Nothing says American more than American Express. Where ever you are in the world scream it loud and clear. America Bitches
You're from the UK, I'd think you'd know better. Amex popularity is skyrocketing in the UK, because it's a much better value proposition. For small merchants, the real cost of acceptance can be LOWER than Visa/MC (because the processor margins are much smaller) despite the lack of regulated interchange. For banks, the amount they get in their pocket is higher. And that means better rewards.
You don't get much more British than British Airways, and the best British Airways offer is the Lloyd's (also very British) BA Amex (the account is dual-network with two cards, but you get 20% of the rewards rate if you use the MasterCard).
American Express is heavily invested in the UK, and it's as British as it is American in many ways. Their European operations are largely centred around Britain, they're making massive attempts to win merchant acceptance (it's nearly as high as in the US now, to be honest), and they're pushing their cards as an excellent value proposition.
The only losers are the processors (who've always had insane margins), and the larger interchange-plus and direct connect merchants (who lose out on regulated interchange). Small businesses win, consumers win, banks win. What's not to like?
