American Express cards
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
If you’re going on holiday now is a good time to apply for an American Express card.
Why? Sure you’ve already got Mastercard and Visa, won’t they do?
Well, they probably will do and, yes, it’s true that outside the British Isles and North America, acceptance of their cards isn’t nearly as widespread as it is for MC/Visa. However, when you get your credit card stolen (and you will do sooner or later), it’s the only one that you can depend on getting replaced whilst you’re on holiday. With Mastercard and Visa you’re depending on a lot of connections working and, particularly if you’re going to one of the countries in the former Eastern Bloc, then that infrastructure just isn’t in place.
OK, so it’s handy when it’s stolen abroad, but what about in the UK? Well, acceptance is pretty much universal these days and you’ll pick up a nice cashback bonus at the end of each year. It might not always look as worthwhile as some of the points rebate schemes but how often have you actually used the points that you’ve accumulated. Besides, with points you’re stuck with whatever the card issuer has in their catalogue, whereas with cash you can get whatever you want.
Definitely worthwhile as a third card and I think you’ll be surprised at how often you use it.