American Express - Rewards Plus Gold Review

Overall 4.14 of 5 view all 22 reviews

Customeright
Orlando, FL

Oh Gold Card, how do I love thee? Let me count the points...

don't carry a balance, practical, financially responsible, an moderate investor, value conscious

Pros

Occasional Fee Waiv, Customer Service, Card Features, Points Policy

Cons

High Fee if Not Waived, Not Accepted Everywhere

DEC

2008

American Express - Rewards Plus Gold —

Well, it's not really a credit card, it's a charge card which means you have to pay the balance at the end of the month (which you should be doing anyway). But I've had quite a few normal credit cards over the years, and regardless of what you call it, no card have I liked more than American Express. Now maybe it's not accepted at absolutely every merchant there is, but I actually try to avoid those merchants. Why would I go to that trouble? Because with the extra small little itty-bitty (I think) percent increase that Amex charges its merchants over the other guys, Amex uses that premium very well.

First: points. The gold card point system is great; at least a point (or more for some purchases) per dollar spent. Amex also has a great relationship with what might be every company in existence (ok, I'm exaggerating a bit), and because of these relationships they can offer better deals to spend your points on than you could if you got just cash back.

Case in 'points': If you spend $5000 through a credit card with a 5% cash back program, at the end of the year (or whenever they feel like it) they'll send you a check (or credit) for $250 (if you even get that after all the exclusions, disqualifications, and black listed products you might have bought). Then if you want to say... buy a gift for your honey from a particular store, you could spend that $250 on a $250 gift, or cash your points in for credit towards round-trip flight somewhere. The point being that Amex usually gets a better discount on the thing you buy through your points, than if you were to buy the same thing with cash.

Now, the other reason I love the card; in fact probably the main reason I love Amex is because of their extraordinary customer service. While other card companies may offer the same features Amex offers (and in many cases was first to offer - like warranty extentions and replacement insurance), other companies do not have the same level of service that Amex offers. I have never in my life been treated as well on the phone as I have from the few times I've had to call their customer service line. Each time they went out of their way to help me, even suggesting things I wanted to hear, before I mentioned them.

Finally, the website they have, although initially not great a few years ago, is finally catching up to the times. It allows you to view your spending in graphs, and any other linked cards as well. You can view your expenses categoriezed by store type, or service, or restaurant. And with restaurant expenditures it even seperates out the tip so you can calculate what percentage you actually left that waiter or waitress.

Overall: I've had many other cards through the years, but I've also had Amex for nearly 10 years, and I use them almost exclusively wherever I can. They're worth the fee (when I spend too little and have to pay it, and especially when I spend enough and don't have to pay it). Also the new features of the website, and the new flexibility to pay over time on certain purchases is a nice bonus against what is actually a charge card.

Last edited on Dec 29, 2008