brunos

One issue is whether you need to pay with your AMEX to receive coverage or whether it is a general travel insurance policy.
The other issue is what is covered and up to what amount. The French FB AMEX Gold had very limited extent of coverage even if you paid the air ticket with it. My general AMEX card had much better coverage.
When AMEX changed its policy regarding FB there were threads about the extent of coverage in both cards, especially the Dutch card.

stimpy

I'll have to call Amex about this when I get a chance. But one question is what constitues a booking? Is it airfare? Or hotel? Or some mix? What about train? Etc.

I make most of my air bookings with this Amex anyways, so it's not a big deal to me either way. But hotel bookings I may make with a different card if it is outside the Euro zone.

carnarvon

May I ask why?

Gajan

Exchange rate fees maybe

Mynameismud

I can also testify about excellent/impressive service from Amex insurances (with a FB Gold Amex):
- in the USA: Mrs Mud had to go to an hospital for a minor surgery. Amex even asked her if she wanted to be repatriated.
-in Peru (Machu Pichu): Mrs Mud (again )passed out due to a salmonella

In each cases Amex reimbursed all expenses upon presentation of bills without asking if they were initially paid with an Amex.

brunos

They do not need to ask, they know if the bill has been paid by AMEX.


I am not saying that the current French FB Amex is good or bad, but rather that one should carefully study what is the insurance provided by each card. There is nothing like a 'generic" AMEX card coverage; it depends on on the type of card, the country of issue. For each card there is a detailed insurance contract and details can be important. Better to know before the incident than after.

stimpy

Exactly.

carnarvon

You mean Amex charges more? Strange.

stimpy

What we mean is that most Amex cards charge a fee to card holders when they make charges outside of their currency zone. So if you hold an Amex product like the FB Amex in the Euro zone, and make a charge outside the Euro zone, in Switzerland, UK, Denmark, etc., you are assessed a fee for doing so. And of course most Visa and MC cards in the Euro zone do the same thing.

nldogbert

I think what is meant here is that the exchange rate/fee used by AMEX is much higher compared to MC/Visa. This is also my experience when paying for currency outside of the Euro. [I tried an experiment where I paid at the same restaurant at the same time but split the bill in two different payments, MC was about 0.8% lower compared to Amex]

Cheers!

stimpy

No, that's not what I meant. I meant the fee or commission. Since I was talking about the Dutch card, the Wisselkoers commissie.

For instance, looking back to a time I used the card overseas, on a AU$798 charge I see a €13,08 commission charge from Amex NL. Normally i use another Amex that doesn't have this fee, but on that occasion I didn't have it in my pocket.

flyertalker00143

well, speaking of fees

i spent a lot of time in Canada with my French Amex and VISA

for small amounts, the Amex is way cheaper than my VISA, simply because my bank would charge expensive fixed commission in addition to the rate

for instance, i tried to pay for my meals or small expenses (ie cinema ticket), my bank charged me like 1-2 euros for a $10 expense

while Amex charged me a few cents

that's why when i'm travelling to North America, i sometimes don't even use cash for small transactions considering how unsignificant the fees are with Amex

i don't know for other countries (NL for instance), does VISA/MC charge directly or is this your bank ?

now 100% of my expenses are paid with my Amex

the only use of my VISA is when i have no choice because Amex is not accepted (very rare outside Europe) and only the ATM

because Amex would charge an extra 2% for ATM use

otherwise i'm quite happy with their fees


also, pay attention to the fact that in France, each bank has its own fee grid
BNP for example charges a lot more than others for foreign transactions

i travelled with friends having 3 different accounts, paying the exact amounts on the same day with me, and our bank statements were very different in the end

as i recall, the ranking was like:

1 - me the cheapest with my Amex and sometimes my VISA with HSBC (or no fee at all when taking money in another HSBC)

2- my friend with La Poste (french post office)

3-4- my 2 friends with their VISA/MC at BNP and Societe Generale, i think it was a tie, and they really beat us with their huge fees


every time i come back from a trip, i can see that i paid very little fees with Amex

bodory

For French FB-Amex, it seems Amex first converts the amount in non-EUR currency to USD, then from USD to EUR.

flyertalker00143

that's correct

that's tricky, but sometimes still more interesting that several banks

brunos

And the exchange rates used are usually very bad. Total fee can be 4% or more compared to interbank rate.