Discussion
Not sure if this is business or finance, but for a long time I enjoyed 1% cashback from Capital One. That fell to 0% so I've decided to try for better.
From Moneysavingexert: 'The American Express Platinum Everyday* is the top fee-free card, especially if you've big spending to do in the next few months. It has a 5% introductory rate for the first three months on your first £2,000 of spending (max £100 cashback), then 0.5% cashback on up to £5,000/yr and 1% above this. You need to spend at least £3,000/yr to earn any cashback. Note, as it's an Amex it's not accepted everywhere and you usually won't get the bonus if you've held an Amex card in the past two years (see FAQs).'
The numbers suit me but my question is - how many places will it be accepted in? I'm thinking of petrol stations, supermarkets but what else? I'm not a jet-setter so airlines and hotels aren't of interest. Any input appreciated!
From Moneysavingexert: 'The American Express Platinum Everyday* is the top fee-free card, especially if you've big spending to do in the next few months. It has a 5% introductory rate for the first three months on your first £2,000 of spending (max £100 cashback), then 0.5% cashback on up to £5,000/yr and 1% above this. You need to spend at least £3,000/yr to earn any cashback. Note, as it's an Amex it's not accepted everywhere and you usually won't get the bonus if you've held an Amex card in the past two years (see FAQs).'
The numbers suit me but my question is - how many places will it be accepted in? I'm thinking of petrol stations, supermarkets but what else? I'm not a jet-setter so airlines and hotels aren't of interest. Any input appreciated!
Had my Amex Platinum Credit Card for 13 years. It's my primary credit card and I manage to spend about £20k a year on it without a problem. Notable big exceptions that don't take it are B&Q and a few local shops. If most of your shopping is in places like Waitrose, JL, Tesco, Amazon etc etc then carry on. People who say you can't use it anywhere probably haven't tried.
hyphen said:
Lidl don't take it, nor Aldi I think.
Yes they dohttps://www.finder.com/uk/which-supermarkets-take-...
hyphen said:
Simpo Two said:
Not sure if this is business or finance,
Are you taking out one of the Amex Business Cards, or one of personal ones...Thanks folks, I may as well give it a go. Haven't had Amex since 1988 when my employer had a row with Access ('bridges have been burned' said the business manager) so we all got Amex cards instead, and found they didn't work anywhere we wanted!
Can't find anything better in terms of pure cashback - unless anyone here knows better?
I have the Amex tied to BA.
Amex did have a reputation for being hard to use and it is still the case with small retailers. But it seems to be being more and more accepted in the UK among the larger enterprises. I went to Homebase at the weekend and they have started accepting it, for example, as has Ikea, which was another hold-out until a few years ago..
I travel a lot on the continent and find that it is accepted at most big brand petrol stations (at least outside Italy) but at only about half the non-chain hotels I stay in. Restaurants can be tricky. However, I tend to pre-book my hotel rooms through booking.com and as I have linked the Amex to my PayPal account, I can 'launder' the payment that way and still accrue points as, of course, I can do with all my eBay purchases.
I also use the Amex card on TfL journeys - the spend soon adds up.
Incidentally, for those wanting to buy fags and booze in Luxembourg, this can be done with an Amex card
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Amex did have a reputation for being hard to use and it is still the case with small retailers. But it seems to be being more and more accepted in the UK among the larger enterprises. I went to Homebase at the weekend and they have started accepting it, for example, as has Ikea, which was another hold-out until a few years ago..
I travel a lot on the continent and find that it is accepted at most big brand petrol stations (at least outside Italy) but at only about half the non-chain hotels I stay in. Restaurants can be tricky. However, I tend to pre-book my hotel rooms through booking.com and as I have linked the Amex to my PayPal account, I can 'launder' the payment that way and still accrue points as, of course, I can do with all my eBay purchases.
I also use the Amex card on TfL journeys - the spend soon adds up.
Incidentally, for those wanting to buy fags and booze in Luxembourg, this can be done with an Amex card
. psi310398 said:
I have linked the Amex to my PayPal account, I can 'launder' the payment that way and still accrue points as, of course, I can do with all my eBay purchases.
This is something I've been doing for a longtime. Many websites take paypal but not Amex, so just put your Amex on your paypal account and pay with paypal funded by Amex, payment stills goes through Amex to get your points.Mr Overheads said:
psi310398 said:
I have linked the Amex to my PayPal account, I can 'launder' the payment that way and still accrue points as, of course, I can do with all my eBay purchases.
This is something I've been doing for a longtime. Many websites take paypal but not Amex, so just put your Amex on your paypal account and pay with paypal funded by Amex, payment stills goes through Amex to get your points.juggsy said:
hyphen said:
Lidl don't take it, nor Aldi I think.
Yes they dohttps://www.finder.com/uk/which-supermarkets-take-...
As in the earlier posts, most places take it. The most noticeable places that don't for me, are the places I get my cars serviced - which tend to be the big bills, and the ones I'd really like the cashback on!
davek_964 said:
Indeed they do - I've used mine in both.
As in the earlier posts, most places take it. The most noticeable places that don't for me, are the places I get my cars serviced - which tend to be the big bills, and the ones I'd really like the cashback on!
I bought my last car (BMW) partly on Amex, they had a limit on how much they could/would put on Amex, around £2k I think. Gutted I couldn’t settle the entire balance as it was only a fraction of the total, although the neighbouring sales guy was daring mine to do the lot on it!As in the earlier posts, most places take it. The most noticeable places that don't for me, are the places I get my cars serviced - which tend to be the big bills, and the ones I'd really like the cashback on!
Just to echo previous comments, in the last few years, I have noticed more and more places accepting AMEX.
Again, as already said, link it to Paypal to use it online at websites which don't accept AMEX to earn any points/cashback e.g. Screwfix.
Also, be aware, you will come across establishments (physical stores) which have signed up to accept AMEX but don't advertise this - so they fail to display the "we accept AMEX" sticker or have no other indications on the tills or PDQ's - ASDA and Furniture Village spring to mind.
You'll also find some establishments, when you ask if they accept AMEX will flat out lie and say no even though they do.
I had this the other day when I spent a couple of grand on flooring and asked if they accepted AMEX - the lady hesitated before saying no which obviously meant yes so I quickly chirped in "I believe you do" to which she replied we do but they charge us too much, do you not have an alternative card you could use to which I replied no and ultimately paid via AMEX.
I'm sure this behaviour by retailers is against AMEX's T&C's but I have come across it several times and hold my ground wherever possible.
As an aside, I've often wondered how AMEX's retailer charges compare to Visa's or Mastercards - anyone know?
Again, as already said, link it to Paypal to use it online at websites which don't accept AMEX to earn any points/cashback e.g. Screwfix.
Also, be aware, you will come across establishments (physical stores) which have signed up to accept AMEX but don't advertise this - so they fail to display the "we accept AMEX" sticker or have no other indications on the tills or PDQ's - ASDA and Furniture Village spring to mind.
You'll also find some establishments, when you ask if they accept AMEX will flat out lie and say no even though they do.
I had this the other day when I spent a couple of grand on flooring and asked if they accepted AMEX - the lady hesitated before saying no which obviously meant yes so I quickly chirped in "I believe you do" to which she replied we do but they charge us too much, do you not have an alternative card you could use to which I replied no and ultimately paid via AMEX.
I'm sure this behaviour by retailers is against AMEX's T&C's but I have come across it several times and hold my ground wherever possible.
As an aside, I've often wondered how AMEX's retailer charges compare to Visa's or Mastercards - anyone know?
The Paypal link idea is good, hadn't thought of that.
SpeedBash said:
As an aside, I've often wondered how AMEX's retailer charges compare to Visa's or Mastercards - anyone know?
On the basis that both water and money generally only flow downhill, the lower number of outlets suggests their charges are higher. Big places will accept it and absorb the difference to get the trade, small places can't or won't, and/or have to pay a higher fee due to lower turnover.SpeedBash said:
SNIP
You'll also find some establishments, when you ask if they accept AMEX will flat out lie and say no even though they do.
I had this the other day when I spent a couple of grand on flooring and asked if they accepted AMEX - the lady hesitated before saying no which obviously meant yes so I quickly chirped in "I believe you do" to which she replied we do but they charge us too much, do you not have an alternative card you could use to which I replied no and ultimately paid via AMEX.
I'm sure this behaviour by retailers is against AMEX's T&C's but I have come across it several times and hold my ground wherever possible.
SNIP
Yes, it's not uncommon. Mind you, unless I'm buying something completely unique or very cheap (e.g. a loaf of bread), I just tend to indicate that I'll not proceed and will instead find a vendor who does take Amex. Most of the time it does the trick - after all, for most vendors, swallowing an extra 1% of something and getting a sale is almost always better than preserving margin and receiving 100% of bugger all.You'll also find some establishments, when you ask if they accept AMEX will flat out lie and say no even though they do.
I had this the other day when I spent a couple of grand on flooring and asked if they accepted AMEX - the lady hesitated before saying no which obviously meant yes so I quickly chirped in "I believe you do" to which she replied we do but they charge us too much, do you not have an alternative card you could use to which I replied no and ultimately paid via AMEX.
I'm sure this behaviour by retailers is against AMEX's T&C's but I have come across it several times and hold my ground wherever possible.
SNIP
juggsy said:
I do this to but have always wondered if there are any issues with the protection the card provides, as technically PayPal is the payment method (as it shows to the vendor anyway, unlike a payment provider like Worldpay or whomever). Anyone know definitively?
I believe you lose the Section 75 protection afforded by direct payment by AMEX so only go via Paypal for small/modest value transactions or ones where the S75 protection is irrelevant.EDIT: Confirmed in this MSE article.
SpeedBash said:
I believe you lose the Section 75 protection afforded by direct payment by AMEX so only go via Paypal for small/modest value transactions or ones where the S75 protection is irrelevant.
Worth noting. I once needed to recover over £1,000 using S75.I think I'll keep Paypal for eBay minutia etc.
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