Good morning everyone, my American Express Platinum Charge Card statement just closed and I noticed that there were a lot of “important changes” from American Express. Most of the time these “important changes” are minor changes in wording to the cardmember agreement, but in the most recent statement, there are some relevant changes to how AMEX Membership Reward points are earned and redeemed. Here is a quick summary of all the changes:
- Late payment fees are going up from $37 to $38
- Returned payment fees are going up from $37 to $38
- If you do not pay the amount due by the closing date of your next billing period, you will forfeit all points earned during that period
- If you return an item and receive a statement credit, the points you earned from that purchase will be reversed
- If reversed points make your account balance go negative, all future points earned will be applied to your negative balance
All the aforementioned changes go into effect on January 1, 2017. It seems like American Express is really cracking down on churners and MSers, especially on AMEX Platinum Charge Cardholders. Here is page 1 of 5 showing the new changes:
