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New FB Mastercards for the Belgian market

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Old Nov 26, 2017, 6:19 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by brunos
I thought that AFKL had an exclusivity agreement with Amex.
Well, there are,for quite some times non-Amex Flying Blue credit cards at least in Switzerland, Norway, Lebanon and Romania. Now in Belgium.
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Old Nov 26, 2017, 6:26 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by bodory
Well, there are,for quite some times non-Amex Flying Blue credit cards at least in Switzerland, Norway, Lebanon and Romania. Now in Belgium.
Out of curiosity. Do they have a FB Amex card in those four countries?
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Old Nov 26, 2017, 10:49 pm
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To my knowledge FB Amex is available in France and The Netherlands only.
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Old Nov 27, 2017, 6:09 am
  #19  
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Amex was available in Romania but they left the market a couple of years ago. We have Flying Blue Classic and Premium here (Visa and Visa Gold) and to my surprise the return is better than the Belgian counterpart:
Classic: 1 mile/4 RON (1 EUR - 4,65 RON) in Romania, 1,5 miles/4 RON for AFKL/TAROM spend, 2 miles/4 RON for any transactions outside of Romania.
Premium: 1,5 miles/4 RON (in Romania), 2 miles/4 RON for AFKL/TAROM spend, 2,5 miles/4 RON for transactions outside of Romania.

There's a foreign exchange fee of about 2% though it's still worth it for the extra mile.
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Old Nov 27, 2017, 7:16 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by brunos
I do a lot of shopping online and many sites do not accept AMEX.
There also many countries where I travel where AMEX is close to useless, except in some high-end establishments.
The fact that Amex is not accepted everywhere is undisputed.

I disagree though with the statement that is is not widely accepted. I often stay at Ibis (not only at Pullman and Sofitel), I shop on line including for my aquarium, travel around quite extensively and hardly use my Mastercard.

I use cash at the local market though.

As well as to pay for the tuktuk ride (it is true they don't take Amex ).
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Old Nov 27, 2017, 7:24 am
  #21  
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There was a news article recently about an ECB report on the extent of cash payments in the Eurozone countries.

(Good luck using an Amex for typical daily spend in Germany or many other Eurozone countries!!!)





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Old Nov 27, 2017, 9:38 am
  #22  
 
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Being a Brit myself but spending the majority of my time in Germany over the past year it is painful. I come from a small town in rural UK and I pretty much use my card everywhere. I am now in a major city in Germany and I struggle to use my card, cash cash cash cash...

I would love to see the above graphs including the UK, Sweden (I know they use Cards alot) etc...
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Old Nov 27, 2017, 12:04 pm
  #23  
 
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I must say I'm surprised by the NL figures, I can't recall the last time I used cash, it was definitely before April which was the last time I got cash out of the ATM, and it has been in my wallet ever since...
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Old Nov 27, 2017, 12:31 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by carnarvon
I disagree though with the statement that is is not widely accepted.
It depends where you go , and which kind of places also

Originally Posted by brunos
I do a lot of shopping online and many sites do not accept AMEX.
There also many countries where I travel where AMEX is close to useless, except in some high-end establishments.
True , most frequent flyers with amex can handle some poshy/fancy places where amex is well accepted
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 1:25 am
  #25  
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Considering my upcoming trip to Germany, the fact that I don't use cash and the data presented by irishguy28 above, I guess I should stack my wallet with some EUR bills... The most depressing thing is knowing that I'm not getting any miles for that money
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 5:31 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
There was a news article recently about an ECB report on the extent of cash payments in the Eurozone countries.

(Good luck using an Amex for typical daily spend in Germany
Cash usage depends a lot on people's behaviour irrespective of possibility to use cards.

In Germany I hardly use cash, when my friend shuns card payment at the same shop or restaurant.
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 6:07 am
  #27  
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Of course, but there are many bakeries, corner stores, bars, cafes, etc, where only cash is accepted.
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 6:14 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
Of course, but there are many bakeries, corner stores, bars, cafes, etc, where only cash is accepted.
True.

But the amounts in question are not significant and what we were discussing was use of CC generating miles. Hotels, even modest ones, all take CC. And most of them take Amex, as well as at petrol stations, restaurants, department stores...
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 6:11 am
  #29  
 
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Arrow

Originally Posted by bodory
Well, there are,for quite some times non-Amex Flying Blue credit cards at least in Switzerland, Norway, Lebanon and Romania. Now in Belgium.
Ding ding ding: 60,000 award miles for getting the AFKL Banque Saudi Fransi Infinite Visa Card

https://www.airfrance.sa/SA/en/local...ards_saudi.htm

And another 60,000 award miles for annual renewal (providing 30,000 EUR spent)

Why don't we have such offers in Europe, home of AFKL?
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 6:59 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by bodory
Why don't we have such offers in Europe, home of AFKL?
Because almost all FB members are resident in Europe, and they don't need any sweeteners to attract more members.
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