ijgordon

Huh? AFAIK, there is a fee on all overseas purchases on the Amex -- it's 2%, built into the currency conversion (and not to mention that they usually try and charge you more -- check the math!). I believe most other cards charge fees of 1-3%, depending on the issuer bank, so clearly this "World" product is at the upper end and not particularly competitive.

benjy

Sticking with AMEX Plat. Much better benefits including discounts with Hertz, Marriott, FedX. The flex mile offer is not enough to make me jump ship.

J.Edward

There's some good threads on currency conversions as per this thread on FT:

Fee Listing for Foreign Exchanges - Very Useful! ^^

Foreign exchange: A refresher course

BenjaminNYC

Awesome. Hilarious. ^

senatorgirth

As I understand it, this new card only offers the opportunity to earn a limited number of EQMs, and it does not offer the usual 1-for-1, dollar-for-bonus mile industry standard, correct? Frankly, I charge c. $50K/year on my AMEX and would prefer 50k bonus miles rather than 4,000 EQM.

I would think that the Elite Access perks are not much of a benefit to most who would hold this card as I suspect that the vast majority are probably CO elites. Furthermore, the most valuable Elite Access benefit--being able to get priority coach seating when buying your ticket--is not applicable with this credit card deal.

Finally, the card does not offer SPG (or Hilton) Gold benefits like AMEX Plat. Most other AMEX Plat benefits are generally over-hyped, but the hotel status is nice. Unfortunately, this card doesn't seem to offer anything in that area.

Xyzzy

You earn 1 bonus mile per dollar spent and 2 bonus miles per dollar spent with Continental. Your 50k example nets you both 50k bonus miles and 4kEQM.

hlburi

Be wary of Chase credit cards. They are revising the Terms of Agreement to essentially do away with the Grace period. Now, you will begin incurring finance charges from the transaction date.

yellow77

hiburi, unless you have received a different revision to the terms than I did, then I think that this is a misreading. They changed a sentence saying how they calculate the finance charge. They did not (I believe) change the sentence in the original terms that follows, saying that they waived the finance charge if you paid your balance in full at the end of the previous month. If you do that (and you should think twice about having any credit card if you don't) then I don't think this is a reason for getting mad at Chase - after all, plenty of other credit card providers do that too (Amex, for one, at least on my card).

familyflier

Thank you for the correction! I neglected to mention that from an ages old promotion I still get 2% back on this card for international travel charges regarding car hire and hotel reservations. This negates the 2% fee (or at least that's what I tell myself to keep from getting aggravated).

Rawhide

I was just reading the website for this card and noticed the part

"Apply for the Continental Airlines Presidential PlusSM Card and enjoy a suite of exclusive privileges available only to a select group of travelers."

Who is the select group of travelers? Is this a by invitation only card?

UA Insider

Hi Rawhide, invitations for the Presidental Plus card were sent to a very limited audience, but for now we'll also be honoring applications from customers who didn't receive the mailing.

robmarrone

I couldn't agree more. I have the personal Amex Plat and the Chase WC. I am canceling the WC at next renewal. Amex's benefits from extended warrantees, SPG Gold membership, Avis Select Preferred, Plat Travel Services to the Concierge put this and any other Chase card to shame. Not to mention they put in the packet how you will get a concierge service. They also market that with the Chase WC. In three years I haven't even been able to get the phone number for this so called concierge. Chase has ruined its reputation with its lack of service toward CO card holders and broken promises. The only way I would pay them a dime is if it included Silver Status. And again, if you spend enough on the card every year to get 25K EQM and Silver Status you may as well get an Amex Cent/Black Card. You get Gold Status automatically. I don't see this program lasting very long...

Weatherboy

The other interesting marketing collaterall in the invite is the letter that it comes with --this is the first time I've received any marketing material from CO "on behalf of Larry Kellner" ...and signed (albeit digitally) "Larry". I guess this is supposed to make the invitation seem even more premium and exclusive.

But as others have said, this offer just isn't worth it for me. And as others have said, there really isn't much sense in keeping the regular CO Chase cards open either. With occaisional offers from Amex like 25% bonuses on transfers of -all- points and not just points from CO purchases, Amex has the potential to award more OnePass miles than CO's own card with Chase.

I also don't trust Chase. There seems to be modifications to the cardholder agreement on a monthly basis -or more often, with supplemental updates that come in between statements. If I do charge anything to my card, I usually pay it off online even before my statement is printed.

I wish CO would dump Chase all together and just pick a better bank partner that could provide a better overall customer experience.

castle

I thought it was a Seasons Greetings card before I opened it.

J.Edward

Well said. ^