Nope but the pre approved envelope kinda make you feel important (it's almost all gold colored lol) but i have all the cards that i need and let them age.

LOL I know, I remember when I got mine. Then when the card came it had this booklet that showed different people and their "Member Since" date and how they used the card. This was 11 years ago mind you, I have no idea what they send out now.

Hi everyone, I'm a new member here. I'm just beginning my journey in building credit, I'm a 20 year old college student. I've had a $500 Visa card through my CU for 1.5yrs always PIF or much more than the minimum. I recently applied for an AMEX Blue Rewards and Discover more card, was approved for both. But, back to my Amex card.

I just received it yesterday with a $2000 credit limit. What type of spending does Amex like to see? Should I PIF the whole balance at the end of the month or separate payments? Are there stores I shouldn't use my Amex card at? I'm planning on mainly using it every month or two for travel, restaurants, or to pay bills with. I've just heard a lot of conflicting reports about amex, people hate it/love it, have random CLD or Finance Reviews, or don't have any problems at all. I've also heard about people having accounts closed for shopping at "discount stores." Anyways what have your experiences been?

Do you already have an American Express card? I would only open it if you plan on using it a lot to justify the annual fee.

Nope but the pre approved envelope kinda make you feel important (it's almost all gold colored lol) but i have all the cards that i need and let them age.

Today I received a really nice gold pre approved offer from American Express for their preferred rewards gold card with an annual fee of $125 (waived the first year).I am thinking about applying but not because of prestige or anything but for an acknowledgment for my credit rebuilding efforts and in time i will be getting rid of some cards that has little or no use to me(alas BOA

Do you already have an American Express card? I would only open it if you plan on using it a lot to justify the annual fee.

Today I received a really nice gold pre approved offer from American Express for their preferred rewards gold card with an annual fee of $125 (waived the first year).I am thinking about applying but not because of prestige or anything but for an acknowledgment for my credit rebuilding efforts and in time i will be getting rid of some cards that has little or no use to me(alas BOA:innocent:).

AMEX is at bottom of the barrel right now for their non-sense practices such as financial reviews, CLD's, etc.

HJM331 you are so right about this and that is why even when my scores pickup I would rather apply for an amex card that is mixed with another card. Because those cards seem to be better with working with their customers.

AMEX is at bottom of the barrel right now for their non-sense practices such as financial reviews, CLD's, etc.

When I was approved for my American Express Card at Costco for $7,500 my eyes got so big and I said $7,500 !

American Express is a card I always wanted because its a top tier card. I don't know its like when you get a AMEX card if feels like you are on top of the world. Its like instant recognition even though merchants don't treat you any different if I were to give them my Visa.

My point is its like an ego thing. When its time to pay for a purchase I am like BLAM ! and I bust out my AMEX card.

It feels like your "Time" has come whatever that means

American Express is the card of all credit cards because ask any credit card holder and the majority of them will have a Visa / Mastercard right ?

Ask them if they have an American Express card and I guarantee that you won't get as many yes responses as you would with asking them if they had Visa / Mastercard.

Lastly, if American Express were to lower my credit limit, oh well, because I have plenty of other high limit credit cards to use at my disposal.

Thanks for the link Meya. Lke I said Amex, along with other financial institutions are trying to stop the bleeding. They don't want to take a large hit so by lowering your limit, they try to limit their exposure to defaults. On the flip, they are also limiting the amount of more debt society can take on.

With the economy, job outlook, and the price of oil all being in turmoil, the smart one would pay all their debt off as soon as they can and put nothing on their credit card that they can't see paying off in 90 days unless its an emergency.

I don't think any of us can guarantee that our jobs will be here for sure anymore maybe with the exception of Health Care so why take the chance of racking up a lot of debt these days.

SMCC you are absolutely correct

You should use it once in a while, that is what I am doing with my Amex and Sears Mastercard.

Well shes setting herself up for getting the boot. ive worked for call centers and they monitor your calls. Show signs of uninterest and they start getting on you either till you quit or they fire you.

Well maybe she wants them to fire her so that she can collect her unemployment and besides when people are fed up they are just plain fed up.

You are absolutely correct!

Thanks for the link Meya. Lke I said Amex, along with other financial institutions are trying to stop the bleeding. They don't want to take a large hit so by lowering your limit, they try to limit their exposure to defaults. On the flip, they are also limiting the amount of more debt society can take on.

With the economy, job outlook, and the price of oil all being in turmoil, the smart one would pay all their debt off as soon as they can and put nothing on their credit card that they can't see paying off in 90 days unless its an emergency.

I don't think any of us can guarantee that our jobs will be here for sure anymore maybe with the exception of Health Care so why take the chance of racking up a lot of debt these days.

Here is some good info that Arod provided for us in the Credit Card Reviews in regards to Amex!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25419005

Kellbell:

I have a collection from 5 years ago and I cant get a personal AMEX. Porgy was right on a lot of things. If I were you I would check to make sure that in your new card disclosure it doesn't say anything about "We have the right to satisfy old accounts" because if that is the case, well you will have a balance with high utilization to start off with.

As far as AMEX CSR Services:

They are by far the BEST! I will call for the balanced owed on my Platinum Business card (since they don't post transactions fast enough on the web) they seem very confident and straightforward. I wouldn't want anyone having a discussion about how much I make or have made. Certain fields are not visible to CSR for the clients protection. They are one of my best clients, I have catered both everyday meetings and holiday events for them. I made quite a few friends there to enough about how things run.