I have had an Amex card for some 50 years now!
I have had it so long that they no longer charge me an annual fee!
I love this card as they are so different to the banks. Recently I had a transaction I did not have a clue what it was. They immediately took it off my account and have now credited it a month later as the merchant has not replied to them.
With my Visa card, you have to pay the amount while they look into it...Amex, not so.
Also they answer their phones on about the second ring and with the banks I have to wait up to 20 minutes for a query, and Amex are far more polite and professional.
Guess that is why they charge the merchant more, and why a lot of places do not take this card.
Their F/flyer programme is also double what the other cards are.
Cannot speak highly enough of this efficient company!
Thd reason why your establishment won't accept American Express is because the fee they charge thd merchant us a lot higher than the other banks charge. Also, in Europe the majority of places will not accept it because of the high fees and if you offer it you will be asked if you have Mastercard of Visa. When we returned from our 3 months in Europe I went into Mastercard with the unused cards and asked them to destroy them and delete us from their computer. When asked why I told them the merchants just refused to accept them.