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December 20, 2009 11:58 AM Subscribe
How will getting an American Express card affect my credit?
I have had the same Mastercard for over 10 years now. I always had a decent rate, so I never bothered getting any other type of card or getting one from a different bank. But recently, they jacked up my rate (as they have for many people lately in advance of the new regulations that are coming soon, I think). So I was thinking of getting an Amex (to have in addition to my Mastercard, not to replace the Mastercard), and use that for all smaller purchases that I can pay off each month.
My credit score is excellent (800, give or take, at last check). I do not have a large credit card balance, and typically pay it off every month. I have a mortgage and an unsubsidized student loan.
Would having a second card, specifically an Amex, affect my credit at all, negatively or positively?
Also, I've never had a card that gave points or rewards of any kind before. The Amex Zync offers points. Are these actually useful at all, or just a gimmick?
I have had the same Mastercard for over 10 years now. I always had a decent rate, so I never bothered getting any other type of card or getting one from a different bank. But recently, they jacked up my rate (as they have for many people lately in advance of the new regulations that are coming soon, I think). So I was thinking of getting an Amex (to have in addition to my Mastercard, not to replace the Mastercard), and use that for all smaller purchases that I can pay off each month.
My credit score is excellent (800, give or take, at last check). I do not have a large credit card balance, and typically pay it off every month. I have a mortgage and an unsubsidized student loan.
Would having a second card, specifically an Amex, affect my credit at all, negatively or positively?
Also, I've never had a card that gave points or rewards of any kind before. The Amex Zync offers points. Are these actually useful at all, or just a gimmick?
Response by poster: Thanks! I'll check out BankRate now. Good point about the interest rate not really mattering if I'm paying it off anyway. I'm more annoyed that after having this card for years and having excellent credit, they're jacking it up (among other changes they're constantly making). I'd like to take as much of my business as possible away from that, but still have that card for when I do make a larger purchase (since it's not like other banks are really offering better rates right now to switch to). Thanks again, this helps a ton!
posted by dayintoday at 12:11 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by dayintoday at 12:11 PM on December 20, 2009
Yes, definitely choose a rewards card. With your credit score, you should be getting at least 1.5% of your purchases back in cash, travel, or other rewards. Two specific recommendations:
- Billshrink has a nice interface that will lay out some of your credit card options and help you find the best card for your needs.
- If you travel a lot, I 've been happy with the Chase Southwest card, which gives you a free flight for signing up (minus 59 dollar fee). Works out to a 60 dollar flight, and you can cancel after a year. Their rewards are 1200 bucks per RR point, which works out to a little over 2% back, assuming you make it to 16 points.
posted by chrisamiller at 12:15 PM on December 20, 2009
- Billshrink has a nice interface that will lay out some of your credit card options and help you find the best card for your needs.
- If you travel a lot, I 've been happy with the Chase Southwest card, which gives you a free flight for signing up (minus 59 dollar fee). Works out to a 60 dollar flight, and you can cancel after a year. Their rewards are 1200 bucks per RR point, which works out to a little over 2% back, assuming you make it to 16 points.
posted by chrisamiller at 12:15 PM on December 20, 2009
Response by poster: (Btw, scratch the Amex Zync card I mentioned above. Further reading makes it sound wrong for me. But still interested in hearing about getting a new card in general and getting rewards.)
posted by dayintoday at 12:17 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by dayintoday at 12:17 PM on December 20, 2009
I have an Amex card. But you should know there are many places that do not accept American Express. I use mine at Costco because Costco does not accept Visa or Master Card. The Amex is great at Costco to buy gasoline.
If you belong to a Credit Union I'd get a Visa or Master Card through them.
posted by JayRwv at 12:27 PM on December 20, 2009
If you belong to a Credit Union I'd get a Visa or Master Card through them.
posted by JayRwv at 12:27 PM on December 20, 2009
Can you try calling your credit card company to ask them to lower your interest rate? That would probably be worth a try first, since the worst answer they could give you is "no". Mention that because of the change, you're considering getting a new card to use as your primary credit card.
Generally speaking, though, having 2-3 credit cards is considered a good idea. Especially if you can get a cash rewards card like the Chase Freedom card (link goes to BankRate.com). If you're not earning rewards, you're possibly missing out on hundreds of dollars a year. You earn a percentage on each dollar you spend and then request a check online. For the Chase card, there's no annual fee and I think the increments for the checks are as low as $10, and if you wait until you've earned $200 in cash rewards, Chase sends you a check for $250. It's just a really good deal in my opinion. The paper check comes to you in the mail and you deposit it at your bank... simple as that.
posted by belau at 12:55 PM on December 20, 2009
Generally speaking, though, having 2-3 credit cards is considered a good idea. Especially if you can get a cash rewards card like the Chase Freedom card (link goes to BankRate.com). If you're not earning rewards, you're possibly missing out on hundreds of dollars a year. You earn a percentage on each dollar you spend and then request a check online. For the Chase card, there's no annual fee and I think the increments for the checks are as low as $10, and if you wait until you've earned $200 in cash rewards, Chase sends you a check for $250. It's just a really good deal in my opinion. The paper check comes to you in the mail and you deposit it at your bank... simple as that.
posted by belau at 12:55 PM on December 20, 2009
You should absolutely have more than one credit card - what if for whatever reason you don't have access to your one card? I like my AmEx card because of some ancillary benefits - extended warranties (f.ex. I'm buying the new 27" iMac, and with AppleCare through AmEx, it's covered for 4 years), and they go to bat for you in merchant disputes (I buy a lot online, so this is important to me as a safety factor). Some other cards do that too, but AmEx is very good at it.
posted by VikingSword at 1:19 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by VikingSword at 1:19 PM on December 20, 2009
I'm a fan of the American Express HHonors card. My "points" go towards nights at Hilton properties. And yeah, not everywhere takes amex. I carry a Visa for the few that do not.
posted by busboy789 at 1:23 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by busboy789 at 1:23 PM on December 20, 2009
Another satisfied AmEx customer here. My favorite thing about them is that they're consistently the best credit card company around when it comes to going to bat for the customer. I don't need it much, but I really appreciate it when I do.
Do you have a retirement account with Fidelity? They have an AmEx card with a bonus of 2% of purchases deposited into your IRA. I have a different card, but I may have chosen that one if it were available.
posted by tellumo at 2:14 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Do you have a retirement account with Fidelity? They have an AmEx card with a bonus of 2% of purchases deposited into your IRA. I have a different card, but I may have chosen that one if it were available.
posted by tellumo at 2:14 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I do have an IRA with Fidelity! Thanks, tellumo!
posted by dayintoday at 2:26 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by dayintoday at 2:26 PM on December 20, 2009
Charles Schwab's VISA gives 2% back on everything. This is the best "all-around" cash back card right now AFAIK.
If you travel a lot, it's probably worthwhile to get a card that is tied to the airline/hotel that you frequent. Or one of the generic travel cards (Starwood, etc)
Amex does have some perks. I have taken full advantage of the purchase/return protection to return a crappy item I bought that the merchant would not take back. Very nice.
Chase Freedom will give you 3% back on your top 3 (5 if you have a Chase checking account) "categories" of spending. IE transportation, grocery stores, gas stations, whatever.
May as well get one, it won't hurt your score past a few months and if you're a responsible spender more credit is better than less.
posted by jckll at 6:21 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you travel a lot, it's probably worthwhile to get a card that is tied to the airline/hotel that you frequent. Or one of the generic travel cards (Starwood, etc)
Amex does have some perks. I have taken full advantage of the purchase/return protection to return a crappy item I bought that the merchant would not take back. Very nice.
Chase Freedom will give you 3% back on your top 3 (5 if you have a Chase checking account) "categories" of spending. IE transportation, grocery stores, gas stations, whatever.
May as well get one, it won't hurt your score past a few months and if you're a responsible spender more credit is better than less.
posted by jckll at 6:21 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
The American Express SPG card gives you points that you can use for Starwood hotels, or you can trade 20k of those points into 25k airline miles on just about every airline. We use the card for the points+cash option at Starwood hotels, which will give you something like a W hotel in downtown San Francisco for $90 a night. And I have earned a couple of tickets with the card. But we use it for everything possible and do not carry a balance on anything, ever.
posted by micawber at 9:04 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by micawber at 9:04 PM on December 20, 2009
You know, I always hesitate to endorse a company for fear of sounding like a shill, but I have to say, get an AMEX, it's worth it. AMEX gives you purchase protection, and I've actually had to use it a couple times -- once when an online furniture dealer sold me a defective desk, and another time when I got all my purchases swiped while I was shopping. Both times, they were totally cool and understanding, and I got a full refund of the purchase price. And I have to say, I've never had bad customer service from them. In fact, they're the only company I can think of besides T-Mobile where my customer service interactions were almost uniformly positive.
I recommend the AMEX Blue -- it's a cash-back card and not a "points" card -- which I prefer because cash-back cards give you more control over how you spend your rewards. No yearly fees. Don't really know what the interest rate is, but I always pay it off at the end of the month so it doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, not all places take it -- especially on the West Coast -- but most places do. It's an excellent supplement for a Visa or Mastercard.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:26 AM on December 21, 2009
I recommend the AMEX Blue -- it's a cash-back card and not a "points" card -- which I prefer because cash-back cards give you more control over how you spend your rewards. No yearly fees. Don't really know what the interest rate is, but I always pay it off at the end of the month so it doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, not all places take it -- especially on the West Coast -- but most places do. It's an excellent supplement for a Visa or Mastercard.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:26 AM on December 21, 2009
Your location matters. I have an amex (accepted most places here in the southwest) and my fiancee has a discover card (accepted more in the midwest, very few places here). I have never been sorry for opening the amex account.
posted by Chris4d at 12:02 PM on December 21, 2009
posted by Chris4d at 12:02 PM on December 21, 2009
- Long-term, the optimal number of credit cards (for maximizing your credit score) is 4 to 6
- Short-term, opening a new line of credit will temporarily lower your credit score
- A "hard inquiry" from a potential creditor checking your credit reports will also temporarily lower your credit score, but only by about 5 points
- American Express has a high annual fee, but offers some fantastic benefits, especially if you travel
Personally, I pay the annual fee for my AmEx mostly for the security of knowing that they can and will take care of me almost anywhere in the world if bad shit happens while I'm traveling.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:29 PM on December 22, 2009
- Short-term, opening a new line of credit will temporarily lower your credit score
- A "hard inquiry" from a potential creditor checking your credit reports will also temporarily lower your credit score, but only by about 5 points
- American Express has a high annual fee, but offers some fantastic benefits, especially if you travel
Personally, I pay the annual fee for my AmEx mostly for the security of knowing that they can and will take care of me almost anywhere in the world if bad shit happens while I'm traveling.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:29 PM on December 22, 2009
You're welcome, and no problem; I'm glad to help. I think Afroblanco may be off the mark re. problems getting American Express accepted (although nothing else; a friend of mine who's had a Blue card for ages said they've been great), but I'm not certain from experience. However, I live in San Francisco, as far as that goes, which is on the West Coast of the US, and generally haven't had a problem with getting my AmEx accepted in my area, although that could just be a product of living in a major urban area and having a Visa at hand.
Not all American Express cards have annual fees, but some do. I haven't needed any special American Express services abroad, but like I said, their service stateside has been impeccable.
posted by tellumo at 11:46 PM on December 22, 2009
Not all American Express cards have annual fees, but some do. I haven't needed any special American Express services abroad, but like I said, their service stateside has been impeccable.
posted by tellumo at 11:46 PM on December 22, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
I highly recommend a rewards card for people who pay their balances off every month. Look at a wide variety of cards to see who has the best rewards for your needs. For example, I have a card that gets me 5 "points" per dollar spent in restaurants, books, and movies which are the consumer spending categories in which I spend the most. I convert those points to gift cards, which have basically paid for all of my new clothing purchases for the past year or so. If you spend most on groceries, gas, airline tickets, or any number of categories, you can find cards that will bump up your rewards on those things. I recommend BankRate to compare rewards. There's no reason to leave that money on the table.
Incidentally, if you always pay your card off, there's no reason to be concerned about the interest rate, because you'll never pay interest. If you don't always pay your card off, worry first about making sure you do that.
posted by decathecting at 12:06 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]