Amex Platinum Belgium 2026: Complete Guide + 150,000 Welcome Points

€780 a year. That's what the Amex Platinum costs in Belgium. €65 leaving your account every month, whether you fly or not. The question everyone asks: where on earth are you going to get that back? I've kept fairly accurate track of this over the past few years, and the answer is more nuanced than most credit card blogs would have you believe.

Honestly, I was sceptical for a long time myself. Credit card points felt very American — something for people who carry twelve cards in their wallet and maintain spreadsheets on "points per dollar". But the American Express Platinum card works slightly differently in Belgium than in the US, and the math turns out surprisingly well for a specific type of traveller. For another type of traveller it doesn't add up at all. More on that below.

What does the Amex Platinum cost in Belgium, and what's included?

Let me start with the number that scares everyone off. €780 per year, billed as €65 per month. There's no getting around it: it's the most expensive personal credit card you can get in Belgium. But "expensive" is relative when you look at what you get in return. Here's the concrete list, because it's longer than most people think.

First: Priority Pass Prestige, the unlimited variant. That gives you and one guest access to more than 1,550 airport lounges worldwide. At Brussels Airport itself you have access to the lounges via Priority Pass, plus the specific Amex perks that only apply to the Belgian market. Buying a Priority Pass Prestige membership separately costs about €500 a year. That alone is more than half your annual fee.

Then there's Fast Lane security at Brussels Airport, worth €169 a year. If you've ever queued at security on a busy Friday morning, you know this isn't pointless luxury. You walk straight past. Sounds like a detail, but it's the kind of thing you only appreciate once you don't have it.

Also: Dining Experience at Black Pearls (2× per month takeaway meal at Brussels Airport), Lounge On the Go (2× per month premium takeaway), and the Dining for 2 programme. The last one is quite nice: three times a year a free two-course menu for two people at a selection of top restaurants in Belgium. Value: up to €300 per year if you use it three times.

And then there's also travel insurance (cancellation, baggage, medical costs abroad, flight insurance), no foreign exchange fees, Hertz Gold Plus Five Star status, Avis Preferred, the 24/7 concierge service, and the Fine Hotels + Resorts programme. That FHR programme deserves its own section.

Fine Hotels + Resorts: where the Amex Platinum really gets interesting

The Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) programme is, honestly, the part that personally tips the scale for me the most. With every booking through FHR at one of the 14,000+ participating hotels you automatically get a list of perks on top of the price you'd pay anyway.

Concretely: free room upgrade (if available), early check-in, late check-out, daily breakfast for two, and a welcome gift or hotel credit worth around €100. Per stay the total added value can climb to €650. That's not marketing-speak, that's simply what you'd pay if you bought those breakfasts, the upgrade and the credit separately.

I've used FHR several times for bookings in London and Thailand. I didn't always get the upgrade (it depends on availability, and hotels can be stingy about it), but the breakfast and credit were consistent every time. At a hotel in Bangkok it saved us about €180 over three nights. Not bad for something that was simply included.

To be fair: you book at the hotel's "best available rate", so you sometimes miss the sharpest online rate. But once you count the extras, you usually come out better than with a bare price-comparison booking. Requires a bit of math per hotel. I almost always do that before booking.

The welcome bonus: 150,000 points and how that math works

The reason most people apply for the Amex Platinum isn't the lounge access or the insurance, but the welcome bonus. And in 2026 it's not bad: up to 150,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply via a friend link. Apply directly at americanexpress.com/be and you get fewer points. How many fewer? It varies, but the difference is big enough to make the referral worth it.

But — and this matters — you don't just receive those 150,000 points. You have to hit a spend threshold in the first three months, usually somewhere between €4,000 and €6,000. Sounds like a lot, but if you time the application around a big purchase (a holiday, furniture, electronics, an annual insurance premium), it's more doable than you think. I personally combined it with a flight booking to Australia and a few larger online purchases. No real strain.

And then: what are 150,000 points worth? That depends entirely on how you redeem them. The value of Membership Rewards points fluctuates a lot. If you convert them to airline miles with partners like Brussels Airlines, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air France-KLM or Singapore Airlines, you land at 0.8 to 2 euro cents per point. In the best case, 150,000 points are then worth up to €5,000 in flights. More realistically, for most bookings, you're at around €2,000 to €3,000.

Convert them to statement credits or shop vouchers? Then you drop to 0.3 to 0.5 cent per point, and those same 150,000 points are suddenly only worth €750 to €1,250. Still not bad for a welcome gift, but the difference is huge. My advice: learn the transfer partners before you spend your points. On TravelLux.be I write about that regularly.

One more thing worth mentioning: the welcome bonus is one-time. You can't cancel the card, reapply and pocket another 150,000 points. Once, and that's it.

Is Amex accepted in Belgium? The honest version.

This is the question I get most often from readers, and the answer is: it depends. Amex isn't accepted everywhere in Belgium. That's a fact. Smaller local shops, market stalls, some restaurants in the centre of Ghent or Bruges: you can't always get in with it.

But the situation has genuinely improved in recent years. Large chains accept Amex almost everywhere: Colruyt, Carrefour, Delhaize, IKEA, MediaMarkt, Bol.com, Coolblue, Zalando. Online shops are no problem anyway. Hotels and restaurants in larger cities also increasingly accept it. And abroad, certainly in the US, the UK, Thailand and Australia, I've rarely had any trouble.

My solution, and that of most Belgian Amex holders I know: the Platinum is my secondary card. I use a regular Visa or Mastercard (often the free green Amex) for daily groceries where Amex isn't taken, and the Platinum for everything where it is. Travel, hotels, online purchases, petrol stations, restaurants. That way you maximise points without ever facing a closed register.

Is that a hassle? A bit. But if you take the trouble to pull out the Amex where it works, you build up points that actually amount to something. The booster option (4 points per euro for €10/month extra) makes that even more attractive for high spenders, but that's a trade-off you have to make for yourself.

For whom is the Amex Platinum worth it (and not) in Belgium?

I read a lot of credit card reviews that are exclusively positive. That's not the case here. The Amex Platinum is a great card for a specific profile, and a bad investment for another. Let me be honest about both sides.

I regularly come across typical hesitating profiles. Someone who flies from Brussels to Southern Europe three times a year for weekend trips, and takes two larger trips a year (Florida, Thailand, that kind of destination): for someone like that, the card quickly adds up. The lounge access, Fast Lane, FHR bookings and insurance together easily exceed €780.

But someone who drives to Spain for two weeks once a year and otherwise has few international expenses: that person is better off with a free credit card with travel points. No shame in that, just math.

My personal math after a few years of Amex Platinum

I'll stick to what I've experienced myself, because made-up testimonials help no one. In an average year I fly about 4 to 6 times out of Brussels Airport, to destinations like Miami, Bangkok, London and Ibiza. I also book 2 to 3 hotels via FHR and use the dining credits in Belgium.

My conservative estimate of the annual value I extract:

• Priority Pass lounge access (with guest): ~€500 (based on individual lounge visits at €50-60 each)
• Fast Lane Brussels Airport: €169
• FHR credits and breakfast (2-3 stays): €300-500
• Dining for 2 (3× per year): ~€250
• Travel insurance (estimated premium if bought separately): €200-300
• No FX fees (estimated on €3,000-5,000 foreign spend): €50-100
• Membership Rewards points on regular spend: variable, but around €200-400 per year

Total: somewhere between €1,670 and €2,270 per year. Minus the €780 annual fee: a net benefit of roughly €900 to €1,500. And I'm not even counting the welcome bonus, because it's one-off and would distort the annual comparison.

Is it like this for everyone? No. Absolutely not. If I only flew twice a year, the lounge and Fast Lane value would halve, and the math would get a lot tighter. That's exactly why I say: do the math for your own situation. The card isn't good or bad. It's good or bad for you.

How do you apply for the Amex Platinum in Belgium?

The application itself is fairly straightforward. You need to be at least 18 years old, have a gross annual income of at least €30,000, no payment defaults, and be a Belgian tax resident. A SEPA direct debit is set up for the monthly billing.

The most important difference is in how you apply. Apply directly on the Amex website and you get a standard welcome bonus. Apply via a friend link (referral) and you get the maximum bonus of 150,000 points. On TravelLux.be I manage such a friend link, and yes: I also earn points if you apply via it. That's why I stick to one rule: I only recommend the card if the numbers work for you. If the math doesn't add up for your profile, I'll say so honestly.

After approval (usually within a few business days) you receive the card by mail. The metal Platinum card, by the way, not a plastic thing. Feels solid. Not that this affects the points you earn with it, but it's a nice detail.

Don't forget: you must spend that €4,000 to €6,000 in the first three months to receive the full welcome bonus. So plan it. Time your application around a period when you have larger spending anyway.

Frequently asked questions about the Amex Platinum Belgium