Amex Platinum for Digital Nomads: Why This Is the Ultimate Work Card

Lisbon, quarter to eight in the morning. I was sitting in a coworking space overlooking the Tagus, cappuccino in hand, three Zoom calls on the agenda. My Airbnb in Alfama cost 47 euros per night. My flight BRU → LIS had been booked with Membership Rewards points. And my lunch later that day, paid with a card that charged zero foreign transaction fees.

That was two years ago. Since then, I've worked from eight countries: Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Georgia, Morocco and Japan. Every time the same card in my wallet. The Amex Platinum isn't simply a credit card — it's the Swiss army knife of every Belgian digital nomad who's serious about remote work.

Honestly: when I first saw the price, €780 per year, I thought "that's insane for a card." But when you tally up what you get back as a frequent traveller working from abroad, the picture shifts entirely. Let me explain why.

No foreign transaction fees: how much do you save as a digital nomad with the Amex Platinum?

This is where the story begins. Most Belgian bank cards charge 1.5% to 2.5% foreign transaction fees on every payment outside the eurozone. Doesn't sound like much, but let's do the maths. As a digital nomad in Bangkok, you easily spend €1,500 per month: coworking, food, transport, accommodation. With 2% foreign transaction fees, you're losing €30 per month on pure banking costs. Over six months in Asia, that's €180 that simply evaporates.

The Amex Platinum charges zero foreign transaction fees. Zero. Whether you're paying in Japanese yen in Tokyo, Thai baht in Chiang Mai, or Turkish lira in Istanbul: you always pay the pure exchange rate. For me, in 2025 alone, that was a saving of around €320, purely on foreign transaction fees.

There's something else that few people think about. Many SaaS tools that digital nomads use — Notion, Figma, Adobe, Slack — are billed in USD. If you pay for those with a regular Belgian bank card, you're paying monthly foreign transaction fees on your work tools. Not with the Amex Platinum. That easily saves €5 to €10 per month, every single month.

1,550+ airport lounges: your office between two flights

I remember a five-hour layover at Istanbul Airport last year. My next flight was heading to Tbilisi, and I had a report to finish for a client. Instead of settling in at a gate with a screaming child on my left and a beeping cart on my right, I walked into the Priority Pass lounge.

Quiet. Wifi at 200 Mbps. A warm buffet. Free coffee. And most importantly: a table where I could work with focus for three hours. By the time I boarded, my report was done and I'd eaten in the meantime. That, for me, is the real value of lounge access as a digital nomad: it's not luxury, it's productivity.

With the Amex Platinum you get Priority Pass Prestige. That means unlimited access to more than 1,550 lounges worldwide, for you and a guest. That Priority Pass is worth around €500 per year as a standalone pass. With that alone, you've already earned back nearly two thirds of your annual card fee.

And for those who regularly depart from Brussels Airport: you also get Fast Lane security included (normally €169/year). I can tell you, on a Monday morning at 6 a.m. with the queue stretching to the entrance, that's the difference between panic and calm.

Earning Membership Rewards points as a Belgian digital nomad: booking flights without paying

This is where it gets really interesting. Every euro you spend with the Amex Platinum earns you 1 Membership Rewards point. Activate the Booster option for €10 per month, and you earn 4 points per euro. As a digital nomad running both business and personal expenses through the card, you accumulate points incredibly fast.

Let's say you spend €3,000 per month via the card (accommodation, coworking, flights, food, tools). With the Booster, that's 12,000 points per month, or 144,000 points per year. Enough for a return business class BRU → BKK with Brussels Airlines or a partner. And your welcome bonus of 150,000 points comes on top of that.

Those points never expire as long as your card remains active. That's crucial if you're saving long-term for a big trip. I personally saved for a year and a half and used my points for a return BRU → NRT (Tokyo) in business class. The value of those tickets: over €3,400. Paid with points.

The transfer partners are worth their weight in gold for Belgian travellers. You can transfer points to Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Turkish Airlines, and more than fifteen other programmes. Whatever destination you choose from your nomad base, there's always a good transfer option. Read more about this in our comprehensive guide to Membership Rewards points.

Travel insurance and emergency assistance: what you hope you'll never need

In Marrakech, my backpack was stolen from a café while I'd stepped away to the toilet. Laptop, hard drive, headphones: all gone. Value of the items: around €2,100. I was in a panic. But because I had paid for my trip with the Amex Platinum, I was covered by the baggage insurance. After filing the claim with Chubb, I was reimbursed for the majority. Without that insurance, it would have been a serious blow.

The travel insurance via the Amex Platinum is automatically active when you pay for the trip with your card. That means: trip cancellation insurance, flight insurance for delays or cancellations, baggage insurance for loss, theft or damage, and coverage for medical expenses abroad. For digital nomads who are constantly on the move, that's an enormous peace of mind.

On top of that, there's Global Assist: 24/7 emergency assistance anywhere in the world. If you fall ill in Bali or lose your passport in Bogotá, you have a phone number you can always call. And the concierge service helps you with practical matters: restaurant reservations, translation assistance, finding a doctor. It might sound excessive until you actually need it. Then it's priceless.

Many digital nomads take out a separate travel insurance like SafetyWing or World Nomads. Those easily cost €40 to €70 per month. With the Amex Platinum, you have basic insurance included. Depending on your situation, you can downsize or even drop that separate insurance entirely, which again offsets a significant portion of the annual fee.

The honest calculation: is €780 per year worth it for a digital nomad credit card?

I understand the hesitation. €780 is not pocket change. But let's lay out the added value concretely for a typical digital nomad year.

• Priority Pass Prestige lounge access: value ~€500/year
• Fast Lane Brussels Airport: value €169/year
• No foreign transaction fees (at €1,500/month outside the eurozone): savings ~€300/year
• Travel insurance included: savings €200-€500/year compared to standalone insurance
• Dining for 2 in Belgium (3x per year): value up to €300/year
• Welcome bonus 150,000 points: value €1,000-€3,000+ depending on how you use them
• Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits per stay: up to €650 in upgrades and breakfast

If you add up just the lounge access, Fast Lane and foreign transaction fee savings alone, you're already at nearly €970 in annual value. More than the €780 the card costs. Everything beyond that — the points, the insurance, the dining benefits — is pure profit.

Honestly: if you only go on holiday once a year to Spain, this card is overkill. But if you fly three, four, five times or more per year, regularly stay outside the eurozone and your laptop is your livelihood, then the Amex Platinum pays for itself many times over. It's not the cheapest card. It's the card that gives you the most in return when you use it intensively.

At TravelLux.be, Belgian travellers always find the maximum welcome bonus. Via the TravelLux.be referral link you receive 150,000 Membership Rewards points with your application — more than when you apply directly via americanexpress.com/be. The annual fee is identical: €65/month. The only difference: more points for you.