Originally Posted by
FlyingMoose
The problem in Sweden I find is that the contrast (like with many things in this country) between what shops accept AMEX and those that don't just isn't adding up. And of course Swedes aren't helping, "Oh, you don't accept AMEX? Well here is a VISA card." instead of "Oh, you don't accept AMEX? I'm out of here". It took less than 2 weeks for our favourite lunch restaurant at work to start accepting AMEX after various people with just AMEX had to walk away and they had to throw the food. Always vote with your wallet.
I can purchase a 20sek espresso with AMEX no problem, a 10sek kanelbulle no problem, groceries no problem, restaurants no problem, (most) gas stations no problem but then if you go out and buy a premium item in an upscale store or go and buy a car they suddenly won't accept it. Its not adding up, stores like that not taking AMEX in the US would be out of business by the end of the month.
When Amex and the Amex-payment processing/chain intermediaries have tended to charge retailers higher fees for Amex use than Visa/Mastercard and the V/MC-payment processing/chain intermediaries, it's not really a surprise that some retailers have more issues with Amex than V/MC. Also, chargeback hits may be different, as Amex historically seemed to tend to side more strongly with its customer base than V/MC-issuers sided with their customer base.
I agree with your observation, though I appear to accumulate hotel points much faster than airline points. Just from staying at the hotels through their own programs with promotions, no extra creditcards or other tools. I have enough HH points to cover vacations for the next 4 years and most of the time end up converting hotel points to airline points. I would in fact welcome alternative means to accumulate airline points beyond what is available at the moment.
I have enough hotel points to live on just points in hotels for at least a year, and yet I still prefer to have way more hotel points than airline miles/points. My preference is what it is largely because my ability to use hotel points for hotel nights tends to not be frustrated by capacity/supply restrictions as much as my ability to use airline points for long-haul flights when and where I want them.