by2127
Newbie
Hallo allemaal! Ik lees uw discussies al een tijdje. Mijn Nederlands is nog steeds niet goed dus vergeef me alstublieft Engels te gebruiken.
I have been living in the Netherlands for some time already. I was planning to get a Dutch amex gold until I bumped into the website of the German Amex. I think that the German amex cards are really the best alternatives to the Dutch ones (though they don't have the "flying blue" option). They are quite easy to apply and obtain.
After spending some time looking at the website, I gave the German amex green a shoot. Today I got my card from my friend! Yay! Before, I lived in Germany for more than two years, but never thought of applying for an amex card to accumulate miles; such a shame!
Advantages:
1. Yearly fees:
Platinum 660 EUR, Gold 144 EUR (unofficial fee-waiver when having spent more than 10000 EUR per year), Green FREE (after 9000 EUR spent per year, otherwise 60 EUR). The fees are all cheaper than the Dutch ones.
Plus, I know Germans who keep upgrading/downgrading to another card each year so that they can claim new offers every time. Surprisingly, this is possible with German amex as long as you have deregistered a specific card for more than 18 months.
2. Membership Rewards:
All of them have an exchange ratio of 1 EUR for 1 MR. HOWEVER, if you activate the "Turbo-programm" by contacting the Amex team, you only need to spend 15 EUR per year for a ratio of 1 EUR for 1,5 MR! This equals to 1 EUR for 1.2 miles! The same as the Dutch platinum. It's worth it.
3. The options for MR exchange on the German side are 20 times more than the Dutch side.
German amex has 13 mileage programmes (out of many other partners, such as hotels, webshops, gift cards, travel agencies...) to choose, while the Dutch amex only has 13 partners IN TOTAL!
4. Foreign Transaction Fee:
2% instead of 2,5% of Dutch amex. Still could improve...
Disadvantages:
Can't think of any... Maybe minor difficulties in applying for a card?
Ways of Getting one:
1. A German address (could be a friend's or a forwarding service's. They do not require address proof at all.)
2. A German checking account (I use N26, for which I applied in the Netherlands! Better to use it for some time so that you may have a better SCHUFA score.)
3. A passport/ID (No need to have a German residence card. Identity check is performed via POSTIDENT, just download the app on your phone, fill in your info, and video-verify your passport with a staff member who speaks English/German/Russian/Polish...)
4. A German phone? Maybe a Dutch one will also do since there is a space to fill in area code. Did anyone try? (Otherwise, an online phone app will do the trick! Usually costs 2-4 EUR per month. It is just for the sms checking of POSTIDENT.)
Apart from these materials, they did not ask for any others! Just like the Dutch amex, they did not even ask for a proof of income.
Any thoughts? Anyone did this before? Would anyone else want to give it a go
?
I have been living in the Netherlands for some time already. I was planning to get a Dutch amex gold until I bumped into the website of the German Amex. I think that the German amex cards are really the best alternatives to the Dutch ones (though they don't have the "flying blue" option). They are quite easy to apply and obtain.
After spending some time looking at the website, I gave the German amex green a shoot. Today I got my card from my friend! Yay! Before, I lived in Germany for more than two years, but never thought of applying for an amex card to accumulate miles; such a shame!
Advantages:
1. Yearly fees:
Platinum 660 EUR, Gold 144 EUR (unofficial fee-waiver when having spent more than 10000 EUR per year), Green FREE (after 9000 EUR spent per year, otherwise 60 EUR). The fees are all cheaper than the Dutch ones.
Plus, I know Germans who keep upgrading/downgrading to another card each year so that they can claim new offers every time. Surprisingly, this is possible with German amex as long as you have deregistered a specific card for more than 18 months.
2. Membership Rewards:
All of them have an exchange ratio of 1 EUR for 1 MR. HOWEVER, if you activate the "Turbo-programm" by contacting the Amex team, you only need to spend 15 EUR per year for a ratio of 1 EUR for 1,5 MR! This equals to 1 EUR for 1.2 miles! The same as the Dutch platinum. It's worth it.
3. The options for MR exchange on the German side are 20 times more than the Dutch side.
German amex has 13 mileage programmes (out of many other partners, such as hotels, webshops, gift cards, travel agencies...) to choose, while the Dutch amex only has 13 partners IN TOTAL!
4. Foreign Transaction Fee:
2% instead of 2,5% of Dutch amex. Still could improve...
Disadvantages:
Can't think of any... Maybe minor difficulties in applying for a card?
Ways of Getting one:
1. A German address (could be a friend's or a forwarding service's. They do not require address proof at all.)
2. A German checking account (I use N26, for which I applied in the Netherlands! Better to use it for some time so that you may have a better SCHUFA score.)
3. A passport/ID (No need to have a German residence card. Identity check is performed via POSTIDENT, just download the app on your phone, fill in your info, and video-verify your passport with a staff member who speaks English/German/Russian/Polish...)
4. A German phone? Maybe a Dutch one will also do since there is a space to fill in area code. Did anyone try? (Otherwise, an online phone app will do the trick! Usually costs 2-4 EUR per month. It is just for the sms checking of POSTIDENT.)
Apart from these materials, they did not ask for any others! Just like the Dutch amex, they did not even ask for a proof of income.
Any thoughts? Anyone did this before? Would anyone else want to give it a go
?
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