Goldorak

Thanks. It's really incredible that it is so "à la tête du client". I always received a very firm NO .

macaron95

Just called Amex for my annual fee. It seems that they now have configured the system to waive it once 20k€ are spent. If i am billed i just need to call them to fix it.

so i do not need to call every year like i did.

what is really odd is that the rule is clearly written only for the silver card

maalloc

I just dropped them a call too. Agent confirmed what you said, ie that the Gold card is offered for anyone who bills more than 20k€/year on it.
The offer is supposedly "now enabled on my account" and "should work". Lots of unknown it seems...

What is baffling is that many of us spend many times this amount every year and still have to pay the fee. The agent couldn't tell me when this rule was added. I remember calling Amex CS about 5 years ago asking for a commercial gesture since I was billing a lot at the time and their answer was a big "NO, but you should consider getting the platinum one since you're a high spender" .

Thanks a lot for mentioning the offer, macaron95 . Given that the FB Amex insurance policy went downhill during Covid, I was going to switch down to Silver for my next renewal. At least free Gold is not worst than free Silver.

macaron95

Absolutely.
Even my dad who is retired and spends more than us had it declined last year. He was a bit upset and moved to the silver one.

I guess i got lucky all these years. But i strongly agree. The same rule should apply to everyone (Same applies to the welcome drink rule at Accor which always has pissed me off).

Let's hope that they will enforce their new rule with the 20k

Marambio

Just to add another entry point - I have had the Silver card for years and called yesterday to ask if they could upgrade me to Gold and waive the monthly fee. Response was an instant yes because my yearly expenses have always been above the 20k EUR threshold. I was also told I don't need to call every year to get the fee waived provided I keep spending above that amount.

Luc Perard

Hello,

I have the AFKLM Gold AMEX. Annual fee waived upon every renewal after chatting with them (I spend more than EUR 20,000 annually).
I am considering upgrading to AFKLM Platinum AMEX and have 3 questions:

1. What's the unofficial annual spending required to get the annual fee waived?
2. How can I benefit from greater bonuses at sign-up? I read that it is possible to get at least 60,000 Miles and 90 XP (instead of the usual 20,000 Miles and 60 XP).
3. It's only a month since I got the annual 30 XP bonus upon the annual renewal of my GOLD card. If I were to upgrade now to a Platinum card, would I still get the 60 (or 90) XP bonus?

Thank you,
Luc

newflyer27

I suppose you are talking about the French Amex?
1- There is no waiving of Platinum card fee (which will increase from 570 to 636 pretty soon) i believe, i ve tried many times waiving it but not luck even with a 50k EUR spend on it. You can try your luck as well. Maybe there is some hidden rule for even higher spenders but i am not aware of it.
2&3 The 90XP Bonus is gone, i think it was a temporary offer but i don't see it anymore. In your case as you already have the gold card, you will have to call them to get an upgrade of the card ("montée en gamme" as they say), they may or may not offer you miles for the upgrade, it depends on what their "system tells them" for your profile, my partner upgraded the non branded amex from gold to platinum, the agent on the phone said there is no offer and sent him the upgrade link to check, the link gave 30k MR points. i suspect it is the same amount you get when you refer someone. I can see that right now the referral on the AF platinum card gives 30k miles, so you may get this as well for the upgrade. For the XP, i m pretty sure you will get the additional 60 XP even if you already got the 30XP for the gold a month ago.

macaron95

Good deal spotted for some French Amex AF Silver and Gold members

lynxy

Also available on the AF/KL platinum card, but it's a regular offer, several times a year.

Masterfrog

The magic word when you make a call in France is "résiliation". Pretty sure you will get your discount in the next 5 minutes is you say you are seriously considering it (and you now can say insurance is bad with the new conditions).

Interesting to note the normal Amex Gold now gets Amazon Prime for free (usually 70 euros) + travel insurance on any air company.
NB : the normal Amex Gold is free when you have a Fortuneo account and spend 12k on the card.

maalloc

Here's a fresh update for Amex FB Gold holders.
After calling Amex support a few weeks back when I'd been told my annual fees would be "automatically waived" because I charge > 20k€/year on it, I had the (semi)-surprise to see that I was actually billed on my anniversary a few days ago.

Calling Amex support again, I was told that it was a mistake from the agent that enabled the automatic waiver (?) and that it was not actually set up for my account (???).
So it's not as automatic as for Silver FB Amexes.

macaron95

maybe a hiccup in the system

my Amex anniversary is today (statement every 3rd of the month), I was not billed for the annual fee and I got my FB bonus XP a few days ago. So it worked fine for me. Instead of billing them and getting a credit to cancel the amount, there was simply no billing at all this year.

but anyway that's a strange response from the agent you got, because it's configured to be automatic, so everyone is concerned, either it's waived for no one or for all, but there is no exception. They will fix it on your next statement then. You'll get a credit.

here is a screen capture of my statement as of today

maalloc

Interesting data point, thanks.
Didn’t you call every year to get your annual fees waived though ?

For sure there is nothing automatic about the system, since I’ve been billing > 20k on this card since day 1, and I’m yet to get a free year. Same for other old timers it seems.

macaron95

Yes, before this year, I had to call every year. Last time i called earlier this year the rep told me that there was no need to call anymore. That it's configured for all Gold members automatically.

San Gottardo

Do they also waive the fees for Platinum cards? The threshold may be higher than 20k per year, but I put a nice six figure sum on the card on the year, that should qualify if such a waiver does exist.