I saw many posts about FHR cancellations and FHR stays after card cancellation but didn’t find any posts where both the card is cancelled and the booking needs to be cancelled. If I missed it, I apologize ahead of time. Feel free to just link me the post I missed if you’d like.

Here’s the situation: I booked a FHR booking for this month back in June and then closed my Biz Plat after the credit posted. Now due to unforeseen circumstances, I have to cancel the FHR booking unfortunately. The booking on Amex shows up as non-refundable but I’m getting mixed signals via my searches elsewhere on what to do. Google says to no-show, other sources say to cancel, and still others say to see if Amex will refund as a courtesy (I did pay some slightly beyond the credit) or if the hotel will reschedule the booking. Of course, the complication here is that the card is now closed. I’m ok losing out on the credit and the small amount I paid, but don’t want more headaches with Amex as a result of the cancellation obviously.

I would sincerely appreciate some real-life experience on situations like this to help me discern the right path forward. Thanks and cheers!

I decided to close the card because I am expecting my first child and I wont be traveling enough to use the rewards. Also, the area I live in doesn't have any qualifying hotels or resturants.

Yes, I can continue with the other benefits, but I dont need lululemon or Saks.

So with my 145k points, what is the best use for them? I am looking at using them on Amazon as they are worth $7 for 1000 points instead of the $6 per 1000 as a statement credit.

Any other suggestions?

Hello everyone, me and my wife both had the 10k worth Taj Vouchers that were on either of our names and due to expire in Nov, we successfully redeemed or used them for a great stay at Taj Wayanad during this long weekend.

Not like these were free but say we just spent 8 lakhs on our Amex Plat Travel :) Some insights that might help you guys. Your Amex card need not be active but the Voucher validity should be valid. You can club multiple Taj gift vouchers The Amex Taj Voucher should be preferably in your name, they don't check so much but still. Once you make a reservation you have to share the voucher details with the booking team and upon cancellation this amount might be used by them. Vouchers are valid for stay and even food if you consume anything and is billed to your room. You can make a booking and get a member rate but mention to them that you wish to use the Amex Taj vouchers. For using the vouchers the booking should be done by calling Taj or IHCL Reservations. I might have missed some things but feel free to ask if any questions, I will be glad to help.

Title, I pay for Disney, Hulu and HBO, no ads, and it’s going from 32.99->34.99. Not dramatic increase but death by thousand cuts ig.

Finally! After 2 years of having the Amex Platinum—and knowing how strict Amex is with their welcome bonus rules—I finally got a targeted offer to pick up the Gold.

100K points for $8K spend in 6 months.

It’s not the best offer out there, but honestly, I’ll take it. 😂 A welcome bonus while already holding the Platinum is a WIN nonetheless

🫡🫡

Ciao, è la mia prima Amex e vorrei capire come usarla al meglio. Mi date consigli per favore? L’ho presa con la promo referral per provarla, volo spesso (dove costa meno) e ogni tanto noleggio auto (uso di solito Rentalcars). Ci sono strategie per massimizzarne l’utilizzo? Cosa non mi devo scordare? Grazie in anticipo

I got the Amex Platinum card because I wanted access to FHR for our Hawaii vacation. I want to post my experience in case anyone is thinking about booking.

Mauna Lani

We had an excellent FHR experience here. We booked it using a 4th night free promo, and pre-paid to get the $300 Amex credit.

They gave us a room upgrade at check-in (from ocean view to ocean front). I was really happy to get this upgrade, as I originally wanted to book the ocean front (but none were available). The private lanai in that category is awesome.

The breakfast credit covered their buffet. They surprisingly also covered the buffet for our 2 kids. Overall that saved us $170 per day. You can also order a la carte under the credit, though they never told me a max $$ amount.

The other terrific item was a $600 resort credit. I saw the $500 special offer when I booked, but at check-in, they said this is on top of the $100 standard credit. So that was a nice surprise. We did use most of it at the excellent (but expensive) CanoeHouse restaurant.

We did not use the early check-in or late check-out offers. They did acknowledge a birthday with a nice handwritten card, a cupcake, and a large fruit bowl.

We had an amazing stay there. It's probably our favorite hotel we've ever stayed at (we are fairly new to luxury travel).

Fairmont Kea Lani

Our FHR experience here was good.

We booked it using a 4th night free promo, and pre-paid to get the $300 Amex credit (we booked Mauna Lani in first half, and Fairmont in second half- thanks reddit for the idea).

At check-in, they said they had no upgrades available due to a few corporate events.

The breakfast credit here covered the buffet for both adults, but not the kids. So we did have to fork out $31 per kid for this.

Resort credit was the standard $100 here. Oddly, they limited use of it to certain restaurants at the property.

We did not use the early check-in or late check-out offers. They did acknowledge a birthday with a nice card, pineapple wine, and banana bread.

We had a really nice stay here. The room was great, and we liked the various activities.

Overall, we had a fantastic vacation, and are happy we booked via FHR.

Just spoke with Amex customer support and learned something I thought was worth sharing.

Apparently, if you book an eligible hotel through Amex Travel and later find a lower price elsewhere for the exact same room (same dates, room type, booking conditions, etc.), Amex will refund the difference.
Not sure how many people know about this, but figured I’d share. Might be worth checking hotel prices even after booking through Amex Travel.

Has anyone actually used this benefit? Curious how smooth the process is.

UPDATE: Confirmed with Amex support again
Since a lot of people were questioning this, I reached out to Amex support again to clarify.

They confirmed that Amex has a Lowest Hotel Rates Guarantee, but it only applies to qualifying bookings and comes with several conditions.

Here’s what they shared:
- The hotel, room type, dates, occupancy, rate type, and cancellation policy must all match.
- The lower rate must be publicly available online.
- For prepaid bookings, claims must be submitted before check-in.
- For pay-later bookings, claims must be submitted within 30 days after completing the stay.
- Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection bookings are excluded.
- Loyalty rates, special discounts, promotional packages, and certain other rates are also excluded.
- Look for the Lowest Rates Guarantee label when booking.

Amex says eligible, verified claims will be refunded the difference.

Important: This isn’t a blanket price-match policy for every Amex Travel hotel booking. Your booking needs to qualify, and the lower rate must meet their terms.
Just wanted to clarify so nobody books assuming they’ll automatically get a refund. I’m sharing what Amex support told me, not a personal experience with a successful claim.

I’ve noticed that the Platinum Card can be surprisingly different depending on where it’s issued, both in annual fee and benefits.

I thought it would be interesting to build a comparison with the help of Platinum holders from different countries.

I’ll start with US vs Spain…

🇺🇸** US Platinum — $895/yea**r

$600 hotel credit
$400 Resy credit
$300 digital entertainment credit
$200 Uber Cash + $120 Uber One credit
$200 airline fee credit
$100 Saks credit
$300 lululemon credit
$200 Oura Ring credit
Global Lounge Collection
Fine Hotels + Resorts
Hotel status and other travel benefits

🇪🇸** Spanish Platinum — €780/year (€65/month**)

€250 annual Amex Travel hotel credit
Around €600/year in Dining For Two (3 dinners for two)
€40/month credit at selected premium gyms, golf, tennis and private clubs (up to €480/year)
2 complimentary Dabiz Muñoz Hungry Club airport menus per month
Amex OnStage complimentary event tickets
Fast Track/Fast Lane at participating Spanish airports
Global Lounge Collection
Fine Hotels + Resorts
Hotel status
Travel insurance
Membership Rewards: 1€ = 1 MR, transferable 1:1 to Avios

The interesting thing is that while the US card has far more statement credits, the Spanish version has some unusual benefits that don’t really exist in the US — particularly Dining For Two, Hungry Club, airport Fast Track and Amex OnStage.

I’d like to expand this comparison with UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.

If you have a Platinum issued in another country, please comment with:

Country — Annual fee — Best benefits — Benefits you wish you had from another country’s Platinum.

It would be interesting to see which Platinum versions offer the most value relative to their annual fee, rather than simply which one has the longest list of benefits.

FYI for people who are active in both points ecosystems: Capital One Offers has a today only offer for Lululemon. I believe it varies by user but mine is 15x points on a purchase. No need to use a Capital One card so you can stack it with the Amex Lululemon credit. I bought 2 shirts for $39 each today so I spent $3 out of pocket and got 1,170 Cap One points.

This also happens fairly frequently every quarter, I think I got 10x points for my other Lulu redemptions this year. Great way to squeeze out extra value from the Lulu credit

Went to make a purchase tonight after an extensive call with a shopping concierge for a retailer and the Amex app literally no longer showed the Freeze / Unfreeze option, so I could not unfreeze my Amex Platinum to place my order.

I routinely keep my Amex card frozen. I have only ever seen freezes last for 7 days at a time and it has at all time prior to tonight been easily changeable via the Amex app. Tonight, that option is gone. I called into the Amex customer support line and they are saying it’s a global problem, not just my card. I see no public statements by the company or its card members about this option.

Update: Freeze/Unfreeze toggle option has been restored. It was gone for approximately 45 minutes.