Auf Deutsch lesen →The Revolut + Amex
dual-card setup
Amex Platinum earns excellent miles on CHF spending in Switzerland. Revolut earns points you can transfer to the same programmes — with no foreign transaction fee. Together, they cover every franc you spend, in any currency. This guide walks through the setup, the maths, and the caveats.
The problem with one card
The Amex Platinum (Swisscard) is the single best card for earning miles in Switzerland. You earn Membership Rewards points at 1 MR per CHF on everyday spend, which transfer 2:1 to Flying Blue and Miles & More — so effectively 0.5 airline miles per CHF. The card comes loaded with perks: Priority Pass, travel insurance, hotel status.
The catch: Amex charges a 2.5% foreign transaction fee on non-CHF purchases. Buy something in euros online, pay in USD abroad, order from a British retailer — you're paying an invisible surcharge on top of the exchange rate. On CHF 2,000 of annual foreign-currency spend, that's CHF 50 in fees you never see. On CHF 10,000, it's CHF 250.
Running the Amex everywhere means you're paying Amex to let you earn miles on foreign spend. The miles rarely cover that cost.
What Revolut actually does
Revolut is a digital bank, not a traditional credit card. It holds multiple currencies and converts at or near interbank rates with no foreign transaction fee on spending up to a monthly limit (depending on your plan). The Revolut Metal and Ultra plans include a points programme — Revolut Points — that transfer to airline and hotel programmes.
The key transfer partners available in Switzerland as of 2026:
- Flying Blue (Air France / KLM) — 1 Revolut Point = 1 Flying Blue mile
- Miles & More — 1 Revolut Point = 1 mile
- British Airways Executive Club — 1 Revolut Point = 1 Avios
- Avianca LifeMiles — 1 Revolut Point = 1 mile
Revolut Metal earns 1 point per €1 equivalent spent. Ultra earns a higher rate on premium merchants. Both plans have a monthly point-earning cap — check the current limits in the Revolut app before assuming uncapped earn.
Important
Standard Revolut (free tier) does not earn points. You need Revolut Premium, Metal, or Ultra. Premium does not earn points either — it's Metal or Ultra for the rewards programme. Factor in the monthly fee (approximately CHF 14–18/month for Metal) when calculating whether it's worth it.
The dual-card setup
The principle is simple: use each card where it's most efficient.
Use Amex Platinum for
- All CHF-denominated purchases in Switzerland — groceries, petrol, restaurants
- Subscription services billed in CHF
- Swiss online merchants
- Any purchase where you can choose to pay in CHF rather than a foreign currency
Use Revolut (Metal or Ultra) for
- Foreign currency purchases online and abroad
- Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, and other non-CH e-commerce in EUR/GBP
- Travel spending in non-CHF countries
- Subscriptions billed in EUR or USD (Netflix, Spotify if your plan is billed in EUR)
The maths
| Scenario | Card | Miles earned | FX fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHF 1,000 CHF spend / month | Amex Platinum | 500 FB miles | None |
| CHF 500 foreign spend / month | Amex Platinum | 250 FB miles | CHF 12.50 |
| CHF 500 foreign spend / month | Revolut Metal | ~450 FB miles | None |
| Annual difference (foreign spend) | – | +2,400 miles | CHF −150 saved |
Over a year with CHF 500/month in foreign-currency spending: switching that to Revolut saves roughly CHF 150 in fees and still earns ~5,400 Flying Blue miles from that spend, versus earning slightly more miles but paying CHF 150 in fees on Amex. The net benefit varies by spend level and Revolut plan cost.
Transfer strategy: when to move points
Both Amex MR and Revolut Points are "flexible" currencies — they sit in your account and only convert to airline miles when you initiate a transfer. This flexibility is valuable.
- Transfer to Flying Blue during Promo Award months (1st of each month) when target routes are discounted 25–50%. You can time the transfer to coincide with a promo window.
- Transfer to Miles & More for long-haul Star Alliance redemptions on partner airlines (Singapore Airlines, ANA) where fixed pricing still applies and value per mile is high.
- Transfer to Avios for short-haul Iberia redemptions and the Avios sweet spots (transatlantic in Business for 34,000 Avios one-way on Iberia).
- Never transfer more than you need for a specific booking — points in a bank are more flexible than miles in a programme.
Bottom line
Amex Platinum for CHF spending. Revolut Metal for everything foreign. Both feed into the same programmes. The setup takes 20 minutes to arrange and saves 2–3 CHF per CHF 100 of foreign spend compared to running a single card.
The total annual cost of Revolut Metal is approximately CHF 168–216. If your foreign-currency spend is above roughly CHF 700–900 per month, the fee savings plus the points earn typically justify the plan cost.
What this setup doesn't solve
Revolut is not a replacement for a Swiss current account. It has transfer and ATM limits, customer service that's primarily digital, and its regulatory position differs from a Swiss-licensed bank. Use it as a spending and points tool, not as your primary financial home.
Also: both Amex MR and Revolut Points have transfer minimum thresholds. Check these before letting points accumulate in small batches that can't be moved efficiently.