Amex Plat - 150K Bonus Point; Gold - 90K Referrals

Where did you see 200K ??? Your link is for 100K theirs is 150K

which is better sapphire or amex?

could i cancel sapphire and get it again for another set of bonues points?

I got this by googling.

But using someone’s referral code also gets them points correct? If you’re going to get the points anyway, why not help out a fellow LHer?

100%. Unless they only get a certain number of referrals to use.

It depends on what your objective is. Can you maximize the benefits of Amex? Can you meet spending requirements etc?

spending requirements are easy for me, I’m ceo of my own small corporation so spending isnt hard.

I knew points are good and can hit those spending requirement but I didnt know you could get them again, that’s what has my interest now as the other user said you could and that is very new for me so im trying to learn more about it.

CSR has a 48 month requirement between bonuses. Amex is typically once in a lifetime. Spend some time on DoC for details

so the other person saying you can get spending bonuses multiple times is bsing?

Read my last comment again. If you don’t believe, feel free to find out the hard way

I can’t comment on chase Sapphire. I don’t have one. Worth the call though, worst they can say is no.

For Amex Plat however, calling before your annual fee hits (and saying you want to cancel because the fee isn’t worth it) to get another spending bonus (I’ve heard as high as 60k points, but lower is more common) will generally work.

If you go to the credit card churning link in Reddit, you will get your answer.

Up front I will say that I did not read the entirety of the thread, but I will say that I see references to “churning” but no mention of “manufactured spending.” That is the term to Google if the thread has piqued your curiosity.
Amex is special. There are lucrative offers throughout the credit card area but just to provide an example, a recent phone call upon asking Amex if I had any offers for adding employee cards to my $0 annual fee business card resulted in an offer that I accepted. When the agent goes through the obligatory terms they have to read through to you, this summarizes how lucrative the recent offers were: “the maximum you can earn based on the promotion is 1,980,000 Membership Rewards points” that would result from $198,000 in spend. 1,980,000 Membership Rewards points is $21,780 when redeemed into a Charles Schwab account (at 1.1 cents per point). The spend required for the max would be $198,000, so the 10x offer really amounts to 11% cash back.
This is an unusually good offer, but I take the time to post to emphasize credit cards should be and can be money makers.

1 Like

I love Amex and strictly use them here in the country BUT if you know how Amex is abroad, you know that no one likes taking it.

I travel a few times a year outside the country and almost always have problems with people accepting Amex abroad. Besides being at a major hotel or retailer abroad, no one wants to take it.

For that, I downgraded to Amex Green and exclusively use my Chase Sapphire when I’m traveling abroad. No problems using that anywhere.

Amex Green and Chase Sapphire are my 2 and only 2 cards that I have.

2 Likes

Even in US quite a few places that don’t take Amex

Agreed, especially the smaller mom & pop shops.

You really need to look at your individual situation but usually if you’re not a frequent traveler (or spending excessive amounts) the platinum card is generally not worth it.

2 Likes

The last holdout in my normal rotation was the only convenient local dry cleaner, and they caved 4 or 5 years ago.

Of course, what hasn’t changed is that if I don’t specify laundry, they’ll dry clean a cotton shirt for 3X the price.

I only use Amex for restaurants (got that Resy 10x points on dining) and booking travel (5x points). Everything else goes on my Fidelity Visa for 2% back, unless there’s an AMEX discount offer available. I haven’t traveled abroad since getting it, so I’ll be curious how that goes.

I’m bummed that my USAA Visa credit card (offers 2.5% cashback on every purchase…period.) will be chopping their rewards down to 1.5% starting next year. I used that card for pretty much everything except for at Costco (Costco rewards card), grocery stores (use Amex Blue @3% cashback) and various store-specific credit cards (REI, Pottery Barn, etc) that offer 5-10% cash back/rewards.

Now I’ll have to find a new “everyday” card.

Off the top of my head:

Bank of America Travel Rewards with Platinum Honors (2.625% back on everything, no AF). This is my non-category spending card.

Fidelity’s 2% card is actually a 3% card if you have a Wealth Management relationship.

Discover’s “travel card” pays 1.5% back on everything and then gives you a 100% bonus at the end of the first year. If you have other adults in the house, each can open a new one when the initial 1-year 100% bonus period expires on the card you already have open (retire the old one and use the new one for 12 months, repeat).

I deleted the bookmark and can’t find it back (I’m out of their field of membership), but there’s also at least one credit union out there with a flat-3% card.

2 Likes