FlyerTalk Forums - Metal Credit Cards, Important to you? Why?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawkeyeFlyer (Post 28694150)

Seems that many premier cards are now coming out with Metal cards.

In 1966 American Express introduced the Gold card, Platinum in 1984. VISA and MasterCard mimicked and then devalued these designations because they cannot effectively control the issuing banks. See Forbes:

Quote:

By the mid-1990s, gold and platinum credit cards were no longer unique to AmEx. MasterCard and Visa credit cards also began to use the terms as a sign of exclusivity. In 1998, each of the eight largest banks in the U.S. issued a “gold” credit card, and three of the eight issued a “platinum” card, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

These “exclusive” deals quickly became not-so-exclusive. In a frenzy to clinch market share, some major issuers sent out preapproved platinum and gold credit card offers to massive mailing lists. By the first quarter of 2002, almost a third of households held platinum credit cards,

... the same has happened with VISA Signature and MasterCard World, and is happening now with MasterCard World Elite and perhaps with VISA Infinite.

Likewise, American Express introduced the metal (titanium) version of the Centurion card 2004~2006, and now other issuers are mimicking it to the point that it will no longer seem distinctive.

Even though posters in this thread seem indifferent to metal cards, there was a great deal of enthusiasm when American Express (USA) introduced the metal version of the Platinum card:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...etal-card.html