New Amex statement credits

albyd said:
I think Amex has achieved their objective - to get us using our Amex cards for everything possible so they don’t need to bribe us with $10 credits to do so. They don’t need to do so anymore and whether or not the media says so, we’re in a recession so everyone cuts back. Why should Amex be any different?

Speaking for myself, I use my Amex almost everywhere. The occasions where I need my backup non Amex card is very rare. I’m sure most of us can get by with it as the only card we carry if we had to. That likely wasn’t the case 10 years ago when all of this wild promotion started to happen. YMMV.
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To be honest, I'm actually using my Amex cards less than before.

I now book Qantas flights using my HSBC QF Visa because the earn rate is better (2 QFF/$1, versus 1.75/$1 on QF Discovery or 1.125/$1 on Amex Plat).

I now use CBA Ultimate overseas because the earn rate is higher (3 CBA/$1, equal to 1 SQ mile per AUD $1, versus 2.25 MR/$1 on Plat, equal to 0.75 SQ miles per AUD $1) - and for that, CBA also has no foreign fee and is accepted anywhere Mastercard is, versus Amex with worse acceptance in many countries and a 3% fee when it is accepted.

I often use my Visa/MC in restaurants and cafes because I find many places now have auto surcharging on the terminal and it's all set to mirror the acceptance cost, and Amex fees tend to be double the surcharge of Visa/MC but the earn rate on Amex is barely a fraction more and not worth paying double for.

I could list plenty of other examples by category, but you get the idea. I obviously still use my Amex cards, but nowhere near as much as before. They've just cut back on so many of the reasons to use Amex and so many of the things that made Amex 'Amex'. Now it's kinda just a glorified credit card with worse acceptance and not significantly more points to make it worth it. Rant over. 😂
 
ChrisFlyer said:
To be honest, I'm actually using my Amex cards less than before.

I now book Qantas flights using my HSBC QF Visa because the earn rate is better (2 QFF/$1, versus 1.75/$1 on QF Discovery or 1.125/$1 on Amex Plat).

I now use CBA Ultimate overseas because the earn rate is higher (3 CBA/$1, equal to 1 SQ mile per AUD $1, versus 2.25 MR/$1 on Plat, equal to 0.75 SQ miles per AUD $1) - and for that, CBA also has no foreign fee and is accepted anywhere Mastercard is, versus Amex with worse acceptance in many countries and a 3% fee when it is accepted.

I often use my Visa/MC in restaurants and cafes because I find many places now have auto surcharging on the terminal and it's all set to mirror the acceptance cost, and Amex fees tend to be double the surcharge of Visa/MC but the earn rate on Amex is barely a fraction more and not worth paying double for.

I could list plenty of other examples by category, but you get the idea. I obviously still use my Amex cards, but nowhere near as much as before. They've just cut back on so many of the reasons to use Amex and so many of the things that made Amex 'Amex'. Now it's kinda just a glorified credit card with worse acceptance and not significantly more points to make it worth it. Rant over. 😂
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Agreed.

Enshittification has taken over, unfortunately. Gone are the glory days of high percentage cashback offers, point transfer ratios and benefits.
 
ChrisFlyer said:
To be honest, I'm actually using my Amex cards less than before.

I now book Qantas flights using my HSBC QF Visa because the earn rate is better (2 QFF/$1, versus 1.75/$1 on QF Discovery or 1.125/$1 on Amex Plat).

I now use CBA Ultimate overseas because the earn rate is higher (3 CBA/$1, equal to 1 SQ mile per AUD $1, versus 2.25 MR/$1 on Plat, equal to 0.75 SQ miles per AUD $1) - and for that, CBA also has no foreign fee and is accepted anywhere Mastercard is, versus Amex with worse acceptance in many countries and a 3% fee when it is accepted.

I often use my Visa/MC in restaurants and cafes because I find many places now have auto surcharging on the terminal and it's all set to mirror the acceptance cost, and Amex fees tend to be double the surcharge of Visa/MC but the earn rate on Amex is barely a fraction more and not worth paying double for.

I could list plenty of other examples by category, but you get the idea. I obviously still use my Amex cards, but nowhere near as much as before. They've just cut back on so many of the reasons to use Amex and so many of the things that made Amex 'Amex'. Now it's kinda just a glorified credit card with worse acceptance and not significantly more points to make it worth it. Rant over. 😂
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Well I have sent them my complaint. Don't expect things to improve unless you complain. I included everything from poor acceptance, fees for use, poor monthly offers, and redemption rates only equal to Visa / mastercard.
Go on, get typing.
 
I usually ignore the surveys and requests for feedback but I completed one for my Platinum Reserve card yesterday - although it focused on asking questions about Amex acceptance vs MasterCard. Only have Reserve due to the grandfathered TC. Otherwise have simplified back to just my charge card. Now that I’d be interested in giving some feedback about …
 
JessicaTam said:
I got a survey from Amex. I was frank and fearless!
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And what a useless survey it was, all about acceptance of amex cards and nothing about, for example, the surcharges that businesses charge when accepting amex compared to other payment methods.
That was a waste of 10 min - maybe instead of donating money to charity, they should give back to their users instead.
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frodo said:
And what a useless survey it was, all about acceptance of amex cards and nothing about, for example, the surcharges that businesses charge when accepting amex compared to other payment methods.
That was a waste of 10 min - maybe instead of donating money to charity, they should give back to their users instead.
View attachment 399722
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There was opportunity to comment at the end of the survey about what you thought. I did.
 
prozac said:
There was opportunity to comment at the end of the survey about what you thought. I did.
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I missed that.

What specifically did you give feedback on?

I think that continual reduction of benefits for cards where they charge a god-awful premium compared to the competition is tough. On the one hand, there’s the economy. On the other, despite the cohort on AFF making noises about the continual erosion in value, there are enough people prepared to pay through the nose for Amex products so they continue to try it on successfully. They said as much at their last earnings result release.
 
albyd said:
I missed that.

What specifically did you give feedback on?

I think that continual reduction of benefits for cards where they charge a god-awful premium compared to the competition is tough. On the one hand, there’s the economy. On the other, despite the cohort on AFF making noises about the continual erosion in value, there are enough people prepared to pay through the nose for Amex products so they continue to try it on successfully. They said as much at their last earnings result release.
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I cannot quote verbatum but as you mentioned erosion of benefits, and reduced acceptance of fee charged for amex, redemption benefit. i.e. visa / m'card redemptions equal to amex, poor monthly offers, etc. You will have other ideas. Logon, go to chat and tell the chatbot you want to complain.
 
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burmans said:
Just got an email from Amex about Shop Small, the T&Cs aren’t included even when you click through.

So it appears even the marketing team realised what an abysmal offer this is!
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They borrowed the I.T. department from QF.

But, to be fair to them, no-one had informed them of the name change...

American Express Shop Tiny

Join the shrinking number of people using our cards, and embrace the full meaning of:
"Limited benefits, Big Costs!"

:p
 
Just me or is AMEX app just really slow and card offers refusing to load this morning?

Keep getting a "server is not responding" when trying to load offers.
 
I understand that the Shop Small campaign was to drive acceptance by small businesses and encourage us to use the card more often, both of which I assume they’ve achieved.

But 4 days is insulting - unless I have purchase from a small business planned (I don’t), I’ll maybe get 50 bonus points from getting a few coffees and lunch over the weekend.
 

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