Coldmode

But a lot of people do!

bigbuy

You are 100% correct. I carry the Amex Platinum, Citi Prestige and Chase Reserve as well as about 15 other live cards right now. I have a very old style FLIP PHONE and pay $35 per month. That's it, no other electronic gadgets at all.
The key word in your statement is "some".

notquiteaff

A lot of people also don't want their phone model or upgrade cycle dictated by a credit card company. It's not like the phone in the proposal is free.

jordan_h

The amount of discussion about this "free smartphone" issue is kind of funny given how insanely unrealistic it is that Amex is going to start sending out hundreds of thousands of free iPhones to card members every year.

davie355

I raised the issue so I'll comment. My point is Amex must do something big and unique like this to draw the attention of the millennials enraptured by Chase Sapphire. Amex's Membership Rewards is nowhere near as robust as Chase's Ultimate Rewards.

The overwhelming majority of well-off millennials are daily and heavy users of flagship smartphones. I have noticed that those complaining about my proposal, have not put forth any alternatives.

felicidad76

Back to topic please

davie355

You must not have read two sentences into my post. I did steer this back to topic.

roundtree

Based on the response to the CSR, it's pretty obvious that what millennials want is 100k points or more. Can't get much better swag than that.

davie355

Chase wasn't the first to offer 100k points. Citi (AA Exec) and Amex (Plat) have done the same; where were those Businessweek cover stories?

I will concede, however, Chase's 100k offer is far more lucrative, simply because of the strength of Chase UR.

mia

Indeed, American Express has offered 250,000 points in 2016.

roundtree

For certain, though I don't think the same caliber of people are getting approved for Amex Platinum that Chase is approving for CSR.

I think the issue is that Amex still wants to be exclusive, where Chase is on the corner asking every Joe if they want some. Will a new Amex card change that? I wouldn't expect it to. All the more reason that I think Amex will make changes to the existing Platinum, not introduce a new card. Given the churning going on, I know that most hope that I'm wrong.

skimple

tmiw

Personally, I'm leaning towards them tweaking Platinum instead of coming out with a brand new card. For instance, they could do the following:

• Platinum: PRG bonus categories + $300 travel credit + lounge access + free primary CDW.
• PRG: 3x dining/travel. Lower AF to $95/yr and eliminate the travel credit entirely.
• Eliminate Green/Gold for new cardholders.
• Combine EveryDay/EDP into one no-AF card (1.5x for all purchases or maybe 5x in rotating categories?)
• Change "once per lifetime" rule to something closer to Citi's or Chase's terms.

This way, PRG more closely competes with the CSP, while the Platinum competes more with the CSR/Prestige/etc. AmEx EveryDay also ends up more akin to Chase Freedom/Freedom Unlimited. Of course, a new card would be better for the signup bonus, especially if AmEx doesn't change the "once per lifetime" rule.

Honestly, I'm not sure it matters much. AmEx contactless cards are still opt-in (vs. opt-out in many other countries), so they could just send a plastic card if you wanted contactless. I also don't see the opt-in bit changing for a while to come.

I haven't had problems with metal cards getting stuck in such machines but I do get the concern.

I personally prefer contactless to be on the card for smaller purchases mainly because cashier training has been, let's say, less than great in the US. It's less awkward overall if they just see a card in your hand and activate the terminal (thinking you're going to swipe/insert) vs. trying to explain that you want to pay with a phone.

To be fair though, I've been putting as much as possible on the CSR while trying to make minimum spend and training definitely seems to have gotten better in the past few months.

chrisremo

The main thing that seems weird about introducing a new premium competitor to the Reserve is that one imagines the annual fee would have to be in the same neighborhood as the Reserve--and therefore the Platinum--in order to justify providing benefits that are comparable to or better to the Reserve. And if the benefits are comparable to or better than the Reserve's, that essentially makes them better than the Platinum's (other than Centurion lounge access)--and then what's the point of the Platinum anymore?

I suppose they could do something like leave Centurion lounge access off of this new card, especially since the lounges are already pretty packed, but that would be a somewhat frustrating move because then there would no longer be a clear "best" Amex travel card, and I can't imagine a lot of people are going to spend successive years paying multiple $450 simultaneous AFs to Amex.

jediwho

As a Platinum card holder. few months ago, I received a long survey (took more than 15 minutes to complete) from Amex for a premium card. My initial impressions from the survey were that it was very specific and Amex wanting to know if I was willing to pay separately for all the perks.

So, for instance, they could give us a card for free, or charge a massive AF and then give all of it in rebate like the Australian Amex Explorer, but with 1.5x rewards, some category rewards and traditional Amex perks. They could create three or four baskets that we could add for say $75 each.

Again, just as an example, you could have basket 1 that gave you Priority Pass and Centurion lounge access, basket 2 that offered 12 GoGo passes and unlimited Primary car rental; basket 3 with FHR and status with various hotels and car rental companies, and basket 4 with travel insurance that is better than Prestige.

At first I thought Amex was thinking about making changes to Platinum. After the introduction of Chase Reserve and also the fact that there are now nine (Platinum, Prestige, Chase Reserve, Ritz Carlton, City Crystal, Delta Reserve, United Club, Citi AA Exec, Amex Centurion) premium cards with overlapping perks and benefits, many may not want many of the benefits, and I think it might be a new Premium card that offers flexible perks as well as rewards category (similar to Amex Business Gold).

For someone like me, I would not care for any of the four baskets but would still like a premium card that offers better Membership Rewards earnings card.