My very first credit card-Gold Card From BOA- is about to expire next month. It was the most pointless card I ever got: I had to pay to receive the card and it had no rewards plan. Oh well at that time I had no credit, so that’s probably the only card I could have gotten. Because it’s expiring I want to get another card to replace it.  There were two things that I considered when looking for a card: Rewards and spending limit.

 Right now, I’m using my debit card to pay for my affiliate marketing, because my limit isn’t high enough on my card cards. That becomes a big hassle: I get quite a few charges a month and have to deposit money every few days. To solve this problem, I looked for a card that has very flexible credit. Luckily, American Express has charge cards, which don’t have a preset spending limit, but you usually have to pay it off within one month; otherwise, they charge pretty high APR rates. Now to solve the second part of my problem-need rewards- I looked into the “ONE” charge card. Not only does this card have a no preset limit, but for every dollar you spend you get 1% of it put into a high-yield savings account! This is freaking awesome, because the AMEX savings account has a higher yield than my emigrant direct savings account. Basically, I can spend a lot of money and earn 1% for each dollar. Needless to say, I got this card.

 I was thinking about taking out some money from this card, maybe 10k, and putting it into a savings account for one month. I won’t be able to qualify for that 1% of purchases, but I think I can make more than the fee for takeing the money out. So if this works, AMEX is paying me to have this card; how sweet is that? Other thing I though of is buying a new car with this card. If I spend 20k I’ll get 200 dollars off, not a bad deal at all.

 Yeah.

So an AMEX consultant gave a presentation in my marketing class: She told us all about the different ways they promote their cards and the difference between a charge and credit card.

What are the different types of Amex cards?

Gold

Green

Platinum

Centurion “black card”, funny thing about this card is that it was made because people were asking about it. In the 1980’s people started rumors about AMEX actually having a black card. It wasn’t until 1999, that AMEX decided to make one. You can’t get this card unless you already have an AMEX platinum and spend 350,000+ a year on it. This card is by invitation only. The AMEX consultant told me that they don’t even market this card based on reason: It markets itself based on image and people having the self-conception that they must need it to become  a real baller.

 Whats the differences? The big difference in these cards is the annual fee. All the charge cards Green-Centurion have annual fee. The Centurion’s fee is 3500 per year and a 7500 initiation free. Also the spending limit on all the Charge cards can be very flexible, because they are 100% not like credit cards: With ordinary credit cards, they raise your limit every once in a while. AMEX is  willing to work with you when it comes the credit line: If you’re struggling one month and need your credit line upped, you can do it!

Whats alike in these cards? AMEX is still around because it focuses on quality treatment of customers.  AMEX representatives do their best to help out their customers and assist their needs. The one main thing these cards all have is Airline benefits. Every one of charge cards gives you special privileges when it comes to traveling. The platinum lets you stay in a special airline lounge in the airport and special hotel reservations.  The Centurion card actually has 24/7 person service. For instance, you can call AMEX and they will reserve you the best basketball tickets, plane tickets and hotels etc.  AMEX isn’t about being reasonable, it’s about quality.

So is an AMEX charge card like a debit card? No, unlike debit cards you don’t have to pay off the AMEX charge card every month. But be warned the charge cards carry a huge APR, so you might want to pay in full. Back in the day before credit cards were made AMEX made it’s charge card with it’s own system. Now, because of the complexity of the system AMEX is still using it but they changed the rules up. Now you AMEX cards are just like ordinary cards but are more flexible.
So why get an AMEX card? If you travel a lot, want quality service,  and/or need a flexible credit line, an AMEX card is right for you: They have excellent service, coupled with many travel rewards/benefits and are very flexible with allotting credit for their customers.

Yeah, all this AMEX loving coming from a VISA+Mastercard holder But I really wish I could get an AMEX Charge card without paying the annual fee’s