American Express Membership Rewards - American Express in France

Hi everyone,

Just thought of creating this thread for French Amex members since the benefits of their various cards differ from one country to another.

I thought we could gather here country specific information like:

What's the best Amex card value mileswise in France?

Thresholds to get a Platinum/Centurion in France?

What people think of the Air France KLM American Express card (silver and gold)?

etc...

My experience with the Air France KLM Gold American Express Card in France:

- Best money/miles ratio I have found in France so far
- 1 QUALIFYING mile for each euro spent (big difference with the Air France KLM Silver Amex card with which you only get 6 miles (not qualifying) for every 10 euros spent)
- no limit
- not very good travel insurance (baggage for instance)
- Better value in my opinion than the regular Gold Amex card mainly because of the fact that you get qualifying miles on Air France KLM. The gold Amex allows you to transfer miles to other programs but if you're specifically looking to reach top-tier status with Air France, the cobranded Air France KLM Gold Amex Card is the way to go if you don't fly enough...

I hold a French American Express Platinum (charge) card.

I cannot tell much about the threshold to get this card.
I had been a Gold card holder for less than 18 months, and did not spend millions with this card over this period. It arrived through the mail one day, after the introduction of the Centurion in France. Maybe it was to fill the gap created by issuing the black card?

I have no idea whatsoever regarding the Centurion card.
What I do know however is that I most certainly will not accept it (if ever offered ;) ) at the said price, unless they prove me that it has a *real* value.

Indeed, I basically think that the Platinum card is nothing but style.
As far as I can judge, there is not much difference between the Gold card and the Platinum one, in terms of offers and stuffs.
Maybe even 'au contraire':

I have the feeling that I receive less offers, and less interesting.
I never received the booklet with all the relevant information on the warranties and guaranties.
We don't even have the Concierge service.
The 'art de vivre' service does its best, but does not have its entries in the fancy places, and basically can only book a table, but not arrange for you to have the best table...

So... I like my Plat, but don't think it really is worth the 500 Euros or so that I pay for.

Regarding Flying Blue and other programs, well I guess that's roughly one for one with my PLatnium, even though i remember transferring MR points from my Gold to Frequence Plus (now Flying Blue) at a cost.

And to add up, I guess that, in France, the best card miles-wise is the Air France Amex card indeed.

Are the miles earned with the French Plat Amex qualifying on any airline?
Do u get any airline status (Flying Blue Silver/Gold/Platinum for instance?)
(A friend of mine was offered Air France Frequence Plus Rouge status when he had a Gold Amex)

The concierge service is advertised on the French Plat Amex website. So this is false information as it is not available?

I had read that in order to be offered the Plat card, one needed to hold a Gold card. I called Amex but they said any Amex customer (green / Air France KLM for instance) could be entitled to a Plat card provided they met the requirements (that they did not want to disclose). Any comments on that?