Living in American Express Crazy Town

I’ve been an American Express customer for about six years. I have a personal Platinum card, a Business Platinum card, a Platinum card for my fiancée on my account, one for my mother, and a personal Gold card. My credit score has stayed above 760, I’ve never been late on a payment, and I pay my balances in full every month using the statement balance option in the app.

Despite that, I’ve had ongoing issues with how American Express decides how much you’re allowed to spend, often without notice or explanation.

For years, when I checked purchasing power it was well over $100,000. Then, without any notification, that dropped to $3,600. I only found out when transactions started getting declined. When I called customer service, I was told there had been an “account review.” They couldn’t explain what triggered it or what criteria were used.

I asked whether I had been informed that my spending power was reduced. At first, they said yes. When I asked when, they admitted I hadn’t actually been notified.

Nothing about my financial situation had changed. My credit score was the same (760), my payment history was clean, and my balances were low. My balances rarely exceed $4,500, which seems reasonable for cards that previously supported much higher spending ($100,000 or above). I still pay in full every month.

The bigger problem is that this personal account review also affected my Business Platinum card. My business sometimes needs to make purchases of $100,000 or more. Before signing up, I specifically asked the Business Platinum salesperson whether purchases of that size would be an issue. I was told it would not be a problem.

In reality, I’ve never been able to make a purchase anywhere near that amount. Because of this, I’ve had to change how I handle cash flow in my business, not because I lack funds, but because the card doesn’t perform the way it was represented.

Another issue is payment timing. The app will sometimes say a payment is due immediately, even though the listed due date is still weeks away. It’s unclear which one actually matters, and customer service hasn’t been able to give a consistent explanation.

They’ve told me my balances were “high” and that this contributed to their decision, but again, my balances are low and paid off in full every month. If payment dates and spending power can change at any time, it’s hard to understand what the actual rules are.

For comparison, I also have a Chase card with a $30,000 limit. It’s lower, but it’s clear and predictable. Chase sticks to the limit they assign and to the payment dates they set. I don’t have to guess whether a charge will go through or whether a payment will suddenly be treated as overdue.

Between the unpredictability, lack of transparency, and what I believe were misleading sales assurances for the Business Platinum card, I’ve decided to move both my personal and business spending away from American Express. I also can’t justify paying close to $2,000 a year in fees for customer service that feels increasingly offshore and inflexible.

I’ve been a loyal American Express customer for years, but I can’t spend this much time trying to figure out what’s going on with my accounts. For my business and personal finances, predictability matters more than branding or perks.