American Express

[Blown2CV]

this may be an utterly stupid question...

i have a MBNA rewards credit card which includes for each cardholder an Amex card and a Visa card. The reasoning is that the Visa earns fewer points for the same value transaction than the Amex, but is accepted by a greater number of merchants.

If I was to get an Amex card direct from Amex... they wouldn't give me a similar type of 'partner' card would they??

[Camelot1971]

AFAIK Amex don't offer anything other than Amex.

[iphonedyou]

Blown2CV said:

this may be an utterly stupid question...

i have a MBNA rewards credit card which includes for each cardholder an Amex card and a Visa card. The reasoning is that the Visa earns fewer points for the same value transaction than the Amex, but is accepted by a greater number of merchants.

If I was to get an Amex card direct from Amex... they wouldn't give me a similar type of 'partner' card would they??

Nope. Makes sense I suppose; can see why MBNA do it as a bank, but the corollary would be Visa offering you a Mastercard partner card.

[Blown2CV]

that's what i feared... weird though isn't... as one of the biggest challenges for Amex is that they are not widely accepted. You'd have thought it would increase their uptake if they tackled this which could be done very easily, even if it meant doing a deal with the devil so to speak.

[The Leaper]

I do a significant number of transactions each month in the UK with my Amex card and rarely have a problem with its acceptance...maybe 1-2 time a month.
Even less when elsewhere in Europe. I suppose it's all down to where you regularly want to use your card.

R.

[Blown2CV]

The Leaper said:

I do a significant number of transactions each month in the UK with my Amex card and rarely have a problem with its acceptance...maybe 1-2 time a month.
Even less when elsewhere in Europe. I suppose it's all down to where you regularly want to use your card.

R.

i definitely do have issues in the places i used it. Generally merchants which handle smaller transactions. Some surprising ones which don't just handle smaller ones too. I ended up using the partner Visa maybe one third of the time.

ETA i should add, i use credit card for everything in order to maximise the points!

[anonymous-user]

The Leaper said:

I do a significant number of transactions each month in the UK with my Amex card and rarely have a problem with its acceptance...maybe 1-2 time a month.
Even less when elsewhere in Europe. I suppose it's all down to where you regularly want to use your card.

R.

For me being refused once, ever would be enough to make me not want the card. I know years ago having an American Express was seen as a status symbol, but what benefits are there over a Visa or Mastercard?

[Chris Type R]

Joey Deacon said:

For me being refused once, ever would be enough to make me not want the card. I know years ago having an American Express was seen as a status symbol, but what benefits are there over a Visa or Mastercard?

For the rewards - cash back or air miles etc

[shakotan]

Blown2CV said:

this may be an utterly stupid question...

i have a MBNA rewards credit card which includes for each cardholder an Amex card and a Visa card. The reasoning is that the Visa earns fewer points for the same value transaction than the Amex, but is accepted by a greater number of merchants.

If I was to get an Amex card direct from Amex... they wouldn't give me a similar type of 'partner' card would they??

I'm guessing you've been told by MBNA that they are ending their relationship with Amex?

[Blown2CV]

shakotan said:

Blown2CV said:

this may be an utterly stupid question...

i have a MBNA rewards credit card which includes for each cardholder an Amex card and a Visa card. The reasoning is that the Visa earns fewer points for the same value transaction than the Amex, but is accepted by a greater number of merchants.

If I was to get an Amex card direct from Amex... they wouldn't give me a similar type of 'partner' card would they??

I'm guessing you've been told by MBNA that they are ending their relationship with Amex?

indeed and i started the thread about it.

[emicen]

Chris Type R said:

Joey Deacon said:

For me being refused once, ever would be enough to make me not want the card. I know years ago having an American Express was seen as a status symbol, but what benefits are there over a Visa or Mastercard?

For the rewards - cash back or air miles etc

Indeed, my Amex probably gets knocked back 3 or 4 times a year, in which case I used the linked MasterCard to complete the transaction.

Only frustration I’ve found is using it for contactless in petrol stations, even when under the value threshold for contactless. Don’t know if that’s Amex specific though in fairness.

The Avios points mean I put as much of my discretionary spending through it as possible.

[shakotan]

Blown2CV said:

shakotan said:

Blown2CV said:

this may be an utterly stupid question...

i have a MBNA rewards credit card which includes for each cardholder an Amex card and a Visa card. The reasoning is that the Visa earns fewer points for the same value transaction than the Amex, but is accepted by a greater number of merchants.

If I was to get an Amex card direct from Amex... they wouldn't give me a similar type of 'partner' card would they??

I'm guessing you've been told by MBNA that they are ending their relationship with Amex?

indeed and i started the thread about it.

I haven't seen a thread about it, I only know because I have an MBNA Virgin Atlantic AMEX/VISA and they've just written to me to tell me it's being changed to an MBNA Visa only without the VA link. I'll be cancelling it and taking out a VA card at the earliest opportunity.

[okgo]

3 or 4 times year!?

I get mine knocked back at least every other day, somewhere. I don't really care as most of the purchases go through it, but its pretty common for them not to be taken, and I'm in London.

[djc206]

okgo said:

3 or 4 times year!?

I get mine knocked back at least every other day, somewhere. I don't really care as most of the purchases go through it, but its pretty common for them not to be taken, and I'm in London.

I don’t even bother in smaller retailers because they tend not to accept but everyone else seems to. You can also cheat the system online if a retailer doesn’t accept Amex but accepts PayPal because you can then use your Amex for your PayPal payment, seems silly but it works.

[Blown2CV]

djc206 said:

okgo said:

3 or 4 times year!?

I get mine knocked back at least every other day, somewhere. I don't really care as most of the purchases go through it, but its pretty common for them not to be taken, and I'm in London.

I don’t even bother in smaller retailers because they tend not to accept but everyone else seems to. You can also cheat the system online if a retailer doesn’t accept Amex but accepts PayPal because you can then use your Amex for your PayPal payment, seems silly but it works.

yes but the point of higher reward cards is that the more you use them, the more rewards you get. If you can only use them for a few larger purchases rather than lots and lots of smaller ones, it feels like you'd be missing out a surprisingly large amount.

[Jockman]

My only surprise was that B&Q didn’t take Amex.

So I stopped doing DIY.

[jet_noise]

Barclaycard cashback had a similar deal - 2 cards, one visa, 1 Amex.
Better rate for the Amex.

In general the smaller the retailer the less likely they are to take it. Did it worry me to have it refused? Not in the slightest. You are way too sensitive, OP.

The deal ended a year or two ago, shame.

[emicen]

okgo said:

3 or 4 times year!?

I get mine knocked back at least every other day, somewhere. I don't really care as most of the purchases go through it, but its pretty common for them not to be taken, and I'm in London.

Well, much like Heath Ledger’s Joker, I’m a man of simple tastes. I like gasoline, food, tyres, car parts, occasionally clothes and crap bought off the internet, all of which is covered happily by my Amex.

[psi310398]

djc206 said:

okgo said:

3 or 4 times year!?

I get mine knocked back at least every other day, somewhere. I don't really care as most of the purchases go through it, but its pretty common for them not to be taken, and I'm in London.

I don’t even bother in smaller retailers because they tend not to accept but everyone else seems to. You can also cheat the system online if a retailer doesn’t accept Amex but accepts PayPal because you can then use your Amex for your PayPal payment, seems silly but it works.

^ This.

I use Amex through PayPal to pay for stuff on Bookings.com these days because so many hotels don't take Amex. A surprising number of European petrol stations won't either and while Amex works on most of the autostade I use in Italy, I cannot remember a French autoroute concession that takes Amex.

[Blown2CV]

do you realise that by using an intermediary such as paypal you forgo the excellent protections that Amex affords around the transaction?