Is it Amex as a company, or a particular program like Membership Rewards that you want to stay away from?

If the latter, consider the Starwood American Express card -- miles will transfer into any of the above programs 1:1 with a 5k bonus for transferring 20k points, so you earn 1.25 miles per dollar. Plus the fee is lower.

But if you refuse to carry an Amex card, there's nothing whatever wrong with the AS Visa. It's a good card, and I like the annual $50 companion ticket that comes along with it.