Why Americans are willing to pay $ 550 per year for exclusive credit cards

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In 2016, the bank JPMorgan Chase announced the release of a limited number of exclusive "sapphire" credit cards created from an alloy of precious metals. The cost of servicing such a card was $ 450 per year.

Despite the unjustifiably high price, the number of people wishing to receive an exclusive card was so large that the bank ended the alloy of metals necessary for its manufacture, writes Bloomberg.

American Express also decided to keep up and raised the cost of servicing his credit card Amex platinum from $ 450 to $ 550 per year.

It is theoretically possible to justify such a credit card cost, because it includes many opportunities and privileges: travel bonuses, hotel reservations, free services or discounts.

Although if you make calculations, not every user will receive a sufficient number of bonuses to cover the cost of maintenance, moreover, many do not know even half of the possibilities with their cards, because they have not read a multi-page description of what can be additionally obtained by their credit card.

But the trick and calculation of banks is different. For most users, the value of an exclusive credit card in the very fact of its exclusivity. Such a card may not bring a cent of savings, but being able to get on the plane earlier or spend time in the VIP zone of the airport makes people feel special because they have an exclusive rectangular piece of metal. This is what everyone is after.

Of the nearly 350 million credit cards in the United States, the vast majority do not assume service charges, although they still provide other types of payments.

In the press service American Express explained that their platinum card provides many opportunities, so even if you pay $ 550 per year, it remains profitable. For example, customers will get access to the VIP zone of airports in the US, $ 200 per year for trips with Uber, as well as additional bonuses for booking hotels and air tickets. In addition, they have an explosive access to events in the most famous restaurants and the right to book exclusive tables in them.

At the same time, receiving the promised benefits contains many conditions and is not always as easy as it seems. For example, $ 200 for trips with Uber american express divides payments on $ 15 per month (plus an additional $ 20 in December). If you have not used these $ 15 in one of the months, you lose them forever, they cannot be transferred to the next month.

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