Frequently Asked Questions
Membership
Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions regarding your membership. Click on the question you want more information on.
Where can I ask questions about my membership?
You can send all questions about your membership to membership@belug.be.
We will do our best to help you as soon as possible. Subject to some exceptions, you will have an answer within 2 business days (usually much faster).
How long does the BeLUG membership last?
At BeLUG, we work with a tipping point: Brick Mania Antwerp (our largest annual event – which usually takes place during the last weekend of November):
- Anyone who becomes a member before the weekend of Brick Mania Antwerp will be a member until the end of that year (Dec. 31).
- Those who become members during or after the weekend of Brick Mania Antwerp will remain members until December 31 of the following year.
To explain briefly with a few examples:
- A person who becomes a member on 01/01/2020 remains a member until 31/12/2020.
- A person who becomes a member on 15/04/2020 remains a member until 31/12/2020.
- A person who becomes a member on 30/09/2020 remains a member until 31/12/2020.
- A person who becomes a member on 01/12/2020 remains a member until 31/12/2021.
How can I become member of BeLUG
Becoming a member of BeLUG is very easy:
- In the sidebar, click on the yellow button BECOME MEMBER.
- Choose how you want to pay:
- with Bancontact or iDEAL
If you pay with Bancontact or iDEAL, your membership will be activated immediately. - with a bank transfer
If you choose to bank transfer, your membership will be activated manually by us as soon as we have received the payment on our account.
- with Bancontact or iDEAL
- After activation of your membership, you will receive a confirmation email from us.
If you were not previously a member, our Member Administration will assign your personal member number within a few days of activating your initial membership.
How do I renew my BeLUG membership?
Please note: If you were previously a member, but did not renew your membership before Jan. 1, your membership has been deactivated in the meantime, so you must rejoin. In that case, it is best to read the explanation in the question How can I become a member of BeLUG?
You can renew your membership at any time of the year.
- Log on to the BeLUG website
- Click on My BeLUG in the yellow bar at the top.
- Click the Extend button to renew your membership.
- Follow further instructions.
You can choose to pay electronically (Bancontact or iDEAL) or by bank transfer.
If you pay electronically, your membership will be renewed immediately. If you choose wire transfer, your membership will be manually renewed by us upon receipt of payment into our account.
How do I query the status of my BeLUG membership?
You can check the status of your membership at any time from My BeLUG.
- Log on to the BeLUG website
- In the sidebar, click on My BeLUG
- At the bottom you will see the status of your membership.
- Click the Details button to see more details about the current end date of your membership.
How do I cancel my BeLUG membership?
Hopefully you will never need this, we would be sad to see you go.
If you no longer want to remain a member of BeLUG, the only thing you have to do is not pay for the renewal of your membership at the end of the year. In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy all the benefits for the rest of the year.
If you wish, you can sign in again later with your username and password and you can sign up for a new membership.
Member Benefits
Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions about additional benefits you get as a BeLUG member. Click on the question you want more information on.
What are AFOL Shopping Days?
AFOL Appreciation Days are organized (usually one per trimester) by LEGO.
On these days you can visit the various official LEGO stores (https://www.lego.com/nl-be/stores) for a nice discount as a member of BeLUG (or another RLUG).
You must have linked your LEGO Insider card to your BELUG membership number. You can read how to do this in another article on this page.
You can also top up your LEGO Insider card in your digital wallet app on your smartphone. Once your AFOL status with LEGO is activated, it gets a nice AFOL tag added.
When will the AFOL Shopping days happen?
LEGO always announces the AFOL Appreciation Days on the leading edge. As soon as we receive notification of this, we will publish it on the activity overview on the My BeLUG website.
How can I link my LEGO® VIP card to my BeLUG membership?
LEGO® has taken offline the system to link your RLUG membership to the Insider map.
At the moment, it is not possible to link your BeLUG membership to your LEGO® Insider card.
As soon as we receive a message from LEGO® that there is a new system, we will of course inform our members about it.
The LEGO Insider Card offers many benefits at LEGO®®. You can link your BeLUG membership number to your LEGO® Insider card to participate in the AFOL Appreciation Days, among other things.
How can I tell if the AFOL status is correctly activated on my LEGO® Insider card?
When LEGO® has registered in its system that you are a member of BeLUG, an “AFOL” message will appear on your Insider card within a few days.
Below you can see on the right side how it should look:
I don't see the AFOL status on my LEGO® VIP card, what can I do?
Unfortunately, we do not have access to LEGO’s® internal systems. All you can do as a member is register as described above and all BeLUG can do is confirm your status (after receiving the request from LEGO®). Usually it goes well, but sometimes it doesn’t.
If the AFOL status is not on your Insider card, you can try the following:
- Fill out the form again and wait for LEGO to process your request, pass it on to our LUG Ambassador and confirm your membership.
- If it does not work, you can contact our LEGO® Ambassador via the e-mail address lugambassador@belug.be. Together you will find a solution.
(Please do not email contact@belug.be for this , only the LUG Ambassador can help you with this).
LUGbulk
Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions about the LUGbulk. Click on the question you want more information on.
What is LUGbulk?
LUGBULK is a program started by LEGO to allow active members of a registered LEGO User Group (RLUG) to buy LEGO elements in bulk, at prices that can be 40 to 50% below the regular LEGO price. The idea is to encourage individual fans in their building activities to build something great. This program is active once per year. To participate, you must be a member at the time of registration and at the time of ordering.
Attention! The LUGBULK is a favor LEGO is doing for the AFOLs and they trust that those AFOLs respect LEGO and follow the rules as well. LUGBULK information and LUGBULK prizes must never be shared with others or distributed on the Internet ; those who do not comply will be excluded from LUGBULK (by LEGO or by the RLUG).
THE LUGBULK PROGRAM - registration and ordering
Applications for LUGBULK start by December 1 of the previous year.
The RLUG and Ambassador will ensure that our LUG registers with LEGO itself in a timely manner.
After that, members can register to participate, using the form in My BeLUG. There is no obligation to purchase at that time ; if you later learn what LEGO elements are in the LUGBULK and they do not appeal to you, you do not have to order anything at that time either.
Each RLUG may order up to 85 elements from the arsenal of elements in production at LEGO. In BeLUG, we listen to members to compile that list. Those who have participated in public BeLUG activities (such as a Brick Mania or the BeLUG@Conventions) during the past year may forward their preferred elements for the LUGBULK. The board first checks whether each proposal is allowed in the LUGBULK, because unfortunately LEGO does not allow ordering certain parts, such as engines or parts/minifigs from Star Wars, SuperHeroes or other “intellectual property” themes… Then we also check the price (because strangely enough, some parts are even cheaper on Bricklink) and check whether the proposal was not already included in last year’s LUGBULK.
The result is a list of 85 elements sent to all members who have registered to participate in the LUGBULK. Usually this happens in the first few weeks of the new year.
In BeLUG, any enrolled member may order up to 210 €, but members who have participated in public BeLUG activities during the past may order up to 330 €. This way we reward those who are more actively involved in the club.
Until an agreed date (usually mid-February), each enrolled member is free to place their order. Each order must also be paid immediately, or the order will be invalid.
Afterwards, all orders are collected, a final check is made for payments, and one large order is placed with LEGO. To give you an idea, over the past 3 years BeLUG has ordered more than 1 million LEGO elements for its members this way each time.
The LUGBULK delivery
After this, the least fun of the whole process begins … the long wait. In the background at LEGO, production is in full swing, the various orders from the different RLUGs are being processed, factory time is being reserved, elements need to be produced extra, …
At some point (sometimes in June, sometimes earlier, sometimes later) the board gets sent a big invoice (which we pay with the money the members have already transferred) and shortly after that we get one very big delivery with boxes and bags full of LEGO elements. These are packaged by some of our members and helpers in bags of 50, 100, 500 or larger to facilitate the assembly of individual orders. Processing more than 1 million LEGO elements in this way, of course, also requires considerable time. And only then are the individual orders assembled and packaged.
To bring the orders to the members, we provide three possibilities: you come and pick up your order yourself during Brick Mania Antwerp, you go and pick up your order yourself in one of the local pickup points close to your home, or we ship your order to your home by mail (but then you pay the shipping costs yourself). You register your choice on the website in My BeLUG.
By the time everything is settled and members have received their orders, it will surely be October or November. It’s all very much work and many people are trying hard to make it all come to fruition, so we ask for members’ understanding and patience above all.