[net.taxes] query: American Express card colors

andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (02/01/84)

What's the difference between an American Express blue (normal) card
and their gold card?

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew)

rpw3@fortune.UUCP (02/05/84)

#R:orca:-52200:fortune:15800003:000:548
fortune!rpw3    Feb  5 03:12:00 1984

The American Express Gold card is tied to your bank account, thus
giving you the priviledge (?) of having your bank lend you money to
pay your American Express bill if you can't hack it all at month's end.
Note that the individual items are not financed, only the total. The
items are paid off instantly by the loan.

There are some other bennies, I forget (not being a Goldy).

Rob Warnock

UUCP:	{sri-unix,amd70,hpda,harpo,ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!rpw3
DDD:	(415)595-8444
USPS:	Fortune Systems Corp, 101 Twin Dolphins Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065

andrew@inmet.UUCP (02/10/84)

#R:orca:-52200:inmet:8700006:000:1160
inmet!andrew    Feb  8 11:30:00 1984

The 'Blue' card (they call it 'Green') is not a true credit card because no
credit is actually extended.  You have to pay the balance as soon as the
bill arrives; that's why AMEX is fairly easy for someone with substantial
income but no credit history (i.e., a recent graduate) to obtain.  (I believe
AMEX will let you pay off airline tickets and such over several months.)

AMEX Gold actually does carry a credit line, like a MasterCard or Visa.
It's more expensive ($50 rather that $35) and has considerably higher
salary requirements (around $30K gold, $18K green last I knew).  While there
are some useful features of the Gold card (read their propaganda to see if
they're useful to you), their ads have been mostly promoting it as the
latest status symbol for the pathologically insecure or socially-conscious.
I consider this as prima facie evidence that it is inherently worthless.
 
Andrew W. Rogers, Intermetrics    ...harpo!inmet!andrew
733 Concord Ave.                  ...hplabs!sri-unix!cca!ima!inmet!andrew
Cambridge, MA  02138              ...uw-beav!cornell!esquire!inmet!andrew
(617) 661-1840                    ...yale-comix!ima!inmet!andrew