Why Swiss residents
get more from miles

Miles have a fixed redemption value in every programme — 60,000 Flying Blue miles buys you the same seat in Zurich as it does in Berlin. But the cost to earn those miles, measured in real currency, is not the same. Swiss franc earners get a structural advantage that's rarely discussed.

The earn rate gap

Earning 60,000 Flying Blue miles via Amex Platinum in Switzerland requires CHF 240,000 in card spend at the standard 2:1 transfer ratio (1 MR per CHF, 2 MR = 1 FB mile). The same 60,000 miles earned via a German Amex Gold card requires €150,000 in spend at a comparable rate.

At current exchange rates (roughly 1 CHF = 1.05 EUR), the Swiss resident spends the equivalent of €252,000 CHF to earn 60,000 miles, versus €150,000 for the German equivalent. On a raw spend-per-mile basis, the German card is more efficient for this comparison — the earn rate difference matters more than the currency advantage here.

The real CHF advantage shows up not in earning efficiency but in redemption value relative to income.

The purchasing power advantage

Swiss wages are among the highest in Europe by any measure. The median Swiss household income is roughly CHF 9,000/month gross — approximately 30–40% higher than a comparable German household in EUR terms. This means:

• The number of months of spending required to earn a Business Class redemption is lower, in relative terms
• The annual card fee (CHF 700–900 for Amex Platinum) represents a smaller share of income
• The cash equivalent of the flights you're booking with miles — if purchased outright — is affordable for a smaller fraction of Swiss residents than in lower-wage markets

Put differently: a 60,000-mile redemption worth CHF 4,000 in Business Class value represents roughly 0.4 months of Swiss median income. The same redemption in Germany represents closer to 0.65 months. Miles unlock relatively more luxury per unit of Swiss earning effort.

Where redemption pricing benefits you

Award prices are set in miles, not in CHF. A seat that costs USD 6,000 in Business Class cash and 60,000 Flying Blue miles is the same "price" in miles whether you're booking from Zurich or New York. But the USD cash price has an implicit exchange rate built in — and at current CHF/USD rates, that CHF 5,400 equivalent buys more relative flight value than the same USD 6,000 does for an American earner.

The double benefit on online purchases

Many international online merchants (Amazon, ASOS, Booking.com, Apple) price in EUR for Swiss customers or offer EUR-denominated checkout. When you pay in EUR with a card that earns MR points, and then transfer those points to Flying Blue (which prices flights in a mix of EUR and miles), you're effectively earning miles on EUR spend and redeeming them against EUR-priced flights.

The CHF you actually spent was converted at the card's exchange rate — meaning the real CHF cost of the EUR spend was lower than the face amount, because CHF is stronger. The miles earned on that spend carry the same redemption value regardless. This is a small but genuine tailwind on cross-border spending.

The cautions

This analysis assumes stable exchange rates, which is not guaranteed. The CHF has historically appreciated against EUR and USD over long periods, which would increase the advantage. Short-term volatility can work either way. Miles are denominated in their respective programmes and cannot be converted to CHF — you have to fly to realise the value.