MP$40, Way to go girl! You really shouldn't have been put in the position to defend yourself, but you did a great job. Charlie
No conceding Joe - LOL! But, why not have Rolex, Coach, AMEX and $20K capped teeth with a SUPER brite white smile - if that's what you want? Let's face it, when MP$40 sports that AMEX Platinum, people will look at it and think to themselves - Hmmm - she's worth a few bucks....that's a successful person - hmmmm. Arrfff - dogman
I think that's the biggest reason I like Amex besides the customer service. When I use my clear Blue card I think it makes people think more highly of you because it's Amex (and it's soooo cool looking <g>). Like it or not, I think people more often than not assume someone with an Amex is a step above the rest as far as credit goes.
I agree with dogman. You should be very proud of yourself for what you've accomplished so far. You didn't need to defend yourself. You got what you wanted and found a way to get it. Kudo's. Enjoy the card.
MP40, I agree that you are to be congratulated. Based on what you value as important, one being the prestige of Amex, the Amex Fidelity Card is a victory. I don't see Joe's comments as an attack, he is merely stating some facts about this card. It is less of a credit risk to Amex as they account is secured (I use the term loosely) by your Fidelity account. It also does not feature a sign & travel option. But given that you never stated that you were looking for those Joe's comments should hold little weight for you. We ALL value different things in credit cards. Just seems to me like we're being shown both the good and bad about this card. Sorry my two cents as I sit here with my Citi Plat cards in envy....
Well, I am impressed and VERY happy for you )) Amex is my last real rebuilding area too so I certainly understand how happy you are!!! Enjoy Platinum and all its rewards. You deserve it!
MP$40, I agree with you completely about the attractiveness, enjoyment and prestige of the Amex platinum. You are going to love the travel benefits and Departures magazine too. The enjoyment you'll get in using the card far surpasses the $395 fee. Congratulations of achieving your credit goal.
Dear Luxury, Oh Really??? Suppose you are 25 years old and you have your card until you're 65, that's 40 years. Let's further suppose that instead of spending $395 a year on the illustrious Amex Platinum, you invested that money in a mutual fund IRA paying 15%. Here's the math; (make sure you're sitting down) 40 yrs. @ 15% on $395 = $1,021,048.52 Now we reverse engineer the math to come up with the ACTUAL cost to YOU in terms of lost opportunity. $1,021,048.52 divided by 40 yrs. = $25,501.00 PER YEAR. So we can see that this same $395 *could have* turned into over a million bucks. Or looked at differently, that magazine is actually costing you over $25,000 a year. Rather expensive Magazine don't you think?
Butch.... THANKS for telling everyone what I was *weakly* trying to say. Don't forget...America IS about Embellishment. A million bucks is nothing when you can look good. Thanks again Butch for a well thought out counter-point to the prevailing wind
Nice math and point well made. I feel as though the money is justified if you use the benefits. This is turning into a small debate, I love it! The annual fee ($320 for me, not $395) in comparison to everything that you get is well justified in my eyes. What about those who pay an annual membership for a card that accumulates airline miles? Would you be questioning them on why they are paying an annual fee to be able to collect FF miles? Why is this any different? What about those with not so great credit that have to pay companies like Providian and Cap 1 an annual membership fee (even a monthly fee w/ some other companies) that get nothing in return other than the privilage of being able to carry their card in their wallet? At least I'm getting something in return. With all the benefits that this card has to offer (valued at $7000+), I can't complain. There is always the idea of cutting corners. Maybe I'll go out to lunch 2 days a week instead of 5 (saving $1560/yr.) and put that into a mutual fund IRA earning 15%. Let's do the math (hope YOU'RE sitting down): 40 yrs. @ 15% on $1560 = $3,191,688 [using Fidelity's Spend or Save Calculator...hope I did it right?] Now we reverse engineer the math to come up with the ACTUAL cost to ME in terms of lost opportunity. $3,191,688 divided by 40 yrs. = $79792.20 PER YEAR. This is more than I make at my job annually! So we can see that this same $1560 *could have* turned into over 3 million bucks. Or looked at differently, going out to lunch 3 days a week is actually costing me almost $80,000 a year. Rather expensive lunches don't you think? Humm....now that there's some new light on the subject, should I cut back on going out to eat or should I cut the card and all of the benefits? Humm....how about I just cut every corner I can and just live a blahzey life with no amenities? We all have choices on how we spend our money. My whole ideal is to get what I want with out going way beyond my means. I make a modest living...and I like to have nice things. I know how to work what little money I have to take care of my family and get what I want. Sometimes I get sick of all these b.s. credit card companies that charge you up the ying yang and don't offer you NADA in return. They take advantage of people with under privilaged credit like taking candy from a baby! Dang, if you're gonna charge mofo's fees out their ass, at least give them something other than the shaft! What kind of b.s. is that? I belive in quality and I belive in paying good money for quality. With quality, you always get your monies worth in the end. AMEX is a quality card/ Their track record speaks for itself...yeah I know there's been disappointed customers blah blah blah just like with any other company. Sometimes you pay for what you get. If I'm going to have to pay (which is the case with a few of my cards), I better be getting SOMETHING in return other than some b.s. flyer in the mail on how they're gonna jack my interest rate to 29.9% or some CS rep who blows my ear up trying to sell me this protection or that protection. We can go on and on about this but for my final closing argument on the matter, this is what it basically boils down to: DON'T HATE THE PLAYER...HATE THE GAME! ;-) Just like Joan Crawford said (according to the movie Mommie Dearest), "...I know howda win the hard way!" O.k....maybe that was a bit dramatic, but you get the point. So, when will your card be arriving??? ROFLOL! <g>
Don't let anyone rain on your parade girl! You deserve the card. It's also a good ego boost for those of us who know credit hell and got raped by Cross Country Bank and the like! E-mail me or post more about Fidelity and how I can use your example to get my own phat card.
Butch, You certainly make some very valid points. The only problem is you how far do you think one should go with saving vs pleasure? If it is possible to retire as a millionaire by doing without the Amex platinum card, just think how affluent one could become by never taking any vacations, never eating out, eating Ramen noodles twice a week for dinner, buying clothes only in thrift shops, never having any friends b/c most people want to do things other than just sitting home with the lights off (to save money) playing cards. At the point of retirement one could certainly have a lot of money to "invest" in a fine old age home.
Come on. I think by a majority of folks standards $395 (or $320) is a little steep for an annual fee. Especially considering that you can get the Fidelity Amex Gold fee free. You are right it is absurd to expect to go through life without any luxury. But it IS a smart idea to take into account cost benefit analysis when we make decisions.
The Amex Fidelity Platinum cannot be defined as a debit card, no matter how you look at it. The merchant gets paid by Amex shortly after the transaction is made. The cardmember is, however, not billed until the cycle closes, and has a grace period on top of that. This is a credit card in every sense of the word. Having an automatic payment arrangement doesn't change that. As for the IRA suggestions: Read some statistics. Not everyone makes it to retirement; And even those who do, may want to have a taste of the good life before they're 67. Saar
I think it depends on what you compare $395 to. For a luxury good/service that lasts all year, it's not very much--maybe equal to 2 dinners in a fine restaurant or a very good pair of shoes. In comparison with luxury goods that most people cannot afford such a porsche it is insignificant
