American Express

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer In Germany, the Platinum (around €720 a year, billed monthly) is worth it for frequent flyers who’ll use its lounges and hotel status, the Gold (about €144 a year, often free the first year) is the value pick for dining and everyday spend, and the Payback Card is a genuinely free option for people who travel only occasionally. The Blue Card is also free but earns nothing unless you pay an extra €30 a year to opt into Membership Rewards. The honest German verdict first Most people in Germany reach straight for the Platinum because it’s the famous one — and a chunk of them waste hundreds of euros doing it. So before the shiny metal card wins the argument: if you won’t be at an airport in double digits this year, the Platinum is the wrong card for you, and I’d rather tell you that than take your click. The good news is Germany has a genuinely free Amex too. Here’s the whole lineup, honestly ranked. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer American Express earns Membership Rewards points and travel perks like lounge access and hotel status, but it charges an annual fee (aside from the free Payback card) and isn’t accepted everywhere, while Revolut spends in 150+ currencies at the real interbank rate with no foreign transaction fee on its free Standard plan, saving around €30–60 in fees on a typical €2,000 trip compared with a card charging 1.5–3% markup. The smartest setup is carrying both: Amex for big, perk-earning bookings and Revolut for everyday foreign spending and ATM withdrawals. Stop trying to pick a winner Most “Amex vs Revolut” articles try to crown one. That’s the wrong question, and chasing it costs you money. These two cards solve different problems — and the travelers who save the most carry both. I do. Let me show you why, then you can decide whether you even need the paid side at all. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer Choosing between the Amex Platinum and Gold comes down to how often you fly: the Platinum costs about €55 a month (roughly €720 a year) and pays off through lounge access, automatic Hilton and Marriott Gold hotel status, and bigger annual credits, while the Gold costs about €144 a year — often free the first year — and earns the same Membership Rewards points on dining and everyday spend instead. The simplest test is counting last year’s airport visits: double digits favors the Platinum, single digits favors the Gold. The honest answer in one question Forget the brochures. Amex Platinum vs Gold comes down to a single question: how many times were you at an airport last year? Double digits, and the Platinum’s lounges and status pay for themselves. Single digits, and you’re about to pay a premium fee for perks you’ll watch go unused — the Gold is your card. Everything below just shows the working. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The Amex Platinum costs around €55 a month (roughly €720 a year) in Germany, and it’s worth that fee mainly through the American Express Global Lounge Collection, automatic Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold status, and a welcome bonus that can cover most of a flight — for the author, 13 airport visits in a year paid for the lounges alone. If you won’t rack up double-digit airport visits or use the annual credits, the Gold or the free Payback card is the better fit. The short version I almost talked myself out of the Amex Platinum twice. A premium annual fee for one credit card sounds indulgent — and if you don’t travel much, it absolutely is. So let me save you time: if you won’t be at an airport in double digits this year, stop reading and look at the Gold or the free Payback card instead. Still here? Then you might be exactly who this card is built for, and the rest of this Amex Platinum review is for you. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer In the UK, the Amex Platinum costs £650 a year and suits frequent flyers who’ll use its lounges and hotel status, while the Preferred Rewards Gold costs £195 a year and is free the first year for everyday and dining spend. The UK also has a genuinely free option, the American Express Rewards Credit Card, which costs £0 and still earns Membership Rewards points. The honest UK verdict first The UK is unusual: it has a genuinely free Amex that earns Membership Rewards, which makes the £650 Platinum a much harder sell than people admit. So before the prestige wins: if you won’t use lounges and the Platinum’s credits, the free Rewards card or the £195 Gold will leave you better off. Here’s the full UK lineup, honestly ranked. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The Amex Gold costs around €144 a year in Germany, and American Express frequently waives the fee for the first year, making it close to risk-free to try. It earns the same flexible Membership Rewards points as the Platinum on dining and everyday spend, just without lounge access or automatic hotel status, which is why it’s the better-value pick for anyone who isn’t a frequent flyer. The short version Everyone obsesses over the Platinum. Here’s the uncomfortable truth most reviews skate past: for the average traveler, the Gold is the smarter card. It earns the same Membership Rewards points, costs a fraction of the fee, and Amex often hands you the first year free — which means you can test the entire ecosystem at zero cost and decide later. If you fly into double-digit airport visits a year, sure, go Platinum . Everyone else: this Amex Gold review is the one to read. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The best Amex travel card for most frequent flyers is the Platinum, whose ~€55/month (about €720/year) fee in Germany paid for itself through 13 airport lounge visits and a welcome bonus that covered most of a return flight. The Gold, at roughly €144/year and often free the first year, is the smarter pick for people who spend more on dining and everyday life than on flights, while the no-fee Payback Card suits anyone traveling only a couple of times a year. The honest truth first I had the application open in one browser tab and a calculator in the other, and I was about to close both. A high annual fee for a single credit card sounds absurd — that’s exactly what I thought, sitting at my kitchen table, shaking my head. I looked at the best Amex travel card everyone kept recommending, the Platinum, and I put it away. Twice. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer In the USA, the Amex Platinum jumped to $895 a year and suits frequent flyers who’ll use its lounge access and statement credits, while the Gold at $325 a year is the stronger value pick for heavy dining and grocery spenders and the Green at $150 a year is a lighter travel-points option. Anyone who wants zero annual fee can instead get a no-fee cash-back Amex like Blue Cash Everyday, which costs $0 but earns cash back rather than Membership Rewards. The honest US verdict first The Amex Platinum just jumped to $895 — and the internet is full of people defending a fee they don’t come close to earning back. So I’ll say it plainly: most Americans reading this should not pay $895 for a credit card. The Platinum is a phenomenal card if you live in airports and burn its credits; for everyone else it’s an expensive flex. Here’s the full US lineup, ranked by who it actually fits. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The Amex Green sits between the free Payback Card and the higher-earning Gold: it carries a modest annual fee — lower than the Gold’s but not free — while still earning flexible Membership Rewards points on everyday spend. It suits someone who wants real Membership Rewards and a gentler commitment than the Gold, but for many people the free Payback (if you want zero fee) or the Gold (if you want to maximize points) is the better choice. The short version I’ll be the rare reviewer who talks you out of a card before talking you into it — because the Amex Green is the one most likely to be the wrong choice, and I’d rather you trust me than click blindly. It’s the in-between rung: real Membership Rewards points, a modest fee, fewer perks. For a narrow group it’s perfect. For most, the free Payback or the better-value Gold is the smarter buy. Here’s how to tell which group you’re in. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The American Express Blue Card in Germany is genuinely free — €0 annual fee, permanently — but it earns no points on its own: opting into Membership Rewards costs an extra €30/year (or €45/year with the €15 Turbo add-on that raises the earn rate to 1.5 points per €1). It’s the right free Amex for acceptance and Apple Pay/Google Pay, while the free Payback Card earns Payback points automatically with no add-on fee. Is there a free Amex card in Germany? Yes — and it’s called the Amex Blue. The annual fee is genuinely €0, permanently, no first-year-only trick. But before you celebrate the free points: the Blue doesn’t actually earn any points for free. That’s the catch, and it’s the one thing every “best free Amex” listicle skips over. I’d rather you know it upfront than discover it on your statement. So here’s the honest version of who the Blue Card is right for in Germany — and the two cases where the Payback or the Green quietly beats it. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The best Amex card in France is the Carte Platinum at around €708 a year (about €59/month) for frequent flyers who’ll use its lounges and hotel status, while the Carte Gold costs roughly €192 a year and is usually free the first year for dining and everyday Membership Rewards. Anyone who flies Air France or KLM and wants zero fee can instead get the free Air France KLM – American Express Silver card, which earns Flying Blue miles instead of Membership Rewards. The honest French verdict first In France the Carte Platinum carries serious prestige — and prestige is exactly what makes people overpay. So let me be the one to say it: if you don’t fly often, the Platinum’s ~€708 a year is money you won’t earn back. France also has free co-branded options most “best card” lists skip. Here’s the whole picture, ranked by who each card genuinely fits. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ✅ Quick Answer The American Express Payback Card in Germany has no annual fee — €0 — and earns Payback points (at Rewe, dm and Aral fuel stops) rather than Membership Rewards. Those points convert 1:1 into Lufthansa Miles & More (from 200 points), and with a periodic 25–30% transfer bonus, everyday Payback spending can fund real flights — the author booked a Lufthansa business-class seat to Tunis for 15,000 miles built mostly from grocery and fuel spending. The short version Here’s a sentence most affiliate sites won’t write, because there’s less money in it: for a lot of you, the free card is the right card. The Amex Payback Card costs nothing, carries zero pressure, and lets you find out whether you’d actually use a premium card before paying for one. If you travel a couple of times a year, this Amex Payback Card review might be the only one you need. ...