My review of the American Express Air France Flying Blue Silver Card (plus referral)

To take advantage of my referral, you can click here then click on “View all cards” at the top left to choose your card. You’ll get 8,000 bonus miles and the card is free for life.

You can also request a referral for the American Express Air France Gold Card (free the first year) by by clicking here.

American Express: What Is It?

Very well known in North America, American Express is much less so in France, where we are not used to credit cards. American Express is a company that offers credit cards.

American Express is not a bank, so you don’t have (and can’t) transfer funds to them. How it works? You use your Amex card daily for your purchases, American Express gives you credit (for free). Once a month, Amex will debit from your bank account the amount corresponding to your expenses over the last 30 days.

Using an Amex offers several advantages:

The 30-day deferred payment that can be very handy for managing your budget
A cashback system
Regular promotional offers
Insurance policies

Who Accepts the American Express Card?

Unfortunately, the Amex card is not accepted everywhere. Nevertheless, it is becoming more and more widespread. You can use it in many stores, both physical and online.

For online purchases, a trick is to associate your American Express card with your PayPal account, so you can pay with your Amex via PayPal,even if the site doesn’t accept Amex natively.

The American Express Air France Flying Blue Silver Card

Amex offers several different types of cards. The one we’re interested in today is a card offered in partnership with Air France.

The first advantage of this card is that it’s 100% free, which is very rare for American Express.

You’ll get some welcome gifts:

€70 refunded as soon as you spend at least €70 with Air France or KLM
3,000 miles + 15 XP offered for the Flying Blue program
A €50 Air France voucher

You’ll also get discounts at several partners. For example, 15% off car rentals at Hertz or 1% cashback at Houra and Veepee.

Cashback

Amex is mainly known and used for the cashback it offers on every purchase.

With classic Amex cards, you accumulate “rewards points”. With the Air France Silver card, you’ll earn Flying Blue miles.

For every euro spent with Air France or KLM, you’ll earn 1 mile
For every euro spent elsewhere, you’ll earn 0.8 miles

You can then exchange your miles for airline tickets. But you have many other options. For my part, I exchange my Air France miles for Accor points to get free hotel nights.

I wrote a detailed article about the value of Air France miles.

Shopping offers

Once you have an Amex card, I strongly advise you to install the mobile app.

Not only can you easily track your expenses.

But above all, you’ll be able to sign up for regular shopping offers. Not all of them are interesting, but you’ll come across little gems like this one.

€5 refunded for your next 5 purchases of at least €20 in physical stores. So, I went to the restaurant 5 times 🙂

The Amex Silver Air France abroad

This is the big criticism I have of American Express, and I hope they’ll change their tune one of these days. When traveling outside the eurozone, it’s not worth using your Amex card. Indeed, you’ll be charged 2.8% in foreign transaction fees on every payment or ATM withdrawal. This was common practice a few years ago, but now many providers no longer charge fees.

As long as you stay in the eurozone, no worries, you can use your Amex card without a second thought.

Insurance included with the Air France Flying Blue Silver Card

Since this is a free card, don’t expect an exceptional insurance offer.

However, you do get 90-day purchase protection. If you accidentally break an item during that period, you’re covered, but with a €50 deductible. Amex allows you to be very clumsy because you’re entitled to 3 claims per year.

There is also some assistance during your travels in case of accident, theft, loss of your card, …

How much does the American Express Air France Silver card cost?

Here’s the pleasant surprise, and it’s rare for American Express: the card is 100% free.

You just need to prove a minimum annual gross income of €20,000 (equivalent to €1,300 net per month).

This free status applies for the first year. The card remains free in subsequent years if you’ve spent at least €10,000 over the year. Otherwise, the card will cost you €65/year.

The referral offer

On top of all the benefits already mentioned, a referral also gives you:

8,000 welcome miles
Lifetime free access to the card

To benefit from my referral, simply click this link (then click on “see all cards” at the top left).

For more benefits, check out my article on the American Express Air France card Gold (free for the first year) in by clicking here.

My review of the American Express Air France Silver card

I think everyone should have an American Express card. It offers cashback, insurance, and promotional deals. It’s also a “real” credit card that lets you rent vehicles abroad where many French cards are declined.

The Air France Silver is probably the easiest Amex to get: it’s 100% free, and the income requirements aren’t very high.

If you can, though, prefer the Amex Air France Gold. Not only is the cashback better (1 mile per euro spent vs. 0.8 for the Silver), but the insurance cover is more comprehensive (including coverage for car rentals). Lastly, the Amex Air France Gold is also 100% free in the first year, and it’s pretty easy to extend the free period afterwards (I’ve been using it for free for 3 years now).

Looking for a referral for the American Express Air France Silver card? Just click here.