I've already made every imaginable mistake so that you don't have to.

American Express


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If you serve on active duty in the United States military, you may be eligible to have American Express issued cards with no annual fee even if those cards ordinarily have annual fees.
If you are already serving in the military I want you to be aware of this benefit but I would very strongly prefer that this not be used as a recruiting tool.
There is no guarantee that American Express will continue to offer this benefit throughout any one person's active duty, and even if it somehow did, however nice a fee waiver may be it is not significant in relation to a military commitment.
An initial enlistment in the United States military is for a period of 8 years.
The eight years will consist of periods of active duty, ready reserve, and inactive reserve.
The waiving of annual fees will apply only to active duty as American Express defines active duty for this benefit.
Any enlistee may or may not have a preference as to how the active duty, ready reserve, and inactive reserve periods are broken up, but regardless of font size, where in the contract it is stated, and how it is actually worded, any military contract has a giant footnote stating "or otherwise for the good of the service".
If you think that somehow that last statement does not apply to you... you are almost certainly wrong.
If you do not like being told what to wear and where to be, you may find military life to be unpleasant.
If you are unwilling or unable to diligently research and follow process to get whatever military, private sector, and Veterans Affairs benefits that may be due to you, you may find military service to be incredibly unpleasant.
Hopefully you have close biological relatives that will act on your behalf.
The word "biological" was not an accident.
A number of enlistees will see their romantic partners reach breaking points where they decide the sacrifices required of dating or being married to a service member are simply too great.
As a recruit in basic training you may have to sing songs about the phenomenon.