[Tyga11]

I've had a platinum card for a few years now. The annual fee is now $695 a year.

I use the card for literally everything and I checked my point balance this morning and it's shocking how pathetic it is. I literally have less than a $500 cash value after spending quite a bit of money.

The pro's:

- $200 hotel credit
- $100 misc airline credits
- You can dispute anything with a resolution

I've been to their Centurion lounges in Miami, Phoenix & Charlotte and they all suck. They are crowded and the food is trash. You get free drinks but I don't like drinking at the airport.

The reason I post this is because I also have a regular VISA credit card via B of A and I literally have $100 in cash rewards after barely using the card.

My opinion is that AMEX is not worth it

[CarsAndGuitars]

I gave AmEx up more than 20 years ago. And if I still had it I would have cut it up when they started with the woke BS and how privilege is bad. They literally made their name on privilege. Now you pay $695 for the privilege of saying you have a Platinum card and they say you are a bad person for being able to.

[P1]

Agree. I have always had one because my employer issues them, but I'd never get one for personal use.

[Tommy-G]

Not to thread jack but how many cards do you guys have (not store cards-Macys,Lowes,Etc)?

[RickFLM4]

I don’t have fees on any credit cards. I just don’t think they are worth the premium over no fee card with points for us. I never carry balances and use one card for recurring bills and a different card for store / online purchases. I use Discover for whatever they are giving 5% cash back on. I have 3 others that never get used unless they have some special promo on points that make them worthwhile. I don’t have any store or gas cards and no AMEX.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

Not to thread jack but how many cards do you guys have (not store cards-Macys,Lowes,Etc)?

I have one - Capital One. Plus a Chevron gas card.

"What's in your wallet?"

[TTM0TION]

I have Amex Platinum and still like it. Takes some effort but I always get the annual fee back with the perks. Last year I made money.

The points I use for hotels unless there’s a big conversion promo, then I’ll take advantage of that. Overall it works out. For a while my employer let us book work travel on personal cards and the accrual was amazing. Not that’s gone and it’s not as fast but still works.

[PYE46M3]

Why would you want to pay $700 a year just to have a credit card in your pocket. Makes no sense to me. $700 would get you a minimum 2 nights of sleep at great hotel so why does the hotel credit matter ?

[Gossypiboma]

There are a lot more credits to take advantage of. The 240 entertainment credit, 200 Uber/Uber eats credit, 100 TSA precheck, 100 Saks 5th Avenue credit, and 189 Clear credit.

There are others but they are more obscure.

[Our03z4]

I've been using M1 Credit. Gives 1% back but 2.5 at Costco, Amazon and a ton of other places I shop. Plus some places give up to 10% back like Netflix and such. The list of places is actually becoming pretty large.

This said you have to be a share holder in the companies to get that level of money back (not for the 1% though). Can be 0.01 worth to be eligible. No fees. The cool part is the money goes into any of my investment accounts each time it reaches $25 or you can have it go to your bank account. I've already received over $300 back in just a few months.

The ETF accounts are some of the best available. You can of course pick what you want as well and it will auto balance your account.

Their Debit account currently gives 1.7% interest as well, they are great about increasing it each time the FED does. Much better than my normal bank.

With my companies I've noticed less and less people using AMEX.

[TTM0TION]

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

Why would you want to pay $700 a year just to have a credit card in your pocket. Makes no sense to me. $700 would get you a minimum 2 nights of sleep at great hotel so why does the hotel credit matter ?

You don’t. If you don’t earn it all back or damn close then you’re doing it wrong. The above posts covers some perks that take up a ton of it plus other perks at certain hotels, etc.

I shop at Saks and get 2 $50 statement credits there. Got $100 in statement credit to Home Dept. Etc etc.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by TTM0TION

You don’t. If you don’t earn it all back or damn close then you’re doing it wrong. The above posts covers some perks that take up a ton of it plus other perks at certain hotels, etc.

I shop at Saks and get 2 $50 statement credits there. Got $100 in statement credit to Home Dept. Etc etc.

The baseline comparison should be to a card where there is no fee rather than just earning is back vs. zero. Can you get back the fee over and above the 2% (or whatever it is avg.) reward on a card with no fee? For some people, maybe. For most, probably not.

[infinitekidM2C]

That platinum card probably aint worth it for most, especially these days. We switched to blue cash.

[zx10guy]

I have an AMEX Blue Card with NO annual fee. I get cash back which is decent...not great but decent. The reason why I still have my AMEX is because I use it for very specific purchases. My AMEX provides additional purchase protection which I don't have with my other credit cards. One is 90 days of lost/stolen/accidental damage coverage. I actually used this one time where I accidentally broke something costing about $115. AMEX asked me to send them a copy of the receipt for the item and the AMEX statement showing I paid for the entire cost of the item on my card. I did that and they sent me a refund for $115. No hassle at all. I asked if they wanted me to send the broken product to them. They said no....just keep it.

The second protection I use on my AMEX is the extension of the factory warranty perk. AMEX will extend the warranty of qualifying items up to an additional year. I utilized this also. I bought a very expensive workgroup printer from Xerox. The printer was a bit out of warranty but within the extra year of extended coverage AMEX put on it. I called them up to start the claim. They asked for the same documentation as above for the lost/stolen/accidental damage coverage. I sent those to them. AMEX covered the $900+ in repairs to put in a new motherboard into the printer.

So because of the additional product coverage, cash back, and their history to be very supportive of card holders if there is a dispute with a merchant, I'm keeping my AMEX.

[M_Six]

We have an Amazon Visa that we use for everything. We get a shit ton of points each month, which comes out to $1500-$2000 a year. No fees. We have a BoA Mastercard for backup, but very rarely use it. No fees for that either. When we were traveling, we thought about switching to an airline card, but we never did and now we haven't traveled in 2-1/2 years.

[KevinC]

I've had an Amex card since '79. Switched from Gold to Delta Sky Miles in '98 due to business travel. Years later, still had it despite retiring and rarely traveling via Delta. Wasn't paying attention to the annual fee, but realized last year it was stupid for me to keep the card and be paying it. So I called to cancel and they convinced me to switch to a Blue Delta card, which has less benefits but NO annual fee. Fine, I'll keep it.

Bottom line - ANY annual fee is a bad idea IMHO. Too many cards out there with some very good benefits and zero fee. Find something that has the best overall benefit and roll with it. Might even be one with a fee depending on your own circumstances. But don't pay a fee for something you're not getting a proper offsetting return from, and especially if you're not using it all or barely.

[TTM0TION]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

The baseline comparison should be to a card where there is no fee rather than just earning is back vs. zero. Can you get back the fee over and above the 2% (or whatever it is avg.) reward on a card with no fee? For some people, maybe. For most, probably not.

That’s an interesting one. For what I do basic cards wouldn’t even come close. There are other cards with fees that can but a basic 2% back no chance.

[wtwo3]

I think you really have to utilize all the benefits of the card to make it worth it. Otherwise you’re just paying a ridiculous amount of money for what’s essentially just a standard points card.

I mainly use a one-two punch of the chase sapphire reserve for all dining and travel and chase freedom for most other purchases. I’ve amassed tons of points over the year. Was able to fly business class this year to South Asia and still have about $7k worth of points to use. I also maximize usage of all the benefits so it ends up being worth more than the steep annual cost for me.

[Joe T]

Originally Posted by TTM0TION

You don’t. If you don’t earn it all back or damn close then you’re doing it wrong. The above posts covers some perks that take up a ton of it plus other perks at certain hotels, etc.

I shop at Saks and get 2 $50 statement credits there. Got $100 in statement credit to Home Dept. Etc etc.

100%... We only use AMEX, other cards in my wallet are ATM cards with a visa logo

Concierge service, restaurant reservations, tickets to sold out shows, invites to platinum member events. 5x points for travel & airfare.extended warranties, and then the credits... the cost of the card is free and then some if you're using it for it's intent.

I had a green card from '82 until a few years ago. We charged the same amount of stuff (around $100k a year) the perks made going platinum make sense

[OkieSnuffBox]

The best rewards card from what I can see is the Wells Fargo one, I haven't gotten one because I have plenty of open credit with others.

I put the fiance on my Chase Sapphire blue a few months ago. We use it for basically everything and pay it off at the end of the month. It's a $95/yr fee, but we typically have $50-70/month in cash rewards, so it's worth it for us.

[ASAP]

I have a chase sapphire reserve... its $550 per year now and I too am questioning its value at this point.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I have a chase sapphire reserve... its $550 per year now and I too am questioning its value at this point.

What are the benefits vs. a plain 'ol Chase Freedom?

A lot of the high priced cards seem to really be for people who travel and spend a ton.