Why I Stopped Using Amex Credit Cards

I used to love spending on my American Express credit cards and earning those sweet, sweet Membership Rewards points.

The American Express Platinum card and the American Express Gold card played a significant role in my core credit card setup for a long time.

But after using these cards for several years, I’ve decided to cut them as primary cards on my roster, and in this video, I'll tell you why.

Here are the 4 main reasons why I stopped using my Amex credit cards:
1. I don't travel much internationally
2. Amex multipliers are not that competitive (with high annual fees)
3. Multiple Statement Credits
4. Recent Welcome Offer Changes

I still think American Express is an excellent company with very compelling cards, but I won't be using them as primary cards for spending.

Out of my 7 current American Express credit cards, I plan on closing about half of them, so watch this video to the very end to find out more!

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CONNECT with me: 
 
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:22 Primer
01:20 No More Amex
11:14 My Future Amex Plans
13:21 Outro

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Note: This description contains affiliate links, meaning that I may earn a commission if you click through these links and successfully apply, sign up, or buy the product or service mentioned.
 
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, accountant, or lawyer, and as such, I do not provide financial, tax, or legal advice.  This video, and any ideas presented in it, are opinions and are provided for entertainment purposes only.  Please do your own research and consult your own financial, tax, or legal professional for specific advice.
 
#creditcard #americanexpress #creditcardrewards

[L-Man-Gaming]

Capital One is on the rise and Amex is on the decline. What a time to be alive.

[SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Amex's credit cards are awesome for the right person, but I would argue that a majority of people with Amex cards are NOT the right person for the cards. Your new setup makes a ton of sense for your situation and I can see myself following suit in the future. For now, I'll stick with earning a ton of transferrable currencies, but leaning more towards team cashback one day is definitely appealing to me in a way. You killed it with this one Stan! Nice work 👊🏼

[lashadow]

Finally! Treat AmEx like the unforgiving coupon book that they are. Stan speaks facts. 🐸💰

[armandoangeljr]

While I absolutely love my AMEX Gold, if that annual fee increases to $300 or $325 any time soon, it’s gone for my line up. I’m on pace of earning almost 200, 000 MR points in my first year (with the 90K sub) with the Gold, but now that I have the AMEX BBP, I have a card that earns MR points with no annual fee. As much as I love AMEX, they are starting to get crazy expensive and restrictive. You made some good points here, Stan! I can see why so many have become disappointed with AMEX!

[jakemercure]

Thats so funny we felt the same thing at the same time. I totally agree with you Stan. Amex is being annoying for changing everything without notice. Nice Video !!

[CallMeLani]

Its always important to re-evaluate your setup if its not working towards your goal(s). Great video on how you're making a pivot around what's important to you.

[JonsCreditAndTravel]

Hey Stan. Good video. Im still an Amex fan and with a minimum of 2 vacations planned abroad, it makes sense.

Since you are basically a domestic traveler only, it makes a lot of sense to cancel your Amex cards. I would probably do the same if I were in your shoes. Good information as always sir. Thank you for sharing.

[axelgonzalez]

The capital one savor is better than most American Express cards in my opinion

[MattWelterOfficial]

I think a lot of the frustrations with Amex that you expressed here are very relatable for a lot of us. With competition heating up from other issuers like Capital One, there's just a lot of options out there for earning points at much lower annual fees (like the Savor One vs Amex Gold comparison you discussed). The increase of annual fees along with the introduction of new statement credits is definitely annoying since a lot of Amex Cards look unrecognizable from how they used to, and of course Amex loves to put those statement credits into hard to use increments haha. Always a great idea to take a look at your own spending/travel preferences for adjustments to your CC Strategy and definitely seems like you did a great job of doing so with keeping Cards open that directly benefit you like the Bonvoy Brilliant while planning to cancel others that don't like the Amex Gold. Great video as always Stan!

[elliottnixon-wqsp]

Welcome to the Amex Exile Club, friend. We got jackets. Surprised you didn’t really mention that Amex cards are basically useless abroad which is weird because international flights are their strongest use case. Given where the credit card space is going, we need cards with good SUBs and easy ways of swallowing the AF. It’s a short list for sure, mainly consisting of hotel cards and the Chase Sapphire products for me.

[Leoprieto]

Stan, don’t go anywhere, …Mr. Stephen Squeri will call you in 10 minutes.

[Phlegethon]

Amex is terrible - products that aren’t competitive long term Popup jail clawbacks coupons it’s too much

[bluekai]

For the most average comsumers, they should be on team cash back. When they plan to have a vacation outside US then applying one another card with good travel insurance and good welcome bonus.

[stretch_mtxs]

I actually downgraded the Gold for the Green 6 months ago as a way to change my set up. My plan was (and might still be) to wait for a solid upgrade offer from the Green to Gold. The Green has been useful in my non-airline travel spend (I have a Platinum) and I realized that the way I organically use the Amex Offers cancels out the annual fee so that's really good.

But my main Food and Grocery spending has moved to the Citi Custom Cash and the Citi Premier. Amex and Citi share the transfer partners I use regularly. Also I spend more on groceries than I do when I go out dining so in a way 5X Groceries* 3X Dining actually earns me more than a flat 4X on both. Much as I love the Gold, it's not the only option to gain more points through organic spend. And I don't have to worry about the credits so there's that :)

*I am a one person household so my grocery spend ends up being a little less than $500 a month. No pressure in maxing out the 5%, but it is my highest expense (after rent).

[joshua.butler]

The changes to the Amex welcome offers is unfortunate. That business card looks real nice in rose gold btw. Excellent update to your plans with Amex. Only keeping cards if they provide positive value and make your life easier is the way to go!

[SledgeIncTeam]

Good thing for me, I've gotten all the Bonuses on most of the Amex cards already. I've never had the Delta Platinum or Reserve and I was going to go straight to the Reserve but now I'll just get the Delta Platinum First and the Reserve later.
When I applied for the cards I already knew they had monthly credits and that hasn't changed so thats no big deal to me. That's with the exception of the Business Gold but I never planned on keeping that card past one year hahaha.
But everyones journey is different. Do it your way Stan. Salute

[SYS-kyzk]

I use Capital One VX and CSP for my travel needs. After getting not so difficult travel credit, my effective Annual fee is just $45 for both cards. I don't have to worry about spending inflated cost for food and other things to justify paying almost $1000 for two Amex cards.
Although I'm mostly Team Travel, I have few cards for Cashback as well. It's kind of like Investment: for most people you need good balance of Team Travel & Cashback.
Good analysis on your move Stan! 👋👋💥

[KevinYang]

Now I don't feel as bad being gated out of the Amex Gold with those welcome bonus rules 😂 The VX has been awesome.. and can't wait to see what Citi has in store. Also hope you enjoyed Vancouver haha!

[MontyTheCardNerd]

Great stuff, all of your future plans for your Amex cards are logical and catered towards maximizing value as it pertains to your own organic spending. A lot that all of us in the audience can learn!

[LukesPointsandMiles]

When Stan the Credit Frog speaks, I listen. Stan you make videos with subects that seem to come straight out of my head. I'm still teetering on the Gold Card so bad. Especially when running the numbers for Points vs Cash!!!!