A Flemish frequent traveller who has been using the American Express Platinum for years and enjoys digging into the maths behind it. Not an influencer, not a bank, not a marketing agency. Just someone who flies out of Brussels Airport a lot and at some point noticed that the numbers behind a card like this are more interesting than the brochures suggest.
I deliberately write here without a name. That may seem odd for a site about a financial product, so let me be upfront about it: I prefer to keep my travel and spending habits separate from my professional life. Everything published here appears under one consistent pen name, TravelLux.be, and you can reach me directly via the contact page. What you read here comes from one and the same person, carrying the same card for years, not from a rotating team of copywriters.
The travel experience I draw on in articles is my own, not a stock-photo fantasy. Concretely: I have been going to Florida regularly for years (Miami, the Orlando area, the Keys), I have travelled through Thailand and Vietnam several times (Bangkok and the islands, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An), I was recently in Australia (Sydney and the east coast) and I regularly spend short trips in Ibiza and London. The departure point is almost always Brussels Airport.
When an article covers a destination I have not visited myself, I write in a general, informative way and do not pretend to have personal experience there. I try to keep that distinction clear in every piece.
Full transparency: TravelLux.be earns money through the official American Express referral programme. If you apply for the Amex Platinum via the friend link on this site, Amex awards me Membership Rewards points. That is the entire business model. There are no other ads on the site and nobody pays me to write anything.
Important detail: that friend link costs you nothing extra. You get exactly the same card at exactly the same annual fee (€780/year) as when applying directly with Amex. The only difference is the welcome bonus, which is higher via a referral link than with a direct application. That is why I stick to one rule: I only recommend the card when the numbers add up for your profile. Nearly every article also spells out when the card is not worth it.
Every piece on this site starts from two sources: my own use of the card and the official terms of American Express Belgium. Amounts, points totals and benefits are checked against the current Amex terms at the time of writing, and I do the calculations myself (such as the break-even maths on the annual fee), with both an optimistic and a cautious scenario.
Credit card terms change regularly. Existing articles are therefore reviewed periodically and updated whenever Amex changes bonuses, fees or benefits. The date of the last update is shown at the top of every article. If you still spot an error or an outdated figure, email me via the contact page: mistakes get corrected as soon as I see them or they are reported.
TravelLux.be is not a bank, not a credit broker and not a financial adviser. What you read here is general information and personal experience, not personal financial advice. Whether a card with a €780 annual fee makes sense for you depends on your own income, spending and travel habits. If in doubt, run the numbers yourself or talk to an independent adviser before applying for a credit card.
This site is also not officially affiliated with American Express. American Express® and Membership Rewards® are registered trademarks of American Express. For the official and complete terms, always check americanexpress.com/be.
All questions, remarks and corrections are welcome via the contact page. I read everything myself and usually reply within a few days.