Originally Posted by
SpaethCo
I suspect this is somewhat intentional. Losing something you just bought feels worse, so you're going to tend to remember and tell a bunch of people if Amex can help resolve that situation. The window is short enough that Amex both reduces their exposure and maximizes the marketing aspect of the feature.
You hit the nail on the head with the marketing exposure. Loss from 90 days from the date of purchase is a statistically improbable even. A gimmick designed to get big spenders to put their 1% spend on there for "convenience". And it works.
The extended manufacturer warranty has some actual utility IMO. That is a very common feature of many credit cards though. Even if AMEX has the best coverage here, what is the frequency of which this is used, and what is lost using other cards?
It is almost like reverse insurance purchasing. Most financial experts will tell you to take all of the money you'd spend in insurance, warranties, etc and self-insure. In the unlikelihood of loss, you are statistically much better off. I think this is fairly similar.
While I agree that included protections on credit cards are a great thing (and much better than buying them), I still can't agree that it would be the center of my purchasing habits. I earn thousands per year in rewards. I honestly can't remember a time that I needed to use these things, and in what universe it would have been worth throwing away thousands.