In message , at 22:43:53 on Mon, 5 Mar 2012,
Phil remarked:
Only supermarkets/convinience stores offer cashback, as it reduces the
amount of cash they need to, pay to, bank. This is only on debit cards,
probably all sorts of consumer credit rules about giving cash on a
credit card.

The problem with giving cash-back on a credit card is that the
cardholder is charged a different rate of interest on cash advances, and
often a fee (and even a zero interest-free period). As a customer, you
wouldn't want that 'penalty' applying to whole of your transaction,
goods as well as cash.

Amex Cards are treated as a credit card by retailers, due mostly to
what it costs them, even though they are, usually, charge cards.

Many of them are credit cards now.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 22:43:53 on Mon, 5 Mar 2012,
Phil remarked:
Only supermarkets/convinience stores offer cashback, as it reduces the
amount of cash they need to, pay to, bank. This is only on debit cards,
probably all sorts of consumer credit rules about giving cash on a
credit card.

The problem with giving cash-back on a credit card is that the
cardholder is charged a different rate of interest on cash advances,
and often a fee (and even a zero interest-free period). As a customer,
you wouldn't want that 'penalty' applying to whole of your
transaction, goods as well as cash.

Amex Cards are treated as a credit card by retailers, due mostly to
what it costs them, even though they are, usually, charge cards.

Many of them are credit cards now.
True, but I would never have one personally. So few places accept them,
they can seriously limit your choice of places to eat when away on
business.

In message , at 23:41:19 on Tue, 6 Mar 2012,
Phil remarked:
Amex Cards are treated as a credit card by retailers, due mostly to
what it costs them, even though they are, usually, charge cards.

Many of them are credit cards now.
True, but I would never have one personally. So few places accept them,
they can seriously limit your choice of places to eat when away on
business.

I've never found it to be a problem. If a meal is expensive enough to
pay by card, I generally find they accept Amex. But I have other cards
too.

Acceptance for travel is very good; there's a bill here (busy month)
with entries for:

obRail: Virgin West Coast and Eurostar
Air: Easyjet, BMIbaby, Emirates, KLM, Flybe, Swiss
Hotels: Geneva, Prague, Brussels, Schiphol.

The full itemisation of flights for the airline ticket purchases is
especially useful. A shame the train companies can't tell them what
tickets I bought too.
--
Roland Perry

On 06-Mar-12 17:41, Phil wrote:
Roland Perry writes:
In message , at 22:43:53 on Mon, 5 Mar 2012,
Phil remarked:
Amex Cards are treated as a credit card by retailers, due mostly to
what it costs them, even though they are, usually, charge cards.

Many of them are credit cards now.

True, but I would never have one personally. So few places accept them,
they can seriously limit your choice of places to eat when away on
business.

Really? I've been doing business travel for nearly 15 years, and I've
_never_ run into a place on any of those trips that didn't accept my
(corporate) AmEx. I've run into several on personal trips, but usually
because I was lodging or dining at lower-end places that I wouldn't
choose when using my expense account.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

Really? I've been doing business travel for nearly 15 years, and I've
_never_ run into a place on any of those trips that didn't accept my
(corporate) AmEx.

Do you travel outside the US much? In Europe, everyone takes MC/V,
only higher end places take Amex, like it used to be in the US.

--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly

John Levine writes:

Really? I've been doing business travel for nearly 15 years, and I've
_never_ run into a place on any of those trips that didn't accept my
(corporate) AmEx.

Do you travel outside the US much? In Europe, everyone takes MC/V,
only higher end places take Amex, like it used to be in the US.
In the UK, provided you pay the man, then Amex is accepted easily.

If however you want to stay somewhere independantly owned, such as a pub
where there are locals and some craic going on around the bar, rather
than a soul destroying corporate hotel where the bar only sells
fizzy pop, then Amex is a problem.

As Brewers law states, the quality of the beer is inversely proportional
to the price.

Phil

Phil writes:
As Brewers law states, the quality of the beer is inversely proportional
to the price.

Hmm, I don't think I've _ever_ lived in a place where that's true...

-miles

--
x
y
Z!

Miles Bader writes:

Phil writes:
As Brewers law states, the quality of the beer is inversely proportional
to the price.

Hmm, I don't think I've _ever_ lived in a place where that's true...

It is almost always true, posh hotels very rarely sell proper beer, and
if they do it use usually something bland and not very well kept. It is
usually just lager and keg beer.

Go to a local pub however and the beer will be proper, often local.

Phil

On 09-Mar-12 11:29, John Levine wrote:
Really? I've been doing business travel for nearly 15 years, and I've
_never_ run into a place on any of those trips that didn't accept my
(corporate) AmEx.

Do you travel outside the US much?

A fair bit, but not as much as within the US.

In Europe, everyone takes MC/V, only higher end places take Amex, like
it used to be in the US.

On business trips, I stay/dine at "business class" establishments, which
all seem to take AmEx. I wouldn't consider most of them "higher end",
but that's a matter of perspective.

On personal trips overseas, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the
budget-oriented places I stay/dine don't take AmEx, but I never checked
since I was using a personal V/MC card or cash.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking