Amex devalues Platinum Card with Walmart+ membership

[hegemony]

https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?/topic/358865-questions-about-first-purchase-models/&do=findComment&comment=3332558

[cv91915]

 

 

 

[swimmingwithsharks]

On 10/30/2021 at 11:51 PM, cv91915 said:

 

 

 

CV, you know Amex loves you so much, *you* could use their cards anywhere, and they will continue to be thrilled. And then probably offer you an upgrade on all of your cards that have a level-up option.

 

Others may have a different experience.

 

It is also quite funny to see The New York Times, Peacock, and Walmart altogether like that. Who'd have predicted that combination? 

[PotO]

CV, you know Amex loves you so much, *you* could use their cards anywhere, and they will continue to be thrilled. And then probably offer you an upgrade on all of your cards that have a level-up option.
 
Others may have a different experience.
 
It is also quite funny to see The New York Times, Peacock, and Walmart altogether like that. Who'd have predicted that combination? 

But what you don't see is the Matthew Lesko subscription.


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[cv91915]

3 hours ago, swimmingwithsharks said:

It is also quite funny to see The New York Times, Peacock, and Walmart altogether like that. Who'd have predicted that combination? 

 

Adding Walmart into the mix is consistent with the strategy shift from delivering value to providing dubious trinkets for cheap.   

 

On the other hand, this week in the NYT there was a lengthy feature about which varieties of rice were, and which were not, native to Mexico.  Hard to put a price on esoterica. 

[Flashman]

On 10/7/2021 at 6:14 AM, centex said:

It will help thin out the herd...use it at Wally and get non-renewed...

 

Wasn't there a running joke on CB at one time that went something like:

 

1) Get a cash advance

 

2) At a Walmart

 

3) In Las Vegas (the closer to the Strip, the better)

 

...and you need not fret over renewing your card because Amex would almost certainly cancel it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PotO]

 

Wasn't there a running joke on CB at one time that went something like:

 

1) Get a cash advance

 

2) At a Walmart

 

3) In Las Vegas (the closer to the Strip, the better)

 

...and you need not fret over renewing your card because Amex would almost certainly cancel it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that was on the east side of The Strip. The east side is the low rent district where you go to get carjacked, crack, mugged, and [mention=767]Hegemony[/mention]'s Slovenian girlfriend. Not necessarily in that order.

 

 

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[Flashman]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:25 AM, cv91915 said:

 

Adding Walmart into the mix is consistent with the strategy shift from delivering value to providing dubious trinkets for cheap.   

 

 

I don't know if this is a widespread perception on CB, but when Amex was exclusively a charge card operation, they seemed a wholly different company.  My own impression, at least, is that Amex began a long, slow slide toward the "Look!  Shiny Things!" end of the card issuer spectrum when they began offering credit cards sometime in the early noughties. 

 

This is not to say that Amex is a bad card company, only that they have been on a slow-motion descent toward becoming merely another credit card company.  Yes, I was thrilled when I first got mine some years ago; there's no denying that.  However, I have noticed Amex cards clutched in some rather sweaty, grimy paws in the years since then.  More importantly, I have watched as other card companies have largely matched (and in some cases surpassed) what Amex has to offer.

 

Speaking for myself, the Walmart deal served merely as the final, unmistakable confirmation that the cachet once associated with Amex is now largely gone.  Offhand, I can't think of many upmarket firms anxious to ally themselves with a decidedly downmarket outfit like Walmart.

 

In a way, Amex reminds me of Sony, which once produced world-beating products for which I was only too happy to pay a premium price.  In the present-day, however, Sony seems to produce largely mediocre products for which they are only too glad to charge a premium, but for which I, as a consumer, can no longer muster the sort of enthusiasm necessary to pay with a glad heart.

 

Any road, it will be interesting to see if this deal has a negative impact on Amex's cardholder numbers.  If Amex can continue to convince people to shell out $700 a year for the dubious distinction of using their card in the retail equivalent of Blade Runner, frankly, I'm going to be hard-pressed to see it as anything other than a triumph of marketing over good sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheVig]

To me the Platinum card is nothing more than an expensive coupon book now. Please buy this book so I can go to summer band camp.

[PotO]

To me the Platinum card is nothing more than an expensive coupon book now. Please buy this book so I can go to summer band camp.

I'm perfectly happy with my Gold Card, but then I haven't really looked too carefully at Platinum.

 

I get far more back with the Gold Card than I would by using any other card in its place. I got over $2,000 back in 2021. I will get at at an absolute minimum $1,200 in 2022.

 

And the service quality at AmEx is, at least for me, far better than any other credit card company. Did you know AMEx has an executive office? I've dealt with the same individual there twice and they walk on water.

 

As far as I am concerned, their doesn't stink. Although I'd be happy not to have to pay an AF of $250 per year, I will nonetheless pay. Forever.

 

 

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[TheVig]

18 minutes ago, PotO said:

I'm perfectly happy with my Gold Card, but then I haven't really looked too carefully at Platinum.

 

I get far more back with the Gold Card than I would by using any other card in its place. I got over $2,000 back in 2021. I will get at at an absolute minimum $1,200 in 2022.

 

And the service quality at AmEx is, at least for me, far better than any other credit card company. Did you know AMEx has an executive office? I've dealt with the same individual there twice and they walk on water.

 

As far as I am concerned, their doesn't stink. Although I'd be happy not to have to pay an AF of $250 per year, I will nonetheless pay. Forever.

 

 

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Yeah I’m doing just fine with Gold card too. 

[PotO]

Yeah I’m doing just fine with Gold card too. 

Is it just me or are metal cards getting boring?

I'd rather the old plastic Gold Card now. The metal card is too heavy and dull.

I wish they could invent some new material to use that is light, but pretty and durable.


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