CCC don't take american express :-/ Looks like CAMC don't either

[PaulC70]

Need to book a couple of nights near Addenbrookes in a week and a half and thought oooo Cherry Hinton or the CCC one but looks like I'll be going travelodge instead. CCC say they dont' accept amex and the CAMC (not a member but was adding a membership) seems to start going through then suddenly spits it's dummy out and says not accepted.

 

[DavidG58]

I don’t know why so many people use AMEX, apparently the retailer fees are much higher than other cards, I would refuse them if I had a business

They used to have a minimum salary to qualify for a card, many years ago I had post with a guaranteed acceptance offer, I was fairly well paid then so filled in the form

They turned me down

Never missed having one

 

[Bailey58]

Don't you have a debit card?

 

[Bleau’s]

We have stayed at wyton lakes adults only near Huntingdon not too far away with pubs and garden centre close by for food

 

[PaulC70]

I do have a debit card but I use it for the rewards as my primary payment method for as much as possible, pay if off every month.

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[Gromett]

I have always refused American Express. Very expensive, and it used to have a longer payout period than other cards. But that was with Cardnet (Lloyds) Paypal Merchant services appears not to distinguish these days.
The other one I used to refuse was Diners Club as well for similar reasons. Basically Mastercard and VISA and that was it. A few others came and went over the years.

 

[Dodgey]

I have always refused American Express. Very expensive, and it used to have a longer payout period than other cards. But that was with Cardnet (Lloyds) Paypal Merchant services appears not to distinguish these days.
The other one I used to refuse was Diners Club as well for similar reasons. Basically Mastercard and VISA and that was it. A few others came and went over the years.

Yup, we got talked into taking Amex, high fees and time to get payed soon stopped that, thier rep didn't even look surprised when we pulled the plug.

 

[VXman]

I do have a debit card but I use it for the rewards as my primary payment method for as much as possible, pay if off every month.

You are going to stay at a travel lodge rather than take your motorhome to a campsite just because you won't get amex rewards? Which will amount to what? 1% of say £30 = 30p. Even if you have an introductory offer of 5% it's only 50p.

Amex is worth having for rewards (if you can get one free!) but you always need an alternative. I have Amex, Credit card and Debit card.

Chase debit card is a good account for rewards. Accepted everywhere and 1% cashback.

 

[golly]

Is this why you want to use it

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[Reallyretired]

I thought the whole point of an American express card was that no one accepted it. At least according to Ford Prefect in the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

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[LesW]

Most (all) of the pubs near us do not except American Express.

Large signs up saying so.

 

[Brains]

Due to the excessive percentage taken by Amex from the retailers, many (most?) retailers outside the Americas refuse to take them.

Our company changed from Barclaycards to Amex cards globally to all travelling staff.
(There were about 1,000 of us)

6 months later they changed back to Barclaycard due the vast number of petty cash claims coming in every month because people had to use their own cards to pay for things.

I suspect I may have been the final nail in the coffin when I had to phone my Boss' boss (board level) late one Sunday night (his time), to get him to pay for a hotel bill in Shanghai, as they would not take Amex and the bill (10 days, two rooms) was multiple times over the limit of my personal card.

To be honest, unless you are doing a lot of travel in the Americas, there is zero reason to even apply for an Amex card in Europe, Africa or Asia.

 

[Brains]

Need to book a couple of nights near Addenbrookes in a week and a half and thought oooo Cherry Hinton or the CCC one but looks like I'll be going travelodge instead. CCC say they dont' accept amex and the CAMC (not a member but was adding a membership) seems to start going through then suddenly spits it's dummy out and says not accepted.

Apply for a card from a reputable provider.
Affiliates to Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted.

 

[DerryW]

If it was imperative I needed to be close to Addembrokes, for the sake of losing a few reward points, I’d be using a debit card.

 

[Camdoon]

Due to the excessive percentage taken by Amex from the retailers, many (most?) retailers outside the Americas refuse to take them.

Our company changed from Barclaycards to Amex cards globally to all travelling staff.
(There were about 1,000 of us)

6 months later they changed back to Barclaycard due the vast number of petty cash claims coming in every month because people had to use their own cards to pay for things.

I suspect I may have been the final nail in the coffin when I had to phone my Boss' boss (board level) late one Sunday night (his time), to get him to pay for a hotel bill in Shanghai, as they would not take Amex and the bill (10 days, two rooms) was multiple times over the limit of my personal card.

To be honest, unless you are doing a lot of travel in the Americas, there is zero reason to even apply for an Amex card in Europe, Africa or Asia.

Flying this year and you get 4 lounge visits free which suits our plan - a double legged return. The wife will apply this year after I took one out last year thus keeping us away from the airport hoi polloi again. The points bought Amazon vouchers but we always had our Nationwide to hand. Like last year's, this one will be cancelled before renewal which they did not object to.

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[ctc]

You could try cash.

 

[Barclaybasher]

We refuse Amex (fees) , never lost a sale.
Customers expect to have Amex refused and always have another card

 

[SandKPhillips]

We take Amex in our shop, fees are no different to any other card and paid next working day. American Express offer special terms to small businesses because they realised a lot of members were unable to use their cards.
We've also got a PayPal/Zettle machine which accepts anything!

 

[Richard Birkett]

As an Amex member the main benefit is the comprehensive travel insurance cover that’s included when booking with the card. I’ve dropped down to a platinum card from the Centurion as the fee for the later was too high but the platinum fee is less than I would pay for equivalent cover and the service is fantastic!

 

[StillGoing]

The American company I worked for gave employees Amex to use for business expenses. It was accepted in most of the places I used for business.

The American company then decided to move everyone from Amex to Diners Club. The only use I found for my Diners Club card was to scrape the ice off my windscreen.

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[Jev88]

Ever wondered why AMEX rewards can be so good? Because they take the p#ss with rates to retailers.

I would refuse to use AMEX cards too. I am quoting years ago but could be as high as 8% fee to retailer compared to 1.6% from other card companies.

 

[Revolvor]

I had an Amex card when I was working in the Middle East. At the end of my contract, my wife and I drove our VW Camper back to the UK with our one- and five-year-old children.

We encountered a sandstorm in Saudi Arabia with almost zero visibility, and spent 20 hours parked up about 100 metres of the road waiting for it to stop. We had a three-day time limit on our Visa which was about to run out, so when we got going again, we had to get to Jordan, and Amman that evening.

We arrived at The Holiday Inn at about Midnight. We looked filthy - Clothes and hair caked with sand!

To aid packing things in awkward shaped spaced in the van, we had packed all our clothes in black bin liners.

There was a black-tie function on at the hotel, with the foyer full of men in dinner jackets, and women in lovely evening gowns, so we felt a bit conspicuous as we entered the hotel and approached reception.

The receptionist was a bit reluctant to even admit that they had spare rooms, but after me pleading that we needed somewhere to stay, he eventually asked “How are you going to pay?”

I flashed my Amex card and his attitude changed immediately!

He smiled at me, said “Certainly Sir” and clicked his fingers for two porters to carry our bin bags, and we were escorted to our room!

We all enjoyed a good shower and made good use of the hotel laundry service. We stayed in Amman for a couple of days, before visiting to Petra, Karak, Aqaba and Jerash, before going on to Syria.

 

[DBK]

When I ran an online shop I stopped accepting Amex. The reason was they sat on the money for a month before transferring it to me and what they paid me was several percentages less than the customer paid.

All other cards transferred the money immediately and had much lower charges.

 

[starquake]

Have had numerous holidays on the Amex points. I doubt anything will stop me always payign with Amex first where accepted due to this.

If you have airmiles, the BA card literally DOUBLES your redemption value on a airmiles redemption for a £10k spend on the card a year. That IS huge value if you earn airmiles from work/other uses.

But on the subject of usefulness, you can easily make your money back on the amex card in "freebies" on some cards -> their travel service on hotels "Fine Hotels", guaranteeing a 4pm checkout, guaranteeing an upgrade (sometimes a suite), and $100 in resort credit can be ahem useful in some places particularly Las Vegas. I have no joking managed to get a hotel room (upgraded to a suite) in Bellagio for $129 all in for one night, in a suite with $100 credit for dining, full breakfast in morning included, making the net cost something like $29 a night. I mean the cash price walk up on my visa was the same $129 without any of the perks so it's a case of pay with amex via a amex booking and get them, versus paying same with any other card, and being stuck in worst room, with zero free dinner and breakfast.

 

[VXman]

Due to the excessive percentage taken by Amex from the retailers, many (most?) retailers outside the Americas refuse to take them.

Our company changed from Barclaycards to Amex cards globally to all travelling staff.
(There were about 1,000 of us)

6 months later they changed back to Barclaycard due the vast number of petty cash claims coming in every month because people had to use their own cards to pay for things.

I suspect I may have been the final nail in the coffin when I had to phone my Boss' boss (board level) late one Sunday night (his time), to get him to pay for a hotel bill in Shanghai, as they would not take Amex and the bill (10 days, two rooms) was multiple times over the limit of my personal card.

To be honest, unless you are doing a lot of travel in the Americas, there is zero reason to even apply for an Amex card in Europe, Africa or Asia.

All the large supermarkets, shops take Amex - even B & Q. It's accepted by a lot more retailers than it used to.

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[starquake]

All the large supermarkets, shops take Amex - even B & Q. It's accepted by a lot more retailers than it used to.

B&Q didn't use to, which resulted in us buying a kitchen via B&Q vouchers purchased from Tesco, on Amex.

 

[TerryL]

When I had my aviation business we had to accept Amex as, at the time, it was the defacto card many aircrew carried. Fees were twice the ordinary UK credit card and, yes, repayment was up to a month! Difficult for a small new business.

 

[MichaelT]

I have always refused American Express. Very expensive, and it used to have a longer payout period than other cards. But that was with Cardnet (Lloyds) Paypal Merchant services appears not to distinguish these days.
The other one I used to refuse was Diners Club as well for similar reasons. Basically Mastercard and VISA and that was it. A few others came and went over the years.

I am treasurer for a C&CC region and we now take cards via lloyds cardnet. For Visa & Mastercard they take 1.75% and settle net of commission, AMEX take 1.2% and settle in full then claim commission each month via a DD. Both settle in 2 or 3 days so Amex is our preferred card but they are not very popular as most people use Visa or MC.

 

[PaulC70]

I am treasurer for a C&CC region and we now take cards via lloyds cardnet. For Visa & Mastercard they take 1.75% and settle net of commission, AMEX take 1.2% and settle in full then claim commission each month via a DD. Both settle in 2 or 3 days so Amex is our preferred card but they are not very popular as most people use Visa or MC.

I dunno what Lloyds cardnet is, but I can say that C&CC don't take it as payment online when booking that's for sure.

As for many of the other points, this amex is a nectar one so is good intro offer for nectar points if a certain amount is used in first 3 months and there's nectar points with every £ too. No "subs" until year two and that will be outstripped with the rewards in nectar points.
I mean if retailers can afford not to take it that's grand, but in the first 3 months ive had it these are the first two refusals and suprised me.

 

[pelican]

Need to book a couple of nights near Addenbrookes in a week and a half and thought oooo Cherry Hinton or the CCC one but looks like I'll be going travelodge instead. CCC say they dont' accept amex and the CAMC (not a member but was adding a membership) seems to start going through then suddenly spits it's dummy out and says not accepted.

Why bother with a card turned do by so many. ls it a credit card.

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