. That's incredible.


The 5% back for Yahoo is a great deal, but the yearly maximum savings is $500.00.

Ahh...the fine print. Gets you every time :(

I got my card in early February but haven't received anything about being a charter member. Maybe it's only for the first 100 or first 1000 members?

Regarding Yahoo cash back, it's capped at $500/year - maxed it out on all of my OPEN cards already.

It really depends on what you want to accomplish with the card, and that is why I have both the Plum and a standard MR charge card as well, that way I can choose which way to funnel my business money that makes the most sense for me at the time.

I must say, the Plum card is pretty sweet looking, and it has very unique benefits. One of the best for me is that I get a 5% discount on Yahoo Search Marketing online advertising (because of the OPEN Savings benefit) plus the 2% back on top of that. So I am saving almost 7%. Considering I spend $30,000/month through Yahoo, this is nearly a $2100 savings per month pre tax. That's incredible.

I just got my card early last month, and I'm sure I'm in that initial 10,000 (that's what the activation guy said anyway) but I never got a Charter Member letter though.

Ethan

Crappy, I didn't know that about Yahoo. Oh well, the 2% is still a good deal in my opinion.

The charter was for the first 10,000 members/card holders.

Slovacek