Why Does Amex insist on a metal Platinum Card?
May 7, 2019, 1:18 pm
#31
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Same here. I can’t go through the scanner with my wallet in certain courthouses because both my Plat and my Chase Sapp are metal. Not a problem, as I now put my wallet in my briefcase going in.
May 7, 2019, 6:03 pm
#33
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Tahoe
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Plain and simple: Metal cards make people feel special.
Considering it takes all of about 0.5 seconds to grab my wallet and put it with my phone in a bin/bag before going through the metal detector, I think this would be a pretty easy inconvenience to live with. The card is pretty useless for everyday spend anyway, so why not just leave it out when not travelling?
Considering it takes all of about 0.5 seconds to grab my wallet and put it with my phone in a bin/bag before going through the metal detector, I think this would be a pretty easy inconvenience to live with. The card is pretty useless for everyday spend anyway, so why not just leave it out when not travelling?
May 7, 2019, 9:29 pm
#35
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The Plat card is my flagship card, but my Blue Business Plus and Gold cards are my everyday workhorse cards.
May 8, 2019, 10:08 am
#36
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My Platinum card is plastic; however my Marriott Visa is metal. I rarely use my American Express Platinum in person, saving it for the airfare bonus, and other purchases with specific bonuses (usually online). Some hotels insist on processing the card on arrival (though thankfully rare), claiming they cannot "use the 'card on file' (linked to the reservation). Also, Centurion clubs need to see it.
May 8, 2019, 11:58 am
#37
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I used to be more bothered when metal used to mean no contactless functionality. Now that they've mostly figured out a solution, I'm mostly fine either way. (Besides, I already put my wallet in my bag before going through security anyway, so that's not a problem.) "Mostly" because I saw this gem recently:
That said, I'm not going to lie--metal cards do feel higher quality.
Speaking of which, this report might be interesting to some. I'm not sure an individual envelope containing a metal card is going to be that much of an impact, but I can see it being significant in aggregate.
That said, I'm not going to lie--metal cards do feel higher quality.
May 8, 2019, 2:27 pm
#38
Join Date: Nov 2013
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I used to be more bothered when metal used to mean no contactless functionality. Now that they've mostly figured out a solution, I'm mostly fine either way. (Besides, I already put my wallet in my bag before going through security anyway, so that's not a problem.) "Mostly" because I saw this gem recently:
Can you still pay? Or it's just irrelevant, contactless is just a mean, and if the merchant doesn't take AMEX, being contactless won't solve anything?
May 8, 2019, 2:36 pm
#39
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Just a question regarding this... so let's say you are out of country, and the payment terminal accepts contactless but not AMEX.
Can you still pay? Or it's just irrelevant, contactless is just a mean, and if the merchant doesn't take AMEX, being contactless won't solve anything?
Can you still pay? Or it's just irrelevant, contactless is just a mean, and if the merchant doesn't take AMEX, being contactless won't solve anything?
May 8, 2019, 3:28 pm
#41
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NJ, Bay Area CA
Programs: CO Plat
Posts: 162
Same here. I kept having to replace my plastic Plat card because of cracks in the mag strip. For whatever reason it only seamed to happen on that card.
May 8, 2019, 3:54 pm
#42
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
One reason is that they have committed to reduce use of conventional plastics, and metal is the only alternative that is ready to use today:
Read more here:
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-c...astic-card.php
Read more here:
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-c...astic-card.php
You can read about Coco-cola's push to reduce usage of plastic as well. And find sites where they actually track their progress, and you find they actually dont' do much.
So, how many people recycle their metal cards?
May 9, 2019, 3:38 pm
#44
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May 9, 2019, 4:35 pm
#45
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Also, FWIW, one of the comments here indicates that the Platinum is definitely a lot thicker than CSP/CSR--to the point where it won't fit into gas pumps. It's possible that AmEx tweaked the card later to fix that, though.