Home / Blog / Membership Rewards points

Updated: 14 October 2026

Membership Rewards points: how to earn, transfer and redeem them smartly as a Belgian traveller

Honestly: I spent months accumulating Membership Rewards points without really knowing what to do with them. They sat in my account, the balance grew, and I thought: I'll deal with that later. Until I checked what 60,000 points were worth in the Amex webshop (a mediocre pair of headphones) versus at British Airways (a return to London in business). The difference was so absurdly large that I started investigating how the points system actually works.

What I've learned since then: the value of your Membership Rewards points depends almost entirely on how you redeem them. Not how many you have, but what you do with them. And that's what this article is about: concrete, with calculations, from a Belgian perspective.

How do you earn Membership Rewards points in Belgium?

The basic principle is simple. Every euro you spend with the Amex Platinum earns 1 Membership Rewards point. Groceries, restaurants, fuel stops, online purchases: everything counts. No bonus categories, no complicated rotations. One euro, one point.

That might sound meagre compared to some American credit cards that offer 3x or 5x points on certain categories. But there's an option that changes the playing field: the Booster. For €10 per month extra, you earn 4 points per €1 instead of 1. Four times as many, on all your spending.

Let's do the maths. Say you spend an average of €2,500 per month on your Amex Platinum. Without the Booster: 2,500 points per month, 30,000 per year. With the Booster: 10,000 points per month, 120,000 per year, minus the €120 for the Booster itself. Those 90,000 extra points cost you just €120. If you use those points smartly (more on that later), each point is easily worth 1 cent, often more. That makes the Booster a fairly logical choice for anyone spending more than roughly €1,000 per month.

And then there's the welcome bonus. Anyone who applies for the card via a referral link on TravelLux.be receives up to 150,000 Membership Rewards points. That's the maximum welcome bonus, more than when applying directly on the Amex website. There is a condition: you need to spend approximately €4,000 to €6,000 in the first 3 months. For some that's a lot, for others that's just three months of normal life. The welcome bonus is one-time only and applies exclusively to new cardholders.

Which airlines can you transfer Membership Rewards points to?

This is where it gets interesting. And frankly: this is where you make or break the value of your points. Amex points can be redeemed directly for gift vouchers, products or statement credits in the Membership Rewards webshop. But the value you get is dismal: often 0.3 to 0.5 cents per point. A pair of headphones worth €200 then costs you 40,000 points. That feels like a bad deal because it is a bad deal.

The real value lies in transfers to airline and hotel partners. Membership Rewards points can be transferred 1-to-1 to a range of loyalty programmes. That means: 1,000 MR points become 1,000 miles or points with the partner. No conversion loss. And those miles, with the right booking, are sometimes worth 1.5 to 3 cents each.

The most important transfer partners for Belgian travellers:

There are also hotel partners (Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy), but the transfer ratio is less favourable. I rarely use those. The value per point drops significantly.

What I personally do most often: transfer points to Flying Blue or Avios. Flying Blue regularly runs promotions where you book a ticket for 25% to 50% fewer miles. If you keep an eye on those promotions (the Flying Blue app sends notifications), you can sometimes score absurdly good deals. Last year I booked a return to Bangkok in premium economy via Flying Blue Promo Rewards for 53,000 miles. The cash price at that time: over €1,400. That's more than 2.6 cents per point.

British Airways Avios, on the other hand, are handy for short trips. Brussels to London in business class: 26,000 Avios return plus taxes. Not cheap in taxes (British Airways charges hefty fuel surcharges), but if you have the points sitting there anyway, quite acceptable.

How much are Membership Rewards points really worth?

This is the question everyone asks, and the honest answer is: it depends. I know that's an annoying answer, but it's true. The value of your MR points fluctuates enormously based on how you use them.

A rule of thumb I use on TravelLux.be: count on 1 cent per point as your baseline. Anything above is a bonus. Anything below means you're probably better off choosing a different redemption method.

Concrete example. You have 80,000 MR points. You can redeem them for €400 in gift vouchers (0.5 cents/point), or you transfer them to Flying Blue and book a return to Miami in economy for 50,000 miles. Cash price for that flight: €650. You still have 30,000 points left and have effectively achieved 1.3 cents per point. Better. Transfer them to Emirates for a business class segment and the value per point can head towards 2 cents or more.

The lesson: don't use the webshop. Unless you really can't think of anything else and the points would otherwise be lost (which they won't, by the way, because MR points never expire as long as your card is active).

Smart redemptions: strategies that work for me

After a few years of tinkering, I've developed a sort of system. No rocket science, just a few principles I consistently try to follow.

1. Save until you have a concrete goal. It's tempting to spend points as soon as you have a few thousand. But the real value lies in larger bookings. A business class ticket to Thailand costs 70,000 to 100,000 miles via various partners. If after three months you've already spent 15,000 points on a bol.com voucher, you've bought a seat in economy instead of business. Patience literally pays off here.

2. Keep an eye on transfer promotions. Flying Blue Promo Rewards appear every month. Sometimes there's a destination that fits perfectly. I honestly check every first Tuesday of the month. It takes two minutes. Sometimes nothing interesting, sometimes a destination for 50% fewer miles that I happen to want to visit. We once booked Ho Chi Minh City this way for a ridiculously low number of miles.

3. Mix points with cash when it makes sense. Some loyalty programmes let you pay part in miles and part in cash. Flying Blue does this. Sometimes the mix is more favourable than paying entirely in miles, especially when the cash component is low and it allows you to book a higher cabin class.

4. Always compare the cash price. If an economy ticket costs €180 and you need to spend 25,000 miles on it, you're getting 0.72 cents per point. That's below my baseline of 1 cent. Then I'd rather pay cash and save the points for a more expensive booking where the value per point is higher. Sounds logical, but in practice many people forget to check this.

5. Only transfer when you're ready to book. This is crucial. Once you transfer points from Membership Rewards to an airline partner, you can't get them back. They're locked in that programme. So I never transfer "in advance". First I search for availability on the flight I want, then I transfer the exact number of points. This prevents you from having 80,000 points sitting at Emirates for a flight that's already full.

When are Membership Rewards points not worth it?

I enjoy writing about the benefits of the points system, but honesty compels me to tell the other side of the story too. Amex points aren't a good deal for everyone.

If you fly fewer than 2 times per year, the maths become difficult. The Amex Platinum costs €780 per year (€65/month). Yes, that also includes lounge access, Fast Lane at Brussels Airport, travel insurance and Dining for 2. But the points story alone doesn't justify the card if you rarely travel. The realistic value of all benefits combined is closer to €400 to €700 per year for occasional flyers. That's less than the annual fee. The maths simply don't add up then.

Also, if you mainly travel within Belgium and immediately surrounding countries by car, the added value is limited. Points are most valuable for flights, especially on longer distances and in higher cabins. You don't book a weekend in the Ardennes with airline miles.

And then there's the acceptance issue. Amex is not accepted everywhere in Belgium. In larger shops, restaurants and online stores, it's usually fine. But at the local bakery or the market in Tongeren: forget it. I always carry a Visa or Mastercard as backup. That's not a dealbreaker, but it does mean that not all your spending goes through the Amex, and therefore not all your spending earns points.

The card is, in my own experience, most valuable if you fly at least 3 to 4 times per year, regularly visit foreign countries, and are willing to invest time in understanding the points system. If that doesn't suit you: no shame. There are plenty of Visa cards with cashback that work more simply.

Transferring points: step by step

The transfer itself isn't complicated, but it helps to know what to expect.

Log in to your American Express account (via americanexpress.com/be or the app). Go to the Membership Rewards section. There you'll see your points balance and a list of transfer partners. Choose the partner, enter your loyalty number (you must already have an account with that programme), and enter the number of points you want to transfer.

Most transfers are 1:1 and are processed within 24 to 48 hours. Sometimes faster, sometimes slightly slower. With Flying Blue I've seen it appear within a few hours. With Miles & More it once took a day and a half. Keep this in mind if you want to book quickly: don't do the transfer at the last minute.

There is no minimum or maximum per transfer, although some partners require a minimum of 1,000 points. And once again: once transferred, the points are permanently with that partner. No way back.

Membership Rewards versus other points systems in Belgium

Belgian travellers don't have as much choice as Americans or Brits. The credit card market here is more limited. But a comparison with the most common alternatives is still useful.

Most Belgian Visa and Mastercard cards offer cashback of 0.1% to 0.5%. On €30,000 annual spending, that's €30 to €150 back. With the Amex Platinum (with Booster), you earn 120,000 points on the same spending. If you use those points for business class transfers (1.5 to 2 cents/point), that's €1,800 to €2,400 in flight value. Even conservatively calculated at 1 cent/point, it's €1,200. The difference is not subtle.

Frankly: that comparison is somewhat skewed, because the Amex Platinum also costs €780 per year plus €120 for the Booster, while most cashback cards are free or cheap. But even when you subtract the costs, with MR points and regular travel you come out ahead. The condition is that you actually use the points smartly. If you squander them in the webshop on gadgets, you're not much better off than with cashback.

What makes Membership Rewards unique in the Belgian market: the flexibility. Your points aren't locked into one airline. You can transfer them to Brussels Airlines, but also to Emirates, Qatar Airways or British Airways. That freedom of choice is, for me personally, the biggest asset. I only decide at the moment of booking where my points go, depending on availability and price.

Concrete bookings I've made with MR points

A few examples from my own experience, to show what's possible in practice.

That last example shows it doesn't always hit the mark. Economy to Miami via Miles & More yielded less value per point than I'd hoped. Would I have been better off paying cash and saving the points for a business class booking? In hindsight: yes. But well, we learn by doing.

Frequently asked questions about Membership Rewards points

Also read: Amex Platinum Belgium: honest review after 2 years of use and Best credit card for travel in Belgium compared.