Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder In the last couple of days, two people I know used their Amex cards to make MOther's Day purchases, followed just hours later by a message from Amex to call them ASAP about their cards. They were informed by Amex that their limits were being retroactively lowered and they were now overlimit. When questioned, Amex refused to budge and said they had 30 days to inform them of the change, but as a show of goodwill, they wouldn't charge them an overlimit fee. Amex is going to lower themselves right out of business.
Originally Posted By crazycroc Tell your friends to google, "AMEX CLI ON CRACK" and to figure out if they can still find loopholes like that. That was a fun game for crazycroc in 2006/2007, easy way to raise a credit score and get higher limits elsewhere.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "I thought the whole point of (most) AmEx cards is that there is no limit?" Not anymore. They purposely changed the nature of their business to be able to get TARP money. I talked further with my friends. They asked Amex to give them the phone number for Amex's agent for service of process, which is the entity who would accept service for a lawsut, and they refused to do so. Amex told them to get it from Consumer Reports, if you can believe that.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Tell your friends to google, "AMEX CLI ON CRACK" and to figure out if they can still find loopholes like that." Holy moly. Hasn't Amex caught up with this by now?
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Happened to me at Costco Seriously Costco and it wasn't even a flatscreen or crazy BBQ set up. Thank goodness I had an old wrinkly paper check in my wallet. So embarrassing! It's a business AMEX so DH phoned to see what was up and got the "change" speech. Bah to them, we are now racking up lots of points on our Disney Visa The AMEX is just sitting in our wallets collecting dust.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus26-2009apr26,0,89631.column?page=2" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/busines...n?page=2</a> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus29-2009apr29,0,2448933.column" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/busines...3.column</a>
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 ^^thanks for the links, makes me feel better We used the AMEX for all our business purchases and Costco, paying off the debt each month. We racked up points to transfer to Hilton points, LOVED those free stays. I kinda felt like they were losing money on us so they gave us the axe I won't miss AMEX but I'll miss the freebie nights. I keep meaning to check my Cap One card rewards, they seem like they want me
Originally Posted By iamsally >>>>Bah to them, we are now racking up lots of points on our Disney Visa The AMEX is just sitting in our wallets collecting dust.<<<<<< ditto
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I dropped AMEX years ago when it finally dawned on me that I paid fees every year to have a card that is not accepted in so many places I had lost count. I found out the hard way after being basically unable to get food or lodging while on vacation. No business was willing to pay the higher rate to AMEX, so they just didn't accept those cards. After hours of trying to get a cash advance, literally begging people to extend me credit until I could get this straighted out, and ruining my trip I cut the damn thing up, threw it into an envelope and never looked back. I never leave home with it and I have done just fine. Thanks, American Express.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I dropped AMEX years ago when it finally dawned on me that I paid fees every year to have a card that is not accepted in so many places I had lost count. >>> Whether your primary card is an American Express or not, it's extremely unwise to travel away from home with only a single credit card. You need at least two cards different brands and issued by different banks in order to avoid a whole host problems, with acceptance being only one of them.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Interesting point SuperDry. Last week we were on a road trip. After a week of being in different cities & states and only using DH's Visa, it was denied at our last hotel. It wasn't embarrassing because we had been kind of expecting it. I used my Visa with no problem. That night DH tried to check online with Chase but didn't get through. We arrived home to 6 phone calls from Chase asking about charges. When DH phoned the # it was a automatic question and answer thing. Does anyone know what we should do in the future? Do we phone them in advance. monorailblue, I hope this highjack is OK with you
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I agree 100% SuperDry as someone who travels for business I always carry to different cards. I've had some really strange and unexpected experiences happen to me; from demagnatized cards to criss crossed payments to charging so much they think I have stolen cards. I've never had any issues with AmEx, they've been good to me over the years but last month I was with a business associate who's credit line was decreased by them right in the middle of his trip. I had to take care of his hotel bill.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I also carry a couple of different credit cards as well as a cash/debit card when I travel to make sure I am covered. I too have found an increasing number of places that will not accept Amex. I've not had a problem (yet) with my Amex being rejected or credit limit being changed. I found out during my trip to WDW a couple of weeks ago though that approval isn't "automatic" like it used to be. I used my Amex Blue when checking in and it was obvious they had to go and get phone approval before the charge was approved. It was somewhat irritating, but as long as it was approved I'm OK with it. I think part of the problem was I had NEVER used the Blue before for travel/lodging expense -- I had always used the Gold. I've noticed in the past that when I would make an unusual (for me) purchase using the Gold that it would sometimes take a phone call for approval. I think some of that may be Amex trying to prevent credit card fraud. Until they give me trouble I will keep using mine. Those "points" are pretty nice. We paid for both of our airfares to Orlando using Amex points. By the way... NEVER carry a revolving balance on an Amex card without a credit limit. My Gold does not have a limit and I found out when looking at my annual free credit report that the limit gets reported as ZERO! Because of this any revolving amount I was carrying on my Amex was in effect reducing the credit I had available on my other cards. This makes it look like you are using a considerably higher percentage of your available credit than you really are. Now if there is any chance I will carry a balance I do NOT put it on the Gold, but use the Blue (A revolving Amex card).
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>Whether your primary card is an American Express or not, it's extremely unwise to travel away from home with only a single credit card. You need at least two cards different brands and issued by different banks in order to avoid a whole host problems, with acceptance being only one of them.<<< RoadTrip, you must have had a time when you were raising a family, paying mortgages, car payments, trying to smell the roses, all with a limited budget. Two cards were a luxury I didn't have at the time and with a "no limit" AMEX I could, I thought, avoid having to carry cash or travelers checks for a small weekend outing. I have 4 cards now...all have zero carry over balances because I pay them off monthly. They are chosen for the "rewards" potential and I never care about the interest rate because I never carry a balance. I will admit that I was naive about the AMEX card and it's subsequent hassle and believe me when I tell you it was a hassle. My other cards do not charge me for the privilege of having one so I kind of expected AMEX to be the end all, hassle free way to go. I was wrong, but it was a mistake I never made again.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 re: post #13, whoops sorry for the mixup monorailblue and SuperDry So I have my aforementioned Chase Visa for my Disney Rewards, does anyone use Cap One? I've had the card for about 10 or more years and set it aside for the AMEX and it's points. I think Cap One has hotel points, I stopped using it before they started the rewards. I guess I need to do some research. Oh, our AMEX was/is a gold one that we have had for many years. I had a blue one that I never used and didn't like paying the yearly fee so I canceled it a couple of years ago. I guess the smart thing to do now (if there isn't a yearly fee) is to just not use the card but not cancel it?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Two cards were a luxury I didn't have at the time and with a "no limit" AMEX I could, I thought, avoid having to carry cash or travelers checks for a small weekend outing. >>> What would you have done had you lost the Amex card? What if the number was compromised and they had to cancel it? Amex is among the best about being able to replace a card on short notice, but on a weekend getaway that you describe, would you want to spend any amount of time at all dealing with a card replacement when you could just use your alternate card? The fact that you thought it had "no limit" doesn't negate the need to carry a second card.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 I've always been very happy with my AE card. And I'm grateful they taught me to pay in full and on time. Alas they are not accepted every where so I also carry a VISA in case. But that card is also paid in full and on time. Plus paying them on line gives me a receipt to prove I did it. No stupid late fees because my payment either got lost in the mail or sat on someone's desk long enough so they could claim I was late. Visa and mastercard do not like people who pay in full, they love charging late fees and interest.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip >>>Whether your primary card is an American Express or not, it's extremely unwise to travel away from home with only a single credit card. You need at least two cards different brands and issued by different banks in order to avoid a whole host problems, with acceptance being only one of them.<<< RoadTrip, you must have had a time when you were raising a family, paying mortgages, car payments, trying to smell the roses, all with a limited budget. Two cards were a luxury I didn't have at the time and with a "no limit" AMEX I could, I thought, avoid having to carry cash or travelers checks for a small weekend outing.>> Ummm... the quote you started that post with was not from me; it was from SuperDry. I probably had the most credit cards when I was in the situation you mention. That was duruing the late 70's and early 80's and folks were giving out credit left and right. I probably had 4 or 5 Visa/MasterCards (although each one probably had a credit limit of only $1-2K). Of course all of those credit limits were increased over time, and by the early 90's I had $25K in credit card debt. I stopped using the cards and spent 4 years paying them off. Except for relatively low balances following trips (that I pay off within a few months) I never carry credit card debt anymore. I've found that overall my monthly budget provides MUCH MORE if I don't have a bunch of credit card bills. You would think that would be obvious, but for a long time I didn't see that.
