A Blue Story (American Express)

Member Name: thequy

Product:	American Express
Date:	23/01/02 (1570 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: .

Disadvantages: .

~ HOW WE MET ~
There I was minding my own business, strolling through the Trafford Centre without a care in the world - other than what I was going to get mummy dearest for her birthday and time was running out uh oh it’s tomorrow damn not long ’til the last post bugger looks like it’s going to be Interflora yet again. Zut alors.

Then just as the umpteenth window display failed miserably the ‘Would Mother like anything from here?’ test, I looked up and was swept into the deep blue eyes of quite possibly the most luscious blonde babe I’ve seen this side of Hollyoaks [insert disclaimer that I don’t watch Hollyoaks, it just happens to be on when I’m around friends’ etc etc]. Her gaze never faltered as she reached out to me, her pearly white teeth sparkling like a Colgate ad…

<<Sigh>> What’s the use? Much as I’d like to kid you all for as long as possible, it’s obvious from the category I’m writing in that she was only after one thing and that was my signature on the American Express Blue application form. This was also how it went at the time: I knew what she wanted (uniform and leaflet something of a give-away) but I stopped anyway, in the forlorn hope that she secretly fancied me and was going to slip me her phone number in the leaflet. No joy. For me that is - SHE got exactly what she wanted. Curse those international corporations and their devious sales tactics.

Before we dive into the detail of this particular offering, can I just check that you know what credit cards are all about? I don’t like to be patronising but as with all financial instruments, there’s more to them than meets the eye and you’re playing with fire if you don’t understand the fundamentals. It would be irresponsible of me (and you) if you signed up to Amex Blue without considering if credit cards, period, were the right thing for you.
<
br>If ‘No’, then fret ye not for help is but a couple of clicks away. Go and read SueMagee’s “Picking the plastic” (‘Credit Cards in general’) and then we’re away. Right, end of Patronising.


~ BUT I’M ALREADY ATTACHED! ~
Ever since Barclays did the cunning thing and gave me a Barclaycard with my student account, I’ve been loyal and stuck with them for almost 8 years, mainly because they’ve always been sufficient for my needs. I don’t get around anywhere near as much as Zoë (ok, ok, smutty innuendoes stop here) but I’ve not exactly been stationary either and I have never had it rejected. When I started work, they upped my credit limit to £3,200 without asking (I can only assume Barclays told them I was no longer a student and had a regular income) although they also underlined that I could refuse the increase if I wanted (I didn’t). No doubt, this was to encourage me to spend more than I could pay back in one go – I clear my account in full each month and this must annoy them no end – but as long as I remained disciplined, this wouldn’t matter and it’s nice to know I’ve got the monetary capacity should an emergency arise.

But why risk temptation at all? If I can afford to clear my bill each month, I can obviously afford to live off my current account. Why take on additional hassle and admin when all I’m doing is re-arranging my cashflow?

Because Barclaycard give me a Point for every £10 spent as well as Online Purchase Protection and various other guarantees. These fringe benefits sound nice but I’m sure there’s all manner of small print to tackle if I ever wanted to make a claim, so what interests me is the Points I earn.

In recent years however, the Points system has been devalued to the extent you can’t get anything worthwhile without having to shell out more money ̵
1; lots of it. For example, 200 points (which I’ve spent £2000 to accumulate) for a £2 reduction in the price of a safari by hot air balloon in Kenya. Perhaps my bitterness leads me to exaggerate but then I’m quite bitter - almost a decade of faithful spending in the hope I might one day be able to swap my Points for a widescreen telly or the opportunity to chuck wet sponges (preferably hard objects) at each member of Hearsay + Pete Waterman in the stocks.

Consequently, as Blonde Babe reeled off her well rehearsed speech about Online Purchase Protection et al and I nodded blankly and planned my escape, the magic words CASH BACK cut into my consciousness like a hot knife through butter. No dodgy Points system here, American Express (Amex) would give me hard cash in return for my, well, hard cash. Understandably, they’d give me a lot less than I gave them but it was better than nothing.

Besides:
1) BB assured me that all of Barclaycard’s benefits were matched. While noting the ‘salesperson speak with forked tongue’ rule, see point 3 below.

2) Amex are one of the big 3 providers besides Visa and Mastercard. Between my Barclaycard (Visa) and this, I would be able to shop for records *anywhere* in the world – although my current card had never let me down, perhaps one day I would find myself in Outer Patagonia where Amex have a stronger presence.

3) You have legal protection against this kind of sales pitch in the form of a minimum period in which you can say “Actually I don’t think I like you. Goodbye.” I could read the small print at my leisure and then decide to stay or not.

4) Anything for another smile…

NB: would like to point out this was pre-Zoë days, before hate mail and death threats flood in from her online cohorts.


~ GETTING HITCHED ~
The application form was quite straight forward and didn’t need any i
nfo I couldn’t provide off the top of my head – Amex remembering they’d be recruiting people doing their shopping. To finalise the contract, I had to send them proof of name and address (bank statement or utility bill dated within the last 3 months). This I did and my Amex Blue card duly landed on my doorstep.

My credit check had gone ok and, somewhat mysteriously, my limit was £3,200 – exactly what Barclaycard had given me. I’m curious as to how they work these things out. It’s surely a function of your capacity to repay but shouldn’t that take into account your existing debts and how would Amex know about mine? I’d even told them I already had a credit card. I’m perplexed and comments would be most welcome.

The card is nothing special to look at, its only feature of note being a shiny blue square in the middle. You’d think it was a hologram but there’s no image, just shiny blue (square shaped as it goes). A waiter once refused to accept it then refused to give it back while he played with it in the light. Oi – mine!

Having signed it, I had to call a number to get my account activated before I could use it (a security measure where you’re asked your mother’s maiden name or some other private detail you provided when signing up).

From beginning to end, everything went as smoothly as a baby’s bumcheek and before I knew it, I was proudly showing off my new partner to all and sundry.


~ HER VITAL STATISTICS ~
The APR varies according to your credit limit (brackets = APR for cash withdrawals)
£500……21.1%…(27.7%)
£700……20.2%…(25.4%)
£1,000….19.6%…(23.7%)
£1,500….19.1%…(22.4%)
£2,500….18.7%…(21.6%)
£5,000….18.4%…(21.2%)
£10,000…18.3%…(20.2%)

If your limit isn’t shown, you go to the
next category down so I would be on 18.7%.

The Cash Back rate is 1% of ELIGIBLE transactions so if I spend on average £300 a month, that’s £3 back or £36 a year. A meal for two at Michelangelo’s :-) As expected, there are all manner of caveats and small print, although most seem fair enough:

*) total rebate given at the end of the year so if you jump ship halfway through, you forfeit the lot)
*) not payable in respect of any interest or fees
*) not payable on Balance Transfers (from previous credit cards)
*) each month’s transactions are only eligible if you remain within your Credit Limit.
*) each month’s transactions are only eligible if you’ve made the minimum payment

here’s an important one:
*) two or more late payments in a year and you forfeit the lot.

Cheeky little detail ennit? Actually what they say is “before the end of the 12 months, payments are in arrears by 2 months or more” but that’s my cynical interpretation and I’m open to correction…


~ HOW SHE PERFORMS ~
Amex is not quite as well established in Europe as Visa/Mastercard. Firstly because American Express isn’t on home territory, secondly because they charge retailers more than other cards meaning that smaller outlets/traders are more likely to refuse it because they can ill afford the extra commission to the card provider. Supermarkets, department stores etc, you’re fine.

So much for our free meal at Michelangelo’s - they don’t take it! Otherwise, the UK is not so bad but when we were in Barcelona, about half the places I tried didn’t accept Amex.

Err, other than that, what do you want to know? I sign on the dotted line, the product is mine, I get billed, I pay. No surprises there then.


~ OTHER THINGS SHE’LL DO FOR YOU ~
Refund Protection (if the retailer refuses to refund)

Purchase Protection (against theft/accidents)
Online Fraud Protection (Ronseal – does what it says on the tin)

As with any credit card there are several dozen exclusions/restrictions and I certainly wouldn’t rely on Amex as my only insurance against any of the above. I don’t want to make this op too cumbersome so check out their website for full details. Overall Amex don’t seem especially harsh compared to other cards although the Refund exclusion list is so long and risible I’ve put it at the bottom of the page.

Blue Deals: Sadly for the lonely pervert, this does not mean reductions at your local adult cinema. The Amex website gives details of special deals just for Blue holders (aren’t we lucky) e.g.
……Drive a Mitsubishi Evolution rally car with 20% off
……EMAP subscription – 3 free issues when you subscribe for a year
……Laithwaites Wine – buy a case of 12 bottles, get another case free

bringing to mind my good friend the Barclaycard Points scheme.



~ SHE WANTS PAYING ~
The website says there is a £12 annual fee at the discretion of the company. ‘No annual fee’ was one of the selling points made to me and my contract duly said I was exempt.

The statement is easy to read with a top row summary of the important figures (how much you paid last month, what you spent this month, how much you owe in total). Oh, and your potential Cash Back (which you can't get your mitts on until the end of the year)

Payment must reach Amex within 25 days of the statement date. If paying online, note that this can take several days as it is highly unlikely your bank is affiliated to Amex. Payments from my Barclays current account to Barclaycard go through the same working day but Amex payments can take up to 4 days even though the money leaves my account that day - but that’s a scam on the
part of Barclays and I’ll moan about that another day.


~ MEET THE FAMILY ~
According to www.americanexpress.co.uk, Blue has two companions – Standard and Gold – and although they never say as much, it’s quite obvious Blue is the baby of the family. The website is amazingly coy about what is so different between the three but if you delve into the Terms and Conditions (ah, the sacrifices I make for you lot), you find much better APR deals for Standard and even better ones for Gold. Standard costs £12 a year (same as Blue), while Gold is a relatively extravagant £40.

If Standard costs the same, why would anyone stay with Blue? My guess is that you need a certain income to qualify which they’re not going to disclose publicly and besides, they don’t exactly shout about Standard’s existence to Blue holders.

I intend to pay in full each month so APR’s don’t matter to me and as both of Blue’s siblings offer Points not Cash Back, that quickly ended my interest in them.


~ SHOULD I DITCH MY CURRENT PARTNER? ~
As mentioned, Amex is not as universally accepted in Europe as Visa/Mastercard so it’s probably wise to maintain another card. Even if they had equal presence, I’d have stayed with Barclaycard because it’s one of the things that qualifies me for Platinum Banking with Barclays (additional benefits including a free permanent overdraft limit of £200 because I hold several of their products).

NB: Most cards waive their annual fee if you spend a certain amount within the year. If you’re using Amex as your primary card, consider whether you’re better off paying the annual fee on your second card, or putting just enough through it to waive the fee. The minimum amount for Barclaycard is £2000 so by diverting £2000 worth of purchases through it, I’m missing out on £20 cashback to waive a £10 fee i.e. not good. I co
nsider the £10 fee to be worth it for having a Visa backup – you may disagree.

Otherwise, you might want two cards to keep track of your spending e.g.
*) one for work expenses, one for private
*) one for food/petrol/necessities, one for going out
etc



~ IS SHE *THE ONE*? ~
To be brutally honest, Amex Blue is just another face in the crowd. The CashBack was what clinched it for me but I don’t doubt there are others that do the same. To maintain my Platinum Banking benefits with Barclays, I need to keep my Barclaycard anyway but if you’re not committed to having a second card then it might be more hassle than you think is worth - so go for a Visa/Mastercard that is accepted in more places (in Europe at least).

A company doesn’t grow this big without doing something right. Equally, a company with so many customers is bound to incur complaints so I bear that in mind when reading of other people’s mishaps (it’s rare people write in to praise a credit card company).

Personally, I’ve no complaints but it’s early days yet compared to the 8 trouble-free years I’ve already enjoyed with Barclaycard. I’ve only had to speak to Amex’s staff once (to activate my card) and all I can say is they were efficient – not overly friendly, not obviously apathetic. Blonde Babe was rather tasty but in no way cause alone to sign up.

All in all, 3 stars wouldn’t you agree?



---------------------------------------------- --------------
REFUND PROTECTION EXCLUSIONS:
Purchases must be from Retailers operating within the UK, with a UK business address and charged for the full purchase price to your American Express Blue Card account in pounds sterling.

Refunds are limited to £200 any one item, £750 in any one 12 month period per Blue Card account and will not be made for any items with a purchase price of £25
or less.

~ Items Not Covered ~
animals and living plants;
one of a kind items (including antiques, artwork and furs);
items not purchased entirely with the Card;
closing down sale items;
consumable and perishable goods;
jewellery and precious stones;
services, including services ancillary to a covered item (such as installation charges, warranties, shipping, or memberships);
rare and precious coins;
used, rebuilt and refurbished items;
cellular phones;
tickets of any kind;
motorised vehicles and their parts;
land and buildings;
negotiable instruments (such as promissory notes, stamps, and travellers cheques);
cash and its equivalent;
recorded media (including but not limited to audio and recordings and software); books;
healthcare items;
items permanently affixed to home, office, vehicle, etc. (such as garage door openers, car alarms).

Summary: