Originally Posted by
Super Mario
You are likely not the only person thinking this way. Further contributing to the theory that the crowding isn't going away, just another price increase.
Not everyone will think this, and likely only a minority of people will even realize it is possible. From there it is a funnel effect:
- Of those who know you can add an AU, many are business Plat holders which is $350 each add'l card
- Of those who have a personal Plat, many won't know it is $175 for 3 cards.
- Of those who know it's $175 for 3, many won't have 2-3 people in their inner circle who they trust with an Amex card (or fly with them enough to hold onto the cards and just hand out at the airport)
- Of those who have 2-3 they trust, many of the potential AUs won't want to give up their SSN to someone else just to get lounge access
- Of those who have AUs willing to give up an SSN, many potential AUs won't want to have someone else's payment history showing up on their credit report.
Yes, probably a lot of spouses will get added, and Amex will likely change it to $175 per AU at some point in the next 24-36 months (and/or bump up the spend requirement for a waiver to $100k), but I doubt millions of people will be rushing to sign up 3 people onto their card. Those who do will likely find pushback from potential candidates once the SSN needs to get handed over.
Something tells me the vast majority of people doing this will be just for a spouse, with some extra doing it for their children as well (again with the caveat that some kids won't trust their parents' on-time payment ability and some parents won't trust their kids with a CC). Beyond that, you are talking about friends, co-workers, and extended family as guests which I think will only have a small minority where they will become AUs.