At a glance
Do you know about the credit cards that let you sign up for a miles programme to earn free trips?
Do you often travel by plane and want to save money on your flights?
Take advantage of the miles programmes offered by certain credit cards to earn free flights or an upgrade to a higher class.
What are credit card "miles"?
By taking part in the miles programmes of certain credit cards, you can earn and save up miles on purchases made with your card. The number of miles earned per euro spent depends on the type of card. You can then exchange your miles for train or plane tickets.
3 miles programmes
In Belgium, there are three miles programmes linked to credit cards.
Be careful, though, as some airport taxes aren't always included in a trip booked using miles you've collected. Check when booking.
1. Brussels Airlines' "Miles & More" programme
This programme is backed by 3 credit cards:
Brussels Airlines MasterCard
You get 2,000 welcome miles, and for every 2 euros spent you get 1 mile. The card's annual fee is 90 euros.
Brussels Airlines Preferred American Express
You get 3,000 bonus miles as a welcome gift, and for every euro spent you get 1.25 miles, or even 2 when you buy your tickets with Brussels Airlines. You also get an extra annual bonus of 5,000 and 10,000 miles respectively for spending over 10,000 euros and 20,000 euros a year. The card's annual fee is 120 euros.
Brussels Airlines Premium American Express
You get 6,000 bonus miles as a welcome gift, and for every euro spent you get 1.5 miles, or even 2 when you buy your tickets with Brussels Airlines. You also get an extra annual bonus of 5,000 and 10,000 miles respectively for spending over 10,000 euros and 20,000 euros a year. The card's annual fee is 150 euros.
Number of miles needed for a plane ticket*:
- Europe: 20,000 miles in economy class and 30,000 miles in Business Class
- Middle East, South America, South-East Asia: 15,000 miles
- North and Central Africa, Near East, Caucasus: 35,000 miles
- North America, Southern Africa and India: 50,000 miles
- Central America and the Caribbean: 60,000 miles
- South America, Central and South-East Asia and the Far East: 70,000 miles
*Only on flights operated by Adria Airways, Austrian Airlines Group, Brussels Airlines, Condor, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS.
What's more, American Express's Blue, Green or Gold credit card also lets you exchange your miles for plane or train tickets if you sign up for the Membership Rewards programme. This programme is included with the Platinum American Express card.
Note: Brussels Airlines is a Redion partner.
2. Beobank's World Travel MasterCard
By choosing this credit card, you get 5,000 welcome miles, provided you make your first purchase within 3 months of activating it. The card costs 50 euros a year.
Every euro spent earns you 1 mile, or even 2 miles if your purchase is made with SNCB Europe. You can save up to a maximum of 45,000 miles a year, which carry over from year to year. The miles can only be exchanged at Beobank branches for plane or train tickets (Thalys, Eurostar, ICE and TGV).
Number of miles needed per type of destination (a few examples):
- Europe: between 15,000 and 20,000 miles (depending on the season)
- North Africa, the Azores, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean islands: 30,000 miles
- North America and the North Atlantic islands: 55,000 miles
- Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean: 75,000 miles
- South America, Hawaii and Alaska: 85,000 miles
- Central and Southern Africa: 70,000 miles
- Near East (Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon): 60,000 miles
- Middle East (Bahrain, Iran, Yemen, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan): 70,000 miles
- Asia: 80,000 miles
- Oceania, Australia and New Zealand: 100,000 miles
3. The Beobank Flying Blue World and Premium Flying Blue World programme
You get 3,500 welcome miles, or even 5,000 miles with the Premium card. The annual fee is 75 euros for the Flying Blue World and 150 euros for the Premium.
With the Flying Blue credit card, every euro spent earns you 1 mile. With the Premium you get 1.25 miles, or even 1.5 miles when you buy your tickets with Air France/KLM. (The miles remain valid for 20 months after the first transaction with the card.) There's no limit on the number of miles you can save per year.
Number of miles needed for an economy class plane ticket with Flying Blue*:
- Middle East, Central Asia, Central Russia: 20,000 miles
- North America, Dutch Antilles: 25,000 miles
- Central, East and West Africa: 25,000 miles
- Southern Africa, Indian Ocean, Indian subcontinent, Central America, Caribbean, Hawaii, Bermuda: 30,000 miles
- Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela: 35,000 miles
- Eastern Russia, Asia, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay: 40,000 miles
- Australia, New Zealand: 50,000 miles
*Only with airlines partnered with the Flying Blue programme. (KLM, Air France, Air Europa, Japan Airlines, etc.)
Tip: Are you a globetrotter, curious to explore the world, or simply a frequent traveller for work? Feel free to compare all the miles credit cards here to find the one that suits you best.
This article was written by TopCompare.be in partnership with Redion.
Do you travel by plane? Also read the articles in the "Up in the air" series
