insolent1

I got the same thing and I'm a "member". 🙄

That's a great strategy, but I am saving cash for a new home construction scheduled for next year. That $5K is going to offset some upgrades to the house.

Another AMEX Platinum Card upgrade offer. 10x points on certain purchases, 75,000 points if a spend $5k in the first six months, etc. Is AMEX hurting for Platinum Card holders? They sure want me to sign on for one, but I don't fly any longer and have very little interest in doing it again. $550 annually is way too large a fee for the benefits available that I'll not use.

AMEX is adjusting their personal Platinum Card into escalating irrelevance. I can see having a child-free zone, but having to pay for a spouse or adult travel partner? What's next - having to pay extra for more than one small carry-on bag while using Uber? A business Platinum Card may be a better choice, although I've never looked at them seriously.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Citi's card offerings and I don't see one that even remotely interests me. The only card that interests me now is the one that I've never had and has been unavailable for some time now - Diner's Club. The original Zombie card. Now, that BMO Harris owns it, I'd likely never apply anyhow.

I got sideways with Citi back when they were Citibank and the Pontiac Fiero was a new car. Even though it was a small amount, no offers and no absolution. That's Citi.

If you have no intention to pay them or to ever have a business relationship with AMEX, that's your decision, but why go to the bother of such a letter? Just ignore them and move on with life, secure that the SOL has passed.

Consider this: the 'rose' Gold card is a special offer card that may or may not be available in a year. Look hard at how you would use such a card today when you apply. Amex has been offering me a Platinum card for quite a while now, but since I gave up travelling, it would cost me far too much in annual fees and providing me with little actual benefit, for an 'image' card. Use the Optima for a few months and then apply for the charge card that benefits you the most. The 1980s are over and the Platinum card doesn't infer what it once did.

I usually dismiss commercials on television, but the Experian commercial that shows a chair thrown through a plate glass window and the spokesperson saying "that app is trash" is the pure truth - Credit Karma is trash.

Since they are positive, they are helping you... but as IndyPoolPlayer correctly states, if you are trying to get a higher end CC or loan, it may cause an underwriter to look harder if you have a lot of them and they are fairly recent. Anything past 5 years, I generally wouldn't worry about.

WOW! I'm shocked they still issue them. I assumed they stopped issuing them for AML/CTR reasons. I can only imagine the look on a bank clerk's face if I walked into a branch and tried to cash one for $100 dollars. I may get one just to do that very thing and see the reaction in person.

DMV efficiency? Wait until you try to register a homebuilt trailer or to transfer an out of state vehicle you just purchased into your home state and get it registered. Years ago, I bought a brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle. Someone at DMV transposed two letters in the VIN. I was riding around on an unregistered and illegal motorcycle that was never manufactured in the eyes of State government. It took about an hour to resolve it with my lender and my insurance company - while it took over a week to get DMV to admit they screwed up and reissue a new title, registration, and accept t

If you like your DMV's customer service, if you like your VA healthcare, if you like the Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, and if you love the IRS zero mistake reputation; you'll be over the Moon at the US government's implementation and operation of a Credit Reporting service run by bureaucrats with zero effective oversight by anyone in government.

That's the problem. You never said who had and left readers to interpret who might have.

If you Bk'ed them in 2005, they have loosened up some on the blacklist and allowed former members to return if AMEX wasn't out too much. The second Bk in 2014 tends to cloud the issue, especially for a Platinum card. Repayment of debt discharged in Bk is a no-no under the Federal Bankruptcy code.