7 ms·

I have both the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve. If I could only justify one annual fee, I'd keep the Platinum. The Centurion Lounges are second to no

• throwaway91111 10y ago
  What is a centurion lounge? You cant just drop that shit without explaining. Is it like a university club; like a place where members chill, drink, and play tennis? EDIT: it's just a room at an airport.
  • cycrutchfield 10y ago
    It's an airport lounge with free hot meals and alcoholic beverages. But yeah, it's also a room.
    • xyzzy_plugh 10y ago
      And massages and showers and fast wi-fi
      • manyxcxi 10y ago
        And basically heaven on Earth when you're stuck in Schipol (Amsterdam) over night in a snow storm, all planes are grounded, all the in-airport hotel rooms are booked, the first four hotels you lookup are booked solid, and your only other option is basically to sleep on the floor.
        • amenghra 10y ago
          Can't you just pay to access the lounge in those once in a lifetime cases?
          • trevyn 10y ago
            Other AmEx cardholders can purchase access to the lounge, if it is not near capacity.
          • deleted 10y ago
            [deleted]
    • throwaway91111 10y ago
      I'm just saying its worthless unless you go to airports.
      • saryant 10y ago
        Well, they're selling a product aimed at frequent travelers. Airports are a safe bet for that market. ;)
      • untog 10y ago
        I'm just saying that Google exists and that you could have used it, rather than insist someone explains something for you.
        • khedoros1 10y ago
          For what it's worth, the explanations were interesting to me. It's not something that I feel like would be worth looking up and sorting through marketing material for (the Wikipedia entry redirects to the American Express page).
      • hueving 10y ago
        Airplanes are worthless unless you go to airports. What a stupid comment.
• Spooky23 10y ago
  AMEX definately has problems, but as you said their service is world class. Chase started harassing a coworker whose daughter died to try to illegally collect her debt within 72 hours of her passing. I will never do business with them.
• perfectstorm 10y ago
  My grandma passed away few months ago and I had to cancel an air ticket that I bought through Priceline. When I called Chase to use their travel protection, the CSR redirected me to eclaimsline.com. I filed a claim and uploaded my credit card statement showing the charge and the email receipt from Priceline. few days later they updated the claim demanding statement from both my airlines (booked on two different airlines) stating that I did not receive any refund (or partial), terms and conditions of ticket cancelation from both airlines, T&C from Priceline because i purchased via Priceline, a copy of the death certificate and statement from Priceline confirming that I didn't receive a refund or credit. And all of these statements must show the company logo (email address wasn't enough apparently). Worst part was United didn't have a template for no refunds issued for this ticket and the CSR who emailed me chose a template that mentions credit for future flights in case of cancelation due to family emergency. My claim was denied because of the word credit in that email and I had to email few times before they finally agreed to pay me. This took well over 5months. So yea, I'm really thinking about canceling my Reserve card and getting an Amex Platinum.
  • phil21 10y ago
    This is the exact reason I keep my Amex. I have yet to have a bad customer service experience with them, and I've asked for some pretty ridiculous stuff in retrospect. Every time I sign up for a new card (google credit I'm looking at you) the customer experience is just absolutely horrible. I mean rip-you-off type horrible - where you enter a bank account for autopay, and they then charge you late fees for 2 months because "our terms of service say adding an autopay account may take up to 90 days". The other card I've signed up for in the last 18mo was a store credit card to get 20% off a one time purchase - and they couldn't even get that right. I had to have my lawyer call and threaten to sue before they finally credited the proper amount and closed my account. It's just ridiculous what most folks seem to put up with. I've tried to cancel my Amex since I pay a yearly fee which I find stupid. But each time I deal with any other credit card company I pretty much realize Amex is in a league of it's own. If they start to dip on customer service it's all over for them. That is the only thing keeping them alive on life support at this point, but that's really all it will take as long as their competition is so utterly anti-consumer. I'm starting to avoid doing business with companies that don't take Amex. It's just not worth the hassle of dealing with anyone else. My Costco membership is no more due to this. That all said - it's just a stupid way to pay for stuff. I'd prefer to use cash all things considered, but unfortunately that's generally not possible this day in age.
• goseeastarwar 10y ago
  I often wonder why the yearly fees even come up in these discussions. Presumably, if you aren't getting enough value to easily offset the cost, why on earth would you ever get the card. When I book hotels through Amex's FHR portal, I get upgraded nearly every time into suites that cost hundreds more than I'm paying. To say nothing of the free nights, hotel credits, and early check-in/late check-out. Makes the annual fee laughable, but you have to be using these cards the right way.
  • hueving 10y ago
    >When I book hotels through Amex's FHR portal Every time I went to book with my amex platinum, the hotels they offered were way overpriced for the area. I can't help but suspect you were already paying suite prices the moment you decided to book with amex. Either that or I'm just unlucky in the cities I pick to test with.
    • selectodude 10y ago
      He's booking "Fine Hotels and Resorts", so he's looking at a room at the Ritz Carlton, and getting a better room at the Ritz Carlton. He isn't looking for a room at the Embassy Suites.
    • rsync 10y ago
      "Every time I went to book with my amex platinum, the hotels they offered were way overpriced for the area. I can't help but suspect you were already paying suite prices the moment you decided to book with amex. Either that or I'm just unlucky in the cities I pick to test with." I'm suspicious of this too ... It's very easy to get discounts and upgrades on rooms when you start with the rack rate anyway ... can the grandparent provide some additional details or examples ? I'm genuinely curious. I am personally a starwoods member and starwoods AMEX holder and I do typically get minor upgrades (basic room class upgraded to just-better-than-basic) as a matter of course, but it never has anything to do with what card I use - rather it is based on my current points/status with SPG ... In fact, SPG/StarwoodAMEX is my only frequent flyer or club or membership that I have - I don't bother with any frequent flyer memberships (even when I do, in fact, fly routes/airlines frequently) and I don't join any other clubs. There absolutely is a savings/benefit to be had but I never feel that it outweighs the mental overhead and complication. I could perhaps see "upgrading" from Starwoods AMEX to AMEX Platinum in order to get all the lounge access and the instant low-tier status at all hotels and airlines - that's one of the benefits, right ?
• qaid 10y ago
  It sounds like you tried to do everything yourself online. The biggest benefit (IMO) of Chase Sapphire cards is that someone picks up the phone as soon as you call (in most cases). I always start my price/return protection claims with Chase this way. I recently returned a pair of earphones that gave me buyer's regret. I called CSR, filled out a form, emailed it back to them, and shipped with my package upon their approval. In a few weeks, I got the full $300 back as a check. Not quite 48 hours, but my experience has almost always been good. Even when I claim for a few dollars.
  • rkho 10y ago
    Chase's immediate live human customer service gives it a nice edge against Amex. However, I dislike calling in when I can do things online in what should be a faster manner.
• lucaspiller 10y ago
  Couldn't you have taken it back to the place where you bought it? As a European, it seems a bit weird that you have to go through your credit card company to deal with this. So if you pay cash and something is faulty you are SOL? Here the guarantee against faulty goods is a minimum of 2 years. It's on the seller, not the manfuacturer, to repair or replace it if something goes wrong. I'd expect most stores will just straight up give you a refund for something like this.
  • mintplant 10y ago
    > Couldn't you have taken it back to the place where you bought it? This would generally be the first option, yes, even in the USA.
  • salesguy222 10y ago
    Sure you could try it, but it is very hit and miss. Typically you will be bounced around from hotline to hotline until you are worn out, or they tell you yes/no refund. With a credit card company that has a decent level of respect for you as a customer, you call them, dispute the payment, and the credit card company handles the rest, ESPECIALLY under $25.
    • massysett 10y ago
      When I have disputed, I'm asked if I tried resolution with the merchant first. I've never had the impression that dispute is a first resort solution. Many merchants actually want to please their customers.
      • salesguy222 10y ago
        That's fine, and when you run into a merchant that doesn't care, make sure you have a credit card company like mine that takes disputes seriously ;)
  • rkho 10y ago
    A bit more context, this was Amazon several weeks outside their return window (the defect started a month in) and they declined. I don't blame them at all.
• criddell 10y ago
  That's surprising that Chase isn't trying to do a better job on their purchase protection benefits. I dropped a phone once and cracked the screen. Since it was within 90 days, I did a claim through American Express and it took 24 hours for it to be processed. I didn't have to send it back or jump through any hoops. I don't understand why Chase wanted you to ship the cable to them?
  • rkho 10y ago
    I believe this benefit is a part of the card network (Visa Infinite), not the issuing bank (Chase)
• giancarlostoro 10y ago
  In all honesty I keep American Express because I know for a fact they will defend their customers. My dad works as an accountant for a hotel, and he told me and my mother about how people would come to the hotel, and even if they sign if they call up Amex and say they didn't stay there, they will get their refund. I know that sounds crazy, and there's room for abuse, but I am not using Amex to abuse of it, rather to know for a fact that if I purchase something I have genuine protection for my goods, especially if something fishy goes on in the other end.
• areyousure 10y ago
  Meh, my only experience with Amex customer service is this: I rented a car for 12 days. On day 5, as I try to drive to my own wedding, the car doesn't start. The rental car company refuses to help. I eventually get the car back to them on day 6 after AAA tells me the car should not be rented out at all. The company refuses to return any money, so I try a chargeback through Amex. They refuse the chargeback all three times in their dispute resolution process, even for the six days I paid for but didn't use. After begging, the rental company returns the cost of 6 unused days. I never see any other money, not for the 1 day the car was disabled and no compensation for ending up late to my own wedding. Shit happens, but if Amex can't even refund me my 6 unused days in this situation, I don't know what they can do.