AMEX Canada spending patterns that get you in trouble?
 

Backstory - Last year I held a Marriott Visa card. After ~6 months I was kicked out of the program, they wouldn't say why. My credit score is through the roof. I always pay bills on time and often ahead of schedule. My guess although they wouldn't answer questions - I'm extremely good at generating points. My business runs 10-12 events in a year that are run at Marriott hotels. I used the card to pay for all of these events. Since they paid 5 points on a $1 of spend at a Marriott and we assume a point is worth ~$0.0075 then my events cost Visa approx 3.25%. Ok.

Fast forward to 2018 I just applied for and received a SPG AMEX (Personal). Before I make the same mistake again I would like to know if anyone has any experience.

What spending patterns (if any) have you seen get people in trouble with AMEX? (again I always pay my bills on time).

Cheers
Mark

CAUTION: It was not apparent until post 19 that the questions pertain to American Express Canada, and most of what follows is more appropriate for USA-issued cards.


Do you mean that your Marriott co-brand credit card was cancelled by Chase -or- that your Marriott Rewards account was closed by Marriott -or- both? If your credit card was closed by Chase, did they also close any other card or bank accounts?

Chase cancelled
 

Mia - thanks for the quick reply. It was Chase that cancelled the Visa. Marriott still likes me.

Cheers
Mark

Welcome to FT!

Keep your monthly spend across all accounts within ~30% of your stated income.

It is improbable that Chase closed your card account(s) due to rewards. Discussion here:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...solidated.html


American Express does not like to see spending that is disproportionate to your known financial resources. If they see high spending, and they are unable to independently verify your income, they may conduct a Financial Review, as discussed here. During a Financial Review all of your American Express accounts are frozen, and (typically) they will ask for proof of income in a specific form. They will not be friendly, they will not negotiate.:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...iscussion.html

Because you opened a personal card, rather than a business card, they will only be interested in your personal income, your ability to pay even if you do not receive reimbursement from your employer or clients. If you had a business card account they would still look primarily at your personal resources, but would also look at the business's resources.

The only kind of trouble you are going to get from your Amex SPG is if you spend over hundred thousand dollars at a strip club and dispute the charge it. 'Scores' Lawsuit over $241,000 tab settled - Mar. 8, 2006 Amex lets me go over my SPG credit line all the time and I pay in full.

Indeed, but I daresay you are not a new cardholder ;) .

@mia possibly true - I will never know the why. You and and @Troopers are basically suggesting the same thing.

Does it make sense to apply for a business card as well?
@Centurion don't worry I'm never going to strip club, let alone rack up that kind of spend.

All is it normal that fylertak 150% CPU (Dual Core) and 2.67GB RAM on a mid-2015 MBP, under Safari current version? (This seems a tad high)

Yes. and it might be why chase cancelled your account: putting business expenses on personal card.
Upgrade your ram, regardless.

Which is why I only use cash at a strip club. Women like cash:D

Pretty sure that's just how much RAM his FT process is using, not his total.

Correct. Sorry I hadn't meant this to become a focus. I was just blown away about much flyertalk used in terms of resources. I briefly wondered about background bitcoin mining via the ads. My machine has 16GB of RAM. It should be able to handle a forum open in a browser :-).

I will be applying for the business card in the next few days. Thanks to all for the advice.

Cheers
Mark

You're not the only one having these issues https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tech...ram-usage.html

It could be secret crypto mining :p