carnarvon

Yes, but no double exchange commission. They use interbank rates.

carnarvon

Yes. With Amex, no fixed minimum commission, neither for the card holder nor for the merchant.

Meaning that shops who request minimum purchase for payment by cards are wrong. It should be for payment by Visa nor MC.

Same here.

stimpy

In the US, Amex was sued due to the games they were playing with forex, and now they must follow very close to the true bank rate. But this is only for US based Amex cards. And for the last few years the US Platinum and Centurion do not charge any forex fees at all, so foreign charges have zero markup.

CoenW

Thanks orbitmic and Mynameismud for posting your stories related to the insurance use of the FB gold card. I was getting the impressions from other posts that actually the platinum card is the one you want to have if you want to be sure that everything is covered.

However, for my situation I think my regular travel insurance will give more certainty than going for AMEX. I will quit my job for sabbatical travel probably invalidating the income requirement, and for the platinum card I'm short a few k anyway. The risk of having insurance or no insurance based on paying with a card for a certain purchase is also rather uninviting. Thanks for shedding some light on the process though!

brunos

\I will not quibble with what you say about US cards or Centurion.

But I have followed very closely the exchange rate used on my FB AMex Plat a few years ago. The exchange rate used was always significantly different from the interbank rate on that day/time. As you can guess, the difference was always in the same direction and typically 2 to 3%. The UK card used to charge 3% but you could get cards in USD and EUR.

For example, my HK AMEX states:
"Foreign Currency Charges
All foreign currency Charges have been converted into Hong Kong Dollars on the date we processed the Charge. Non-U.S. Dollar Charges have been converted through U.S. Dollars, by converting the Charge amount into U.S. Dollars and then by converting that U.S. Dollar amount into Hong Kong Dollars. U.S. Dollar Charges have been converted directly into Hong Kong Dollars. As agreed, unless a specific rate was required by law, the American Express treasury system has used conversion rates based on interbank rates (selected from customary industry sources) from the business day prior to the processing date, increased by a single conversion commission of 2%. Any Charges converted by third parties prior to being submitted to us have been at rates selected by them. "

Brobbel

They took quite some advantages away with increase of price.
Now they give a very little bit to us, increasing the price again.

So no, I don't like this.

Gajan

I have not yet received the information, so would be great if you could tell me what benefits have been taken away.

COFF-Platinum

Just received a letter and leaflet explaining the new benefits.

- Hertz welcome voucher for 30 euros
- Discounts on Hertz rates
- 1.5 award & level miles per euros spend on AF/KL tickets starting Sept 1.
- 1.5 award miles per euro spend on Hertz (as opposed to 1 on regular spend)

Increase in fees from 140 to 170.

My RTW C trip to reach LTPE towards the end of the year because of my miser company changing travel policy just become a bit shorter ;-)

carnarvon

On the phone (however, this was obviously a summer job employee), was told after he had checked with others, that the 8 status flights for Plat Amex France would remain.

And no fee increase for Plat but for Gold yes

He mentioned additional benefits for Gold card at FNAC (later this year...).

But, all this was on the phone...

NickB

Amex cards in the UK typically have a loading of 2.99% on non-sterling transactions, which is pretty much the norm for bog-standard credit cards in the UK and is also now transparent in the information provided when applying for a card (which used not to be the case a few years back).

There are a handful of cards with 0% loading on non-sterling transactions but none of them are from Amex.

Brobbel

I meant the previous changes, then they took quite some advantages away increasing the price.

Now they give us a very little bit back, increasing again.

flyertalker00143

just booked my hotel stays in Canada, my AMEX statement shows a 2.4% commission for my CAD expenses

there is only one transaction that i had to pay with my VISA, my bank took me around 4%

all these expenses (Amex and VISA) all took place the day

brunos

So AMEX charges more than a few cents as you claimed in an earlier post.

I also suggest that you look at the actual exchange rate used to do a meaningful comparison.

That being said, I do not doubt that your French visa card charges even more. But would be interesting to compare for identical amounts, as the " only one transaction" you refer to for Visa could be for a smaerll amount where the fee is proportionally higher for visa cards. AMEX provides a range of benefits and services but it is not surprising that you have to pay for it one way or the other.

pinkcity

Well... I haven't posted here for a while... Hi everybody

I received the document confirming this in my mailbax today.

Confirming so far what's written above, a return to 15 status miles for 10 euros expended. Well, for plane tickets in AF/KL, I knowed that it used to be 17, and 1 mile/1 euros for every expense, wherever it was expended.

So, it's not a return to the "good all times", and paid by a fee increase. Anyway, all the link to status miles were cut last year, and I honestly thought that earning status miles with a credit card in AF/KL was gone forever.

So, it's not back to paradise, but a positive sign. I'm not thinking for myself, being plat for life since last August, but for the ones who are builiding their lifetime status. As a professional traveller who advances their travelling bills with this card, I know that it can make, year after year, a difference.

And it's one of the rare signs that I see to the "economy frequent fliers", that I thought gone for ever...

I'll take it like this, even if useless now for me.

flyertalker00143

did someone receive a post mailing about these changes ?