Dutch Association Exec Advises Hoteliers To Avoid Amex Card Use
A senior figure in an association representing Dutch hotels, restaurants and caterers has urged hotel members to encourage guests to avoid paying with American Express cards.
Frans Hazen, chairman of the hotels section of Royal Horeca Netherlands, which has 2,000 hotel members, told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that Amex's merchant fees are too high. According to Hazen, his members pay an average of 1.5 percent to MasterCard and Visa but 2.95 to 3.85 percent to Amex. As a result, he has suggested member hoteliers ask guests to pay with an alternative card or by cash.
"Experience shows that nine times out of 10 they have another credit card with them," said Hazen.
Royal Horeca has a diverse range of member hotels, including large properties for international business travelers. A spokesman told EuroBTN it is seeking a meeting with Amex to discuss its grievances about merchant fees.
Acceptance of the Amex card is lower than for MasterCard or Visa because its merchant fees are higher. This is especially the case in Europe, particularly in provincial areas. It leads to complaints by business travelers that they cannot use the Amex card in all the hotels and restaurants they visit. Problems arise most often at establishments that are geared more to leisure and local travelers. The European low-cost carrier Ryanair does not accept Amex either.
The Amex response is that its card is accepted in the overwhelming majority of establishments used by business travelers. "Comparing us to MasterCard and Visa is like comparing apples and oranges," said a spokeswoman. "Our acceptance with merchants where card members want to use plastic is 80 percent in markets outside the United States and 90 percent in the United States. It is accepted by virtually all the world's leading hoteliers. The hotels we work with undoubtedly understand the value we deliver because of the high-spending card members we bring to them."
Asked whether merchants are increasingly resenting the higher fees charged by Amex in a time of economic hardship, the spokeswoman said: "We work one on one with our merchants and even in a recession they understand the value we deliver to them."