Good aspects, but major drawbacks (American Express)

Member Name: NFH.

Product:	American Express
Date:	08/10/02 (3013 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good perks for card usage, Minimal hassle reversing disputed transactions, Lots of included benefits (Platinum Card)

Disadvantages: 2.73% commission abroad, Poor retailer acceptance, Relatively high annual fees

I hold several American Express cards and have very mixed views on the cards and the customer service behind them.

USAGE ABROAD

Beware that Amex charge their UK customers 2.73% on every retail transaction abroad. This is very high when you consider that Visa and MasterCard do not charge any commission (although some UK card issuers add their own commission). Therefore, do not use your Amex cards abroad in order to receive perks for card usage (e.g. cashback, Membership Rewards or BA Miles) as the commission will be over double the value of the perk (e.g. 2.73% commission paid out to receive 1% cashback). Bear in mind that Amex charge their German customers only 1% commission for foreign transactions - another case of Rip-Off Britain? For transactions abroad, you'd be better off using a Nationwide Visa card or Liverpool Victoria (Frizzell Bank) for example.

DISPUTED TRANSACTIONS

Whenever I have encountered an unauthorised transction on my Amex cards, Amex have refunded the amount immediately over the phone. Sometimes, they send me a form to fill to confirm this, but overall Amex's handling of disputed transactions is first class compared to other card issuers.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Contrary to another comment on this site, the Platinum card includes comprehensive travel insurance regardless of whether or not you pay for your travel with the card. There are certain additional insurance benefits if you pay with the card, but these benefits are well beyond the realms of conventional travel insurance policies.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Although the front line customer service people are generally very professional, those behind the scenes are often far from efficient. I have lost count of the number of times that people have not phoned me back and have not followed up on problems.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CARDS

If you're tempted by the BA Amex cards, consider getting a Platinum card (£2

75) as well as you will then have the fee waived for the top BA card (£120).

ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance of American Express by retailers remains poor in the UK. I cannot speak for outside the UK as I don't use my cards much abroad because of the huge commission (2.73%). In the UK, lots of major retailers still don't accept Amex, such as the London Underground, John Lewis, Boots, B Sky B and most ISPs.

TRAVEL SERVICE

I have used Amex's travel service extensively (included with Gold, Platinum and above) for booking hotels in various countries. The prices are good and are usually identical to the discounted rates obtained by large companies for their travelling employees.

ONLINE STATEMENTS

Amex's online statements omit some crucial details (e.g. payment date). It would also be nice to have the ability to download in XML format for importing into financial management software such as Microsoft Money.

Summary: