Brussels Airlines American Express has a limited time offer: double sign-up bonus for friend referrals. To receive a personalized sign-up link for this offer, please complete the form below.
- Classic American Express card (€60 per year)
Sign-up bonus: 3000 miles (normally 1500) - Premium American Express card (€120 per year)
Sign-up bonus: 6000 miles (normally 3000) - Pay your cellphone bill with American Express
Extra bonus: 2000 miles (one time)
Earning airline miles is not limited to flying, you can earn miles with almost anything these days. One of the easiest ways to earn extra miles is signing up for a credit card. You will receive a number of miles just for signing up for the card and you will get 1 or 1,5 miles per euro spent. American Express also provides a bonus when you spend a certain amount in one year. Unfortunately, the number of credit cards earning airline miles is very limited in Belgium. Still, they can offer you a great opportunity to travel the world in luxury on a budget. For Belgian citizens, the credit card offers are limited to one program, Miles and More of the Lufthansa group. Miles of this program can be used to book (and upgrade) flights on any Star Alliance carrier.
Brussels Airlines offers four Miles and More credit cards: the Classic MasterCard, Premium MasterCard, Classic American Express and Premium American Express. I signed-up for the Brussels Airlines Classic American Express Card in 2008 and switched to the Premium Amex card last year earning me a total of more than 100,000 miles! The key to earning the maximum amount of miles is to pay as much as possible with your credit card. Pay all your bills and purchases (both online and offline) with your credit card, every euro counts! Shopping (including groceries), dining, gas, electronics, hotels, airline tickets, … almost everything! Some payments might even result in an extra bonus. Example: Paying your cellphone bill with your Brussels Airlines American Express card gets you 2000 bonus miles!
The yearly fee also contains a number of insurances:
Classic American Express (€60 per year):
Travel accident insurance
Baggage insurance
Wallet or purse theft insurance
Purchase Protection
Premium American Express (€120 per year):
Travel accident and inconvenience insurance
Trip cancellation insurance
Extended Baggage insurance
Wallet or purse theft insurance
Purchase Protection
So how much are those miles worth?
It all depends on what you spend them. In my opinion, only long-haul Business Class and First Class flights are worth spending miles on. These allow you to maximize the value of your miles as Business Class flights easily cost +€2000 and First Class flights +€8000. Of course airline loyalty programs will do everything to make you spend your miles on less valuable options e.g. use miles to buy goodies in their online shop, book hotel nights or rent a car. You really don’t want to do that! Miles and More is currently selling miles with a 20% bonus, which is still way too expensive, but it gives you an idea how they value the miles.
As you notice, 6000 miles are sold for €135. That’s more than the yearly fee of the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card which comes with 6000 sign-up miles! Same for the sign-up bonus of the Brussels Airlines Classic American Express card, those 3000 miles are sold for €85 (+600 miles bonus).
How do I maximize the number of miles earned?
I would recommend to sign-up for the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card now to get the 6000 miles. Complete the form to pay your cellphone bill with the card and earn an additional 2000 miles. Next year, you cancel the Premium card and switch to the Classic card. You will earn the sign-up bonus again (this time for the Classic card, which is at least 1500 miles if there’s no promotion) and you’ll earn another 2000 miles when you register to have your cellphone bills paid with the Classic card. That’s at least 11,500 miles in one year, just by signing up for these cards!
I’m not yet a Miles and More member, where do I sign-up?
You can enroll at the Miles and More website.
To receive a sign-up link with a double welcome bonus, please complete the form below.
Full disclosure: By signing up for a Brussels Airlines American Express card using a personalized link, I will receive bonus miles (friend referral program). Thank you for supporting my travel blog and enjoy your sign-up bonus!
Kan je miles verdienen met die credit cards als je momenteel nog maar een voorlopig miles & more nummer hebt (papieren kaartje, wegens nog geen vlucht gedaan)? Of wacht je beter tot je een definitief nummer hebt? Ik vind het nergens terug en een e-mail naar de klantendienst wordt niet beantwoord…
@Thomas Dat zou geen probleem mogen zijn. Komt het kaartje uit een folder of magazine? Je kan ook altijd online een Miles and More account aanmaken via http://www.miles-and-more.com/online/portal/mam/be/account/registration?nodeid=2218863&l=en&cid=1000188
Succes en veel plezier bij het verzamelen en spenderen van je mijlen!
Bart, did you ever consider getting a Platinum Card? Comes with a ton of additional perks (gold status at some hotel chains, lounge access, concierge service, insurance, …) + your points never expire and you can transfer them to an airline program whenever you feel like it (often with a bonus).
@Tom Schouteden Thanks for your feedback. Are you sure you’re talking about the Belgian American Express Membership Rewards program? I know the US Amex program has some great options, but the Belgian website looks hopelessly outdated (https://global.americanexpress.com/myca/intl/catalog/emea/action?request_type=un_intlCatalog&action=CatalogHomePage&Face=nl_BE) and the redemption options for airlines are very limited (only 1 Star Alliance Airline – SAS) and have a bad conversion rate: 1 euro spent, earns 1 membership rewards point, but does not convert into 1 mile, you need 3 points for 2 miles, some airlines even require 2 points for 1 mile! http://i46.tinypic.com/25jlan9.png
On top the Amex Platinum card has a €570 yearly fee!
The Brussels Airlines Premium Amex card earns 1,5 mile per euro spent and has a €120 yearly fee.
You can compare both cards here (in Dutch) https://www.americanexpress.be/nl/particulieren/american-express-de-kaarten-vergelijken/resultaat?cards=70-73
But here in Europe hardly anyone accepts Amex… Have thought about getting one, but as nobody accepts Amex, I don’t see the point…
Simon, you would be surprised how many businesses and retailers accept Amex in Belgium. Most if your online payments can be done using Amex. Offline you can pay your grocery shopping at Delhaize and Carrefour with Amex, you can pay your cellphone bill with Amex, restaurants and many clothing shops accept Amex too. And of course when you travel, you pay all your expenses with American Express too. All depends on what you spend your money of course. Too bad we can’t pay our Belgian taxes with Amex, then at least we would get something useful in return!
@Bart No, I’m not talking about the Belgian American Express. I agree that card really sucks. I’m talking about a little known American Express card that is also available to us Belgians. I’ve written a blog post about it here: http://www.openjaw.be/post/26139155764/the-best-travel-credit-card-youve-never-heard-of
Hi Bart, is this bonus offer still valid?
Elke, yes it is! Thank you.
Pingback: Loyalty Programs: Account Statuses (July 2012) | travel.bart.la
Update: Blog reader Simon informed me it’s possible to pay Nuon.be invoices (Electricity and Gas provider in Belgium) with American Express!
Have you ever looked at the conversion fee you pay on credit cards? The American Express card seems a rip-off in that sense. In the TOC (http://www.spendandearn.be/pdf/voorwaarden_americanexpress.pdf) point 3.4 (no english available) you are charged 2.5% of the sum for any payment that is not in Euro’s (or USD?). When traveling around the world, those 2.5% can rank up to quite a lot of money.
If you want to get some cash, you pay an extra 1% with a minimum of 5euro. (http://www.spendandearn.be/pdf/pre-contractuele-voorwaarden-americanexpress.pdf)
Paying euro’s with this card is fine. Going out of the EU seems a bad idea.
Personally I’ve been searching a credit card with a 0% conversion fee. I’ve found 2:
http://www.spaargids.be/sparen/mastercard-vergelijken.html?filter_ordernow=0&filter_visa=0&filter_mastercard=0&filter_kostjaarlijks=0&filter_gespreidbetalen=0&filter_prepaid=0&filter_accountobligation=0&filter_verzekeringen=0&filter_bonus=0&filterbank=0&option=com_creditcards&limitstart=0&filter_order=wisselkoerscommissie_noneuro&filter_order_Dir=asc&stab=0&view=cards&task=&Itemid=135
These will charge you 5eur and 0% when you draw cash abroad, and 0% on all non-EURO payments. I think as a traveler it’s something worth considering. On a 800EUR flight, the 2.5% most credit cards have already set you back 20EUR…
@Stefanvds Excellent input Stefan! It’s indeed very important to keep in mind there’s a hefty conversion fee (2,5%) for non-euro payments with Brussels Airlines American Express cards! Unfortunately there’s no card available in Belgium which earns miles or points without a conversion fee (that I’m aware of).
A few open questions for which I couldn’t find the answer yet:
- Do I read ‘Spaargids’ correctly? The OBK Bank Visa Classic and BKCP Bank Visa Classic look like the best choices for making payments in non-euro currencies and to withdraw money from ATM machines (cash advance) outside the euro-zone.
- On top of the conversion fee, all credit card suppliers use an exchange rate to convert foreign currencies to euro. How ‘free’ are credit card suppliers in determining the exchange rate? Are the obliged to use the fixed market rate? e.g. Would there be a difference in exchange rate if I would make a foreign currency payment with my visa, amex, mastercard at the exact same time. If there would be a difference, it would be hard to determine which is the better card (the one which offers the best exchange rates)
- Is the conversion rate for the Brussels Airlines MasterCards also 2,5%? I couldn’t find it in the T&C, I only read the cash money withdrawal fees are the same (1% at ATM with min. of €5) And what about the non-Brussels Airlines branded American Express cards, do they all have a 2,5% conversion fee? Or is the conversion fee variable depending on which type of AMEX card you use?
I think you’ll have to look at each AMEX card separately. Clearly for Mastercard and VISA there is no golden rule of the conversion fee. For AMEX I sense there might be. The Brussels Airlines T&C says that 1% of the 2.5% is for AMEX itself. So we can state 1% is a minimum.
Anyway about OBK bank and BKCP. I contacted OBK recently and they are being bought by BKCP so they’re merging.
The T&C always say that the exchange rate *might not be* the exchange rate on the day of payment, but it will be the exchange rate on the day the payment is requested on the card (can be a few days later sometimes). I don’t think they can fool around with those rates. That would/should be illegal.
I think it would be good to contact Brussels airlines about the mastercard because it indeed does not specify the conversion fee in their T&C.
You did read spaargids correctly. OBK and BKCP are THE cards to have to withdraw money or pay in non-euro currencies. Both of them have a lot of small, privately owned branches so I reckon the service of them should be pretty good.
Myself I am using a Belfius Mastercard now (5EUR for withdraw, 1% fee on conversion) which is OK, but I want to do better. I’m going for a BKCP card. I’ll keep you updated.
@Stefanvds Thanks again for all the useful input! About the BKCP card, Spaargids says it comes with a €1500 standard limit and NO fee for cash withdrawals in the eurozone. That sounds quite remarkable, because this would allow you to ‘borrow’ money for free for 30 days. At the start of the cycle you could withdraw €1500 from the cash machine without any fee and you only need to pay it back at the end of the 30 day cycle… must be some hidden fee somewhere, not? I also wonder what requirements there are to get the card approved. Just open an account at BKCP and prove you have a regular income or do you also need to have your wages transferred to that account each month? Thanks.
I will keep you posted on this. I can’t answer it yet, but in my experience the smaller banks are always able to get you better deals than the big and famous banks. There is an annual fee of 20eur… So it’s never really free but it’s very cheap indeed.
I’ve got confirmation that withdrawing money out of the EU costs 5EUR with the BKCP VISA and maestro card. In the EU, no fee, and the conversion is indeed 0% commission. Looks like you just need to open an account to get the card.
Thanks for the update Stefan! The only thing left to verify is the exchange rate. We should try to make a payment with two (or more) cards (incl. the BKCP VISA) in a non-Euro country at the same day and then compare the exchange rates. Just to make sure BKCP exchange rates are OK. Thanks.
“I also wonder what requirements there are to get the card approved. Just open an account at BKCP and prove you have a regular income or do you also need to have your wages transferred to that account each month? Thanks.” I ask myself the same questions. Could you provide me with the answer?
I can only say: It depends. Just make an appointment with a local BKCP office. They asked me to have my pay check paid out to their account. Bart got the card with a little less trouble. Depends a lot on the person I reckon
The T&C of the Amex International Euro Card which I mentioned above, say: “Unless a specific rate is required by applicable law, you understand and agree that the American Express treasury system will use conversion rates based on interbank rates that it selects from customary industry sources in effect or applicable on the business day prior to the processing date (called reference exchange rate), increased once by [...] 2.7% for Euro cards [...] or as otherwise disclosed by us.”
The advantage of these international Amex cards is that you can also apply for an International Dollar Card, which you will have to pay from a USD account with your bank. This is a perfect way to avoid incurring these charges.
If interested, I have a referral form that gets you 50% off the first year’s fee as well as up to 15.000 membership rewards.
You mean the Dollar card is great when you actually want to pay dollars (in the US). The conversion rate on the 3 cards (dollar, euro and pound) is quite hefty.
http://www.americanexpress.com/lacidc/iccsite/pdf/terms_conditions.pdf
3% for USD. 2.7% for euro. 2.99% for pound card.
Pingback: Credit Cards for Belgian Travellers: In-Depth Review | travel.bart.la