This is what happens on 29th February with American Express pro-rata fee refunds

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• david says:

  23 Feb23 February 05:59

  A nice US feature that should be replicated on these shores is that will give you a heads-up if you won’t be eligible for the welcome offer before you apply.

  • Mark says:

    23 Feb23 February 06:46

    Just keep a note of it, I have a little spreadsheet with when I last cancelled the card and when I am next eligible. You can ask Amex too on chat who will tell you

  • Numpty says:

    23 Feb23 February 10:27

    just use online chat and they will tell you when last account was closed (once you get past the bot)

• NicktheGreek says:

  23 Feb23 February 06:14

  You reference the dining credit in the second calendar year of holding the platinum, but I’m not sure it’s confirmed this runs past 2024? Same as Harvey Nichols. Could it be they’re finalising this element and want it squared away before removing pro-rata refunds?

  • Rob says:

    23 Feb23 February 07:04

    Fair point.

  • Can2 says:

    23 Feb23 February 10:20

    Hear hear!

• SteveJ says:

  23 Feb23 February 06:17

  Still find it remarkable that this information is a HfP “secret” and not officially in the Ts&C’s.

  • Harry T says:

    23 Feb23 February 06:22

    Yeah, it’s pretty unprofessional.

    • BJ says:

      23 Feb23 February 07:05

      I’m more interested in reasons behind their continuing failure to press ahead with this. Despite this and many other aspects of amex policy and practice being to our advantage, I have become increasibgly frustrated with it all in recent years and have come round to @JDB school of thought on the matter. It’s all got beyond a joke.

      • Lady London says:

        23 Feb23 February 09:38

        + 1
        American Express has a very high value as a brand in markets round the world but the brand seems wasted and potentially becoming damaged in very recent years in the UK.

        The greatest dissonance seems to be the Amex Platinum where Amex’s strategy is unclear. At its price other than ‘snob’ value, which the huge deterioration in their customer service quality makes really not worth it, and Amex’s insane continuation in continuing with Priority Pass that doesn’t deliver in the UK, too few people would really use the restaurant benefits / Harvey Nicks if they didn’t have to find a way to justify nearly £700 yearly subscription.

        If Amex was really serious they’d give a travel expenses instead. And ask Bolt to do for them in the UK, what they haven’t managed to get Uber to do for them here that Uber does with Amex in the US.

        It’s sad as the Americans I knew loved and trusted American Express to be there for them.

        • BJ says:

          23 Feb23 February 10:02

          I would like to see a single amex branded card with a menu of benefits to choose from with an annual fee reflecting specific venefits chosen. This way everybody could get everything they want, nothing they don’t, and only pay for what they take.

        • Rob says:

          23 Feb23 February 10:33

          Good luck explaining that in your marketing.

        • BBbetter says:

          23 Feb23 February 10:23

          You have to remember that not everyone lives in the HfP bubble where every benefit is costed out.

• BJ says:

  23 Feb23 February 06:43

  “My gut feeling is that American Express will see an improvement in the ‘quality’ of cardholders who sign up”

  I’m a bit baffled by this, the notion is both pathetic and hilarious at the same time. I had a look for ‘quality’ in the HfP Glossary but it seems to be missing. The first thing that springs to mind every time I see it mentioned is The Class Sketch with John Cleese and the Two Ronnies 🙂

  It’s still widely available on the web for anybody who wants a laugh to start their day.

  • Litigator says:

    23 Feb23 February 07:53

    lol love it!

  • Reney says:

    23 Feb23 February 08:11

    The implementation of minimum income and no longer allowing household income to meet minimum criteria would increase the quality of credit. Also needing higher minimum spend to meet SUP (recent plat uplift needed 10k spend in 6 months).

    In credit lending, thinking about the “quality of credit” is a very basic concept, I am missing the point on why this is pathetic.

    • Reney says:

      23 Feb23 February 08:11

      SUB*

    • BJ says:

      23 Feb23 February 08:22

      I do know what Rob and others mean when using this term, I just think they could express it better.

      • Rob says:

        23 Feb23 February 09:01

        It’s a standard banking term.

        • Andy says:

          23 Feb23 February 09:28

          That still doesn’t explain what it means!

        • BJ says:

          23 Feb23 February 10:06

          Seriously? If you’re not winding me up then I don’t know what to say 🙂

• Harrier25 says:

  23 Feb23 February 06:46

  As Amex has such a tiny market share in the UK surely the end of pro-rata refunds will barely change the card market?

  • BJ says:

    23 Feb23 February 06:58

    This despite millions spent on TV advertising for the Gold card. They are hamstrung from the get-go because I imagine a large proportion of the British public look negatively on any brand that includes ‘American’. They would likely market more effectively by focusing on card brand and failing to mention American Express in advertising. Also, I suspect many Brits still largely associate amex with travellers cheques and perceive them as old fashioned.

    • Qrfan says:

      23 Feb23 February 07:09

      I think you’re the old fashioned one there mate. Most under 30s will likely never have seen a travellers cheque, and even those approaching 40 likely don’t remember them very well. This really isn’t a thing. The biggest blocker is the perceived lack of acceptance, not some throwback to pre 90s travel.

      • BBbetter says:

        23 Feb23 February 07:21

        Either BJ’s account has been hacked or he hasn’t had coffee yet.

      • Barry cutters says:

        23 Feb23 February 07:25

        QRFan- 100% correct.

      • BJ says:

        23 Feb23 February 08:02

        I did not mean to imply these were the main factors, only that they were factors. Their bigger problems likely being that in the UK for many Barclaycard is synonymous with credit card, large numbers probably just take a card from their mai/only bank, and a certain ‘quality’ of applicants may favour poor-credit cards (not sure how many of the latter but I imagine a bigger market share than amex. Store cards seemed to be qujte popular at onevtime too but with changes on the high street and many new payment options I expect this has declined enormously.

    • DavidF says:

      23 Feb23 February 09:31

      A LOT of people also don’t understand how APR works and get scared off by the big numbers in the Gold and Platinum ads. Every single ad on socials has comments underneath with people arguing both sides, and they’re both wrong (One saying 600% is wild, the other saying you’ll never pay interest because it’s a charge card) Presume that also hurts Amex in the UK.

      • BJ says:

        23 Feb23 February 10:14

        Yes, APR fiscussed further down page as I’m sure you’ve since seen.

      • mhughes says:

        23 Feb23 February 11:37

        Now you see, if their customers were all “quality” customers, that wouldn’t be a thing 🙂

  • BBbetter says:

    23 Feb23 February 07:17

    BAPP is one of the cards that processes most volumes, close to 1% of uk spending, as per recent IAG presentation.

    • JDB says:

      23 Feb23 February 07:25

      @BBbetter that figure from the IAG Capital Markets Day isn’t just for the BAPP but actually includes the Avios Barclaycards as well as the free BA Amex and the now defunct prepaid Mastercard.

    • NicktheGreek says:

      23 Feb23 February 09:28

      I believe the number was equivalent to 1% of UK GDP, so even taking into acct the other products that make up that 1% it’s a hefty number, and one that doesn’t include the non Avios Amex products…

• Greenpen says:

  23 Feb23 February 07:31

  Qrfan is right; the problem Amex has is the perceived acceptance of the card. The reality is very different as there are not many organisations that do not now accept it. The growth of the use of payment machines since people stopped using cash has facilitated this. Since I have had an Amex the situation at point of use has gone from worrying if it will be accepted to not concerned. But that’s not the general view.

  • JDB says:

    23 Feb23 February 07:47

    The bigger problem for Amex is that apart from the 241 voucher none of its cards now offers any meaningful benefits above those offered by other cards which have more universal acceptance. They also used to have superior customer service, but that has long gone. They are very complacent and will continue to lose market share unless they redesign the products and tailor them for the UK market.

    This shambolic implementation of the pro-rata refund and failure to communicate that officially with cardholders speaks volumes.

    • No longer Entitled says:

      23 Feb23 February 07:55

      Question is, do they care? California alone has a bigger GDP than all of the UK and that is just one state in their home country.

      The UK is an outpost and I doubt very much it moves the dial in how they generate the bulk of their profits.

      • JDB says:

        23 Feb23 February 08:13

        @No Longer Entitled – they must care a bit because they are chucking vast amounts of money into the UK, albeit to little effect as their market share continues to shrink and they pay ever more to acquire and retain customers. They have forgotten that a) they need to look after existing cardholders and b) the UK card market isn’t the same as the US.

        • AJA says:

          23 Feb23 February 08:34

          I agree it would be better to make the cards attractive to hold in their own right. I also think they haven’t helped themselves with changing the rules on who is eligible for a SUB and the two year gap. Plus increasing the minimum salary and making it based on individual salary rather than household income. I know these were efforts to try to retain customers but they undermine those efforts by giving away retention bonuses to try to keep customers. And then try to attract new customers with huge SUBs. I only hold the BAPP card and have no need or desire to apply for any other Amex product but will only do so as long as i perceive paying the benefits exceed the cost of the annual fee – increase it beyond the current fee and i would reconsider and I hope the TP earning on the BAPP card becomes a permanent feature. I think many others also only hold one card whether that’s the BAPP or another one.

    • BJ says:

      23 Feb23 February 09:04

      CS is still great if you call and choose your words wisely when asked how they can help today.

      • Lady London says:

        23 Feb23 February 09:48

        Do you mean include the words “I need to speak to Brighton”, @BJ ?

        • BJ says:

          23 Feb23 February 10:11

          Nope, but that’s the end result 🙂 Would love to help but if I did then I’d never get tgrough. Try a few…

    • meta says:

      23 Feb23 February 09:30

      In the last year or so, I have seen less Amex acceptance in the UK. Most of the small shops around my neighbourhood have stopped accepting Amex whereas previously they did.

      • BJ says:

        23 Feb23 February 10:20

        I think it depends a lot if you’re in an area that gets many American tourists, and if the shops sell stuff they likely want to buy. I recall @Liz having Shop Small mega spending sprees in St Andrews and Edinburgh every Christmas.

      • TooPoorToBeHere says:

        23 Feb23 February 10:35

        It must be very regional and I guess in London it’s much better. I’ve popped in to Amex threads on here before to bemoan that nowhere accepts it other than major chains, and been put in my place… certainly here it’s major chains only.

  • Peter K says:

    23 Feb23 February 07:52

    And also the apparent APR on the cards, on a nominal £1200 limit. I’ve seen numerous FB posts on amex ads that say how ridiculously high it is. A lot of potential punters get stuck on this, not seeing the benefits behind the card.

    • AJA says:

      23 Feb23 February 08:16

      That is only a problem if you don’t pay the balance in full each month. I would be surprised if even a few HfP readers do that. I think most of us are savvy enough to pay the balance in full.

      • CJD says:

        23 Feb23 February 08:41

        They’re ludicrously high because of how representative APR is calculated.

        Representative APR is simply the total cost of borrowing £1,200 on the card and repaying it over 12 months.

        The £650 card fee on the Platinum card is included in that total cost, hence why the APR comes out at over 700%. It doesn’t mean AMEX will charge you 700% interest if you don’t pay your card off in full one month.

• John says:

  23 Feb23 February 07:54

  I do I discover if my Amex platinum personal card, taken out in 2015, is charge or credit? I’m certain it began life as charge card; could they have switched it somehow?

  • Harrier25 says:

    23 Feb23 February 08:03

    Nope. Once a charge card, always a charge card.

  • Travel Strong says:

    23 Feb23 February 08:04

    Quick check is to see if you have an ‘Available credit’ limit on the first screen of the app, between balance and points earned (credit card)… or whether you have to check your ‘Spending Power’ (charge card)

    • BJ says:

      23 Feb23 February 08:30

      I see available credit on Nectar but not spending power on platinum charge.

  • AJA says:

    23 Feb23 February 08:09

    The easiest way is to look at a recent statement. If it’s a credit card it should show a credit limit and an estimate of how much interest you will pay if you only pay the minimum..

    If it’s a charge card it won’t show you a credit limit as you are required to settle the balance in full every month

    Or call Amex and ask.

• Rob H not Rob says:

  23 Feb23 February 08:06

  If you can’t remember your cancellation date, will Amex tell you if you contact them?

  Schoolboy error, can’t recall the exact month of cancellation!

  • Reney says:

    23 Feb23 February 08:16

    yes, whether you trust the answer is a different question. I would cross-check with your bank account if you can on when the last DD went through, any post you have etc.

  • BBbetter says:

    23 Feb23 February 08:28

    Always add a couple of weeks or even a month from the date Amex gives you. Many stories about people being denied sign up bonus after relying on amex’ incorrect date given to customers.

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