May close out my AMEX card

[mystang52]

...and tying in with another thread, maybe my FICO will temporarily go down. My June AMEX Blue Preferred statement advised that annual fee going up from $75 to $95. I'll have to do some checking into my card usage, to see if it's worth keeping the card at that higher fee. If not, I'll either switch to their no-fee version or switch cards entirely.

 

[audreyh1]

...and tying in with another thread, maybe my FICO will temporarily go down. My June AMEX Blue Preferred statement advised that annual fee going up from $75 to $95. I'll have to do some checking into my card usage, to see if it's worth keeping the card at that higher fee. If not, I'll either switch to their no-fee version or switch cards entirely.

Easy - just ask Amex to convert (i.e. downgrade) it to the blue everyday rewards card that has no annual fee - pretty much a given they'll do it. No credit history hit for you that way.

You can also let them know you're not happy about the annual fee increase.

If they increased the limit for rewards on groceries I might not mind. I don't have to pay the increased fee until next year.

In the meantime I've been making out like a bandit on the 10% rebate on wireless company purchases.

 

[Ready]

I've always maintained two AMEX cards - Costco and Fidelity (FIA). Through a strange twist of events, both Costco and Fidelity decided to end their relationship with AMEX, and both chose to do it within the next 30 days. With Costco no longer accepting it, I'm not sure if I really need an AMEX card though. I'll likely just stay with Visa for now and see if I find I'm missing anything.


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[big-papa]

Amex card holder since 1984 (my first card after graduating college). Used it extensively for the first few years of working, then put it on the back burner as a backup card. Was considering dumping it until Costco came to my town. Now with Costco out of Amex, I am really seeing no reason to hold it any longer.

 

[athena53]

Now with Costco out of Amex, I am really seeing no reason to hold it any longer.

Same here- I see no reason to get another Amex when my Fidelity Amex goes away. Costco was the only business I ever encountered that took ONLY Amex and not the other cards.

 

[Chuckanut]

Amex cards have some interesting money saving offers. A good reason to keep one, imho.


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[marko]

Had AMEX since '77. More of a sentimental keeping at this point for me.

What I do like is their rental car extra insurance plan: sign up, pay for the rental with AMEX, automatically pay an extra $25 per rental period and get 6 weeks of accident coverage.

That way if you do have an accident, your personal car insurance never has to hear about it.

 

[audreyh1]

Had AMEX since '77. More of a sentimental keeping at this point for me.

What I do like is their rental car extra insurance plan: sign up, pay for the rental with AMEX, automatically pay an extra $25 per rental period and get 6 weeks of accident coverage.

That way if you do have an accident, your personal car insurance never has to hear about it.

Some of the Chase cards - specifically the United cards and I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred card - offer primary insurance for car rental as a card benefit for no extra charge. It covers rentals up to 31 days. So you don't need to pay any extra $25 per rental period.

But these cards have annual fees, so unless you would use these cards anyway, it might be cheaper to keep a no annual fee AMEX for the optional primary car rental insurance even if you have to pay for it.

 

[Dash man]

I keep my USAA Amex card to rack up points we use for pretty good cruise discounts. Online shopping through a USAA portal gives 3-4 extra points per dollar spent on top of the standard 1% and using the USAA affiliated travel agency typically saves us $600 plus cashing in the points earned from the card. No annual fee. Pretty good deal IMO.


Enjoying life!

 

[tulak]

Some of the Chase cards - specifically the United cards and I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred card - offer primary insurance for car rental as a card benefit for no extra charge. It covers rentals up to 31 days. So you don't need to pay any extra $25 per rental period.



But these cards have annual fees, so unless you would use these cards anyway, it might be cheaper to keep a no annual fee AMEX for the optional primary car rental insurance even if you have to pay for it.

I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred for primary insurance on car rentals. I also pay the yearly fee. This is the only card that I pay an annual
fee. The benefits are worth it for me.

I've used the AMEX $25 in the past, but it's only really worth it if you're doing one long rental. On our trip this summer we'll have four different car rentals. That'd be pricy if we were using AMEX. This is the oldest credit card we've had, going back to around 1998. We only use it at Costco. I don't see any benefit to having an AMEX card and we won't have one again, unless it's short-term for points, like the Delta card.

I don't know AMEX's business model, but I'd think this would be a significant hit to their business.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't know AMEX's business model, but I'd think this would be a significant hit to their business.

The Costco business was 10% of their business!!!

 

[travelover]

I've always maintained two AMEX cards - Costco and Fidelity (FIA). Through a strange twist of events, both Costco and Fidelity decided to end their relationship with AMEX, and both chose to do it within the next 30 days..........

I'm curious as to why this happened. Did AmEx get greedy?

 

[Chuckanut]

From what I heard (totally unverified sources) Amex decided that the deal Costco was offering them would incur a loss on every transaction. Apparently, they would not be able to make it up on volume.

 

[tulak]

The Costco business was 10% of their business!!!

And I'm guessing that's only for Costco purchases? How much extra business did they get because people used their AMEX elsewhere?

I've always thought having an AMEX was a waste. It's not accepted everywhere and benefits were only ok. Personally, I'm happy with the Costco switch to Visa. Now I need to figure out which Visa card to use...

 

[REWahoo]

... the deal Costco was offering them would incur a loss on every transaction. Apparently, they would not be able to make up on volume.

I had no idea American Express was such a poorly run company. Our sales division used this volume strategy time after time where I worked.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm curious as to why this happened. Did AmEx get greedy?

I wondered if Fidelity was inspired by the Costco switch. But the Fideiity relationship was with FIA card services. They just used the Amex network.

 

[audreyh1]

And I'm guessing that's only for Costco purchases? How much extra business did they get because people used their AMEX elsewhere?

I've always thought having an AMEX was a waste. It's not accepted everywhere and benefits were only ok. Personally, I'm happy with the Costco switch to Visa. Now I need to figure out which Visa card to use...

No, I think it was 10% of their accounts.

 

[athena53]

Amex may still have a large corporate card business. I had one employer issue company Amex cards and it was a requirement that you use it for all business expenses unless the place didn't accept it. Royal PITA- when not on company business I had to stash it somewhere so I wouldn't accidentally buy groceries with it. It also meant none of the nice extra bonus points/miles for using my hotel or airline card. But, since the employer paid the bill for my travels, I complied.

 

[UpAnchor]

Moved this over from the other thread as it better applies here...

I was concerned about the Costco dumping Amex thing and toying with using our Fido Amex to purchase a handful of Costco cash cards and at least get our 2% cash back on those. That is, until I became aware that Fido was going to be switching us to Visa as well. So that will soon leave us Amex-less but as long as we're getting our 2% at Costco, who cares.

Come to think of it I guess we're not truly Amex-less as we recently added Bluebird, keeping a small preload on it only for use in sketchy situations where we don't have cash and would like to limit our risk.

 

[6miths]

I only had an Amex because of Costco and when they ended the relationship in Canada, that was the end of that. I now have a MasterCard because of Costco. Before these Costco inspired cards I only ever had Visa. Turns out having the MasterCard works out well as Walmart in Canada has announced that it is no longer taking Visa starting this week due to a fee dispute. We'll see how long that lasts but for now it is good to have the MasterCard.

 

[Sarah in SC]

. Now I need to figure out which Visa card to use...

If you have the Chase Freedom card, that's the best one for using at Costco, as they have extended the 5% bonus to the end of the year on that category (warehouse stores) because of the Costco switch.

 

[audreyh1]

If you have the Chase Freedom card, that's the best one for using at Costco, as they have extended the 5% bonus to the end of the year on that category (warehouse stores) because of the Costco switch.

Wow - they extended the bonus category until the end of the year?!?

Well that was nice of them! I know folks who were saving up all their purchases for the last 10 days of June!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Yep, I read it on one of my travel blogs:
Chase Freedom Extends 5x at Costco, Other Wholesale Clubs Through End of Year - View from the Wing

 

[audreyh1]

I found on the points guy.

And then a bunch of folks posting about getting them on the Freedom card then transferring to the Sapphire card to convert to a bunch of miles to send to an airline?

 

[Sarah in SC]

Yes, that's one of the reasons I keep the Freedom card, is because it collects Ultimate Rewards points I can use with the Sapphire either on the portal or transfer 1:1 to a bunch of places.