Originally Posted by tangfish

It’s interesting to see the dichotomy here. Seems like the longer people have had the Cent card the less perceived value they find in it at present. In my own case I am pretty disenchanted at -18 years myself. Perhaps this is because the benefits tend to just degrade over time, with a rare exception once in awhile when a new one is actually useful (for me the 50% points back), the AF goes up, and we all might apparently have had a honeymoon period where we put effort into making use of the Concierge and whipping it out for notice by others.

These days I either do not use it in public or sneak it under the radar (insert or tap the machine without the associate noticing). I use it nearly exclusively for charges $5K and over and/or for things I might need purchase protection on. Aside from those two fairly minority forms of spend I focus most of my spend on 2.6% cash back via a boring B of A card. Cash is still king and I don’t know what to do with my over 2m MR points with no travel in my future for the time being. That and all point based reward systems are always subject to sudden devaluation.

The biggest insult to me from Amex is the Equinox (I don’t live within 2 states of one) and the Saks (it’s like being forced to buy gift cards to a random store I had no interest in prior). Aside from those two large slaps in the face I was a pretty content cardholder before the recent changes, which were all negative in my opinion.

Yet there are still those on this thread here striving in vain to get into our crappy little club and spending a lot to do so. The grass is always greener I suppose.