Your experience point by point matches my own, the customer service feels exactly how it should. The premium product I need from Amex isn't the lounges and the prestige, just a credit card company that has my back and isn't trying to avoid me when I need to contact them.

Let me also note that since Amex has become a commercial bank, they offer a FDIC insured savings account[1] at an extremely competitive .9% APY. That was the highest I could find a couple years ago when I started looking. That product too, to me, feels very premium.

[1]https://personalsavings.americanexpress.com