Guide to Using & Maximizing the Amex Platinum Hotel Benefits
Your Amex Platinum Card has some great hotel benefits. Included in this is the ability to get $200 in free hotel stays each year. The best part is that this perk is included in your card automatically–you don’t need to register for it. Here’s how to use this perk and the benefits you can expect during your hotel stay from this booking.
$200 Prepaid Hotel Credit
In July 2021, we saw changes to the perks and annual fee on the the Platinum Card from American Express. Along with changing the annual fee to $695, we saw the addition of new annual credits and other perks. You can read more about those here.
One of the new benefits added to the Amex Platinum card is the prepaid hotel perk we’re discussing today. This perk offers $200 in statement credits without the need to enroll in advance. Let’s look at how to use it and also what this benefit provides.
How to Use the Perk
To use this new credit card perk, you need to make a booking through AmexTravel.com for a hotel that participates in either Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection. Luckily, filtering for these hotels is really simple.
Once you put in your destination and dates, you will see all available hotel options in the area. Scroll down a bit, and on the left you’ll see the ability to select only hotels from the Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) and The Hotel Collection (THC) programs.
After this, the rest of the hotels will disappear. You must stay at hotels in either FHR or THC to get the $200 statement credit from your Amex Platinum card hotel benefits.
Note that the prices displayed are pre-tax. Since you may be trying to find a hotel that prices at exactly $200, you should be aware that you’ll see a higher number on the next page of the booking process. The original results are pre-tax, while the final cost will include taxes.
The rest of the booking process functions like normal. You’ll fill out the guest information, select a room, etc. just as your normally would.
It’s important that you select “pay now” and not “pay at the hotel”. In order to receive the statement credit from Amex, you must pay through AmexTravel.com. Paying directly at the hotel won’t qualify for the statement credit, and you’ll lose out on $200.
When Do You Receive the Statement Credit?
So how long does it take to get the statement credit? For me, it’s been quick every time I’ve used it. Others report the same.
I can’t promise that it will always post before the charge itself, but I will say that it’s never taken more than a few days for me to receive the credit. As long as you book through AmexTravel.com and select a hotel in FHR or THC, you should get the credit automatically. Again, no signing up or registering in advance is required.
Differences Between FHR & THC
While you can your Amex Platinum card hotel benefits at either Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection hotels, there are some important differences in benefits to know about.
Fine Hotels & Resorts
The FHR program offers luxury hotels with elite benefits. You’ll get free breakfast every day, room upgrades, late checkout, and other elite perks. There are more than 1,100 properties in FHR.
The Hotel Collection
With THC, you’ll get room upgrades when available, plus up to a $100 hotel credit to spend on things like dining, spa, and resort activities. Charge these things to your room to use the $100 credit that comes with your booking.
It’s also important to note that THC bookings require a booking of at least 2 nights. FHR bookings do not have this requirement.
Similarities & Differences to Note
It’s possible that you will get free breakfast included at THC bookings, though this isn’t guaranteed. It’s not in the list of included perks. I also had a FHR property give me $100 in property credit. Perks you enjoy can vary by property, but the items mentioned above are the standards you should expect to enjoy at any property when using your prepaid hotel credit.
A Word About Elite Status & Loyalty Programs
Since you are not booking directly with the hotel or its loyalty program, hotels are not required to honor your elite status. We previously addressed this question in a “Question of the Week” post, which you can read here.
That being said, during the booking process, there is a space to put in your loyalty number. If you are booking a property that belongs to Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, or any loyalty program you participate in, it doesn’t hurt to put in your loyalty number. Understand that the hotels are not required to recognize your status and are not required to give you stay credits/points earning when booking your hotel through AmexTravel.com. That being said, I am 3 for 3 on hotels recognizing my status, giving the due perks, and also crediting the stay to my loyalty account.
It’s nice that this happens, but it’s not a guarantee. Assume it won’t happen, and then be pleasantly surprised if it does.
Amex Platinum Hotel Benefits: Final Thoughts
I enjoy this perk. Personally, the Amex Platinum card hotel benefits are among the best that American Express added to the card this year. You get up to $200 in statement credits for stays at FHR and THC properties each year. You don’t need to sign up in advance, unlike most Amex benefits. If you make a booking that is less than $200, you can avail the credit across multiple bookings, which is another great part. I personally think the $200 hotel credits and the perks that come with them are really nice, and using them hasn’t been very difficult.
For those wondering, authorized users don’t get their own, separate $200 prepaid hotels credit.
To read more about the benefits of your Platinum Card, our guide to benefits is here.
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I am being told it must be a prepaid but it is unclear how to tell what hotels are prepaid. Has anyone been able to tell?
All of the hotels will give you an option to “pay now” or “pay at the hotel” when you go to finish the reservation. You must use “pay now” to get the credit.
Is it possible to gift a FHR credit to someone if you put it on your Amex platinum since you are paying for it prior to the stay. My brother (same last name as mine) has a credit he won’t use and I hate to waste it.
Ellen – One of the terms on the booking page with AmexTravel.com is “reservations must be made in the name of the eligible Card Member.” You could attempt to contact the hotel / the loyalty program to add a 2nd guest name, then you hope that you can check in without the main guest there. However, there’s a lot of “hope to get lucky” in this situation.
Has anyone ever tried split payments when paying for FHR hotel booking? I have 2 x Plat cards (2 x $200 FHR credits) I also have not used my $250 Hilton Aspire resort credit. Ideally, I am trying to book a staycation in Hawaii at the Hilton Hawaiian village, $425 with taxes & fees. I would like to do a split payment for booking to maximize both Plat FHR credits (pay $25 out of pocket for the stay) then during my 1 x night stay use up my $250 Aspire credit on room charges + the $100 FHR property credit.
When booking FHR there is an option to “pay at the hotel” but I am unsure if there is any way the hotel could do a 3-way split which would trigger credits on 3 cards? Maybe I will try to book, call to pay and ask if they can split unless someone has experience with it?
Mike – you must book with Amex Travel to get the FHR/THC credits, as stated in the article. If you pay at the hotel, it will not trigger. You could try calling Amex Travel to split payments between your plat cards (not sure if they allow this, but it could be a way to use the Platinum credits on 2 cards), but you’re still paying Amex Travel and not a Hilton hotel, so you’ll likely lose out on the Aspire credit.
Ryan- Thank you for the data. Yes, I did book through the FHR portal, at the end it gives you the option to “Pay Now” or “Pay at Hotel” option. The pay at hotel option does ask for my Plat card details (unable to split on the portal) at time of booking but it does not apply the charge until you show up & check in Vs pay in advance.
I will for sure call AMEX travel and check if they can split the payment, but I do not have high hopes. Also, in the past I did something I did book a Hilton FHR and was able to get my Aspire credits to trigger by making charges to my room, then going to the front desk prior to check out asking if I could pay my room charges in advance with my Aspire card and it worked. At check out the final remaining bill all went to my Plat card on file through the FHR portal.
Follow up: I called AMEX travel, as expected they have no ability to split the payment on their end.
Mike – thanks for confirming.
I think there is a 2 night minimum stay on this hotel credit according to the web site
Is that true ?
Rich – as noted in the article: “It’s also important to note that THC bookings require a booking of at least 2 nights. FHR bookings do not have this requirement.”
Thats good to know, so the credit will work with tax and any other fees included? Time to Time I found the IHG in Atlanta for $175 a night and just over $200 with all of the taxes I was thinking it must be $200 pre-taxes.
Mke – I’ve never read anything saying that it must be pre-tax cost. Considering that the charge shows up as one total charge on your billing statement, I doubt Amex is tracking that (even if they wanted to). You should be fine.
I used my credit at the Hotel Collection at the Grand Hyatt in Bkk last month. I called my concierge to use a suite upgrade and was surprised she said ok without hesitation. Then I got a second upgrade when I checked in to an executive suite per the Amex benefit. Great deal at sub $80 rates at the time.
With free breakfast and executive lounge privileges I found it hard to spend the $100 (but I did).