Best USA Credit Card?

[EddieSteadyGo]

bad company said:

Big E 118 said:

The thing to look at with the credit cards with no fees is the FX rates you get. We had an AmEx card with no transaction fees but doing a side by side check with Revolut it shows we were paying a 3-4% higher FX rate.

Very true BUT if you pay by Amex or Halifax Clarity or whatever there's no way of knowing the forex rate until after the event.

I did some testing on the Clarity card when I first received it, and the forex rate was the interbank minus 1%, which I thought was about as good as a credit card is every likely to be in practise.

[PrancingHorses]

Revolut works a treat until you try to refund something! It can take absolutely ages for the refund to come back on to the card.

My kids bought over $1500 of goods from A&F but then returned around $500 of this. It took 6 weeks and numerous tickets raised before they refunded the cash as they kept blaming the retailer. Also never ever use Revolut to prepay a deposit at the hotel as again it takes ages for the refund to show up.

Uber is another issue - as the card is pre-charged when your ride is accepted with an estimate but then a couple of weeks later it adjusts to an actual fare charged so they take more money out of your account. Mine went in to negative as we used Uber so much so I had to top up again to clear the old balance due to additional charges.

Same with tipping in restaurants using Revolut - the tips come out after ages causing additional money to be taken from the card so its hard to budget using the app as its incorrect and never in real time.

Suggest all with Revoluts who made refunds check their refund status carefully as google is full of such stories.

Hope this helps

[David Beer]

bad company said:

Very true BUT if you pay by Amex or Halifax Clarity or whatever there's no way of knowing the forex rate until after the event.

Amex all the way for me, in four weeks this summer , the card was nearly not accepted once until I said its all I had. Ok 3% isn’t zero, but i certainly get more than that in benefits.

[bad company]

David Beer said:

bad company said:

Very true BUT if you pay by Amex or Halifax Clarity or whatever there's no way of knowing the forex rate until after the event.

Amex all the way for me, in four weeks this summer , the card was nearly not accepted once until I said its all I had. Ok 3% isn’t zero, but i certainly get more than that in benefits.

If you’re paying in anything other than £’s they’re adding 3% to everything you buy. Also not the best forex rate. You get most of the benefits just for having the card & using it in the UK.

Amex for me when buying in £’s but that’s it.

[David Beer]

bad company said:

If you’re paying in anything other than £’s they’re adding 3% to everything you buy. Also not the best forex rate. You get most of the benefits just for having the card & using it in the UK.

Amex for me when buying in £’s but that’s it.

Each to their own, I guess. I get huge benefits abroad, room upgrades, breakfast included , in fine hotels of the world, $200 f&b credit for two nights stay in each location. Car upgrades and no need for any insurance. Full travel insurance. Of course the air miles slightly offsets the 3%. Companion air tickets I used this summer, buy one get one free !
This winter enough points for two premium economy to the west Coast.
Amex for me.

[EddieSteadyGo]

David Beer said:

Each to their own, I guess. I get huge benefits abroad, room upgrades, breakfast included , in fine hotels of the world, $200 f&b credit for two nights stay in each location. Car upgrades and no need for any insurance. Full travel insurance. Of course the air miles slightly offsets the 3%. Companion air tickets I used this summer, buy one get one free !
This winter enough points for two premium economy to the west Coast.
Amex for me.

I presume are you paying for the Platinum card which is why you are gaining these benefits? If you use the BA version of the card, you don't gain the benefits you describe, but the fee is lower and you accrue Avios (rather than membership rewards points) at a faster rate.

So I guess it depends how much you spend in each currency and how you prefer to use your benefits.

[David Beer]

EddieSteadyGo said:

I presume are you paying for the Platinum card which is why you are gaining these benefits? If you use the BA version of the card, you don't gain the benefits you describe, but the fee is lower and you accrue Avios (rather than membership rewards points) at a faster rate.

So I guess it depends how much you spend in each currency and how you prefer to use your benefits.

I can convert air miles to virgin, ba, ,emirates. For the USA I prefer Virgin. Great upper class lounge even I fly PE, but this summer was UC.
I originally had the platinum .

[EddieSteadyGo]

David Beer said:

EddieSteadyGo said:

I presume are you paying for the Platinum card which is why you are gaining these benefits? If you use the BA version of the card, you don't gain the benefits you describe, but the fee is lower and you accrue Avios (rather than membership rewards points) at a faster rate.

So I guess it depends how much you spend in each currency and how you prefer to use your benefits.

I can convert air miles to virgin, ba, ,emirates. For the USA I prefer Virgin. Great upper class lounge even I fly PE, but this summer was UC.
I originally had the platinum .

Probably worth adding, just in case anyone who reads this thread isn't familiar with the different points options Amex offer, you can choose the BA version of the card to accrue Avios points which can be redeemed via the BA Exec club website for BA flights, car hire with Avis/Budget and a variety of hotels.

Or you can choose one of the traditional Amex cards like their gold, platinum card etc, in which case you accrue Amex membership reward points. These are probably more flexible as they be transferred to a variety of airlines including BA and Virigin at the point you would like to redeem them.

[David Beer]

EddieSteadyGo said:

Probably worth adding, just in case anyone who reads this thread isn't familiar with the different points options Amex offer, you can choose the BA version of the card to accrue Avios points which can be redeemed via the BA Exec club website for BA flights, car hire with Avis/Budget and a variety of hotels.

Or you can choose one of the traditional Amex cards like their gold, platinum card etc, in which case you accrue Amex membership reward points. These are probably more flexible as they be transferred to a variety of airlines including BA and Virigin at the point you would like to redeem them.

I have been Amex for 19 years, green then gold, platinum then ‘invited ‘. Ok it costs but get my money’s worth.
Check out ‘shops away’ for great points.

[EddieSteadyGo]

David Beer said:

I have been Amex for 19 years, green then gold, platinum then ‘invited ‘. Ok it costs but get my money’s worth.
Check out ‘shops away’ for great points.

I'm a bit of an Amex junkie too.

My wife and I each have separate BA Amex cards which means we 'earn' two companion vouchers a year. Then I have a main BA corporate card which earns Avios, as well as separate company cards for euro and dollar spend which earn amex membership rewards.

But I still think for overseas personal spend something like a clarity card makes most sense for most people. But I can see how your approach works for you.