What's the point of an American Express card?

It's basically a Discover Card wrote:

anyone who used an Amex Card also has a Visa or Mastercard because there are places that don't accept them.

I do. But I don't get $1000+ per year back from them.

I think pretty much every card has car rental insurance.

I agree.

As others have mentioned AMEX has pretty good customer service. Also their membership rewards program is pretty good (can transfer miles to many different airlines, hotels, etc).

Personally I signed up because of their membership rewards points structure. I received 75K points to sign up, receive double points on groceries and the gold card gives you a 15K point bonus for spending $30K a year. So all in all it works well.

Plus the other random perks (advanced ticket sales to events, etc).

I have the Costco AMEX which is free with my Costco Membership. I rake up 800-1000 from purchases. I travel and rent cars 100+ days a year. AMEX already has rental car insurance but they have a premium rental car insurance thats 25 bucks for 40 days of rentals. Its better insurance with no deductible. I also have a Chase Priority Club Visa for hotel points and remain a Platinum member. The travel cards typically don't charge for foreign transactions.

clueless111 wrote:

From what I've heard, you have to put your own money into the card. Wouldn't that be like having a debit card? I also know they have many benefits like points, traveling, etc. I know CapitalOne or Discovery give you a credit limit (lets say $1000), so it lets you have access to money you don't have. I'm just confused on why I should have an AE versus any other credit card.

Are you just stupid or do you seriously not understand the concept of a C-R-E-D-I-T card?

Not all Amex cards are traditional credit cards; the green, gold, platinum, and centurion cards are charge cards. They are "pay in full" cards, while you can carry a balance the interest is extremely high.

Now that doesn't mean you need money on the card (similar to a debit card), but it is a bit of a hybrid between the two.

if you don't travel and/or eat out a lot, like i presume most people on here don't, then it is a waste. however, if one does travel and eat out a lot, the platinum is well worth the annual fee. it has access to many sky clubs in airports (although united recently axed amex), gets free upgrades in many hotels into suites, late checkout times in hotels, a great concierge that can get tables at hard-to-get restaurants that appear to be completely booked and all sorts of other perks. amex also doesn't apply a surcharge to all foreign currency transactions like visa and mastercard do. getting clipped for an extra 3% on every charge when abroad adds up.

rental car insurance isn't something anyone needs unless they have liability-only coverage on their personal auto policy..

Amex just capped the amount you can get 6% back on from grocery shopping - now it is the first $6,000. Makes the $75 annual fee more of a problem.

there are 3 card types out there

1 debit cards

2 credit cards

3 charge cards

we all know what 1&2 are.

the classic amex is type 3. i believe it was largely limitless but you had to pay it off immediately. now, amex also issue credit cards. btw, the famous amex black card is still a charge card. ie you cannot carry over a balance month to month.

I worked at a mortgage company in their funding department. Just in case people don't know this - spending above 20% of your maximum credit per card each month is really bad for your score. They want to see a variety of types of credit (one retail, 2-3 credit cards, car payment...) And they want to see that you don't apply for credit multiple times in a short time period. 1 new type of credit per 4-6 months won't set off any alarms.

Lastly, if any of you cannot get a credit card. Get a "secured card", doesn't matter how bad your credit is, you will get one. You give them upfront 100-200 bucks, which is your monthly spending limit. Again, only spend no more than 20% of that to build your credit.