I did receive a 15,000 mile bonus, a mere pittance compared to the promotions then in effect. As retirees, my wife and I felt discarded and worthless. This was certainly not the American Express of old. Perhaps Visa or Master Card will value my patronage more.

Unable to shake the sense of betrayal, I appealed to AmEx for some respect as a lifelong American Express customer. What I received instead was a cold shoulder from a disembodied voice at the other end of a phone call. No 125,000 SkyMiles. Not even 70,000 SkyMiles or some compromise in between.

In either case, the only requirement was to spend something like $5,000 or a little more in 6 months. Instead, I used my new Reserve card to spend over $20,000 in just 60 days.

Later I learned that all I had to do to earn 125,000 Delta SkyMiles was to cancel my Platinum card and sign up for a new Reserve card. Alternatively, I could have earned 70,000 SkyMiles by simply responding to an AmEx promotional offer.

I am not one who studiously scours credit card promotions in an effort to game the system. So, when I was informed the Platinum card would not grant access to the Sky Club, I agreed instead to upgrade to Reserve card status. The cheerful salesman said not a word about the promotions then in effect.

That’s why I am so disappointed by AmEx’s treatment after I recently upgraded from Delta SkyMiles Platinum to Delta SkyMiles Reserve. One day in September, I happened to be passing the Sky Club at LaGuardia Airport when I decided to stop in and look around to see what the hype was all about.

When my wife and I first exposed our own children to foreign travel in 2000, we felt comforted by the wad of Traveler’s cheques which accompanied us. Upon our return, we acquired our first AmEx credit cards.

To me, the American Express logo was a symbol of American reliability and trust. When my wife and I first exposed our own children to foreign travel in 2000, we felt comforted by the wad of Traveler’s cheques which accompanied us. Upon our return, we acquired our first AmEx credit cards.

Why did she and Walz stop calling them "weird" and "I know his type"? They made Trump look weak. Instead, using language like "fascist" and "threat to democracy" made him look strong, even if threatening. That increased his appeal to low-info voters, esp. males. That was a mistake in close election.

Along came Kamala, who ran a great campaign. Out of the gate, it was: "I know his type ..." and "I'm a career prosecutor who took on fraudsters" and "Trump & Vance are weird". She had great momentum. She demolished Trump in the debate, And he knew it. But then, her "experts" told her to pivot.

Biden believed his legislative success would speak for itself. His comms team was terrible at communicating success. As a career con man, Trump understood that evidence-free symbols are effective with low-info voters: "I am strong and Biden is weak". Continuous repetition of that message trumped all

It's heartening to see more truth tellers and indie journalists migrate to Blue Sky and other platforms.

I hope this trend continues and these places make it more palatable for folks to leave X.

X cannot continue to be the dominant platform.

It has become the epicenter of misinformation.