Anyone have an american express

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Cup of Joe

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From the Costco question. Anyone have an American Express? What are the positives and negatives? If I join Costco I guess I will get an american express card. I prefer to the limit the number of cards I have. I have a whooping 2 now and I don't really want another one.

I guess I could manage one of each but yuck. I get good rewards on the venture card and I use the purchase eraser on airfare.
 
I'm a fan of AMEX. Fantastic customer service, FedEx Overnight Delivery of lost/hacked cards, etc. The only con is that some merchants do not accept them.
 
I used to have one when they offered free travel insurance, but I only used to book flights.

Mastercard and Visa are accepted everywhere, and I have a good rewards program that returns some decent $ over the year.
 
Ditto!

I have a corporate Amex and it's a good card. My mom used one when she visited me while I was living in Germany. Her card was stolen on the train. We went to the Amex office in Monaco and she had a replacement card in 30 minutes.

Originally Posted By: eugenem
I'm a fan of AMEX. Fantastic customer service, FedEx Overnight Delivery of lost/hacked cards, etc. The only con is that some merchants do not accept them.
 
I just use my Dillards card at Costco. It is an AMEX, and I use my rewards coupons form Dillards when I buy suits.
 
I really couldnt care less the brand on my credit card, as long as the deal it provides is good.

But remember - credit cards for CONVENIENCE, NOT CREDIT!!!!

Borrowing money on CCs is not a good deal.

Biggest question - does your local costco sell gas? If so, it is likely a good bet to get.

Some places dont take AMEX, but we have a visa too, so it does not matter much. I optimize my cards to what Im buying - but as I said in the other thread, nobody has ever gotten ahead spending their way to a freebie or cash back from a CC.

Does the costco AMEX have a yearly fee? Do they comp you a costco membership? Id be wary of that if they do. We didnt get one because our local costco does not sell gas, so weve just gone cash and dont worry about it. IIRC, the rebate on non-gas purchases is only 1%.
 
AMEX, is, in my opinion, the best credit card company out there. Plenty of consumer protection options, instant customer support, appropriate rebates on fuel purchases and so on.

My Costco card provides a small rebate on fuel purchases. Very nice indeed!!!! Especially when I top off my aircraft.... (just kidding, it does not cover Avgas)
 
Ya they sell gas. I pay my bills in full each month so no worries there. You get the card minus yearly fees if you have a Costco membership so there are some perks.

My issue with gas is I have a Smith's card which is a grocery chain. You get cash off your gas purchase for shopping there. Its been a better deal to just use it for buying gas at Smith's. I prefer less cards myself and less headaches. I use my Visa for everything and use purchase eraser on my travel. I have been happy with that. I am not crazy about cash back coupons.
 
I have the Costco AMEX also. No additional fee, other than the Costco yearly membership. I get 3% on any gas, 2% on travel expenses, and 1% all else. There is a max limit on the amount of gas at 3%. The rebate comes back as a check once per year and I cash it at my Costco when it comes in. Were it not for the Costco membership, I probably wouldn't have it. The spouse's card is also a separate account number (but one bill), so when one is lost, the other card can still be used. All of our other cards require the whole account to be shut down until you both receive new cards. That has been a plus at least once.
 
No negatives. If a vendor does not accept American Express, I do not purchase from him/her

My Visa has been comprimised twice. I started using my American Express as my only credit card. No problems.
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Maybe hackers frauds and thieves aren't looking for Amex numbers.
 
My Costco AMEX is my preferred CC. I don't know the current details, but when I used my Costco AMEX to buy an LCD at Costco a few years ago, it gave me an additional one year of warranty coverage.
 
I have a Costco Amex. It is pretty good for the cashback, although I'll use Discover if they are running a 5% promo or I can get cashback through ShopDiscover online.

Extended warranty and purchase protection is pretty standard now. Discover offers nearly the same protection and quite a few Visa and MCs do too. Nice to have though. Amex does offer an inexpensive rental car insurance that will be primary coverage (as opposed to the "standard" credit card coverage you always read about).

My card has been compromised though. FWIW, Amex caught it before I even realized it. I checked my email getting ready for work and had an email from Amex saying they froze my account due to strange activity. So I called and I had been hit like 5-6 times over night with strange charges. After the first couple Amex automatically started denying them. I told them when my activity stopped and they lopped off all the fraudulent ones and overnighted a new card. Real easy.
 
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Great company, I have the Lowes Amex because I get points and 5% off everything I buy at Lowes. Last year I spent $30k at Lowes so 5% is worth $1,500.
 
The customer service is good when it's an actual Amex card, rather than an outside company using Amex's name. I don't have the Costco card but have never had problems with any of the Amex cards I have.

I would have said if you were looking for gas rewards to go to Penfed but that appears to be in flux right now.
 
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
Great customer service. The only two down sides is some places don't accept it and there is a $95 member fee every year....


But does not it somehow count against your costco (executive perhaps) membership?
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
Great customer service. The only two down sides is some places don't accept it and there is a $95 member fee every year....


But does not it somehow count against your costco (executive perhaps) membership?


It might i'm not sure. I use sams club since that is whats near me. That would be a good thing since I get hit with the $95 every October! lol
 
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We used the AX card for all gas and restaurant purchases.Our cash back is $800 to $1000 per. year. Where can you do better than 2% on restaurant and 3% on gas as a rebate every day?
 
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