FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Co-branded American Express cards: France and the Netherlands
Old Jan 4, 2021, 1:57 pm
  #861  
Ditto
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,409
Originally Posted by IstKong
Get a cheap non-cobranded AMEX card for your purchases and miles, and use a high-end Visa/MasterCard for insurances. That's what I have since years and it's the perfect combo. Even better if your Visa/MasterCard don't have FX fees, because AMEX still have 2,8% FX fee... for a travel card... in 2021...

The non-cobranded AMEX card allows you to transfer miles to Flying Blue at 5:4, and is also much more flexible because they allow transfer at the same rate to programs with way cheaper award ticket than Flying Blue (Asia Miles, Krisflyer...). Also, very useful these days, you can convert your MR points in cash, and for Christmas, they had a 1000 points=7€ deal which is quite good.

I don't see any point having a Flying Blue AMEX card. Miles are not as valuable as MR points (especially these days), and the XP bonus/miles extension won't be useful for the next months or even years with Flying Blue corona-policy.

In France, if you have a bank account with Fortuneo, the Green or Gold AMEX card is even free if you spend at least respectively 5000€ or 12000€ a year. Without Fortuneo, the cheapest AMEX card is only 5€ a month, a fee easily waived when calling the customer support.
But why have a (cheap) AMEX at all?
For me the AF/KL one is extremely useful, both with the extra XP in some years, and the 3 instalments for AF/KL tickets, the extra miles covers the card fee, otherwise it have no benefits over any normal credit card you can get in NL, if it wasn't for these 2 reasons I probably would have never gotten an AMEX.
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