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 card 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.