ISTJ

What is the best way to earn frequent flyer points and miles on flights from Switzerland?

Any credit card you guys recommend for people in Switzerland? It seems AMEX isn't really accepted here or across most of Europe.

Which airlines work out the cheapest to use for flights within Europe? Easyjet/ryanair is obviously the cheapest, but would it be cheaper overall using an airline that earns flight miles, eg swiss air?

irishguy28

Pick an airline/FFP and stick with it.

The low-cost carriers are often cheaper than the other carriers. From Switzerland you would be advised to look at easyjet.

You do realise that it will take loads of shorthaul flights to earn enough miles for a "free" flight using those miles, which will still requite the payment of taxes, fees and charges?

LondonElite

Amex is widely accepted across Europe. I use almost nothing else.

Air Rarotonga

Airline Hubs in Switzerland:

ZRH: Swiss + Air Berlin
BSL: Easyjet
GVA: Easyjet + Swiss

irishguy28

The UK is not Europe.

In many continental countries, Amex acceptance is noticeably lesser than Visa/Mastercard. The Netherlands' biggest supermarket chain doesn't accept ANY credit cards, except in a handful of stores.

BenSenise

i have found that once you factor in baggage, choosing a seat, etc. EasyJet often comes out higher than Swiss. It's important, when comparing prices, to go through the purchase price all the way before paying.

Swiss has some good fares. i have bought an economy fare and upgraded right then and there to business for a few francs more. business includes a checked bag whereas you have to pay for it in economy so factor that into the equation.

The economy fares on any airline earn very few points.

UBS Key Club points can be converted to Miles & More IIRC or you can get a Miles & More card right away. that's probably one of the best options in my opinion.

and last, but not least, redeeming points for short haul economy seats in europe has no value since you'll end up paying almost as much in taxes and fees as it would cost to buy a ticket outright.

LondonElite

That would be news to a great many people. Including most authoritative geographical lexica.

But why bring up the UK anyway?

Amex acceptance is less than V/MC around the world, this is true. But Amex is accepted widely across Europe see list of sovereign European states here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ries_in_Europe

I was in four European countries last week. I needed to use my MC only once in about 50 transactions.

BenSenise

technical definitions are one thing but the real world is another. Canada is metric is a good example. almost everything here (where i live) is sold by the pound, inch, or ounce, and they usually don't even know if it's a US customary measures ounce or an imperial one.

If the UK is Europe, then why do the newspapers advertise "Holidays in Europe" and "going to europe" is a common expression with almost all the brits i knew.

At a practical level, irishguy28 is right, the UK is not Europe.

LondonElite

The UK is geopolitically in Europe. That is a simple fact, the same as Canada is in North America. That some people in the UK choose to refer to the European mainland as 'the Continent' or 'Europe' as distinct from the UK is a separate matter. Some people also refer to anything east of Greece as the Orient, or to Africa as the Dark Continent.

Nevertheless, the point irishguy28 was making, I believe, is that my assertion that Amex is widely accepted across Europe was an extrapolation based on my stated location as the UK. In other words, he was arguing that, simply because Amex is reasonably widely accepted in the UK, it is incorrect to make the assumption that this translates to wide acceptance across the European mainland. As I subsequently noted, in my experience across many European countries, I get along with Amex just fine.

LHSEN

I live in Zurich. Amex is widely accepted, I use my Amex for everything even a Starbucks coffee. Besides UBS, there's also Credit Suisse's Bonviva, other cards such as the Cornercard, shopping like in COOP etc. However, bonus sign up mile son credit card is extremely stingy unlike in the USA.

lightwalker

I am using the Miles&More Credit Cards (Classic in silver). I got a whopping 20k miles for signing up last year. There are offers like this sometimes. Currently there is a 12k miles-bonus: https://www.miles-and-more-cards.ch/en/

You get an AMEX and Mastercard. The AMEX gets you 0.75 miles per CHF spent and the Mastercard only 0.3 miles. So I always try AMEX first, but there are restaurant or shops that don't accept it due to the higher fees. For those cases I still have my Mastercard.

I used the UBS credit cards before, but their conversion rate from UBS KeyPoints to miles is much worse. I don't quite remember what it was though and can't check right now.

Another way to collect miles in Switzerland is the Coop SuperPoints. When shopping at Coop supermarkets you earn 1 Point per CHF and with 7,500 or 10'000 Points you can get 3,750 or 5,000 miles resp., see here https://www.praemienshop.ch/de/Gutsc...eilen/p/159010

Another way is also via Coop: You can collect coupons in the Coop Trophy (there is a new one each half of the year, I think) with 10 CHF spent equals 1 coupon. With 25 coupons you can buy 2000 miles for an additional 35 CHF, see here https://www.coop.ch/de/einkaufen/trophy/milesmore.html (only in German).

Oh, and it also helps to fly Swiss and Lufthansa

Hope that helps

Doolyb

I've found that most places actually accept Amex. Just make sure you never ask, just try first. For online Shops that don't accept Amex I simply use my PayPal account which is linked to my Amex

I am also loyal to coop exactly because of the reasons stated above. Despite being one of the more expensive shops if you time it right (Saturday afternoon) you can get alot for things reduced to 50% including meat which is notoriously expensive here. I also only have the silver card and am thinking of getting the gold.

If you want to take it to another level you can also start couponing in Coop. The most lucrative coupon is the 10x superpoints coupon which will effectively get you to your miles 10x faster (or means 10% cashback if you choose to use the points as money). Unfortunately I'll be leaving the country in September but if I get anymore such coupons I'll post them here (if allowed). All that matters is the Barcode so as long as you scan that off the picture I would upload you don't even need the original coupon. And if anyone has such a coupon at home right now feel free to do the same lol.

Another tip I have is to frequently check the German miles and more site rather than the swiss one. There was a 3000 extra points for first hotel stay coupon that was easy to find on the German site but we'll hidden on the swiss one. Currently there's another deal on with 4000 extra miles for next hotel booking with miles and more.

Doolyb

Also don't be like me and change you superpoints to miles at the normal rate. Apparently once a year they have a special where you get approx 50% more miles per superpoint! I don't know when that happens though.

lightwalker

Thanks for the additional tips, doolyb! ^

I'm also gonna use the 4000 miles hotel booking offer (only valid until end of June), since I have a weekend trip to plan in September.

I didn't know about the Superpoints special offer with 50% added miles. Am gonna wait for that.

Currently I am trying the 10,000 points challenge: 80 days of shopping over 10 CHF until end of October. I am at 17 days now. Let's see if I can make it

yurtripper

Care to share which ones? I'm based in Poland and practically nobody accepts Amex, apart from major hotels and airlines. Even department stores in the centre of Warsaw seem to gasp with shock when offered an Amex ('nie honorujemy..').

Mind you, we're talking about a country where checkout ladies regularly have seizures if presented with a 100PLN note (just over 20EUR).