jhartvu

Yes, that's this particular user's MO. I've learned to just ignore him/her in threads--it's all nonsense about how poorly Amex is doing. I assume s/he works for Visa.

YoungSoloTraveler

When I am abroad, for some reason anything AMEX gold or higher is regarded as a "high end card". Maybe people see the word gold and get excited

YoungSoloTraveler

Krisflyer miles are among the easiest to accrue. I would earn and burn lowly citi miles then waste AMEX miles.

I wish ANA didn't take away their generous stopover programs or that would be the sole program I'd ever transfer to.

And usually there is 1 or at max 2 suite awards available, so I don't know how you are going to fit your whole family up front.

carzin

I think AMEX has gone way down. For the first time in years, we no longer use, or have, an AMEX card for our daily spending. In the last 5 years, we spent around 5-7k a month on either the Gold Premiere or Platinum. We've seen the benefits go down, significantly, while the costs remain the same. We said goodbye to the Gold Card when they got rid of the 15k extra points. Since Delta was no longer offering any bonuses, the card was no longer competitive. The Platinum is still nice, but we dump it when we aren't planning to travel much. Just no advantage to holding an expensive card. We would have kept it if they offered the same points program as the Premiere Gold.

We have been spending everything on the Arrival Plus card and have been quite happy. We spent a month in Paris and it has no foreign exchange fees as well as being more widely accepted (and it is chip AND pin). The rewards program ends up being 2.2 cents per dollar spent, so it is pretty good.

James Fleming

Same here carzin; similar level as spending as you now all on the Chase SP card with it's generous bonuses, greater acceptance in Europe and primary rental insurance. I love when I call customer service I'm straight through to a human.

Still keep the Platinum for lounge access, SPG Gold, Costco and high value electronics purchases for the warranty. Once a year I'll book a nice restaurant through the concierge and they always come through. I wonder if Amex make enough from the card fee for the membership to be profitable without swipe fees?

pugsley21

So I haven't been a AMX cardholder long. I just got my 1st AMX this month (Platinum). I have held many cards and I finally pulled the trigger on the Plat. due to the MR offer and some of the benefits that still outweigh the annual fee.

Upon arrival I immediately got PP set up, Emerald Club (then had Hertz status match to Five Diamond), applied for Global Entry and even took advantage of a few of the Sync offers (Whole Foods spend $50 get 1k MRs). I am going to take advantage of the Centurion clubs a few times this year with travel to Vegas.

Where I do think the AMX lacks is actually against my Chase Sapphire Preferred in Primary Rental coverage. I know many people might think I'm crazy for thinking this is a priority, but I was hit in my rental car last year by an uninsured driver. The damage was over $3k and my CSP card benefit covered the entire cost with no hassle.

Will this AMX Platinum be my "primary" card, no. Is it beneficial for me to keep it, yes, IMO.

snic

Sure, except that there is no Citi card (that I'm aware of) that gives you more than 1 point for purchases that fall outside the bonus categories. So, I actually AM accumulating Citi points, but for all spend that doesn't earn a bonus, I use an Amex Everday, which gets me an extra 0.2 points per dollar. (I should probably get an Everyday Preferred, which nets an extra 0.5 point.)


We might not be able to travel on the same day. There are 3 of us, and if one of us travels a day or two after the other 2 leave, that will be fine. In fact, the plan is to try to get to Australia, and there is lots of availability in business class (and sometimes even Suites) SIN-Australia. So one way to do it will be that two of us will have a stopover in SIN of a day or two, while the third leaves later and joins the other two in SIN before we board the plane to SYD or wherever.

So, all that's required is 2 Suites awards available within 1 or 2 days of 1 Suite award (and repeat on the return). This is not impossible - and with SQ's waitlisting, it may even be possible for all of us to travel together!

mia

There is a 15% Relationship Bonus for spend on the Prestige card if you open a Citigold account.

Mach5

25% on Prestige for Private Bank.

YoungSoloTraveler

Churning is still alive over at citi but yes good plan for SQ. Last minute does work, although it takes some guts. (I'm banking on it for my next trip, or start looking at some extra "hotel fees" per day that is delayed.

onthego15

I am using AMEX more and more and keeping my AMEX cards (and just got a new one last week) and letting go of other company's cards. I earn hundreds of dollars every year in cashback and special offers (despite being single and retired with low spend). Other companies can't touch what AMEX is giving me.

fly7b2

I'm still a fan! I was disappointed when they introduced non-US call centers on some of higher-end products. I rarely call, but when I do I always ask to speak to someone in the US, and they almost always comply.

s0ssos

Lots of examples. Samsung-tries doing high-end and low-end. Coach-no longer a luxury brand in the US. Many automakers have a different "brand" for high-end and low-end (Toyota and Lexus) but the Germans seem able to do both (I guess that begs the question whether 30k for a car is low-end. Apparently in Germany though a Benz is anything special and there are cheap cars there)

s0ssos

You can sign up for Amex's extra car rental insurance, something like $20 per rental.

Vasco

Your point is valid, though in Germany: VW->Audi->Bugatti; and in Italy: Fiat->Alfa Romeo->Maserati->Ferrari. Etc.

Plenty of companies are able to occupy various positions in a market, as you point out. I think Amex has done it somewhat successfully in the past, especially when they introduced Blue. Though I would agree that the waters are a bit muddied these days, not just with Amex, but across the board.