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Updated: 8 July 2026

Exchange Rates with Amex: How Much Do You Really Save on Foreign Purchases?

Honestly: exchange rates aren't the first thing I think of when someone asks me why I use the Amex Platinum. Lounges, yes. Travel insurance, absolutely. But exchange rates? That sounds like the boring part. Until you do the maths. And then it turns out that "boring" part is worth tens to hundreds of euros per year, depending on how much you spend abroad.

Yet it's precisely this aspect that most Belgian travellers overlook. We focus on the price of airline tickets, compare hotel deals down to the cent, and meanwhile quietly pay 1.5% to 3% in exchange fees per transaction through our regular bank card. These are invisible costs. You only see them when you compare your statement against the actual exchange rate of that day. And then it can be quite disappointing.

In this article, I'll calculate exactly how much you save as a Belgian traveller on exchange rates with the Amex Platinum, how that saving compares to alternatives like Wise or Revolut, and where the pitfalls are. Because yes, there are pitfalls.

What does your Belgian bank actually charge on foreign payments?

Let's start with the basics, because this is where things already go wrong for many people. When you pay with a Belgian debit card (Bancontact/Maestro) or a standard credit card in a currency other than the euro, you pay two things: the exchange rate itself and an additional surcharge your bank applies.

That additional surcharge varies greatly by bank and by card. With most major Belgian banks, you're looking at 1.5% to 2.5% for debit cards. With some credit cards, it's 2% to 3%. That may not sound like much. But let's do the maths.

The tricky part is that you never explicitly see these costs at the moment of payment. The terminal shows the amount in dollars. Your bank converts it afterwards and shows a euro amount on your statement. The difference? You have to figure that out yourself. And honestly: almost nobody does.

I didn't for years. Until I decided, just for fun, to compare every transaction in Thailand for a week against the actual exchange rate of that day. The difference on my Belgian bank card was consistently between 2.1% and 2.7%. Over a week in Bangkok and the islands, that easily added up to €40 to €50 extra. For me, that was the trigger to look into this seriously.

No foreign transaction fees with Amex Platinum: how does it actually work?

The Amex Platinum in Belgium charges 0% foreign transaction fees on transactions in foreign currencies. Zero. No surcharge, no "foreign transaction fee", no extra percentage. This is one of the benefits listed on the official Amex page, but many people don't notice it between the lounges and the concierge.

What you do pay is the exchange rate that American Express itself applies. And there's a nuance there. Amex doesn't use the perfect interbank mid-market rate (the "real" exchange rate you see on Google or XE.com). There's a small markup, typically 0.3% to 0.5%. That's comparable to what Visa and Mastercard apply with their own conversions. It's not zero, but it's a fraction of what your bank adds on top.

In concrete terms: if the actual EUR/USD rate is 1.1000, Amex might charge 1.0960 or 1.0945. On a $100 transaction, you'd then pay €91.25 instead of the theoretical €90.91. Difference: 34 cents. With a regular Belgian bank card at 2% surcharge, you'd pay €92.73. Difference compared to Amex: €1.48 per €100.

And those points come on top. Every euro you spend with the Amex Platinum earns 1 Membership Rewards point as standard (or 4 points per euro with the Booster option at €10 per month). On €5,000 in foreign spending, that's 5,000 to 20,000 points, depending on your setup. Those who use those points smartly with airline partners such as Brussels Airlines, British Airways or Emirates get 1 to 2 cents per point in value. More about this in our guide to Membership Rewards points.

Amex versus Wise and Revolut: an honest comparison

This is the question I get most often, and rightly so. Because if you look purely at the exchange rate, Wise and Revolut are hard to beat. Wise charges the actual interbank rate plus a transparent fee of 0.3% to 0.6% depending on the currency. Revolut offers the interbank rate without surcharge (at least on weekdays, within the free allowance).

So yes: on the rate alone, Wise and Revolut are cheaper than Amex. I'll readily admit that. The difference is small, perhaps 0.1% to 0.3% per transaction, but it's there.

But the comparison doesn't stop there. Because a Wise card doesn't give you Membership Rewards points. No travel insurance. No Priority Pass lounge access. No Fast Lane at Brussels Airport. No Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits. And no concierge who calls you when your flight is cancelled.

My approach in practice: I use the Amex Platinum as my primary card for foreign payments. That way I earn points, I'm insured, and I pay no foreign transaction fees. I have the Wise card as a backup for situations where Amex isn't accepted, because let's be honest: that happens. In Thailand, I couldn't use Amex at street vendors and small restaurants. There, Wise or a Visa card is indispensable.

The question, then, isn't which card offers the cheapest exchange rate, but which card delivers the best overall package. For someone who travels outside the eurozone two to three times a year and already has the Amex Platinum: the foreign transaction fee saving is a bonus on top of everything you already get. For someone who's just looking for a cheap card for the occasional foreign payment, without needing lounges or points, Wise is probably the better choice. Not every card suits every profile.

The DCC trap: always pay in local currency

This is the point where many travellers leave money on the table, regardless of which card they use. Dynamic Currency Conversion, or DCC, is that question you get on a payment terminal: "Would you like to pay in euros?" It sounds convenient. It's a trap.

When you choose "yes", the local shop or hotel applies the exchange rate, not Amex. And that rate is almost always worse. How much worse? I've tested it multiple times. In Miami, the difference on a hotel bill of $450 was exactly €27 more when I let it be charged in euros via DCC instead of in dollars via Amex. That's a 5.4% markup. In London, the difference on a restaurant bill of £85 was around £4, or 4.7%.

The rule of thumb is simple: always choose the local currency. In the US: dollars. In the United Kingdom: pounds. In Thailand: baht. Let Amex handle the conversion, not the terminal. This applies to every credit card, by the way, not just Amex. But it's especially wasteful when you have a card that charges 0% foreign transaction fees and you throw that advantage away by accepting DCC.

By the way: the Amex Platinum isn't ideal if you mainly need cash. The cash advance fees with Amex aren't particularly advantageous. For cash withdrawals abroad, I personally use a different card. The Amex is meant for payments, not for cash.

When the foreign transaction fee saving is and isn't worthwhile

Let me be honest: if you do one long weekend in London per year and spend €300 there, you save perhaps €5 to €9 on exchange costs with the Amex Platinum. That's not nothing, but it's also not the argument with which you justify a card costing €780 per year.

The foreign transaction fee saving becomes interesting when you regularly spend outside the eurozone. Think of: multiple trips per year to the US, the UK, Thailand or Australia. Online purchases from foreign webshops that charge in dollars or pounds. Business expenses in foreign currencies. In those scenarios, it adds up.

I personally spend around €6,000 to €8,000 per year in foreign currencies, spread across trips to Florida, Thailand, London and online purchases. The saving on exchange costs alone amounts to €90 to €200 per year compared to my old bank card. Then the points come on top: 6,000 to 8,000 Membership Rewards points as standard, or up to 32,000 with the Booster. That's a nice contribution towards a next flight.

The Amex Platinum isn't a card you get purely for the exchange rates. But if you already have the card, or are considering it for other reasons (lounges, insurance, points), then the foreign transaction fee saving is a nice extra that strengthens the overall value proposition. On TravelLux.be, I've previously done a comprehensive calculation of all the benefits combined, including when the card earns back its €780 per year and when it doesn't.

If the numbers work for you and you want the maximum welcome bonus: via the TravelLux.be referral link you'll receive up to 150,000 Membership Rewards points upon application. This bonus is one-time and requires a minimum spend of approximately €4,000 to €6,000 in the first three months. That's a threshold you should know about before you decide.

Transparency: I also receive points if you apply via this link. That's why I stick to one rule: only recommend it if the numbers work for you.

My personal workflow for foreign payments

After a few years of experimenting, I've settled on a system that works for me. No rocket science, but it does save money.

Step one: the Amex Platinum is my default card for all payments abroad. Hotels, restaurants, shops, car hire — anything I come across in the US or the UK. Zero foreign transaction fees, points on top. Done.

Step two: for small expenses where Amex isn't accepted (street markets in Bangkok, small eateries in Vietnam, some cafés in London), I have a Wise card as backup. Acceptance is simply broader there via the Visa network.

Step three: for cash, I withdraw a limited amount using a different card that doesn't charge ATM fees. I never use the Amex for cash withdrawals.

Step four, and this is what people forget: I always, without exception, choose to pay in the local currency. The one time I accidentally clicked "euro" on a terminal in Orlando cost me €19 on a hotel payment of $340. That was a lesson I only needed once.

This system combines the advantages of the Amex (points, insurance, 0% foreign transaction fees) with the flexibility of Wise (broader acceptance, cheap cash withdrawals). It's not perfect: I carry two cards instead of one, and I occasionally have to think about which one to grab. But the savings are real. On an annual basis, I estimate I pay around €100 to €200 less in exchange-related costs than I used to with just my Belgian bank card.

Also read:

• Amex Platinum in Belgium: is it worth it?
• How to optimally use Membership Rewards points
• Best credit card for travelling from Belgium