Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire American Express Platinum Card: $685 annual fee

Why would someone assume they are important because they have a special card that costs them $700 a year?

Ok, so this is all about status for you.

I assume- and am right- that most people do carry a balance and most people do pay interest on cards. If they didn't there would be no credit card industry.

I am not going to keep arguing about dumb schit that you guys think is getting you street cred. Do what you want.

Correct. People think their "exclusive" card gives them status. It's bizarre.

Street cred?? how old are you?

Old enough to use current slang to describe the bizarre notion of feeling important due to being stupid enough to pay for the privilege of being a debtor

Why do you feel so strongly about a damn credit card that you have to keep arguing and asking me to clarify?

You just get a lot of your self esteem from the shiny logo on your card or something? Lol

Another comical 'fire thread. Why does someone give a flying phcku what another chooses to do with their money? I am continually lost on this...

There is nothing status about the cards in question for myself and several of the others that posted the same it appears. For someone that has a Series 6 I would think you would have a bit more financial acumen to say that these cards "cost $700" when it has been posted that these cards have been net gains by a wide margin for myself and several of the other responses.

Again, it doesn't make sense for someone that doesn't utilize their benefits like I do and apparently it doesn't make sense for you based on your posts. Why the heartburn if these cards exist and some of us know how to use them to our financial benefit? And I do understand financial stuff fairly well as a Series 8, 3, 63, 65, CIMA, and CFP.

You must be talking about stupid people or broke people. People who are well off financially pay attention to expenses even insignificant ones. Unless Joke Biden is your father.

Jesus mjb… people here have given you many valid reasons why it’s beneficial to have and use such a card.

But you keep lumping them all into the category of a 20 year old who got his first $500 limit 18% plastic

I just hate the debt industry and 990 people out of 1000 will do what's easiest and fall right into a life of not making their financial goals happen.

If you guys like this card so much then maybe you're the exception and if so good for you.

I am done now.

What is bizarre is that so many people think like you. The fact that you don't understand why this may work for some does not make it less valuable.


mike r

Where does it require that you carry a debt balance on these cards to benefit from them? I haven't paid one cent of interest on any of mine because they are paid off each month. I would venture to say that a lot of people that benefit from these types of cards like I do don't carry a debt balance. You are equating people that cannot handle credit cards properly with people that can use them to their advantage as has been pointed out repeatedly.

You carry a Series 6 license so you can sell variable insurance products and mutual funds. Basically products that are professionally managed by others. Some of us can manage our own finances pretty well and a few of us are licensed to manage finances for others.

You’ve haven’t experienced true excellence in the Retail world until you have a problem having anything to do with a purchase using a Amex card. They are worth every penny, I wish I had found them decades earlier. There isn’t an inch of ground in this world where they can’t get you out of a bad situation, from a health, play time or rescue need. They do it perfect EVERYTIME.

A little over 50% of all credit card holders carry a balance every month. That's only a part of the way the credit card industry makes money, they charge merchants a roughly 3% fee on purchases. That's why some businesses add a 3% credit card fee, to recoup the money the credit card company charges them. Since my visa card gives me cash back I use it for most purchases, I get part of that 3% fee back from the credit card. If there's a difference in price between cash and credit card then I pay cash. It's strictly a financial decision for me, I don't care which one I use but if using the card saves me 1.5% then I use the card. I've never carried a balance on my credit card or paid a dime of interest.

I don't have a use for an AMEX platinum card but if one saved me money then I'd have one. That's what many guys here are trying to tell you, yes the card initially costs them $685 but they save more than that by using it so in the end it saves them money. That's a smart financial decision, not a dumb one. You seem stuck on the notion that guys are carrying balances on these cards, I can guarantee you that the vast majority of guys are not. What makes sense for you financially can be vastly different from how a business person operates.

Nothing wrong with knowing your limitations, There was a time in my life where I couldn't justify paying a annual credit card fee, now I pay $1680 in fees over six cards and I get a positive value out of each one of them from card benefits to points. The main reason it works for me, I pay off the balances on time every month.

I missed that quote from mjbgalt. Your points are well taken and I wanted to point out something that he is missing that others may not know either. MasterCard and Visa make money primarily from the transactions where as the underlying issuing bank would be the one that makes money if the credit card holder carries a balance. American Express and Discover make money on both because they are also the underlying banks for their cards. They will co-brand with companies like airlines, hotels, retailers, etc..., but that is the primary distinction between MC, Visa, Amex, and Discover.

That must be a really good card if you can recoup that $685 up front cost. Does it also credit you 1% or more of your purchases?

Thanks longbob, I did not know that distinction. I have seen too many families really hurting from debt. It still seems silly but if you can make it work for you, then so be it.

Pat85, you're right...my limitations are different than the next guy's. Not trying to start a fight, just hate seeing good people get sucked into a game they thought they could win.