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PS you are way off beam with the idea of a lounge at Bicester
Bicester has its merits for a provincial like me, as it’s so much more convenient than going to London for some retail therapy.
Bicester is a bad joke for chinese tourists. Its awful.
Ive gone there since it opened every so often and now its a mix of made-for-outlet shops like ralph loren and comedy stores like chanel and prada with their fake queue here because we only let 5 ppl in at once limits. Its a ghastly place.
@jj
Just do what we did, get the Centurion card. Job doneWas about to say this. JJ looking at the wrong card.
Haha! If one thinks Platinum is a stupid card, Centurion really takes the biscuit.
@slidey, this is going away from the original topic, plenty of places in Bicester offer alternatives to the comedy stores and made-for-outlet places (I agree with you on both, btw). My wife heads for Sandro, Zadig & Voltaire, Isabel Marant, Etro, Chloe, etc – shops that are a cut above anything that can be found in a provincial high street but with none of the hassle of a day trip to London.
PS you are way off beam with the idea of a lounge at Bicester
Bicester has its merits for a provincial like me, as it’s so much more convenient than going to London for some retail therapy.
Bicester is a bad joke for chinese tourists. Its awful.
Ive gone there since it opened every so often and now its a mix of made-for-outlet shops like ralph loren and comedy stores like chanel and prada with their fake queue here because we only let 5 ppl in at once limits. Its a ghastly place.
They act the Same in their central London stores …
Bicester is fine as long as you understand what you’re buying and there are plenty of actual bargains
Not sure what your Gripe is with RL the quality is just as good as their mainline items even if made for outlet. I agree some others are not ie Burberry but again if you shop for the right pieces at the right time bargains can still be had
@JDB
That is a statement of someone who doesn’t have one to know how wrong you are
I recover my subs with ease each year whilst having Amex do all the legwork for itI honestly don’t get the care in the world for cards being treated as a status symbol. It’s just a bloody card, just like how iPhones are a bloody phone but teenagers see it as a status symbol. Blows my mind with how much people really care about status in this regard. Not to be confused with status like BA or Hilton’s, as they just provide you with benefits.
With the pro-rata refunds going away, I wonder if we’ll see that come first and then the changes to the Platinum card.
Amex are definitely honing in on teenagers seeing Amex as a status symbol to some extent. There’s a few recent articles how they’re marketing towards millennials and Gen Z now, so that would make sense.
I do see Amex being promoted quite heavily on social media.
I do see Amex being promoted quite heavily on social media.
I’ve seen a few Platinum card adverts over the past few months on Instagram but never really cared about it since I already have it. I think they’re promoting the Gold card more physically because there were ads for them on the underground. France also seem to be heavily pushing their Gold card because there’s pretty much 2 posters side-by-side at multiple locations in each metro station.
I do agree that Amex seem to be targeting younger people now a lot more than before. No idea what caused them to do this or how much this benefits Amex. If they do, their incomes are generally lower.
With the pro-rata refunds going away, I wonder if we’ll see that come first and then the changes to the Platinum card.
I wouldn’t be surprised… this sort of change is more in line with Amex’s current way of thinking and treating its loyal customers.
If you’re loyal why would you care about Pro rata refunds going away?
Not to be confused with status like BA or Hilton’s, as they just provide you with benefits.
Social status via the ‘right’ card, ‘right’ clothes etc IS a benefit and many would argue more important than a free breakfast …..
The way I see this conundrum is simple.
Either you’ll be dreamy, and expect Amex to design a product that you think you deserve and aspire to, and end up being disappointed forever.
Or, like most of us, you’ll try to find ways to make the product useful and profitable for yourself. I never liked Harvey N. but ended up finding ways to make it work for me: fragrance, whisky, etc.
The key is flexibility. How hard are you willing to try to maximise your benefits from the card? If you don’t want to bother then the card is not for you. That simple means you do not value the benefits that much for the effort.
For 2025, we will wait and see.
I am not dillusioned and never saw the card as a status symbol. Because it is so easy to get one. If you are that interested to advertise your income, there are easier ways. I simply think it is stupid to do it via a credit card. I’d be embarrassed to wave my Centurion if I had made the mistake of getting one.
Some very interesting perspectives! I work as a doctor, so whilst my salary is reasonable (although not the £150,000 mark proposed higher up in the thread), I don’t travel much with work, and so don’t have lounge access through status.
I agree that my relationship with the platinum card has been transactional, but have made it worth living in London. I’ve had some amazing meals through the dining offer, and found the selection decent, have used HN to buy presents/spirits/perfume that we would have bought anyway, and have received a retention offer of 35K MR each year.
To me that has been enough to mostly offset the membership fees, and then I have found value from the lounge access and priority pass. Whilst some of the PP lounges aren’t much to write home about, they’ve come in handy several times where a comfy seat/shower has been a blessed relief when flights are delayed. The Eurostar lounges have been consistently impressive, especially when the main concourse is pretty dire post-brexit.
If they take away dining, and no equivalent for HN I’ll have to reconsider, as I definitely don’t value the lounge access and hotel benefits at £600!
A new offer has popped up on my Platinum offers in last few days and my god its awful
Amex Venue Collection
10% cash back on spend at concessions food and beverage purchase. Maximum £200 a year valid till 31/12/2026https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/benefits/membership/experiences/venues
The real tragedy is that you don’t have to use Plat for this offer. Any works.
I honestly don’t get the care in the world for cards being treated as a status symbol.
I doubt anyone gets the plat card as a status symbol.
The only time a merchant asked about the card in the last few years was at Costco a few months back when they saw a white curve card.
I doubt even half the merchants would recognise a centurion card.https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/benefits/membership/experiences/venues
The real tragedy is that you don’t have to use Plat for this offer. Any works.
This worked at Field Days automatically on any Amex this summer, irrespective of if the offer was saved. I think it’s a permanent benefit, just showing in “offers” so as to promote it.
I honestly don’t get the care in the world for cards being treated as a status symbol.
I doubt anyone gets the plat card as a status symbol.
The only time a merchant asked about the card in the last few years was at Costco a few months back when they saw a white curve card.
I doubt even half the merchants would recognise a centurion card.I don’t think the point is to impress the teenagers at Costco tills. Those who see it as a status symbol may want to impress friends and most likely colleagues.
Some people who are not into this hobby, I noticed, genuinely think Plat is a prestigious and rare element that most can’t get. Those are your target to impress unfortunately.If AMEX want to seed their product with teens, why not allow Plat card holders free Gold cards for their 16+ children. Gives the teen a status symbol and makes it harder for the Plat holder to cancel the card, as it will cancel the teen’s too. Have you tried to get a teen to switch from an iPhone to an Android phone?
Before anyone says – usually it’s the wife who gets the free Supplementary Plat card.
@JDB
That is a statement of someone who doesn’t have one to know how wrong you are
I recover my subs with ease each year whilst having Amex do all the legwork for itI’ve never been able to work out how to do that without spending on stuff I didn’t want. Apparently, Centurion in the US offers some sort of high-end gym membership (Equinox?) that, if you were going to join anyway, cuts a chunk into the fee but I don’t see anything remotely similar for the UK card.
If AMEX want to seed their product with teens, why not allow Plat card holders free Gold cards for their 16+ children. Gives the teen a status symbol and makes it harder for the Plat holder to cancel the card, as it will cancel the teen’s too. Have you tried to get a teen to switch from an iPhone to an Android phone?
Before anyone says – usually it’s the wife who gets the free Supplementary Plat card.
Even if such an option was available, i suspect most plat holders are sensible enough to not trust teenagers with their full credit limit. I mean i see 30 year olds struggle to manage money.
Apparently, Centurion in the US offers some sort of high-end gym membership (Equinox?) that, if you were going to join anyway, cuts a chunk into the fee but I don’t see anything remotely similar for the UK card.
US cards became coupon books long ago.
In UK, you already hear people outside london complaining the options for dining credit are not good enough. Imagine the feedback if amex replaces some benefits with discounts at Virgin active health club access.If AMEX want to seed their product with teens, why not allow Plat card holders free Gold cards for their 16+ children. Gives the teen a status symbol and makes it harder for the Plat holder to cancel the card, as it will cancel the teen’s too. Have you tried to get a teen to switch from an iPhone to an Android phone?
Before anyone says – usually it’s the wife who gets the free Supplementary Plat card.
Even if such an option was available, i suspect most plat holders are sensible enough to not trust teenagers with their full credit limit. I mean i see 30 year olds struggle to manage money.
Very much depends on the teens. All of the (then) teens in our household had supp Amex cards on our accounts, and never once did we have to chase payment or warn them about overspending. They fully understood how the card worked, they discussed larger payments ahead of making them and knew the dangers of missed payments.
Sweeping generalisation (that will of course be wrong in places), but I suspect the teens that don’t know how credit cards work come from adults who don’t understand how credit cards work.
Essentially, I’m saying that they need to think more aspirationally. I really don’t care about a free breakfast: if I want breakfast, it’s pocket money to pay for it. And I last stayed in a Hilton with my wife in December 2000; Hiltons are solely for business.
I’m not sure about your set of suggestions but I do think you rightly highlight the underlying problem. It isn’t easy to tell if the the Amex Platinum for people with household incomes of £40k-80k OR 150k-200k OR £200k+? Centurion isn’t likely to kick in for households in any of those ranges but each of those income brackets is likely to have a different opinion on what benefits are best/useful.
The current set of benefits seems borderline at best at the lowest end while managing to be underwhelming for higher earners as well.
Interesting comment from Rob in one of the articles today about the Plat benefits for 2025 “I suspect you won’t be disappointed by what is offered for 2025 when it is unveiled.”
When I asked Rob, if he knew what they were, but could not say yet, he confirmed that he knew what they are, and that they will be confirmed at the end of the month.
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