Fidelity AMEX - Finally Approved!

Well my friends...it's been a long haul but I was FINALLY approved for the Fidelity Gold AMEX card on May 4th. I opened a Fidelity account an applied 13 months ago but was denied for this card which is basically a debit card! The other day I decided to apply again and when I logged into my Fidelity account under my account features, it said American Express (yes)! I was in shock so I called 800-641-2400 to get the final word and the automated response system said "Congratulations"!!!

I know some of you are thinking, big deal...it's a debit card! Yes you are right but it was a big deal for me because they use the SAME approval standards as the regular Gold Charge card (which I could never understand but whatever...). Now I have 2 products from AMEX. Gee, I wonder how long I have to wait to upgrade to the Platinum one? LOL...I guess I'm doing a BDD on AMEX. Apply for Gold Card, get approved, wait...then upgrade to the Platinum card (by doing a simple phone call) which has the SAME benefits as the regular Platinum Charge card except for:

â?¢ Flexible payment date
� Extended payment options, such as Sign & Travel® and Special Purchase AccountSM
� Privileged Assets®

Hey, fine by me! $75 of the annual fee is paid by Fidelity so that's a good thing!

 

Hey!

I'm doing o.k. I'm temping at a small company in Silicon Valley. We'll see if it leads to a perm. opportunity. I try to read the board but haven't had time lately....work is kicking me in the a**! It's like they are in *start-up mode but they have been public for like a year now. I guess that's why they are successful.

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[color=999999]*Start-up Mode: Silicon Valley slang for the way a pre-IPO company operates. Generally they have a lot of people wearing a lot of different *hats* doing a LOT of different things (i.e. the HR Manager is usally the Office Manager and the Facilities Manager as well...sometimes they might even fill in for the receptionist occationally). Start-up hours vary but generally employees work from 7am-7pm M-Th and on Friday work from 9-3 (with a 2 hour lunch) and then have beer bust parties from 3-5 either on or off site (aka Happy Hour)![/color]

 

Re: JUST READING THIS MP$ ... PROUD O

I am sitting here CRACKING UP! F YOU?! HA! You are the friggin BEST! And you knew only *I* would understand that! Yes we are VERY MUCH alike. And YES I will be putting this card in my NEW Coach bag....for the meanwhile! Why do I say that? Well, I just got the card on Saturday. Why did I really call and upgrade to Platinum??? Yes Yes it was THAT SIMPLE! Just a PHONE CALL and an agreement to pay the $225 annual membership fee (Fidelity pays $75 of it) for all the Platinum benefits. I know you are probably sitting there thinking, "Aint this about a b*&%$"??? LOL...and yes it is! I decided to just give it a try instead of waiting a while like I originally planned. AMEX is raising the annual fee from $300 to $395 effective 6/1/02. I wanted to just try and see if I could save myself some money. It's amazing how sometimes to get what we want, we tend to just go ahead and start jumping through a bunch of hoops (old habits die hard) instead of just keeping things simple and easy. That's understandable. When you are so use to jumping through hoops and going through a bunch of b.s. to get what you want, sometimes you forget that there ARE other ways. How was I to know that all I REALLY had to do was just call AMEX up and say, hey...can I have the Platinum instead? And they would be like, NO PROBLEM Ms. MP$40, your statements closes on the 19th. Your new card will be send that day....in the meanwhile, feel free to take advantage of your Gold card and it's benefits. Stuff like that just blows my mind. I thought those Mofo's would have JOKES...guess not.

One of my girlfriends (who is into credit and credit cards) tried to play Devil's Advocate on me in regards to this card. She was like, I can't believe your going to pay $225/yr to have this card. I broke down ALL the benefits to her and she was like, are you really going to use these benefits? I tried to justify it....then I came at her with, you have a AAA membership, right? How many times have you use their services in the past year? She was like, none.....but.......aaaahhh BUT NOTHING! Then after a 15 minute conversation, I finally just said, OK OK YOU GOT ME <hands in the air>!!!!! It's for the PRESTIGE...o.k.??? There, I said it! There it is there! And she just laughed.....then when I offerd to get her a card, she was like.....well....o.k., now that you've put it like that! LOL....

This card does not report to any bureaus and I'm not quite sure what kind of REAL weight it carries with AMEX but we'll soon find out. The cool thing is that they did put the correrct *Member Since* year on the card. I've been a AMEX member since 2000. Started with a secured Optima card. Then I was an Gold AU on on again off again ex's. Then I managed to get the Optima Platinum in 2001. It's been a long haul. The Platinum card is the one card that I've always held high regard for. Dog....your day will come, always believe that!

I think the first place I want to use the card when I get it is at Postrio's in SF. I love that restaurant! After that, the card will basically become "Wallet Dressing" and I'll use it only when I'm trying to big things....don't want to wear down the card and rub off the numbers, etc.! It's too worthy to even stick in at a gas pump! If only you knew the half of it....

Sometime I feel like going from nothing to something in life has built a lot of character in me.