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Another first timer confused by all the options

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frenchyinstockholm

Ny medlem
Hello,
I've spent more than 3 hours today looking at credit cards, which seems way too much time compared to what they're supposed to offer. Please, I might need a bit of help to add clarity to my thinking and stop running loops inside my head :)

I'm a new business owner, consultant, and I'm travelling "a lot". Flying once per month on average, sometimes more (Helsinki, France, UK, US...). Since I have no less than 3 trips planned in the next 3 weeks including a long-haul one with a transfer, I was getting curious about lounge access, fast track, airline points/statuses etc. But after some research, I'm still not sure what makes sense.

I'm mostly interested in anything that can make travelling better, such as lounges and fast pass, and easier/free upgrades on flights. Free upgrades or discounts on hotels are a plus but not a must. Same for car rentals. My card expenses are not huge, but I could likely reach the 150,000SEK thresholds/year.

Amex platinum seemed really good for this with full free access to great lounges, fast track in Nordics, great discount and upgrades at Hertz, and potentially at some hotels. I know I would use it (right away), but at 650SEK/month I'm not sure the benefits would really "reimburse" the costs.
The SAS Amex and mastercard seem to be more generally recommended, but I'm not a very loyal airline customer (I usually just look at prices and flight times. I've been 3 times to Helsinki in the past 3 months and have flown once with SAS, once with Finnair and once with Norwegian...), and I'm afraid it might be hard to use the bonus trips.

I'm also bothered that there is no great introduction offer at the moment for any of these cards! Feels like there could be a better time to join, but I'm travelling now :)

Any advice for a rookie? Thanks for your patience and your recommendations!
 
First of all, Welcome to BC!

I think you made quite a good summary above.

To make it easy for us - we can generalise and say the following:
Amex MR-cards (Green, Gold, Platinum, Centurion) are lifestyle cards
Amex SAS-cards (Blue, Premium, Elite) are travel cards


In general, the SAS branded credit cards (both Amex and MC) are more generally recommended here, as you can get more value out of the points there. However, a lot of us one of each cards, to maximise the benefits.

I tend to always recommend the SAS Cards, however, in your case, I'd say - go for the Amex Platinum!

With the card you get Priority Pass (lounge access), Fast track at Arlanda and some other airports, some statuses at rental cars and hotels. You also get a very good travel insurance, including car rental protection!

The points you earn (MR) aren't the best. But the conversion table still have some pretty good places where you can transfer your points, including British Airways and Hilton.

When it comes to reimbursing the cost - the card fee is 7800 SEK per year. With the card you get the following benefits:
- Dine for 4000 SEK (2000 SEK in Sweden, 2000 SEK abroad)
- Dinner for two - 3 times a year you get a two course dinner at selected restaurants (value about 2400 SEK )

Just by using the above benefits, you have covered everything but 1400 SEK. If you use of lounges, fast track, hotel statuses (for example, Hilton Gold gives your complimentary breakkie), insurance (Delayed luggage and car rental are two key things imho), you have quickly covered the costs for it. Not to mentioned, the MR points you earn can give you a hotel night or a intra-European award flight fairly quickly as well.

There are also some discounts and fun activities taking place sometimes, that you can take part of, as a Platinum member. Download the Amex Experiences app to see what is there right now.

Regarding introduction offers - there are invitational offers right now - where you get 200k MR if invited by someone. However, It is not permitted in this forum to share invitational links in posts, or to send to anyone without them asking. So drop me a PM if you want a link! If not, I am just happy to help :)

Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask more questions! Really fun to see someone that really done the work he/her-self before asking, to try to understand as much as possible :)

PS: Once you have had that card for a while, and keep reading here on BC, I am sure that you will, sooner rather than later, get yourself a SAS branded card too, and start optimising even further ;)
 
Sounds like Amex Platinum is the card for you since you aren't loyal to any airline or alliance.

It'll always give you lounge access, very good travel and car rental insurance.

When it comes go flights, there are no longer such things as free upgrades. OK, not completely true, they do happen but almost always only for the most loyal customers to the airline who alone tend to have the highest status.

The SAS cards are great if you focus in Star Alliance and SAS in particular. They'll give you a good boost with SAS Eurobonus points, but the Platinum probably offers you more.
 
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