Jose Canseco was the Major League Baseball archetype of a steroid slugger: 1986 American League Rookie of the Year, 1988 MVP and the first 40/40 player, he wound up a six time All Star.
Despite earning over $45 million from baseball, he filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2012 listing $20,000 in personal property against $1.7 million in liabilities and $90,000 annual income. He owed more than $500,000 in back taxes and a $785,000 judgment from a night club fight and another judgment from an eviction. A bank had previously foreclosed on his home in 2008, and he had two divorces that cost him over $6 million.
Do not get the American express platinum. What a scam.especially when you close the account..
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) June 13, 2026
Oddly he’s been complaining about this card for awhile, and didn’t like the annnual fee increase announced last summer, but I guess he kept it anyway?
Whatever you do do not get the American Express platinum card it is a complete scam
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) October 11, 2025
What a joke American Express platinum card went up $200 what a scam not worth a penny
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) October 11, 2025
It’s not clear what Canseco recommends though, since he hasn’t been a fan of Mastercard either (and this was a credit repair product).
Do not get the my milestone credit card from Mastercard ….a total RIP off
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) March 18, 2020
There are a lot of really scammy credit repair cards out there, often charging things like ‘program fees’ in addition to annual fees, and sometimes credit line increase fees as well, and that can be true even with secured card where you’re borrowing against your own money and still paying interest rates over 35%.
It seems Canseco graduated from the Milestone Mastercard (35.9% APR, $175 first year annual fee plus $150 annualized monthly fees) to American Express Platinum you’d think he’d be happy! Canseco, though, says he closed his Platinum card. Perhaps it was closed for him. And, he says, he was treated poorly. Perhaps he had difficulty accessing his accumulated points.
For most consumer card customers (outside of New York), closing your last Membership Rewards product means you immediately lose all of your points. And if Amex closes the card, the cardmember loses all their points (except closure due to inactivity gives 90 days to use points). New York cardmembers have 90 days to use points under state law.
Given Capital One’s sponsorship of Major League Baseball, maybe he’d like giving one of their cards a try?
@Gary Leff said:
“…closing your last Membership Rewards card product means you immediately lose all of your points.”
That’s not correct
If one has an American Express Rewards Checking account, one does not lose their MR points; in fact, that account earns 1 MR point for every $2 spent and although the partner transfer options are narrowed, no partners exclusive to Amex are lost and those that are unavailable are partnered with other banks.
@ Gentleman
Good nugget. Thx. If only mr points were worth anything…
@Gentleman Jack Darby – I should have said ‘closing your last Membership Rewards product’
Who doesn’t have a $785,000 judgment from a night club fight lingering out there? I mean this is 2026.
In more relevant sports news, you can get a free coffee at C1 cafes every MLB Monday this summ… oh who am I kidding, Knicks win it!
@Peter @1990 — fiNallY! Congrats 🙂
Anyone else notice that Jose Conseco is holding an oversized version of Gary Leff’s Amex Plat? Ha!
Why would anyone listen to a paid. spokesperson for pay complain?
@Peter, @L737 — YEAAAAH!! Knicks in fiiievv!! WOoHoOoO!! *keg stand*
*burrrp*
“I’ve paid my dues…”
*sniffle*
“Time after time…”
…
“We are the champions, my friend…”
…
“…no time for losers… ‘cause…”
@Peter…!!!
Just a simple recommendation: don’t get your financial advice frome someone who earned $45 million during their younger days and went bankrupt.
@This comes to mind — And yet, folks in your state sent the guy who bankrupted literal casinos to be our President, twice, even after he attempted a self-coup. I think even you now realize that may have been a real bad idea… ‘happy.. birthday.. Mr. .. Pres..’ *vomit* Enjoy the ‘bread and circuses’ (I mean, cage-match on the lawn, profiting his families investments…)
And he was too dumb to have figured out in the past 8 months that he can keep the points with a much less expensive or even free card? Clearly he’s got a beef, probably about something totally unrelated. Or just missing some brain cells.
@Gary Leff said:
“@Gentleman Jack Darby – I should have said ‘closing your last Membership Rewards product’”
Uhh, as I pointed out, the American Express Rewards Checking Account is a Membership Rewards product, so one would have to close that account as well as any MR-earning card(s) in order to lose one’s MR points.
Amex makes it easy to keep one’s MR points without paying an annual fee, although continued earnings are minimal.
Again, only 1990 could make this about Trump. Can’t help yourself? Where’s Gene?
@jack the ladd — My dude, his whims affect millions, if not billions, every day. Feel free to pretend otherwise. So, stop whinin’ and join @Gene and I in the fun! (Unless you want me to bring back my “Who’s Akbar?” and “Why’s everyone so upset about hummus?” bits again…)
Hi Gary,
Question about this line here: “And if Amex closes the card, the cardmember loses all their points (except closure due to inactivity gives 90 days to use points).” My wife had an amex car for years but we recently switched a few things off it and have been using my Amex cards for most of our spend. Well they decided to close it due to inactivity and the letter to us never arrived. I looked at it the other day and all the points are gone. I called and the Amex rep said they were forfeited when they closed my account. I asked for a manual review on the basis of our family’s history and current huge business with them. Im still waiting for an outcome there. But we had 500k in points in my wife’s account.
We are not in NY, but because Amex closed my wife’s account do we have 90 days to use the points? I was not told that when I called in, despite my offer to transfer the points out ASAP or use them for Amex Travel.
Any help you can provide would be most appreciated.