New American Express offer 11/13/18

[ZoeyVictoria]

I check my American Express account daily because I love those $100 off $500 offers.  Finally saw a new offer tonight, and I am so disappointed.  This offer is to spend $1000 or more and use the Plan It feature for 6 months with no plan fees.  I was really hoping for a statement credit, not an interest-free loan.

[poncho1973]

Shouldn't this be an American Express forum statement and not a Royal one? 

[ZoeyVictoria]

3 minutes ago, poncho1973 said:

Shouldn't this be an American Express forum statement and not a Royal one? 

 

The Amex offer is to spend $1,000 on Royal Caribbean and use Amex’s “Plan It” feature, which spreads the charge over a predetermined number of monthly payments instead of the balance being due all at once, with no fees for the service under this offer.  Amex previously had offers to spend $500 on Royal Caribbean and receive a $100 statement credit.  I run every purchase through one credit card or another for cash back rewards and never pay interest, so an offer to save a fee is not beneficial to me at all.  There has been much CC interest in the past when the Amex offers are available; I am curious to see if anyone finds this offer attractive.

[gatour]

9 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

The Amex offer is to spend $1,000 on Royal Caribbean and use Amex’s “Plan It” feature, which spreads the charge over a predetermined number of monthly payments instead of the balance being due all at once, with no fees for the service under this offer.  Amex previously had offers to spend $500 on Royal Caribbean and receive a $100 statement credit.  I run every purchase through one credit card or another for cash back rewards and never pay interest, so an offer to save a fee is not beneficial to me at all.  There has been much CC interest in the past when the Amex offers are available; I am curious to see if anyone finds this offer attractive.

None here.  

[Pratique]

It all depends on what benefits you get with your card by default and whether those benefits are worthwhile to you. For example, with my Delta card I get a free checked bag, "priority" boarding, and some other things, but AMEX has not offered me any Royal Caribbean deals in years. In fact, they tend to not offer me deals for businesses that I frequent. I think they are trying to encourage me to spread the wealth so to speak.

 

By offering you no plan fees on a one time basis, they are trying to encourage you to carry a balance, even if it is zero interest. It is their way of introducing you to the Plan It feature, so maybe in the future you will use it again, and I suspect that AMEX gets a kickback from Royal Caribbean as well. The cynical response is that it's all about driving customer behavior to the company's benefit. I would take that deal if it was offered to me and there were no better options, but those deals typically do not drive my spending behavior. I look at them a little bonuses, like clipping coupons for things I'm going to buy anyway.

[leisuretraveler223]

So we're allowed to talk about American Express specials because the Admins don't understand that American Express is a travel agency?  That's reassuring about the leadership here....

[bouhunter]

5 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

So we're allowed to talk about American Express specials because the Admins don't understand that American Express is a travel agency?  That's reassuring about the leadership here....

Good job - encourage more limits to what can be posted.........

[leisuretraveler223]

Just now, bouhunter said:

Good job - encourage more limits to what can be posted.........

Actually, trying to do the opposite.  This is the only travel site that is so opposed to TAs being mentioned.  But that's because they line their pockets with the money they get from TA partners, and then pretend to be an unbiased authority on the travel industry they sell.

[ZoeyVictoria]

58 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

So we're allowed to talk about American Express specials because the Admins don't understand that American Express is a travel agency?  That's reassuring about the leadership here....

 

This is not an "American Express special" and Amex is not acting in the capacity of a TA for this offer.  Amex maintains a list of offers (currently 100 offers on my account) with different merchants.  Purchases need to be made at the applicable merchant, then if the amount spent meets the requirements, a statement credit is given on your Amex account.  The RCI offer requires that $1,000 must be charged to Amex with RCI being the "merchant of record"; bookings made through a TA must be paid directly to RCI to qualify.  Some of the other offers: spend $250 or more at Embassy Suites and receive a $50 statement credit, spend $15 or more at SamsClub.com and receive a $5 statement credit, spend $250 or more at Nutrisystem and get a $75 statement credit.  I have received $1,115 in statement credits since November 2015, the majority being for RCI and Carnival.  There have been previous RCI offers for spending $500 or more and getting a $100 statement credit, and there are many CC posters who watch for those offers and bring them to the attention of others.  These offers are similar to cash-back credit card offers, with much higher rewards.  Many new bookings were made to Royal Caribbean as a result of previous offers.  American Express is not acting in the capacity of a TA in this case; I don't know what benefit they might receive, possibly a kickback from RCI.

[leisuretraveler223]

3 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

This is not an "American Express special" and Amex is not acting in the capacity of a TA for this offer.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm a HUGE Amex user and fan, so I love this stuff.  HOWEVER, Amex makes the bulk of their revenue now through travel.   Literally EVERYTHING else they do, including every marketing pursuit and every special offer, is done with the ultimate motivation of getting more travel sales.  It's not a secret, it's the business model for a large, publicly traded company.

 

I just find it interesting that we still have these archaic rules, where we can talk all day about American Express.  But God forbid anyone mention travelosity, ecspedia or any other travel entity.....

Edited November 14, 2018 by leisuretraveler223

[ZoeyVictoria]

30 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm a HUGE Amex user and fan, so I love this stuff.  HOWEVER, Amex makes the bulk of their revenue now through travel.   Literally EVERYTHING else they do, including every marketing pursuit and every special offer, is done with the ultimate motivation of getting more travel sales.  It's not a secret, it's the business model for a large, publicly traded company.

 

I just find it interesting that we still have these archaic rules, where we can talk all day about American Express.  But God forbid anyone mention travelosity, ecspedia or any other travel entity.....

 

Fair enough, now I see what you mean.  I personally never think of Amex as being related to travel; when I hear it mentioned I just think about what my rewards balance is and wonder what new offers might be in store for me 😁

[gaylemh]

2 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

Fair enough, now I see what you mean.  I personally never think of Amex as being related to travel; when I hear it mentioned I just think about what my rewards balance is and wonder what new offers might be in store for me 😁

Me too.  I only think of it as my credit card.

[leisuretraveler223]

19 minutes ago, gaylemh said:

Me too.  I only think of it as my credit card.

That's what they're hoping you do!  And eventually you may very well be drawn into their travel services.  Most of their travel services are far superior to many of the other options out there.  So once you start using them, you find them of great benefit.  It's a pretty smart marketing strategy, by a pretty great company.

 

If you have a platinum or centurion card, their Fine Hotels & Resorts Program as well as the airline benefits are tough to beat.  And their personal travel assistants are great to work with!

[depplep]

I have 4 Amex cards and not one has an offer for RCCL.

[ZoeyVictoria]

2 hours ago, depplep said:

I have 4 Amex cards and not one has an offer for RCCL.

 

Keep checking.  I have had offers show up several days after other people reported theirs.  

[MrBacardi5]

9 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

Keep checking.  I have had offers show up several days after other people reported theirs.  

I have never gotten an offer for RCL. My AMEX is tied to Hilton. I did get some of the other offers you mentioned earlier

[ZoeyVictoria]

4 minutes ago, MrBacardi5 said:

I have never gotten an offer for RCL. My AMEX is tied to Hilton. I did get some of the other offers you mentioned earlier

 

I wish I knew what the criteria is for receiving offers.  Apparently Amex knows that I would be interested in cruise line offers, based on the number of cruises that I have run through their card for the cash rewards.  I have a Blue Cash Everyday account.

[Magnetchief]

No RCI offers on my AMEX card 😞 

i have about $4k to pay to RCI before next June. 

Will keep an eye out for this. 

[gatour]

On 11/14/2018 at 9:51 AM, leisuretraveler223 said:

So we're allowed to talk about American Express specials because the Admins don't understand that American Express is a travel agency?  That's reassuring about the leadership here....

I mostly consider AMEX as a Home Depot Company.  I charge everything to my AMEX cards and pay off the balance each month.  I accumulate points.  Over the years, I periodically turn in points for Home Depot gift cards, I have used these to replace appliances as needed or desired.

 

On the travel side, I use the $200/yr benefit to cover baggage fees and other incidental airline fees.  In years past  I would get OBC.  All of the travel side benefits would cover yearly fees for things I would have done anyway.  So I essentially got my applianeces for free. 

 

American Express has a travel agency component which I have used off and on, however to me they are a credit card company.

[gaylemh]

6 minutes ago, gatour said:

I mostly consider AMEX as a Home Depot Company.  I charge everything to my AMEX cards and pay off the balance each month.  I accumulate points.  Over the years, I periodically turn in points for Home Depot gift cards, I have used these to replace appliances as needed or desired.

 

On the travel side, I use the $200/yr benefit to cover baggage fees and other incidental airline fees.  In years past  I would get OBC.  All of the travel side benefits would cover yearly fees for things I would have done anyway.  So I essentially got my applianeces for free. 

 

American Express has a travel agency component which I have used off and on, however to me they are a credit card company.

You can book travel through all my major credit cards, that doesn't make them a TA.  They are all a CC company to me.

[leisuretraveler223]

On 11/15/2018 at 9:03 PM, gatour said:

I mostly consider AMEX as a Home Depot Company.  I charge everything to my AMEX cards and pay off the balance each month.  I accumulate points.  Over the years, I periodically turn in points for Home Depot gift cards, I have used these to replace appliances as needed or desired.

 

On the travel side, I use the $200/yr benefit to cover baggage fees and other incidental airline fees.  In years past  I would get OBC.  All of the travel side benefits would cover yearly fees for things I would have done anyway.  So I essentially got my applianeces for free. 

 

American Express has a travel agency component which I have used off and on, however to me they are a credit card company.

Since the majority of Amex accounts do not have rolling credit (i.e. they are paid off each month), they are not in the "credit card" business, like MC and Visa that make most of their money on interest charged for carrying balances.  Instead the Amex business model is entirely focused on selling their travel department.  It's subtle at times, but very effective. 

 

[gatour]

3 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Since the majority of Amex accounts do not have rolling credit (i.e. they are paid off each month), they are not in the "credit card" business, like MC and Visa that make most of their money on interest charged for carrying balances.  Instead the Amex business model is entirely focused on selling their travel department.  It's subtle at times, but very effective. 

 

Hmm, it seems American Express changed their business model.  See link below.  However even before that they were acting as a credit card company, they have been offering the ability to roll over balances for year with APR comparable to Visa/MC.  To me this means it is a credit card company.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/04/06/american-expresss-revamped-business-model-has-long-term-potential/#703bf2596ab0

 

While some of the perks are travel related, such as getting $200 credit for airline fees (baggage, etc).  Access to airport lounges.  However, if you had a Platinum card and booked through their Platinum Travel Services, you could a $300 OBC, so you could break even on the annual card fees if you took a cruise and used the airline credit.  However I haven't seen the $300 OBC offer in several years

 

They also was the first company big with "reward points" for purchases.   While some of the uses for the credits include travel related business i.e. turning in points for a "discount" on a cruise, the math has never worked out.  It made more sense for me turn in points for Home Depot gift cards that I would use to replace appliances as needed.  There are many other similiar offers that are not travel related.

 

So given this, American Express is a credit card company that may favor "travel" a bit more than Visa/Mastercard, but it is still a credit card company.

 

 

[Pratique]

[sfaaa]

4 hours ago, Pratique said:

And make sure your signature matches the one showing on the TC. 

[mkam2821]

I use my Amex card instead of cash to accumulate points and because they have they best curstomer service. The only travel I book through Amex is air and that's when I use the points.  We've flown round trip to both Barcelona for a Med cruise and Paris for a river cruise and Amex points covered the airfare in full both times!!