And, as we all know, the reason that AmEx charges the merchant more per transaction than do Visa and MC is because they make no money from the conumer on interest charges (on the green, gold, and platinum cards... the Blue and the Optima cards are separate). That's also why AmEx charges its cardholders for the "privilege" of carrying their card. I have heard from a reliable source (family member) and from other sources that, if you tell AmEx that you absolutely refuse to pay a membership fee for the card, and you'll be more than happy to quit carrying their card in order to ensure that, they will waive the fee. Of course, you have to be willing to do this each year, and you have to be willing to cancel your card if they don't want to play the game, but that is an option.