Iceland in Winter: Booking Luxury Aurora Trips with Amex Benefits

Honestly: I've never been the kind of person who spontaneously lights up at the word "Iceland." Cold. Expensive. Dark. Those were roughly my three associations. Until I started calculating what a well-planned winter trip to Iceland actually costs, and which benefits you can leverage as a Belgian traveller to bring that price down.

Because here's the thing: Iceland in winter is not a budget destination, but it doesn't have to be a financial bloodbath either. Certainly not if you have the right credit card in your wallet. And by that I mean the Amex Platinum — not because I necessarily want to sell you that card, but because the numbers simply add up for this kind of trip. Let me explain.

This article is written for Belgian travellers who are considering flying to Iceland this winter for the aurora borealis, and who want to know how they can do it smartly, comfortably, and without burning money unnecessarily. No sales pitch. Just the maths, the practical tips, and a few things I'd personally do differently.

Why Iceland in winter is worth it (and when you actually see the northern lights)

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, is one of those natural phenomena that photos don't do justice to. I haven't seen it live myself yet, just to be upfront about that. But I've done enough research and spoken with enough people who have been there to know that the chance of a strong aurora show is greatest between mid-September and late March.

The best months? November to February. That's when the nights are longest and you have the most darkness. But that has a downside: you're dealing with an average of four to five hours of daylight, temperatures between -5°C and +3°C, and roads that are regularly impassable due to snow or ice. Iceland in winter is not a relaxing holiday. It's an adventure with a warm coat.

A good compromise, as I read everywhere, is early October or late February. You still have a reasonable amount of daylight, the aurora chances are decent, and the tourist crowds are lower than in the deep winter peak season around Christmas and New Year. That also makes a difference in hotel prices, by the way.

What you definitely need: a location away from light pollution. Reykjavik itself is not ideal. Places like Thingvellir, the Snaefellsnes peninsula or the north around Akureyri score better. Many luxury hotels in Iceland are deliberately built with this in mind, featuring large windows and aurora alerts that buzz you out of bed at night when the sky turns green.

What does a luxury winter trip to Iceland from Brussels Airport cost?

Let me break down the numbers. These are realistic prices for a winter trip of five to seven nights, departing from Brussels Airport (BRU), based on what I'm seeing in terms of 2026 prices.

Flights: Direct flights from Brussels to Keflavik (KEF) exist but are seasonal. In winter you often fly via a connection, for example London, Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Expect €300 to €600 return per person in economy, or €800 to €1,500 in premium economy or business if you can find it. Icelandair offers the most routes and has an excellent Saga Class.

Hotels: This is where it adds up quickly. A standard three-star hotel in Reykjavik costs €150 to €250 per night in winter. Luxury hotels such as the Ion Adventure Hotel (near Thingvellir), the Retreat at Blue Lagoon, or Hotel Rangá in the south run between €350 and €900 per night. For the Retreat you may even need to budget above €1,000 in peak season.

Activities: A northern lights excursion with a guide costs €80 to €150 per person. A trip to an ice cave in Vatnajökull: €150 to €250. Snorkelling in Silfra: €200. Whale watching at Húsavík: €90. It adds up. Budget €400 to €800 in excursions per person for a week.

Food: Iceland is expensive. Lunch easily costs €25 to €40, dinner at a good restaurant €60 to €120 per person. Budget €100 per day if you want to eat properly, more if you want to try Grillið or Dill (Iceland's only Michelin star, as far as I know).

The total for a week of luxury Iceland: €3,000 to €5,000 per person. For two people you're looking at between €6,000 and €10,000. Quite a sum, to put it mildly.

How Amex Platinum benefits concretely make your Iceland trip cheaper

Now it gets interesting. The Amex Platinum costs €780 per year (€65 per month). That's not nothing. But when you weigh those costs against what you get back on a trip like this, it becomes a different story.

Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR): According to TravelLux.be, this is one of the best-kept secrets of the Amex Platinum. The programme includes more than 14,000 hotels, and Iceland has a handful of them. Book through FHR and you get per stay: free room upgrade (if available), early check-in, late check-out, daily breakfast for two, and a welcome gift worth around €100. Add it all up and you save €400 to €650 per stay. Over a five-night trip that's a serious saving, even if you only book two or three nights through FHR.

Lounge access: The Platinum card gives you Priority Pass Prestige, good for 1,550+ lounges worldwide. You plus one guest free, unlimited. At Brussels Airport this means you can wait in the lounge instead of at the gate, which really makes a difference on early mornings (departures to Iceland often involve an early flight). The value of Priority Pass Prestige alone: around €500 per year if you were to buy it separately.

Fast Lane at Brussels Airport: The Amex Platinum also gives you Fast Lane security at Zaventem, worth €169 per year. If you're travelling as a couple and your partner has a supplementary Platinum card (€10/month), you both get that Fast Lane. With winter departure times and the crowds at BRU, that's nice — no more and no less.

Travel insurance: Everyone forgets about this, but it's quite important for Iceland in winter. Imagine: your flight gets cancelled due to a snowstorm (which is not unusual in Iceland). Or your luggage gets lost. Or someone sprains an ankle on an ice cave excursion. The Amex Platinum covers trip cancellation, flight delay, lost luggage and medical expenses abroad, automatically activated when you've paid for the trip with the card. Through Chubb and Europe Assistance. That's a separate policy that would otherwise cost you €80 to €150 per trip.

No foreign transaction fees: Iceland uses the Icelandic króna (ISK). With many other cards you pay 1.5% to 3% in foreign transaction fees. The Amex Platinum charges no foreign transaction fees. On a total trip spend of €4,000 you save €60 to €120. Small amount, but it adds up.

Membership Rewards points: With the standard setup you earn 1 point per €1 spent. Activate the Booster (€10/month extra) and you earn 4 points per €1. On a €4,000 trip that yields 4,000 or 16,000 points respectively. Those points can be transferred to airlines such as Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, or even Icelandair's partners. The value depends on how you redeem them, but count on 0.5 to 1.5 cents per point. No fortunes, but over time enough for a free flight.

The maths

Let me make it concrete for a couple booking five nights in Iceland:

• FHR benefits (2 nights booked via FHR): savings ~€900 (breakfast, room upgrade, welcome gift x2)
• Lounge access BRU + connecting airport: value ~€80 to €120 per trip
• Fast Lane BRU: value ~€40 (per time, for 2 people)
• Travel insurance: savings ~€150 (vs. separate policy)
• No foreign transaction fees: savings ~€80
• Membership Rewards (with Booster on €5,000 spend): 20,000 points, value ~€100 to €300

Total estimated value on this single trip: €1,350 to €1,590. That's nearly double the annual fee of €780. And you still have the rest of the year with Dining for 2 (three times a free dinner for two at top Belgian restaurants, worth up to €300) and the other benefits.

Now, to be fair: this is the upper-end calculation. If you don't book via FHR, don't use the Booster, and only fly once a year, you'll come out closer to €400 to €700 in value. And then the maths no longer works out. The Amex Platinum is not for everyone, and I say that deliberately.

Iceland and Amex: is the card accepted everywhere?

This is the question Belgian travellers always ask. Rightly so, because in Belgium itself Amex acceptance is, shall we say, not always a given. So how does it work in Iceland?

Good news: Iceland is one of the most cashless countries in the world. Credit cards are accepted virtually everywhere, even at street stalls and small cafés. American Express is widely accepted at hotels, restaurants and larger shops in Reykjavik and the surrounding area.

However: at smaller petrol stations outside Reykjavik, some remote B&Bs, and unmanned pumps on the ring road, it can happen that only Visa or Mastercard works. Some machines ask for a four-digit PIN that isn't always set up by default on credit cards. So always bring a backup card. Personally, I'd take a Visa Debit as backup and use the Amex Platinum as my main card, so you earn points and are insured on your largest expenses.

One more thing: petrol stations on the ring road often work with a pre-authorisation. You hold your card against the reader, an amount is blocked (sometimes €150 to €200), and the actual amount is charged later. This works with Amex, but it can temporarily affect your available limit. Not dramatic, but good to know.

Practical tips for your luxury Iceland winter trip from Belgium

After a lot of reading and planning, these are the tips I'd give to anyone considering this trip. No stating the obvious, I hope.

Book early, but not too early. Hotels like the Retreat at Blue Lagoon and Ion Adventure Hotel fill up quickly for the winter months. Booking three to four months in advance is wise. But don't book your flights too early: Icelandair and other carriers sometimes drop last-minute deals for winter flights, especially in January and February after the Christmas rush. Check Google Flights with a flexible date search.

Rent a 4x4, not a standard car. In winter, many roads in Iceland are only passable with a 4WD vehicle. The F-roads are completely closed, but even the ring road can be dangerous in a regular hatchback in icy and snowy conditions. Renting a 4x4 costs €80 to €150 per day. With the Amex Platinum you also get Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star status, which means faster pick-up and a possible upgrade.

Time the welcome bonus smartly. Via the TravelLux.be referral link you receive the maximum welcome bonus of 250,000 Membership Rewards points. The condition: you need to spend a minimum amount in the first three months, typically €4,000 to €6,000. Plan your Iceland trip within those first three months and you'll almost automatically hit that threshold with flights, hotels and excursions. The welcome bonus is a one-time offer, so it's smart to time it with a bigger trip.

Use the concierge for restaurant reservations. Iceland's top restaurants (Dill, Grillið, Ósushi for a surprisingly good sushi spot) fill up fast in season. The 24/7 concierge service of the Amex Platinum can make reservations for you, even at short notice. I don't have experience with how quickly they arrange things for Icelandic restaurants specifically, but for other destinations it works quite well.

Download the aurora apps. My Aurora Forecast and Hello Aurora are the two most popular ones. They give you real-time Kp-index data (the measure of geomagnetic activity) and cloud cover forecasts. A Kp-index of 3 or higher with clear skies: that's your moment to head outside. Many luxury hotels in Iceland have their own aurora alert system that calls your room when it's time.

Keep daily costs under control. Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe. A beer in a bar costs €8 to €12. A simple burger: €20. The trick that many experienced Iceland travellers use: cook some of your meals yourself. Bónus supermarket (yes, that's really the name) is the cheapest chain. If you're staying in a hotel with a kitchenette, that easily saves €50 to €80 per day for two people.

Who the Amex Platinum does and doesn't work for on an Iceland trip

I wouldn't be honest if I didn't also mention the flip side. The Amex Platinum is not the right choice for everyone, not even for an Iceland trip.

It works well for you if: you fly at least two to three times a year (Iceland + one or two other trips), you're willing to hit the minimum spend of €4,000 to €6,000 in three months for the welcome bonus, you regularly depart from Brussels Airport (Fast Lane, lounge), and you actually use the FHR benefits. In that case you'll reach an annual value of €1,200 to €2,000+, well above the €780 fee.

It works less well if: you only take one short city trip a year, you rarely travel via an airport, or you don't plan to book through FHR. In that case you might get €400 to €700 in value from the card, and then you're paying more than you're getting back. Be honest with yourself about that. A credit card should work for you, not the other way around.

One more thing: if you already have another premium credit card with lounge access and travel insurance, the added value of the Amex Platinum is smaller. Paying double for the same benefits is a waste.

Frequently asked questions about Iceland in winter and Amex Platinum