After the latest hike in exchange for more coupons I don’t care about, I am fed up with American Express and its useless coupon card.
Fees Increase, Again
As covered here, and virtually everywhere, American Express is again increasing its fees following Chase’s own increase for the Sapphire Reserve card. When I first started with American Express, the Platinum card was the most expensive on the market at $450. In 2017, it was raised to $550, then $695 four years later in 2021, and now four more years later, it’s at $895. It’s doubled in eight years and while all costs have risen over that period, they haven’t doubled.
Over time I acquired first a personal version of the card, then a business version, and then a separate business version for another company. The third, I will maintain as it’s genuinely an important credit tool for my business and the exceptional credit flexibility the bank offers is vital for that company.
But that’s the end of the road. I’m not biting on any credits or bonus points to stay for the first two versions I mentioned, I’m just done when it’s not a genuine and necessary component to my business. For what it’s worth, the new mirrored version is impressive.
Credits I Won’t Use
Matthew identified some new credits that the card adds to justify the new fee, but I’m just not interested. Given I have to keep one of the Platinum cards for business use, that still gets me some of the most important features like access to Centurion Lounges which really are some of the best.
I have found the Fine Hotels & Resorts Collection difficult to find value and have yet to execute a stay on the benefit – increasing it doesn’t add value to me. Uber One is included with other products, and the Uber credit rarely saves me money – rather I remember that I haven’t spent it near the end of the month, and scramble to overpay for food I have delivered or pick up myself just to use the credit. I’ve yet to stay in a Leading Hotels of the World property (though I’m not opposed) so having status in the program doesn’t help.
The entertainment credit is only helpful if I bill directly to the AMEX, and I get several of them included in other programs like T-Mobile. The $400 annual Resy credit is really $100/quarter, but it’s just more hoops to jump through. I don’t want to go out of my way to spend $75/quarter at Lululemon (that doesn’t buy much by itself.)
If there was one particular aspect that embodies what the American Express Platinum experience has become it would be the Oura credit. Oura is a wearable technology device that tracks biological data of the wearer. It starts at $349 but American Express now offers a $200 credit.
Cool.
But the credit only applies to equipment purchases which only matters because to get some of the key benefits (heart rate monitoring, sleep analysis, temperature monitoring, and a beta version of menstrual cycle prediction) is going to run you $5.99/month more. The credit can’t be applied to the subscription, an added warranty, or anything besides the equipment itself. To review, American Express has increased the annual fee to cover a credit toward a product I don’t want that only covers 40% of the cost and doesn’t include a subscription that will cost another $70/year to effectively use the device.
Where We Might See Some Change
Maybe the majority of American Express Platinum Credit Card members won’t discontinue using their cards over the fee and benefit changes. But if enough do, and if some become less engaged in the Membership Rewards program generally, we might not see a reversal of fee creep, but we might see better value for points instead. That’s one of my hopes from this.
Consumers are trading down all over the premium economy which is why Starbucks is closing hundreds of stores and laying off nearly a thousand corporate staff members. Resale value of high end cars are down significantly, Jaguar/Land Rover have an enormous supply of unsold vehicles at the moment. Chase and American Express may see pushback as Delta did last year. Capital One is still out to market with its Venture X at what seems like an underpriced $395 annual fee (no doubt it will increase next year.)
We might also see an easier path for using these coupons or those that are of more common value. It would be amazing if there wasn’t an asterisk next to nearly every benefit offered. The airline fee credit has to be selected in advance, is hard to change throughout the year, and isn’t a general credit. If you only use Uber once a year and spend $200 during your visit, you’re still only going to get the monthly allowance in value.
I understand why this exists (to promote frequent use of the partner brand and encourage regular use of the card) but it irritates users and for those who are keeping track, causes them to feel that annoyance and run that value analysis every time it’s encountered.
Conclusion
I downgraded my American Express Platinum cards because it no longer makes sense to continue to pay for coupons I don’t want or need. The areas where I find value come with strings attached, caveats, and asterisks but my annual fee does not. If American Express (and/or Chase) see members leaving or disengaged with the products, they could offer retention bonuses or enrich the cards further. But the real value would be if the banks increase the value of the points they deliver or reduce the hurdles to glean value. It may be wishful thinking, but I am voting with my dollars.
What do you think?
Dude, there’s so much misinformation in this post. First, the annual fee issue. Amex has increased the nominal fee, but the real fee (adjusted for inflation) has remained stable.
My gosh, there’s so much misinformation I can’t even address it all, but I’ll take a stab
1: uber does not overcharge for food. There are many restaurants where the price on uber is exactly the same as the price on the menu inside the restaurant.
2: t-mobile is a horrible value. Visible (Verizon prepaid) now includes international roaming. You can probably save $40 a month switching to Visible.
3: Starbucks is closing a tiny fraction of stores.
4: instead of complaining about high costs, can you uplevel your career and make more money? This will turn you into a more respectable person. Nobody likes a loser and whiner. If you can get promoted at work and make more money, you’ll stop whining about increased fees.
This seems unnecessarily harsh.
I think broadly we as a society coddle underachievers. We sympathize with people with low ambition. That needs to stop. It’s not healthy or productive to be complacent.
@Anti RBF aka Stephen Squeri – Directly into your claims.
1: uber does not overcharge for food. There are many restaurants where the price on uber is exactly the same as the price on the menu inside the restaurant.
• The New York Times found Uber Eats to be 49-91% higher than ordering directly through the restaurant. If we exclude delivery fees it’s still 49-68% more expensive than ordering from the restaurant for pickup. Solely menu markup in the report was 17.5-21%. (https://archive.is/20220713024232/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/technology/personaltech/ubereats-doordash-postmates-grubhub-review.html) DC and Pennsylvania even required the app to show the surcharge over restaurant prices: (https://wtop.com/food-restaurant/2021/06/uber-eats-will-now-highlight-price-differences-from-restaurants-dcs-ag-says/)
2: t-mobile is a horrible value. Visible (Verizon prepaid) now includes international roaming. You can probably save $40 a month switching to Visible.
• Incorrect. Visible’s $39/month plan (which jumps to $45 per line after teaser rate) includes two days per month of international roaming up to 2GB then it jumps to $5-10/day depending on plan. Depending on how many days abroad annually, this may or may not be a better deal than T-Mo. Back of the napkin math, for me it would be a close call as to whether Visible saves me money, for some it will, for others, it won’t. But as close as the math is, a “horrible value” it is not.
3: Starbucks is closing a tiny fraction of stores.
• Yes, if we consider locations inside of Targets and Kroger’s (or various other co-opted partnerships), the percentage is small. But 188 stores is not nothing, Crumbl is also struggling (same site profit just $72k on avg vs last year), Maybe it means nothing, maybe it means something. However, it’s known that some of these stores hadn’t even opened yet but were built out. And the total savings of this insignificant number is a whopping $1bn.
4: instead of complaining about high costs, can you uplevel your career and make more money? This will turn you into a more respectable person. Nobody likes a loser and whiner. If you can get promoted at work and make more money, you’ll stop whining about increased fees.
• This comment is the least thought out and most egregious because of its folly. I can afford the cards, they just don’t return value to me in the way they once did. If Starbucks tomorrow started charging $12 for a tall dark roast, does that mean you should “level up your career” or that a $12 cup of coffee is ridiculous? With no disrespect to my W-2 friends, I no longer rely on an employer to promote me. I do fine, could always do more, but it’s not a lack of earnings that determines value for me. If I made twice my earnings, I still don’t need an Oura ring discount, I still don’t need to find a reason to blow $75/quarter at Lululemon. I would, however, have been likely to stay if earnings per dollar increased or transfer rates improved.
@ Kyle — Why are you calling this “Anti RBF” person out by their real real name? Maybe I am missing something? Ignore this guy trying to put you down about your career. He knows nothing of your business and vice-versa. He sounds jealous to me.
I agree, T-Mobile is awesome, especially if you utilize all the freebies they throw in. We use them all becuase they are things we actually want/already use. OTOH, most AMEX credits are for a bunch of useless crap. I personally found using the FHR credit to be akin to an annual torture ritual. Just what I was hoping for — MORE OF IT! Not.
I closed my Plat AMEX card last year, and I would open it again for a quick SUB but certainly not for all of these supposed new “benefits.” I would never pay the renewal fee.
Stephen Squeri is the CEO of American Express.
I specialize in put-downs of careers because we live in a world where the middle class is disappearing. That means you either get with the high-end lucrative career paths or get left behind. By shaming people over the age of 30 who make under $800,000 a year, what I’m doing is sending a cautionary tale to young people that they’d better get their educational credentials and their career plans in order, or you’re going to be whining on internet blogs about how expensive Uber Eats is.
@Anti RBF – I hold four degrees including an MBA and graduated summa cum laude. Maybe the cautionary tale is making assumptions about people online to advance your own narrative.
@Gene – it was tongue-in-cheek sarcasm as Squeri is the name of the CEO of AMEX and Anti RBF appears to be a huge fan of the brand who views anyone that doesn’t seem value in their coupon book as simply unable to afford it.
Good on you Kyle for calling out the troll on the misinformation.
Good job Kyle responding to each point! I have T-Mobile too mainly for the international data roaming.
There are plenty of ways to get cheap international roaming with esims
I think your analysis on T-mobile vs Visible is off. I recently switched and have done the research.
On a single line basis, you can purchase an annual Visible Pro+ plan for $450. Thats comes to $37.50 a month. The annual plan gives you 24 days of international roaming annually outside of North America with 2GB each day. If you go month to month, its more expensive and international roaming accumulates at 2 day each month.
Tmobile for a single line is $85, and that price includes a discount for ACH pay (in other words you cant use your Amex or any other credit card for the cell phone insurance at that price). Real price is $90, and you still have taxes on top of that. Lets say 15% more. That puts you around $103. Thats a huge difference for a single line between the two.
I do understand that you can take advantage of family plans with Tmobile and then the per line rates come down, but even with 3 lines thats $155 + 15%. That puts you at roughly 180 for three lines. Its only with a large family plan that Tmobile makes any sense.
@Benjamin – You’re correct, I have a family plan and that’s probably why it works for me as I am but as mentioned, it’s close.
I was contemplating the platinum but the latest rise has made the decision for me – I’ll stick with the gold I already have. Although the credit isn’t as much I’ll still get the Resy, Uber and other foods credits that generally cover the cost and are only incrementally higher on the platinum. My apartment has a gym so no need for that, chances of shopping at Saks or Lullemon are virtually nil, I have top tier with 3 of the 4 main hotel brands so would rather get the points, night credits and upgrades that way which I would not get booking via AMEX, don’t tend to be massively loyal to any airline these days so that credit is almost worthless, and tend to show up at airports only an hour or so before departure so lounges really aren’t that beneficial either unless there’s a flight delay (and with the money you’d save you can probably afford an occasional paid lounge visit or proper meal at a restaurant rather than whatever the pickings the lounge has). That’s just my personal experience anyway, everyone else’s is different of course.
Keeping my Amex Platinum. There is a lot of value in their “coupon book” that I will use. Will probably downgrade my Chase Reserve. As for Starbucks, people are finally realizing their coffee sucks and it is crazy overpriced. Only stupid people go to Starbucks.
I’m with you, Kyle. The coupon approach means I’ll just have too many go unused. I get lounge access on my international flights with J, and really don’t miss lounge access on domestic trips. But, of course, I now only travel for pleasure. However, I can see the value in the card for others.
@ Anti BRF — $800,000 a year? Get a grip, dude. I think you are in for a big wake up call. If you are so important, why are you wasting your incredibly valuable time posting here?
Gene the troll earns a couple bucks on each idiot comment.
Yep, @AntiBRF has got his hand on it, and that hand is busy. Reminds me of that “Arps” idiot who used to troll these boards, LARPing as a fancy big-city lawyer.
I’m heading down the following path:
1. Canceling the CSR or downgrading to the CSP. There is nothing much that appeals to me. The hotel and restaurant credits aren’t very appealing to me. Moving points to Freedom Unlimited.
2. I actually got a second Amex Plat. The Schwab version since I have an account with them and that will save me money. Once the AF comes around with my other one, I will cancel that one.
The Amex credits are much easier for me to use. Two restaurants we like are in Resy so that is easy money. I can usually use the airline credit, streaming is easy. So that covers the AF. The other credits we’ll use some but I don’t value them that highly.
Obviously it varies by the person. I’ve used most Amex points than Chase where I have about 400,000 pts that I need to use at some point.
I do think the increased fee is to encourage nominal travelers (those who fly a few times per year versus air warriors that fly multiple times per month) to cancel their membership. I am fortunate enough to remember how air travel and lounge access was pre-pandemic, no crowds, relaxing and peaceful. Since the end of the pandemic there has been way too much overcrowding caused by too many sign-ups with sky high welcome offers/waived first year annual fees. Let’s see what the churn rate is with this latest increase and therefore lounge crowding.
Pre-pandemic, many years before, United was already turning away one-time pass holders. They just didn’t have the signage out front.
Ten to twenty years ago lounges might have met your description but they also had little food. They were also full of bigoted white men. The traveling public today is much more tolerant and diverse. Let’s celebrate that.
Arps, is that you?
No, you may recall I just began commenting on your blog yesterday when you posted a bathroom selfie with a scowl, hence my username.
You don’t like RBF? 😉
Pandemic was 2019 (easy to remember, covid-19, the 19 is the year it was “discovered”) so not 10-20 years ago and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not white lol.
Lounges were never about the food for me, they were and are more about a place to relax prior to a flight and being able to avoid a crowded, uncomfortable seating areas at the gate, and wi-fi, clean restrooms, printers even, again pre-pandemic when people printed a lot more.
Now the American Flagship lounges and Flagship First Dining, both of those, yes, loved loved loved their food and beverages, still do. The new Flagship lounge in Philly needs some work, it’s too small and gets too crowded. Excited to see what’s in store for Charlotte
Yes, to be more clear, 6-7-8 years ago airline lounges were already at capacity to the extent you couldn’t get in with a one time pass. 10-20 years ago there were no such issues.
Sure, use your money in the best way you deem. But your reasons for downgrading your use of the Platinum is a bunch of rather silly, biased platitudes. The overwhelming number of those commenting (including me) think the value offered easily outpaces the annual fee increase. The $600 hotel credit alone is incredible for those who actually travel, which is what the card is targeted at. Combined with efficient customer service and I’m very happy to pay the $200 difference in annual fees. But de gustibus, as the saying goes.
He’s reasons aren’t silly if they accurately describe his situation.
Keeping mine – hope they improve the Concierge.
Kyle, appreciate your honesty. I am trying to use the FHR credit as we speak. It’s quite a pain. Wondering if the coupons which in theory beat the annual fees are worth it. My time is worth something too.
I used the Resy credit right away on pick up orders. Lululemon too. And just booked a Park Hyatt (non-US location) for less than $300 so I still have some of the FHR credit to use. Can’t use the Equinox nor Oura credit but the Platinum card is still valuable to me for the amex points on airfare and lounge access. The food nowadays seems to be hit or miss but the alcoholic drinks still slap so I’m keeping my card, for now.
You do you, dude. The refresh of this card is what convinced me to keep it for another year. I (or my parentner) find value in ALL of the benefits (with the exception of the Oura credit). No offense, but you’re just not the target market for this card.
I am kind of lost as to why this card is beyond worthwhile for those who actually travel regularly. The new annal online flight credit of $1200 is an incredible value and I have used it already. Honestly, walk into most lounges now, including United at OHare just this evening, and I think it’s a good thing that Amex is trying to reward those who actually use the card, travel more than twice a year, and add perks for them attached to that high spend. Credit cards, lounges, and offerings are just beyond absurd anymore with basically everyone from any trailer park in America seemingly having access to clubs now. Maybe it doesn’t work for you, Kyle. Understood. But for many of us it is a welcome breath of fresh air to begin to differentiate the actual spenders versus the fee payers who want to pile up food at the lounges a few times a year as they put their feet up on the tables and let their kids run wild.
In fact, I was talking to a friend tonight about the dismal state of lounges and how different it is from 10-15 years ago when they felt like a sanctuary from the chaos. Now they are actually more chaotic than airport bars or gate areas. I see an opening if this continues for someone like Soho House to come in and open small lounges in airports related to their clubs in cities that are membership only. Or, United as one example, to open lounges that are exclusive to paid membership and have nothing to do with credit cards.
The system is broken. Fixing it will include, I guess, pissing off Kyle.
@Antwerp – In fairness, I was talking about why it doesn’t work for me. It sounds like it’s working great for you with the exception of the Centurion Clubs (one of the places I derive value.)
Can you come back to the annual flight credit of $1,200? I didn’t see that in the stated benefits and they didn’t mention it in their pitch to keep from downgrading. Maybe I will reverse course.
For the Business Plat, if you spend over $250K a year you receive one $1200 credit per calendar year when booking flights at Amex Travel.
If you rarely travel, and live in a small town where uber eats doesn’t exist, yes the amex platinum is not for you. So your article is very much a “speak for yourself”. For a lot people, that 600 fhr credit and 400 resy credit is basically cash. And that uber credit, is simply a free coffee order on uber eats per month, it’s that easy to use.
@John – In one version of this post, I wrote that for those who own cars and don’t live in New York, DC, Chicago, or other carless metros, the Uber credit has far more utility. Same really, is true for the Resy credit. If Uber or Uber Eats is part of your monthly spend naturally, great. But if it’s not, you find yourself going out of your way to spend it and then trying to talk yourself into the value you received.
To the “rarely travel comment”, I often travel for work (which picks up the tab) and when I travel personally, it’s either between homes or internationally – where the credit doesn’t apply. What you likely meant to say is, “If you travel a lot personally, and only in the United States then the $15/month is really worth every penny.” But again, two caveats to get the maximum possible value from an AMEX benefit, kind of proving the point.
@John – In one version of this post, I wrote that for those who own cars and don’t live in New York, DC, Chicago, or other carless metros, the Uber credit has far more utility. Same really, is true for the Resy credit. If Uber or Uber Eats is part of your monthly spend naturally, great. But if it’s not, you find yourself going out of your way to spend it and then trying to talk yourself into the value you received.
To the “rarely travel comment”, I often travel for work (which picks up the tab) and when I travel personally, it’s either between homes or internationally – where the credit doesn’t apply. What you likely meant to say is, “If you travel a lot personally, and only in the United States then the $15/month is really worth every penny.” But again, two caveats to get the maximum possible value from an AMEX benefit kind of proves my point.
@Kyle you mention the lounges being some of the best. I’m curious, which ones do you like? 10 years ago they might have been great, but I find myself almost always skipping the Centurion Lounge in favor of an Admirals Club, or basically anything else. JFK can be nice, but other than that, I see very little utility with them. Especially LAX, DFW, and MIA. In those airports I find the AC to be a far better option.
@Jerry – MIA, hands down is the Centurion, Charlotte too. LaGuardia is an interesting case with the two side-by-side and I think the Sapphire lounges in LGA and BOS are incredible.
I’d say that you hit the nail right on the head.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m over the coupon book credit cards, of which AmEx is king. I want a card that I can use where I want to use it and also earns a decent point return. That certainly isn’t AmEx.
I agree. I have the AMEX Platinum and the Chase Reserve. I can’t seem to find a good way to use the benefits. I was traveling with my wife, and she had to pay to access the Lounge. I will downgrade both cards before my account renews.
I’m surprised you haven’t found value in the FHR program. II find the guaranteed noon check-in and guaranteed 4:00 p.m. check out to be incredibly valuable.
@Sal – I absolutely find value in those benefits, but I own a luxury travel agency and we have those benefits at 8,000 properties from Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Tablet, Virtuoso, Shangri-La, etc. which is several times larger. It’s not a matter of not valuing the benefits, it’s that the stays have to be fairly specific meaning it has to be FHR if it’s a one-night stay in very few markets, or it’s a two-night stay but above market in more cities. It’s just been hard to execute when I have wanted to use it.
It’s probably a “me” problem on finding the right window, but whether I am the problem or the program is – it still doesn’t return value to me but costs me more money in an annual fee.
@ Antwerp and @ Kyle — Yeah, there is no $1,200 flight credit.
For the Business Plat, if you spend over $250K a year you receive one $1200 credit per calendar year when booking flights at Amex Travel.
@Antwerp – Wow! I qualified for this last year and wasn’t notified about this benefit, and have no idea how to find it. I’d still like to burn it for this year, though I have already booked almost everything through the end of the year.
It’s a new benefit just announced. If you qualified this year you will “unlock it” for 2026. It’s very well publicized in the Business Plat listing of benefits. I confess that I thought it was instant for this year after reading the list. It’s not. Once you achieve the $250K spending it will give you this credit for the NEXT calendar year. As such, for example, I earned it this year but I can’t use it until January 1 for any booking. I actually thought it was instant but after a booking where the credit did not show up I called and they said it is new and the qualification is rolled into the next calendar year.
@Gene – Turns out there is – “Unlock up to $1,200 in statement credits on flights booked on AmexTravel.com with your Business Platinum Card, for use in the next calendar year*, after spending $250,000 in eligible purchases in this calendar year.‡” but it’s new, and not right up at the top. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/business-solutions/
And my retained card will have this credit. That said, their flight prices are inflated, less selection than the open market or major OTAs too so it will have to be in select redemption spots.
For sure Amex Travel can sometimes be more expensive than the OTA fares. But with proper shopping out the OTA’s prior I have often found it to be right in line. Not always, but more than not. Further, I am just not trusting of some of the OTA’s. Like the one where I booked via Kayak for what seemed a good one way deal to Sri Lanka and it ended up being some secondary agency in India that was calling constantly and pushing me to add $200 to make a round trip. I am not so keen on OTA’s unless it is instant, next day, no chance of changing, and no time for them to give me issues. I pretty much assume with any OTA that I am not going to ever get to talk to a person if in need. At least Amex Travel in this one case I feel confident I will get some sort of help in a difficult situation with flights. Mostly I prefer booking direct with the airline.
So which cards are you keeping? What is your lounge access strategy?
I don’t understand your article at all (a gimmicky mirrored card is surely not impressive, but the value offered by Amex absolutely is to many people, especially when compared to the horror show that is the new CSR), but I am curious to know what does work for you in these inflationary times.
@Peter – I had three Platinums (for reasonable reasons stated), and two household Sapphire Reserves. We will eliminate one of the Reserves and two of the Platinums. Lounge strategy is simple, Centurion Lounge with business platinum that has to remain because of what we use it for (flexible credit line), Sapphire when available as they build out their presence (in a head to head, I prefer Sapphire), Priority pass from either, and then business class when flying on paid international tickets.
So just to be clear you are “fed up” because even though the credits are objectively great they don’t work for you to have three Plat cards? Isn’t that perhaps a bit too pejorative?
You travel as a family of 4, right? So you are keeping a CSR and then what, having one AU? And for the Plat, you also have one AU (presume you get 2x guest access owing to 75k spend)?
Agree in general I prefer CSR lounges to Amex although so many more Amex lounges. And where I can default to CSR with AU when we are traveling as 4ppl (don’t put 75k on the plat and hate paying the kid fees although P2 is an AU). But still absolutely incredible value on the Amex and the credits are light years better than on the new CSR.
Honestly considering just getting P2 their own Plat to take advantage of the SUB and the credits are simply fantastic. So I guess I’m heading in the opposite direction.
The FHR and Resy credits are of great value to me.
A friend and I were discussing the changes and she is considering dropping the card.
@Heather – Makes sense, I just wasn’t getting the value from all of them.
Sounds like you’re not much of a traveler, and certainly not the up-market traveler that AMEX is targeting. Does Motel 6 sponsor a card? Might be more your speed.
Sounds like you like to throw away money because you think this card makes you a superior up-market traveller.
Hint – a crowded, trashed out Centurion lounge is not really up-market.
@Kacee – You’ve got me there, I downgraded two of my three Platinums because I am a Motel 6 fan.
I called to downgrade my card and they offered me $500 credit to stay if I spent $4000 in 3 months. That was worth it for 1 year.
@MM – That would have been enough to sway me to stay because an effective rate of $400 for normal spending – why not? But I’d set a calendar reminder for next year minus a month and ditch it then.
I don’t get any of this. Real life data says NO ONE is saving money, living above their means, have very little savings- median or average balance for that matter- car payment delinquencies are at an all time record high (as are car payments) and housing costs are at record levels…yet…all these comments are oblivious…$1000 yearly fee…who cares. Starbucks junk ass coffee, eating out almost daily…. big deal- peanuts to us. Who doesn’t do that? In fact, if my crap coffee isn’t in a “look at me being cool” green cup and cost $9 then just shoot me because I’ll be kicked off Facebook. Why cook, that’s for peasants not me. Range Rovers for everyone, I’m buying. In fact, they’re junk- everyone gets a Ferrari.
Where’s the disconnect? I’d love to see big business get a fist shoved up them and prices drop. But everyone is falling all over themselves to get a card…. with a F’ING MIRROR FINISH???!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No wonder AMEX and the rest say just keep raising it, these idiots will pay. And they do. I see it everywhere in every facet of life.
I live at the beach and there are literally HUNDREDS of these beach canopies..shibuni, shimani, shitpilie…whatever they’re called, flapping in the wind – at $400 each. All the same color. All doing basically nothing, no shade. Each troll trying to look as “cool” as the hundreds of other trolls. I cry laughing because they’re all oblivious to that fact. I want to do a survey and see how many times they wander into someone else’s Shitblumi (with a yeti cooler). They just know that if everyone is doing it, they are compelled to do it too. Lemmings. Be part of the herd. You have a mirror credit card?…ooooh I gotta have one so I can use it at Starbucks and look like the in-crowd. Jesus ball crushing christ, I’m so mad at myself for not exploiting more suckers in life. I’d be a trillionaire.
Apparently, me and every statistical report is dead wrong and everyone is just rolling in cash with thousands in discretionary income each week falling out of their pockets. Secret levels of income not reported to the government and common run of the mill jobs that pay 100k a month. They’re everywhere apparently. I guess I’m just not tied in with the cool crowd. Or broke crowd. But then again- I pay cash, make my own coffee and eat at my paid off home. Credit cards are a sucker’s game. It’s like Vegas. All these “perks” you pay thousands for, to get pennies. Smart.
Damn people… get your own identities. Just make sure it’s in a Suburban XXXL or Yukon.
Would someone please delete this guy “Anti RBF”? He clearly thinks highly of himself for no reason and his logic is convoluted at best. he seems better at attacking Kyle than actually saying anything positive – not to mention the large number of useless posts being negative. Really? Commenting on hos newsletter my telling him to get a higher paying job? Seriously? That is the ranting of a 9 year old – not really adding anything of substance except wanting to read his own posts.
Kyle, keep up the good work. No matter how much you make, your work helps lots of travelers and credit card holders like me. I have guys like of Anti RBF and they have nothing useful to say…
I mean, the Platinum card is $1,150 USD or higher in many countries so I’d say that was expected.