American Express (Green Card, Gold Card, etc.)

Heb deze maand echt precies hetzelfde. Had dit twee jaar geleden ook, het wordt uiteindelijk wel altijd afgeschreven geloof ik, haha.

 

De incasso is nu aangekondigd, wordt morgen uitgevoerd. Komt goed dus

 

Hello there,

Sorry I don't speak the language, just moved 6 months ago to The Netherlands and with work and family, pretty hard to find the time to learn it.

I've been following up the forum for a while (thanks Chrome auto-translate), the "beneftis vs cost" discussion of the different cards. I'm currently holding a Dutch Green Amex, and looking for "better options" in the market ... i narrowed down my choices to N26 metal and Dutch AMEX gold, but i'm having a hard time coming up with a clear winner . I made the below comparision and wanted to hear from you why you would choose one vs the other. The biggest disadvantage I see in N26 is no points collection and no purchase insurances, and for the AMEX is their limited acceptance in regular Joe stores (not the big chains) and the Foreign transaction fees.

It is perfectly fine if you reply in Dutch, i will use the translator to understand your valuable opinion.



I could also get a USA credit card (not a citizen, though) with a juicy point bonus and category multipliers etc. (lived there for a few years, so have a US social security number, one free Discover credit card with very good FICO score (+750) to keep my credit history, my taxes in the US are in order, have Transferwise USD bank account details that can be used to pay for the US-based cards just paying the conversion EUR / USD, even have a US address. .. i just don't live there so in theory I shouldn't get them because i'm not a resident.

Thank you very much for your answers, sorry for my lack of Dutch, and nice to follow your forum.

 

Hi Rmarin,

I think it really is up to your spending and way of living. The currency conversion fee of AMEX is high indeed (2.5%) but if you mainly spend in the currency of the issued card (so if a Dutch AMEX, euros, in case of a US AMEX, dollars) you won't notice much of it. But if you mainly use the card overseas, those added costs are definitely something to keep in mind. If you primarily use it for everyday life in Europe (Petrol, groceries, etc) you would do good with a Dutch Gold AMEX Card as you do not pay a currency conversion fee in countries that have the €, and you earn membership rewards which are worth something too.

If you travel a lot, yes you pay the conversion fee frequently, but also enjoy the extensive insurances AMEX offers. So that's a calculation you have to make for yourself.

May I ask what would actually be an advantage of the N26 metal card? What aspect of it appeals to you? Keep in mind it is a debit card and not a credit card, which AMEX is.

If you don't care much about membership rewards points but would prefer a lower annual fee and conversion fee percentage, maybe have a look at the Mastercard Black which comes with some useful extras as well such as lounge access at many airports. However in my opinion they don't weigh up to everything a regular AMEX gold has on offer.

 

Easy choice: get the US cards. They provide better coverage, give you more miles/MR's, have a lower annual fee (compare the Platinum Amex NL vs the Plat Amex US for example) and give you the same perks (if not better), plus most of the US cards come with a no-FX fee.

As long as you either have a SSN or ITIN, you're eligible for requesting a card. And besides, if you feel that the acceptance rate of AMEX is low, why not request the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve? You gain points, you get lounge access through priority pass, no-FX, plus the cards are Visa, so the acceptance rate is a lot higher.

Most US cards are already linked through GooglePay/ApplePay, so the only thing you need is someone who picks up the card and either sends it to you, or just takes a picture of it with the details and then you can load it into your GooglePay/ApplePay app.

 

Thank you for your reply MoonJ.
Yeah I know N26 is a debit card vs Amex charge card. I would say today 50-60% of our monthly expenses payable by card fall with the AMEX, but still a big chunk that don't (mostly local restaurants, AH for the few things we don't like buying at Jumbo, Ethos, etc). However as soon as we leave the city center it gets harder and harder to use... and that's when the missed opportunity feeling comes when using a Maestro or basic MC/Visa one.
We do travel a lot, which translated in using our Transferwise or basic N26 to avoid the FX fees for anything but hotels/airfare outside the Euro zone. Some of the perks of N26 Metal are attractive (mobility, COVID and phone insurance) but so are some of the AMEX gold (purchase, personal belonging and accidents insurance PLUS collecting miles when possible). And definetively don't want to pay for both cards plus another one (85 EUR/year) i keep in my home country for different personal reasons.

Yeah I've been thinking about this too. But then I'm not clear if the insurances will cover me at all if i'm not a resident. no-FX fee is partially true, the bank itself doesn't charge it, but Visa, MC, and AMEX do add markup conversion fee in the rate... where you expected to see 20 USD for a 16.8 EUR purchase, you will end up with ~20.5 USD (just an example). Happened with the Gold and Plat Amex I had in the US and the Bank of America and Barcklays American Airlines Red World Elite too... all FX "free" but the conversion had the markup rate added. That can quickly add up if I make it my default card for non-USD purchases. The upside is the great perks and the thousands of bonus and category points.

This will indeed be a hard choice to make.

 

While it is true that you'll be paying somewhat more than is stated on XE.com when paying with a US card with no-FX, but it is nowhere near the 2.5-3% that any European Amex is charging you.
You're probably paying mid-market rates, which is the same what you'd be paying at transferwise or any other card (look at the "conversion" that PayPal is using for example).
The perks and rewards that you get are more valuable than the markup rate that you're paying. Besides the US cards are usually better priced than the EU ones (Amex Plat is $550 in the US, while it is over $700 here)

 

Dit jaar heb ik nog de 'gratis' Amex Gold maar het is zo jammer dat ie geen huurauto verzekering geeft. Mijn idee is dan ook bij m'n volgende reis de ABN gold card er naast te nemen om dit af te dekken hoewel ik dan de reward points mis van betaklen met de Amex..
Iemand een beter idee?

 

Het ligt eraan. Als je regelmatig auto's huurt dan kan een reguliere Platinum (700 euro pj) of een FB Platinum (600 euro pj) wel lonen.
Kijk voor jezelf of de reguliere voordelen ook lonen. Reguliere kaart: privium voor jou en 2e kaarthouder, priority pass, en hotel statussen of juist de FB variant: 60 xp, platinum status delen en goedkoper.

Is dit niet zo? Hou dan je reguliere Gold card en gebruik de optie die je zelf al noemde. Eventueel als het eenmalig is, zou ik de verzekering gewoon afrekenen.

 

Ik heb naast de Amex FB Gold ook de MasterCard van ABN. Ik betaal zo veel mogelijk met de Amex en gebruik de MC als back-up.

 

Maybe keep a free debit card such as Revolut (which is VISA) for expenses 'outside the city center' so to speak?

Unfortunately AH doesn't accept Revolut (but it's basically the only supermarket that doesn't at least accept MasterCard/VISA so that really is to blame on them) but many other places accept VISA/Vpay so you could use Revolut. It's really easy to use, basically 0 conversion fee and easy to keep several different currency 'funds' in your account.

I always try to use my AMEX somewhere, restaurants/shops etc. and if it doesn't work use my Revolut. I of course as a Dutch national also have a regular Maestro card of my bank but sporadically use it really.

 

You can get a Maestro card from Revolut, it works pretty much everywhere you can use a "pinpas" including at AH.

 

Hallo allemaal.
Enkele dagen het AMEX forum hier ontdekt, erg interessant om jullie ervaringen te lezen. Echter heb ik wat vragen, hopelijk kunnen jullie die beantwoorden.

1. Ik heb wel eens gelezen dat sommige mensen hun AMEX kaart upgraden via de telefonische klantenservice en dat ze dan een ander aanbod krijgen dan via de website. Klopt dit? Of bieden ze hier hetzelfde aanbod?

2. Ontvang je de punten bij een upgrade alleen eenmalig? Of kan ik over een jaar downgraden, daarna weer upgraden om nogmaals die punten te ontvangen?

Alvast bedankt!

 

Hoi @luukk leuk dat je InsideFlyer NL hebt ontdekt. Stel je hier even voor, Dat vinden we wel zo leuk!

1; ik heb zelf deze ervaring niet. Het aanbod via de website en telefoon is exact hetzelfde
2: Punten bij upgrade krijg je sowieso. Als je daarna weer downgrade en dan minimaal 6 maanden wacht krijg je de punten opnieuw. De regel is dat je wel vaker kan up/downgraden maar voor punten geldt de 6 maanden regel.

Voorbeeldje je hebt een green card; die upgrade je in maart naar gold. Hierbij krijg je 12k punten. Upgrade je vervolgens in sep of okt naar plat dan krijg je ook hier weer de 24k. Downgrade je dan in mrt weer naar green dan krijg je pas in sep weer punten.

 

Dank voor je antwoorden op mijn vragen.
Afgelopen november heb ik de Green card aangevraagd, nu wil ik binnenkort graag upgraden naar Gold, echter dacht ik ergens te lezen dat ik dan minimaal 6 maanden moet wachten. Dit klopt dus?

 

Dat klopt. In jouw geval is dit dus in mei pas vanaf de dag dat je kaarthouder bent. Je gaat hierdoor wel betalen voor de Gold per maand en je krijgt dan 12000 pts cadeau.

 

Hoe groot achten jullie de kans dat AMEX bepaalde Amerikaanse "features" overbrengt naar de EU/NL?
Heeft AMEX dit bijvoorbeeld vaker in het verleden gedaan?
Ik zou een metalen (Rose) Gold kaart wel erg cool vinden

 

Ik had daar toevallig laatst op gegoogeld en het bleek dat ze er in Noord-Europa inmiddels mee zijn begonnen en het zou uitgerold worden over de rest van Europa... Ik had eerst FB Silver en dat was een moderne matte kaart. Toen ik overstapte naar FB Gold kreeg ik zo'n glimmend stuk plastic, reguliere Gold idem.

 

Noorwegen, Zweden en Finland bieden nu inderdaad de Gouden metalen kaart aan, helaas alleen niet de Rosé variant.
Het viel me laatst ook al op dat de Nederlandse AMEX Business Green/Gold nu het nieuwe ontwerp hebben, echter dan wel in de plastic uitvoering.
Maar we gaan het zien wanneer de kaarten Nederland bereiken

 

Iemand enig idee hoe lang het duurt voordat punten worden bijgeschreven bij Singapore Airlines? SQ zelf zegt 14 dagen maar lijkt me sterk.