Thai Air Amex platinum

[Evel_Penivel]

Again, guys, there's a big difference between an Amex Platinum charge card and an Amex Platinum credit card. The major reason I use an Amex charge card is it allows me to cash personal checks at any Amex office in the world, up to a limit of $10,000 a month. It's absolutely the most economical way to deal with the need for extra cash fast. You can also charge travelers' checks to a Platinum charge card without any extra fee.

 

Apparently there are also big differences in the U.S.-based terms for the Platinum charge card and an Amex card issued abroad. There is no surcharge on the use of my Amex Platinum charge card abroad. I just checked the conversion rate for Thai baht to dollars on my June Amex statement. It was a slightly better rate than you could get for cashing travelers' checks or $100 bills in BKK at the time and much better than ATM withdrawals. There was no extra fee whatsoever with Amex abroad - often there's a charge of 3% or more on ATM withdrawals abroad.

 

I pay $300 a year to carry the Amex Platinum charge card, but I earn that back within six months through the 20% discount it gives me on car rentals in the U.S. Plus there are other discounts that have on occasion saved me quite a bit. And TV commercial hype aside, the replacement routine for a an Amex card lost abroad is impressive. Finally, the Rewards program gives me a R/T ticket to LOS every 12 or 16 months, depending on how much I spend during the year.

 

Diners Club is the granddaddy of all charge cards, but it's not accepted at many places nowadays. The free entrance to airport lounges is only relevant if you're not flying Business Class and then at a limited number of airports. There are only two Diners Club airport lounges in the U.S. - one at Miami, the other at Newark. There's none at Narita or Bangkok.

 

EP

[buffalo_bill]

Singapore_Penivel ,

 

I have been carrying an Amex card for centuries and have no philosophies to offer about lounges , extra benefits , interest and so forth because I have no idea what this could be all about , I do not even use airport lounges because most of them have no windows , I am a simply structured person . all that I find interesting about the Thai Amex offer is that they grant huge Thai Air related advantages and that is why I will send them my application form within the next few days .

If they are targeting on Thai based individuals only ( expat-species ) I will proceed with my farmer-career on the Korat plateau and look what happens .

 

BuBi

[Evel_Penivel]

buffalo_bill-

 

I think you have the right idea. If you fly a lot on one airline, it's almost always a good idea to get a credit card "tied" to that airline.

 

I was just pointing that there are differences between an Amex charge card and an Amex credit card and it's important to understand the difference between the two.

 

Good luck with your application!

 

EP

[matta330]

Evel_Penivel said:

 

Diners Club is the granddaddy of all charge cards, but it's not accepted at many places nowadays. The free entrance to airport lounges is only relevant if you're not flying Business Class and then at a limited number of airports. There are only two Diners Club airport lounges in the U.S. - one at Miami, the other at Newark. There's none at Narita or Bangkok.

 

U.S. Diners Club cards have been "enhanced" and are now given a MasterCard number, so there is better acceptance. True, there is no lounge at BKK, but I did find one at the HKG airport.

 

Since the conversion from a Diners number to a MasterCard number, Diners has not been reporting to any credit bureaus.