Watch your wallet! Apparently a “prestige” item when you plop it down to buy supper for a crowd it makes a bigger thud!
This is a discovery when I looked at back of Chase Amazon card: “Contains metal DO NOT SHRED!”
Hrmmf! So why would I want to destroy my shredder when done with this card? Apparently it takes tin snips or perhaps a cutting torch to render one of these useless, and who has an acetelyne rig?
I protest. These cards are just plain stoopid! If you really want one there plenty of articles about which are the best. I’m just worried about not remembering and sticking it in shredder.
Unless you have a heavy-duty shredder designed for metal, you will know immediately it will not work. I talk from experience. I didn’t forget; rather, I wanted to see if my shredder could handle my expired Amazon Visa. It couldn’t.
It’s about exclusivity, these cards have an annual fee of $250 and up. They want people to feel fancy when they use them. My girlfriends Delta Reserve is made from expired 747s.
When you get a new one they send a cardboard envelope to return the old one. I typically throw mine in the trash betting nobody thinks I’m interesting enough to go dumpster diving for,
I pay $550 for my Sapphire Reserve, it’s metal. I find value in it, I rarely pay for hotels on boys trips where I don’t need a 5 star place. I use points instead. I have an airport lounge membership that my kids get more use of than I do. My sign up bonus was points worth $1500 in travel.
Annually I get $300 refund on travel expenses so effectively the fee is $250, worth it to me. I have Skymiles Platinum Amex which is $250 I think, also metal. I get a companion certificate annually and the card helps me keep Delta status that gives me seat upgrades. Again worth it to me but not everybody.
That’s right. No fee, no bennies, no status. Just plain stupid.
I can understand that big fee with big bennies could be worth it to a high roller, but this one only goes “thud”, and it breaks your shredder if you let it.
I agree for people who charge under $50k a year but for high spenders and people who travel a lot they can make sense. I’m happy with my Costco Visa with no annual fee that rebates me over $600 a year.
Everyone pays, even those paying with cash. I figure I might as well get a few bucks back every year by using a no annual fee rewards card. I wouldn’t pay unless it made sense and right now it doesn’t.
I like the card. Its $250 a year and i never seem to pay for a hotel on mountain bike trips. Id have to do a deep dive to decide if im ahead or behind considering the fee. And the Amex is at least $250 but im getting free upgrades and a companion certificate that could be worth $500 or more by itself. If i didnt travel then neither card is worth it.
Reminds me of something I saw long long ago. Don’t remember the event but there were old goats, and there was a guy proudly showing his metal plate with his socialist number. Social Security Administration or some such it said. That was long before we came to the understanding that you do not want to spread your socialist number around and it is not something to be proud of, any more than your Inmate Number, 'cause that is what it is!
I have a CDL and in Illinois they used to put your social security number on your driver’s license. Which was great for criminals if you lost your wallet, name, address, birth date and social security number. I’m surprised the state didn’t make you get your mother’s maiden name and financial accounts passwords on the driver’s license.
I remember when I was first entered the military in 1989 and the base exchange would require your Social Security number on the check to accept or cash it. Many people had their SSNs printed on their checks for this reason. Looking back on that, it seems difficult to fathom.
Well, it depends on what you get for that annual fee. Some cover the TSA renewal fee…some give your travel credits. We have the Chase Sapphire and get much more from it than we pay in the annual fee. However if you dont travel…it wouldn’t be worth it.