What is American Express?
American Express, or AmEx, is a card issuer just like MasterCard and Visa. There are several differences but the most profound one is that you can earn Membership Rewards points with AmEx. In turn, you can redeem to get a discount on your card statement or you can convert the MR points to airlines and hotels for cheap or free flights or stays. Another difference is that there is no fixed spending limit. Instead, your spending limit grows over time. If you are paying your bills your limit goes up.
Many resources can be found on how the scheme works in general, therefore I will keep it short and will focus on the usability in The Netherlands. This article only focuses on the vanilla cards, because the Flying Blue branded cards are generally less attractive unless you are a seasoned frequent flyer.
Another difference is that American Express does not issue credit cards in The Netherlands. Instead they provide charge cards. The difference is that you pay back the amount you have spent at once at the end of the month via a direct debit. It is not possible to pay back your bills over time.
Perks
| Card | Membership Rewards per EUR spent | Dining Credit | Insurance | Airport Lounges | Other Perks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 0,5 | - | - | - | - |
| Green | 1,0 | - | Limited travel insurance | - | - |
| Gold | 1,0 | 100 | Good travel insurance | 4 Priority Pass visits per year | Partial (EUR 2.99) refund for Amazon Prime |
| Platinum | 1,0 | 300 | Excellent travel insurance, car rental insurance. | Unlimited Priority Pass visits + Schiphol Privium | Status with several hotel chains (Radisson, Marriott, Hilton, IHG) |
Dining Credits
Insurance
Other Perks
Membership Rewards
As you can see in the table above, all cards but Amex Blue earn 1 MR per euro spent.
How much are MR worth?
How to redeem?
You have two options to redeem
Costs
Now lets talk about the costs
Taking into account:
- Acceptance. Unless Visa and MasterCard, which are widely used and accepted American Express is accepted a bit less. Most airlines, hotel chains and more expensive restaurants in The Netherlands accept AmEx. If you want to use your cards on a daily basis however, this can be a bit harder depending on where you live. Supermarkets like Jumbo and Dirk van den Broek accept AmEx, as well as pharmacies Kruidvat and Hema.
Sign-up Bonus
The current sign-up bonus is 48.000 Membership Rewards points, which is worth approximately EUR 144 in the least optimistic scenario (card statement redemption) or up to 1-2 Please note this promotion ends January 24, 2024.
If you are interested in getting an American Express card I would appreciate it if you sign-up through my referral. This currently means you will get 48.000 Membership Rewards. For full transparency: I will also get a bonus if you sign-up.