TravelLux.be · 26 March 2026 · 12 min read

Membership Rewards Points: How to Smartly Earn, Transfer and Redeem as a Belgian Traveller

Last summer I was sitting in the Singapore Airlines business class lounge at Changi Airport, with a glass of champagne in hand and a boarding pass to the Maldives on my phone. The entire flight, BRU to SIN to MLE, had cost me zero euros. No years of saving, no cheat code: just being smart with Membership Rewards points. And honestly, a year earlier I wouldn't have believed something like this was possible from Belgium.

Most Belgian travellers I speak with know Amex points mainly as "that vague system you can use to buy gift cards." That's like using a Ferrari to do your grocery shopping. Technically it works, but you're missing the whole point. The real value of Membership Rewards points lies in the transfer partners: airlines like Brussels Airlines, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. And that's where things get really interesting.

Time to show you exactly how I do it, what pitfalls I've already encountered, and how you as a Belgian traveller can get the most out of your points.

How Do You Earn Membership Rewards Points in Belgium?

The basic principle is simple: 1 point per €1 you spend with your American Express Platinum card. Buy a return ticket from Brussels to Barcelona for €180? Then 180 points appear on your account. Pay for a hotel weekend in Bruges for €350? Another 350 points added. That might sound slow, but it adds up faster than you think, especially if you consistently use the card for daily expenses: groceries, fuel, restaurant visits, online purchases.

But the real acceleration? That's in the Booster option. For €10 per month extra you get 4 points per €1 spent. Let me do the maths: if you put €2,000 on your Amex monthly (which is realistic if you use it for your daily expenses), with the Booster you earn 8,000 points per month. That's 96,000 points per year, just by living normally. Add the welcome bonus on top and you'll be well above 200,000 points in your first year.

What I do myself: I literally pay for everything with my Amex Platinum wherever it's accepted. Supermarkets, Coolblue, restaurants, flight tickets, insurance. In Belgium, more and more shops accept American Express, and online it's possible almost everywhere. The points you build up this way never expire as long as your card is active. That's a huge advantage compared to, say, airline miles that expire after two or three years.

Then there's the welcome bonus. Through the TravelLux.be friend link you receive up to 150,000 Membership Rewards points as a welcome bonus. That's the maximum bonus available, more than with a direct application on americanexpress.com/be. Those 150,000 points alone are already enough for a return business class flight to the Middle East or a hefty discount on an intercontinental trip.

Transfer Partners: Where Your Points Truly Become Worth Their Weight in Gold

This is where it really matters. The Membership Rewards travel shop is fine if you want to quickly redeem points for a flight or hotel, but the value per point is fairly meagre there: expect around 0.5 to 0.8 cents per point. Transfer those same points to an airline partner? Then you can easily get 1.5 to even 3 cents per point. The difference is enormous.

A concrete example. Last December I wanted to go to the Maldives, business class. A return flight BRU to MLE via Dubai with Emirates easily costs €3,500 to €4,800 if you pay cash. Via Emirates Skywards I needed 136,500 miles for the same route. I transferred those miles from Membership Rewards, at a 1:1 ratio. So 136,500 points for a flight worth thousands of euros. Do the maths: that's more than 2.5 cents value per point.

The list of transfer partners from Belgium is seriously impressive:

• Brussels Airlines (via Miles & More): ideal for European flights from Brussels
• Lufthansa Miles & More: business and first class on the Star Alliance network
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue: regular promo awards with up to 50% discount on miles
• British Airways Avios: fantastic for short-haul flights (sometimes just 4,500 Avios one way within Europe)
• Emirates Skywards: my personal favourite for flights to Dubai, the Maldives and Asia
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club: Qsuites business class, possibly the best business class product in the world
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: for that iconic Singapore Suites experience
• Etihad Guest: strong for routes via Abu Dhabi
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles: surprisingly good sweet spots to Asia and Africa

And there are more than fifteen in total. The transfer is usually instant or within 24 hours. I've experienced multiple times that points appeared on my Skywards account within a few minutes. No hassle, no waiting times.

My tip for Belgian travellers: keep a close eye on Flying Blue. Air France-KLM regularly has so-called "Promo Rewards" where you need up to 50% fewer miles for certain routes. A business class return to New York that normally costs 106,000 Flying Blue miles can then be booked for 53,000 miles. Combine that with a transfer from Membership Rewards and you've got an absurdly good deal.

Redeeming for Hotels, Shops and Statement Credits: When to Do It and When Not To

Honestly, I almost never redeem my points for hotels through the Membership Rewards shop. The value per point is simply lower than with airline transfers. But there are exceptions.

If you have points to spare and need a last-minute hotel booking, it's quite handy. You can also use points for Amazon, Zalando or other webshops, but then you're quickly looking at 0.4 to 0.5 cents per point. That feels like a waste when you know those same points can be worth two to three times as much via Emirates or Qatar Airways.

There's also the option of statement credits: you essentially "buy back" part of your statement with points. Handy as an emergency solution, but again not the smartest way to use your points. I'd say: only use it if your points are about to expire (which isn't the case with Amex, since they never expire) or if you really have no travel plans.

What I do like to use points for besides flights: combining the Fine Hotels + Resorts programme with points. Through FHR you book luxury hotels with automatic room upgrade, early check-in, late check-out, daily breakfast for two and a welcome gift of around €100. The total added value per stay can amount to €650. If you combine that with a partial points payment, a five-night stay at a five-star resort suddenly becomes affordable.

My Personal Strategy: How I Get the Most Out of Membership Rewards

After two years of experimenting, I have a system that truly works for me. I'm sharing it here because I know how overwhelming it can feel in the beginning. All those partners, all those options — you can't see the wood for the trees.

Step one: I save up points and don't redeem them in the meantime for small things. Patience literally pays off here. A buffer of 100,000 to 200,000 points gives you the flexibility to pounce when a good deal comes along. And they do come along, believe me.

Step two: I follow the promo awards from Flying Blue and the special offers from Avios. There are Facebook groups and websites that track these. When a deal pops up, I transfer points and book immediately. Last month I spotted a Flying Blue Promo Reward for business class to Cape Town: 72,000 miles return from Brussels instead of the usual 128,000. I had the transfer and booking sorted within the hour.

Step three: I only activate the Booster option in months when I expect larger expenses. A new laptop, a holiday I partly pay cash for, the annual car insurance. Then I earn 4x points on those expenses and switch the Booster off again afterwards. That €10 per month isn't always worth it if you spend little, but with €2,000+ expenses in a month you earn 6,000 extra points. That's a solid deal.

Step four: I always combine airline points with the other benefits of my Amex Platinum. The lounge at Brussels Airport (Priority Pass offers access to 1,550+ lounges worldwide), Fast Lane security, the travel insurance that's automatically active when you pay with the card, the Dining for 2 experiences (three times a year a complimentary two-course menu for two at top restaurants in Belgium). All those benefits together make the annual fee of €780 easy to recoup, even without factoring in the points.

The Membership Rewards Points Value: Concrete Calculations for Belgian Travellers

Let's get specific, because that's what it's ultimately about. How much are your Amex points actually worth?

Those figures aren't arbitrary. I base them on dozens of bookings I've made myself or that fellow Belgian travellers have shared with me. The rule of thumb is clear: the higher the travel class and the smarter the route, the more value you get from each point.

Another example. A return flight Brussels to Bangkok in Qatar Airways Qsuites business class costs around €4,200 cash. Via Privilege Club you need 140,000 miles. Transfer from Membership Rewards: 140,000 points. That's exactly 3 cents per point. You're essentially "buying" a €4,200 flight with points you earned just by doing your daily spending.

Compare that with someone who redeems those same 140,000 points for statement credits: then you get around €700 back. The same points balance, six times less value. It's really worth taking a moment to think before you click "redeem."

And for those now thinking "but I always fly economy": there are great deals there too. British Airways Avios are fantastic for short flights. Brussels to London or Madrid for just 9,500 Avios return in economy, plus minimal taxes. Those 9,500 points can be earned with the Booster in less than a month with normal spending.

Frequently Asked Questions About Membership Rewards Points in Belgium

If after reading this article you feel like starting to save points yourself, check out the options on the official Amex page or apply directly through our friend link below. Those 150,000 welcome points give you a significant head start on your first points trip.

Want to read more about travelling with points? Visit TravelLux.be for more personal travel guides and tips.