P2 and I met during undergrad. We took a class together, and before long we were dating.
Last week she moved out. Because of the AMEX all-time-high offer.
We'd been talking about marriage for years, but we were both busy and never set a date. Since last year we'd been to look at rings several times. Earlier this year, she picked out one with small diamonds and kept staring at it on her hand.
From the first time she said she wanted to buy a ring, I was thinking: this is a necessary large purchase, once in a lifetime. I don't usually make big purchases, so if I don't max this one out, I might as well delete my account on the forum.
After looking around, the AMEX offer at the time was only 80K. CSR had a good offer, but the spending requirement was too low—it would waste such a large purchase, so better to open it later.
I said let's wait a bit. The forum was all saying the 175k all-time high would be back any day.
She didn't argue. She quietly took the ring off and put it back.
In May, Schwab Plat had a 150k offer. She urged me to buy, but when I checked the forum, everyone said to open a vanilla Plat first so I could get two comps, and I hesitated again. People kept posting data points about the all-time high, and I wasn't willing to settle, but I couldn't pull it up myself.
One night, she pulled out $250 in cash and said she'd cover the difference for me, begging me to stop messing around and just order the ring.
At the time I just thought it was absurd. I told her it wasn't the same—if I didn't get the highest bonus, I'd be the one getting fleeced.
She didn't argue this time. From that day on, she never mentioned marriage again.
A few weeks ago, I finally pulled up the Amex 175k all-time high.
In that moment, dopamine surged wildly. I felt like I'd won big. I said: it's the all-time high, let's go buy the ring!
She replied with a long WeChat message. She said no need—last month she and her best friend had bought rings together, and they'd both arrived, but the boxes had never been opened.
She said the second she placed the order, she didn't want it anymore. But it was custom-made and non-refundable. The package had been at the door for a long time. I never noticed.
That night we had a fight, and the next day she moved out.
The metal card arrived. Heavy, it fell to the floor, and the echo filled the whole apartment.
When you're busy, the time cost often outweighs the sign-up bonus—a point that's frequently overlooked.