thibderoc

AFAIK, when there is a strike, you can exchange for free or get reimbursed directly by the SNCF.

You shouldn't need to go to your travel insurance.

carnarvon

his concern may be about missing his flight, not the reimbursement of the train ticket.

Gajan

In a Facebook group I read that the price of the French platinum FB Amex is going up to eur 636 per year.

lynxy

A few years ago (during the 2019 SNCF strike), I have successfully being reimbursed by the Amex insurance for a rental car + gas + tolls after SNCF cancelled pretty much all trains between Paris and Geneva, and flights were also not a real option (again, strikes ). They deduced from the refund the cost of the train tickets since SNCF was supposed to refund that (which they did), and there was some (easy) negotiation around expenses I could not pay through Amex that I included, but it was quite an honest offer in the end.

fifty_two

sky is the limit

carnarvon

I suggest you read the comments on Trustpilot website.

I can confirm through personal experience that the complaints are more than plausible.

The grade of 1.6/5 well deserved.

Goldorak

I confirm. Just had the experience

flyertalker00143

well, my fear is not about exchanging or getting a refund but more if there is no train at all

what happens in this case ? is the insurance helping reaching the destination ?

flyertalker00143

I called Amex yesterday, at first, the woman said, sorry SNCF strike, we don't cover, then i read her a part of the T&C saying flight, train or boat cancelled... then she said oh yeah, you'll get 150 euros per person...

at first, no, then yes within 2 minutes. I wonder if i have to call again to get a second confirmation. Because let's say I have no train at all, I don't want to spend XXX euros from my own pocket based on someone at Amex not even sure about what she says...

newflyer27

Received the mail at home today. So to justify the price increase from 570 to 636 (dont know how they got to this random number 636...), they said they have "added 4 new perks":

- Wifi refund up to 75€ (not new, started in June 2021 as an offer and became permanent advantage in June 2022)
- Cookoon offer (more than a year old as well) and quite useless if you don't live in Paris and i heard pretty expensive but never tried.
- Some online doctor thing that most people already have with their health coverage in France.
- and BEST perk of all: pay with miles as if i m going to give them 1000 miles for 4 €.

in the meantime they forgot that this card does not insure anymore flights that are not AF/KLM.

if not for the Platinum for 2 perk, i would have removed this card a long time ago.

flyertalker00143

I had the opportunity to discuss with some Amex marketing counterparts while working with Accor and they told me that they have a clear strategy to attract and acquire customers with the Silver card and trying to retain them quickly to make them become Gold members, while trying to make Gold members spend more and keep the annual expenses within a specific range to be profitable. And they clearly told me that Plat members are a specific segment, considered as high-contribution clients "who don't need to get motivated to spend".

But still, it doesn't explain why I see lots of offer all the time as a gold member while my wife doesn't (she owns a free secondary gold card from my account).

SteveCanary

Usualy offers don't apply to free secondary cards.

flyertalker00143

I have travelled much less these past 3 years because of covid, because i left Paris but also because I have a 3-year old now.
I have been using the AF Amex Gold card for the past 14 years and was really with it but not i feel that earning FB miles is no longer of interest for me. But the thing is, Amex is waiving the annual fee every year so I've never paid for my card.

I feel that the regular Amex Gold card would offer more options thanks to its MR program.

Is it worth moving from the AF Gold card to the regular Gold card ?

and is Amex also offering to waive the fees if we spend a certain amount of money every year?

Goldorak

Whaaattt ? How did you manage to obtain this ? I have this card since 1999, spend a fortune with it every year and b-never manage to have this, not even one year.

flyertalker00143

I started my first year with the silver card and if i remember well, if you spend more than 7k or 8k by the next anniversary, the fee is automatically waived. Then I moved to the gold one and asked if the same system applies and I was told that depending on my expenses, they would consider it on a yearly basis. And that's what happened for the past 13 years. Calling every year around March/April when comes my Amex anniversary, they look at my expenses and then waive the annual fee on the statement by giving me the same amount as a credit.