Credit Cards

I assume the AMEX platinum is somewhat similiar to the visa black card: no designated charge limit, right?

Several of my clients use the latter and allege paying annual fees of $1500~2K. Of course they are Dentsu and Hakuhodo fat cats, so I doubt they are bs-ing...

GMATT73 - Just curious, what sort of work have you been doing in Japan? I'd love to do international work after school (the wish list is long!)

I only have two. My Diners Club and an Amex. Neither of which are particularly espectaculaaaar - but the Diners is great and I love the 60 days to pay stuff. Its the perfect card for someone such as myself who always pays everything off in full but also doesn't want to stress about due dates. My Amex truly only existed because when Diners was only Diners, I couldn't use it everywhere. Now that diners is also mastercard, I probably dont need the amex. Amex has also pissed me off by bumping my credit limit to nearly $15,000 without my authorization. Credit card companies really shouldn't be allowed to do that. I only noticed because I recently ran a credit report and noticed it was higher than I expected.

Those of you with platinum cards... i dont get the point really. Maybe one of you can enlighten me. Most of what I've seen associated with those cards are usually rarely used perks like concierge stuff for tickets and the like. What am I missing?

Auto rental collision damage waiver and business/first class airport lounge entry. Some gold cards offer the same perks however.

Really? The lounge thing sounds nice...I get stuck in airports often enough. I had sorta wondered what the point of my platinum card was when they sent to me..."ooh, fancy color," I thought. Perhaps I should read the small print.

I use two different cash back cards. Get 1% on everything and then either 3% on one card and 5% on the other for gas, groceries, and drug stores. Adds up fast the only problem is when you get that $100 check you realize you spent 7-10K to earn it.

My wife and I each have a personal card and then we also have a joint card. It works out well since all our shared expenses are on one card and when we buy something for ourselves its on our personal card, comes in handy buying gifts or something she doesnt share and I dont have to pay half of her $150 haircuts.

Since we have been remodeling our house we have put a ton on to our cards and they pay it off with our home equity line, the cash back adds up fast when putting major purchases on it. I wanted to buy my wife's car on the card but they wouldnt let me put more than 5K onto it. I wish I could put everything on it...I would love only having to worry about one bill a month.

I have heard that cancelling credit cards can affect one's credit rating. This may be because it (a) reduces one's debt to available credit ratio, or (b) erases credit history with the card. It may be better to transfer to a no-fee card and just tuck it away.

https://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/08/30/beware-of-canceling-credit-cards.aspx

Thanks for the tip. These were all cards that were issued in Japan, so I'm pretty sure they won't affect my Experian score.

Just out of curiosity, what is the annual fee for an AMEX platinum? Did Des ever get a chance to use any of those complimentary annual (companion) air tickets?

Whoa, do the cards function noramlly after de-frosting? Coool.

Yep, they do. My college roommate did this a couple years ago in a last-ditch attempt to control her debt. It worked pretty well until she and her girlfriend split up, and she suddenly had an entire apartment to pay for on her own. Watching her cry as she chipped away the ice was not a pretty sight.

If I recall, the fee last year was $395, but I think it went up again this year; $425 or something. The Amex platinum has great perks; access to 5 (at least) airline lounges, premium status with dozens of airlines (many with free upgrades if available, 1.5-2x miles, etc.), premium status with all of the major hotel chains and premium status with all the rental car companies. Definitely well worth the annual fee if you charge and travel a lot.

The problem with the free companion ticket is that you need to purchase a ticket at the normal fare. I think a lot of Amex platinum users probably have this problem, but I always had so many miles that it didn't make sense to purchase a ticket to get one free. For about 3 years I accumulated over a half-million miles per year. I remember one month where I paid Fedex over $60k. No sense in getting a free companion fare when you can get flights entirely free. The hotel perks were nice. Even if you never stayed with them, they would treat you like a VIP. The status that Amex offered with Startwood was equivalent to 25 stays (not nights, stays) per year.

I'm carrying debt, so I'm holding on to mine regardless of anything