I thought there's no real "limit" on an American Express charge card. At least that's how they advertise it in certain places.

I've been an Amex US cardmember for years, but never took up their Platinum offer. Do you get the same Platinum privileges if you go to different countries ie. the concierge and other services?

Thanks vincent, I don't plan to travel to a US Embargoed country so no worries there

Next question is, should I keep my Amex account in the US or move it to Malaysia? I live mostly in Malaysia and travel to the US at least once or twice a year. I personally don't mind keeping the account in the US, is there any advantage at all of moving the Amex account to Malaysia?

If it's a cash merchant like the ones in LYP then they will pass on the fee to you. Credit card fees in LYP are typically 2-2.5% for Visa/MC and 3-3.5% for Amex.

If you buy it from bigger outlets eg. Best Denki or Carrefour then they won't charge you any extra.

I didn't realize Amex had a credit card aside from the one MBB offers, so I browsed around the American Express website a little bit. I guess Amex in Malaysia has different cards from the US ones. The only credit card from Amex available in the US is the Blue card, the rest are standard charge cards.

Me, I'm happily using my green Amex charge card for many many years already. I don't travel enough and can't justify spending the $450 for a Platinum card

The annual fee for the Amex platinum charge card is $450 in the US and as far as I know the platinum charge card fee cannot be waived.

Amex Membership Rewards is different from MBB points. For some Amex charge cards you're automagically enrolled, not sure about your credit card. There is a charge though so beware of that to begin with.

http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/p...41,18034,00.asp to find out more about enrollment.

I've looked through the catalog, I personally don't think it's any better (or worse) compared to the regular MBB points but that's just me.

Here's what I know. The difference between green, gold and platinum is simply the amount of services you get. Green is the basic card, gold gives you access to certain events and services and platinum has their concierge services, Starwoods Gold Preferred membership, etc. If you travel a lot for example, Amex Platinum gives you free access to some airline lounges, free room upgrades when you stay at a Starwoods hotel and other stuff. Travel 2-3 times in a year and this can be very addictive

There is no pre-set credit limit, but they do look at your spending patterns. Put a big purchase on the card that's beyond your usual purchase and they'll happily call you and ask what the hell is going on, sometimes saying that you need to have cash in your bank account before they'll let it go. I've never had this but then again I don't put big RM20k purchases on my card.

On the whole though, I think Amex is riding very much on its brand name only. Many Platinum Visa/MC have features like the above already and Visa Infinite is competing with the Centurion (black) card already. It's really up to you whether or not you want/need an Amex card as a status symbol

Anyway, just my opinion on it. This applies only to the charge card btw, the credit card I think is different.

Actually Amex is very widely accepted in Malaysia but their fees are 1% higher than Visa/MC so most Malaysian merchants being cheapskates/profit conscious prefer Visa/MC.

Diners is useless although I have to admit some of their offers are pretty interesting.

MilesAndMore can you give an idea of how much a heavily discounted First Class ticket is? I recently paid around RM20k for a (supposedly) full fare business class KUL-AMS ticket. RM10k for a biz class seat sounds reasonable to me, does the First class ticket go down that low?

So you're willing to pay the RM2450 annual fees for the Platinum charge card? Hey give me one of those supplementary cards since we're so close and all....

Seriously speaking though unless you use the concierge significantly, the Platinum is kinda useless IMO. And most of the concierge functions can be duplicated by google today.

True true, at least the MBF get 5 was clear. The Amex promotions are never really clear plus nobody goes around auditing them so they can do whatever the hell they want behind the scenes.

If you read around online, the black/centurion card is no longer so special anymore. It used to be by invite only but when American Express decided to make a rule that you can qualify for one if you spent $250k a year then people started calling and demanding for one. More people with Centurion = less exclusivity.

On top of that, Amex decided to cut down on the free privileges of the Centurion which made people even more pissed off.

Read around the high flyers forums, it's interesting

No such thing as a Malaysian based Centurion yet

Ya tink, you don't even use the Shangri La card... save the RM800 for your US trip

My biggest fear about autopay is overcharging. I asked Amex before and they said there's no way to limit the amount for each autopay. The reason I asked was because I had an issue with Syabas (the water people) and they charged me RM1000+ for one month's water bill at one point. If I had it on autopay would I still be able to dispute the charge? I don't know, I don't trust MBB or their customer service to begin with...

My personal opinion, if anyone knows better about autopay limits and disputing autopay do chime in.