Zembla

Which is why I have been hesitating since quite a while. Could be interesting to make a comparison matrix...

Wunk

They told me I couldn't switch, just request a new regular platinum card, they'd transfer my credit history and then cancel the KLM plat one to get a partial refund. I got 20k points on my new plat card with that..

edit: I just spoke to AMEX to downgrade my existing KLM platinum card to a silver KLM one, seems there's a LOT of people doing that now that Privium is part of the regular amex plat card.

flying_blue_white_red

@canadavid
At the time of the offer, back in October 2018, your option seemed as the wisest solution. However the shortest way was instinctively followed by getting directly the Platinum card.
Due to favorable circumstances here is what happened next:
- End of October, I received the Gold card by mistake, thus I contacted Amex to notify the error.
- Three weeks later or so, Amex sent me over the new card with apologies. I've called them to ask for the 50,000 miles promotional offer, and they said they will come soon.
- Few days after a mail with the €50 voucher arrived at home and on December statement, 30XPs appeared on the FB account then the 10,000 miles bonus.
- January statement saw the 60XPs plus the normal 20,000 miles bonus.
- Early February, I inquired them about why from Mid-October and November spendings were still at the Silver rate instead of the Plat one.

And yesterday a call form Amex said that following their investigation, they will credit the missing miles on purchases + the 30,000 bonus + a goodwill gesture of 1500 miles.
So basically, it means that Amex rewarded me 90XPs + 61,500 miles for €520, which is not too bad.
Thanks for your advice anyway.

newflyer27

a bit out of subject and probaby already discussed somewhere but classic amex gold card earns quite a few miles as well for free. There was an offer in january to get 25000 MR which can then be converted to 20000 FB miles. referral works well as well. right now it is 20000 MR= 16000 FB miles which is double what you get on AF KLM Amex gold card.

enzo0511

Hi there

I was looking at the webpage of the American Express Air France Platinum (France).

So far I had the Gold one and was interested in moving up to the Platinum one.

But the page is not very clear.

From what i understand it gives also Flying Blue Platinum status to the partner/spouse, but does it give to the cardholder ?

Or does it give the status to the second holder no matter which status he/she has only if the main holder is already Platinum ?


thanks

canadavid

emviflyer

Dutch FB AMEX PLATINUM card:
Over the 40+ years I am an AMEX customer I have experienced various levels of of customer support. Not so long ago I found the quality of support excellent, but more recently it has become very unpredictable, with still some excellent staff, but increasingly (regarding administrative matters) I have experienced the following,but not limited to staff that refuse to (1) consult or pass to a supervisor (2) don't keep their promise (3) leave problems waiting, without informing the client (4) take an inordinate amount of time and/or don't follow up outstanding cases (5) don't tell the truth.

Every request for feedback contains a question "have you tried to contact AMEX by email?" As far as I know there is no email option. What to do when dealing with not-so-experienced agent ? Is there any escalation process you know off?

bostontraveler

enzo0511

OK thanks

one more question: does the welcome bonus miles apply when taking the Platinum card if we already own the gold or is it solely for new Amex customers ?

thanks

roelb

Why not?

canadavid

mpkossen

I think your mileage may vary. Depending on the circumstances, the kind of card and where you register for the card, you get different rewards - if any.

For example:

• Customer support told me that if you currently have a card, you will not get a bonus for a new card, unless you add a branded card to an account that already has a classic card
• If you have a branded card, you get no bonus for a new classic card (or so I've been told by customer support; I can confirm within a few weeks)
• If you recently got your XP from a branded card, you may apply for a new, different branded card and cancel the old one to get additional XP (according to customer support); there's no such perks if you upgrade
• Calling in for registration usually gets you more perks compared to when you register online (which make no sense whatsoever, since online registration should be considerably cheaper than talking to an agent for 20 minutes); classic plat gives you a 50% discount for the first year and 20k points, for example - online you get the first three months free and 15k points

Like I said, your mileage may vary. My own personal experience tells me that inconsistency with welcome bonuses and XP is the order of the day.

The above aside - what advantages, other than XP, do people consider when taking a KL/AF branded card as opposed to a classic one? I recently compared plat cards and the classic card seems to have so much more advantages than the branded one. It might even be cheaper to get those 60XP just by taking some flights rather than paying for the card.

Ikaz

I have the FR Air France gold card and just applied to the regular gold amex.
I can confirm that I received the 20000 amex rewards points with my first purchase.
I applied for the card online from a referral and added the card to the same online account than my gold Air France card.

sbams

You are probably right. Platinum for 2 Flying Blue status is probably the most important unique benefit. It's my reason for staying with the FB branded card

emviflyer

I wanted to ask the same question. Thus, if you are Pt for life, and your travel partner is Pt and/or always travels C, it's worth to compare the FB card with the real card. Interestingly, the AMEX international EUR card costs only EUR550, but has no privium (not needed if you are Pt) and no travel voucher.

KLM calls Pt (for life) members their most important customers. Strange that that category of customers gets hardly any benefit from the branded card.