I got a surprise this week. We received a package which I assumed was something my wife had ordered. I left it unopened until she returned from her long weekend. When she returned home she saw the package and inquired what it was.
When we opened it I was surprised to learn that it was from American Express and even more surprised to learn that it was a present from American Express in recognition of my 50th anniversary in having an American Express Gold Card.
My dad never had a credit card. My mom never did until after I had a credit card for years. As I’ve mentioned before they operated with a bank line of credit secured by various financial assets they owned.
I got my first credit card when I started traveling for work. I’ll tell you the whole story of that some other time. Fifty years ago having a credit card made international travel much easier and an American Express card was the card to have. Outside the U. S. most hotels, restaurants, etc., if they accepted credit cards at all, accepted American Express and Diners Club and that was it.
