"No Pre-Spending Limit"

So I'm staying in Israel for 2 months and the hotel needed to lock up ~16k dollars on my credit card. No problem here's my American Express......eeeennn.....eeeennnnn......eennnnn...

"Do you have another card?"

What? My AMEX doesn't have a spending limit? Or so I thought. I had never had a problem with AMEX. In fact it's one of my most favorite cards. It adds an extra year for warranties on purchases, gives back rewards, and forces me to pay it down every month. I never had to worry about credit limits when I traveled for business. Never needed any other card. I figured they sometimes do this to prevent fraud if your card has been used on multiple continents within X amount of hours. So I call customer service.

AMEX I think hands down has the best customer service vs other credit card companies that I have had in the past. So I call and speak to some dude in India and he tells me that I have reached my spending limit and the card is on hold until I pay off the amount currently charged for. I said what? It's not even the end of the billing cycle! And what spending limit? I've never had a spending limit and when I was traveling in Japan I've charged a heck of a lot more.

I find out that AMEX has a new calculation for your spending limit on the cards with "no pre-set spending limits" where they use a rolling average of your charging habits and you can't go much higher than that per month. I guess I can't go and buy that fighter jet I always dreamed about and charge it to my AMEX anymore (another dream crushed). Since I haven't been traveling much last year I find out my limit is $500. I just about strangled the phone and told the guy I have no use for a card used for occasional business travel if for one I trusted to be able to cover all my expenses and second has a spending limit which freakin changes every month!

"Going on vacation? Don't forget your AMEX. It's all you'll ever need"..................WTF! $500 maximum vacation to Greshem?

So I look online to see if I'm the only poor soul to have this problem. Maybe I stepped on too many cracks, walked under multiple ladders, or did the sign of the cross backwards. I seem to have bad luck especially in Vegas. So I search Google and boy oh boy there are worst stories. People who have had a long history with AMEX were hit the hardest. Imagine trusting you could charge for items you have in the past for your business, travel, or events with a special someone (I think his date wasn't impressed). First you're confused, then embarrassed for being declined in front of everyone, and then you figure out you're screwed because you only brought your trusty tried and true AMEX. Uh all I have is my AMEX. "I never leave home without it."

Well I left Portland with it but I'm coming home without it. I'm donating it to Hamas for target practice.