Yep, that was the word. Lots of wealthy Japanese leave their Japan issued AMEX behind when they go to the UK and Europe because of this.

In that sense, yes they do get unwanted attention like "OMG, your card's so lame, it doesn't even have a chip on it! LOL" Seriously, it doesn't matter if it's made of titanium or have the benefits, the physical AMEX Platinum or Centurion Card is far less technologically behind to a IC chipped card/contactless card issued by regular VISA card in places that already made the switch to ban the mag-stripe. What you just have is an expensive card that is more and more becoming useless outside of the US.

And when I learned of this, I woke up and saw why the heck am I paying so much in annual fees for US issued AMEX cards when they don’t even have a chip on it and still just relies on the mag-stripe?

It doesn't add any benefit to security in this day and age of skimming either. It’s like continuing to pay $500 every year and all you get is a plain old analog brick phone (okay, so maybe it's made out of titanium; who cares?) that only works with a specific analog cell phone frequency that's only used in the US, when everybody else is paying far far less for a GSM/3G smartphone that works everywhere; including the US.

If I’m paying $500 in annual fees, I’d at least expect an EMV chip or contactless feature or even both built into it along with the mag-stripe.