Motors

Well Tesco is split up into so many different companies, maybe a particular part of Tesco hasn't paid their bill!

badgerdirect

Had no problem paying on the grocery website with Amex, but I think that they actually process the transaction in the delivery store once the actual shopping has been done, whereas I think the Tesco Direct site processes online as soon as the purchase is made.

Tesco DVD Rental don't take amex (but that's run by LoveFilm anyway).

A Man Ray Kind Of Sky

Only minutes ago I bought a new microwave on the Tesco Direct site, using my Amex. It's a showbiz life.... but I thought I'd share it with you.

Globaliser

I was in PC World earlier today and the assistant said that they can successfully take some Amex cards but not all. Some will reject. So this may be a similar problem rather than anything sinister.

BA or bust

Are the top ups of Oyster treated as as a purchase? Or a cash advance?

I can't reconcile my spend this month to my miles balances (have a P+ card). I think I am not getting 1.5*miles for my Oyster top ups. Or is it something else?

G-BOAC

My Oyster auto top-up goes on my Plat so I have at least one transaction a month usually. That at least is just a purchase there and not an advance.

Raffles

Purchase - both Amex and MBNA treat it as such

Raffles

Amex acceptance works in weird ways. My MBNA Amex was refused last month for a £500 charge. I then handed over my MBNA Mastercard (ie same card issuer) and it went through without any problems.

Globaliser

Top ups are definitely purchase.

The apparent mismatch with the mileage earned may be to do with the fact that miles are now calculated and transferred to BA six days or so before the statement date. Miles for purchases in the last six days or so before the end of the billing cycle are carried forward and transferred in the following month. This makes it more difficult to work out whether everything is correct. But if you click on the "BA Miles to be transferred to your next British Airways Executive Club statement" link in the online statement, you can see a transaction-by-transaction breakdown.

layz

When you make an Amex transaction the terminal will contact Amex directly for authentication. A transaction with Visa/MC is authenticated through the bank that provided the terminal.

I suspect some terminals are not set up correctly for Amex, I've had transactions declined and when I've phoned Amex they claim that there was no request for authorisation made by the retailer, in these instances usually trying another terminal will help.

botham

Retailers (small businesses) have a perception that transaction charges, when accepting AMEX, are higher than for VISA and Mastercard, so many outlets don't accept AMEX. I have just tried to make a large purchase with my AMEX, which would immediately give me my 241, but they didn't accept AMEX, so I have used my BMI VISA. It can be a real nuisance.

PTM

It is not a perception, it is a reality that Amex charge higher transaction fees to merchants. I would assume all merchants, not just small business are charged more by Amex. Hence some large businesses like John Lewis and Boots only recently started to accept the card as a payment method.

Our transaction fees are 1.5% for Visa/Mastercard and 3.05% for Amex. So over 50% more expensive to process an Amex payment.

I have heard that they are starting to become more competitive with regard to fees, so it may be worth asking places where you shop regularly to look into it again, especially if they were quoted something obscene years ago. I know people who were quoted upto 7% in the past! We have some suppliers who didn't accept Amex but with our pressure, and in some cases an offer to pay a fraction of the fees they now accept it. Of course some still refuse outright, so we don't use them anymore, I simply request that they contact me when they do!

Blue Box Flynn

virtualtroy

I know this has been raised a few times over the course of this thread: do you need to pay for a flight ticket / hire car / hotel room using the card (or any other AmEx card) in order to take advantage of the travel insurance benefits offered by the card?

I'd never been quite sure of the answer and had previously understood that an AmEx card in your name had to be used in order to get the benefits (e.g. you could use the BA AmEx and still be protected by the travel insurance benefits cover offered with the Platinum charge card).

I've now got the book of words from AmEx specifying cover in each category and nowhere, apart from for the purchase protection-related benefit (i.e. you buy something and it gets lost or damaged within 90 days), does it state that you actually have to use any AmEx card in order to be covered. It does specify that in the event that you make a claim, say, for delayed baggage that replacement clothing should be charged to the card, but in practice I know this isn't set in stone: on the only occasion I've ever claimed against this cover, the merchants I went to in CAI unsurprisingly wouldn't accept AmEx. So I charged it to my Visa card and kept the receipts.

I'm kind of kicking myself, with the benefit of hindsight, as there are quite a few occasions over the years where the flight delay benefit (kicks in after 4 hours) would've allowed me to spend £150 each on dinner. Similarly all the times I've been cajoled into taking car hire insurance from the rental company, when faced with threats of all the amounts you might be required to stump up should something go wrong and you haven't taken their cover.

The 'travel inconvenience' benefit does seem a little thin as it's limited to £150 per person in the event of a delay, which doesn't exactly cover an alternative ticket, should this be the only option. But the cover is comparatively generous in many other regards.

Does anyone disagree with my interpretation that the cover is automatic to the primary and any supplementary cardholders, even if the flight tix etc. aren't bought using the card?

Disco Volante

No