I don't use AMEX much b/c many asian stores don't take it. I use:

Old Citi driver edge = 2% flate up to 500$/year
Discover for gas = 5% w/ possible double on gift card
Citi divident at grocery and drug store = 5%

And I make all payments online

I am a student -- and was declined for the AMEX clear card. How dissapointing!
I have some assets, but it doesn't help that I am in the earning category of $0 - $11,000/year.
Then they tried to push me off on the AMEX student card. I think I'll pass.
Any ideas on how to get around this?!

Zrike said:I am a student -- and was declined for the AMEX clear card. How dissapointing!
I have some assets, but it doesn't help that I am in the earning category of $0 - $11,000/year.
Then they tried to push me off on the AMEX student card. I think I'll pass.
Any ideas on how to get around this?!

Take the student card and convert it into another one later.
I was able to convert my student blue into a blue cash .

Btw, I ve won more than 35K of stuffs from mywishlist game.

ilovecoffee said:my AMEX, why the gold AMEX? (if i may ask)

Low annual fee, BVG, Double/Triple Reward Points...

i would say just get starwood for following reasons:

1. no fee first year
2. bvg
3. great rewards program, even if you dont use the hotels(i.e. frequent flier miles)
4. customer service

Absolutely because of the Customer Service.

I have numerous good AMEX service stories... here's the best one...(granted, with my corporate card, but i have tons other with my normal card to back it up)

I had a last minute business trip and when I went to book my tickets, I discovered that my card had expired. My company requires use of the corporate AMEX card for business travel or I don't get reimbursed (and I had to take the trip or I was dead) It was 8pm in the evening (Pacific Time)

I knew I had received my new cards a few weeks back, but I had just moved and was still waiting for boxes (that had the cards) to come with my stuff via the movers. So I called AMEX - they said "sure, no problem, we'll send out some new cards and you'll have them in a few days". Unfortunately, I was flying in a couple of days.

"Can you give me the new exp date so I can use the cards now?" I said. They answered no.
"Can you help me buy the tickets somehow?" I said. They said yes, but not with my card.

Then the rep said "tell you what, give me a few minutes to think through a few options with my supervisor and I'll call you right back." Ok, I said.

A short while later I got a call back, as promised. It was now about 8:30pm

"Will you be home tomorrow morning?" the rep asked.
"Yes," I said, "but I leave for work at 7am normally"
"No problem" the rep said "you'll have your cards at 6:30am"

I was floored..."how?" I said, curious.

He proceeded to say that the new cards for me were going to be printed in Vegas and that he had talked to their local AMEX travel office there. They were sending a rep over to the printing plant to pickup my cards from a supervisor that was going to pull them before being mailed, then the rep was going to drop them off for delivery by courier (I live in San Diego.) I said "no, seriously, that has to be terribly expensive.. I'll work to find another way"... but he insisted on doing it.

At 6:15am the next morning, I had a soft knock on my door. A driver in a 'UPS Sonic' service uniform handed me an envelope, had me sign, and wished me good day. Sure enough, my new cards were in the envelope along with a hand written note simply stating "We apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks, Jim"

The kicker.. at 6:30am I received a phone call and I got a call from an AMEX supervisor "Hi, I'm so and so customer service manager from AMEX. Our courier notifed us that you've received your cards and I wanted to ensure personally that you had."

"yes", I said, and proceeding to thank her extensively.

I've never received such unbelievable service from any other company in my entire life...and that single event made me a customer of theirs for life.

On top of the service, I get fat Costco rebate checks back every year, saved $150 off of each of two $600 Amazon.com purchases this christmas thanks to 'wishlist', and have used their extended warranty multiple times to cover stuff that broke - what else do you need?

Ever looked at how much UPS Sonic costs? It's basically guaranteed, same day delivery by plane... their next step down (next day early AM) runs about $80.. you do the math.

Get 'the card.'

If I remember correctly, when I applied for the Clear Card it asked for household income, not personal.

If you're parents bring in more than 11k, quote their income, not your own.

Zrike said:I am a student -- and was declined for the AMEX clear card. How dissapointing!
I have some assets, but it doesn't help that I am in the earning category of $0 - $11,000/year.
Then they tried to push me off on the AMEX student card. I think I'll pass.
Any ideas on how to get around this?!

When I first applied for an AMEX blue (and blue for students, blue for business, and costco card) prior to starting college I was denied every time as well. I got a Chase student card (ugh) and kept it for ~3 months then reapplied and recieved a blue for students card. After I had that card for 8 months or so I called in to request a credit line increase. They said they couldn't give a credit line increase for a student card that had been open for less than a year, but they could convert it to a regular blue account which would make it eligible for an increase immediately.

Honestly, there isn't a difference between the Blue and Blue for Students card that I've found other than this one limitation and the lack of the Blue for Students "special" rewards/discounts. Considering that you can upgrade the Blue for Students card into a regular Blue card at any time, there isn't any reason not to get it.


On another note, my experience with AMEX customer service has been for the most part positive. Same with their warranty protection. I called in and got them to credit me back for (no joke) a rubber ducky from CB2 that my dog somehow managed to get ahold of. I expected the guy to laugh me off the phone when I told him the charge was for $5.40, but he simply went ahead and processed it without any further questions. Compare this to the time I tried to file a warranty claim with Mastercard for $50 and had to do everything next to signing away my first born before they would even tell me that the item I was trying to file was ineligible for any return at all and you see why I love AMEX so much more.

Their return protection is also quite nice. I bought a sprint cell phone charger at the sprint store for $45 (in a distinctly unfatwallet sort of way) without checking online to see if I could get one cheaper. Found one on eBay for $0.99 (with $5 shipping) but only after my 14 day return window had passed. Called AMEX up, gave them the info, and had all the paperwork in my mailbox within a week. Now, mind you, I had to ship the charger back to AMEX at my expense, and the credit took almost a month to show up, but all said considering how stupid I felt after I found how much I had been ripped off I felt pretty good to get anything back. It really is because of the added protections (and their ease of use) that I use AMEX every time I buy something non-consumable.

dcwilbur said:And Costco doesn't accept Visa or Mastercard.

Costco accepts both on their website.