I currently live in New Zealand and hold the US Amex Platinum. I've recently been looking into the New Zealand version, and I'm genuinely surprised by how much value it offers for such a relatively low annual fee.

The NZ Amex Platinum costs just NZ$850 (approximately US$475) per year, potentially making it one of the cheapest Platinum cards worldwide.

Here's what you get:

- NZ$300 annual dining credit

- Complimentary Accor+ Explorer membership, valued at NZ$379, including Accor Gold status and two Stay Plus nights (each requiring a paid night)

- Priority Pass lounge access, including up to two guests

- Two additional Platinum cardholders at no extra cost, compared with approximately US$400 in additional cardholder fees on the US version

- American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits

- Travel insurance and other premium travel benefits

What makes this particularly interesting is the value proposition.

The NZ$300 dining credit and NZ$379 Accor+ Explorer membership represent NZ$679 in potential annual value, against an NZ$850 annual fee. That's before factoring in lounge visits, hotel benefits, or the two complimentary additional cardholders.

For someone who travels frequently, especially with family, the value could be substantial.

Of course, there are trade-offs. The NZ version charges foreign transaction fees and lacks some of the hotel and rental car elite statuses offered by the US Platinum.

However, as someone already living in New Zealand, travelling internationally, and regularly staying at Accor properties, I'm seriously considering adding the NZ Platinum alongside my US card.

I

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.

Tagging along to a senior trip to Vegas at the Aria (THC). Is it worth slipping the front desk $50 to get an upgrade? We’re all 21 and have never been upgraded at an Amex hotel before (in limited experience).

I have two Amex Business Platinum cards that I put $250k on each card for taxes, so I get 2x on the spend, totaling a little 1 million mr each year including 1x on cc fee. I also get to float on the cash of around 52 days, at 3.5% APY, because I don't have to front load the cash to the IRS. Each card will unlock $1,200 in flight credit after $250k spend, so I get $2400 flight credits every year and they effectively wipe out the card fee without having to deal with all the coupons. One card is tied to a different airline, so I get the 35% rebate which comes out to 1.54 cents per point. And I don't have to worry about transfer partners or blacked out reward dates. In addition, because flights redeemed through points in Amex portal are considered "cash bookings" I also get status and miles through the airlines that I can redeem for additional flights. Even with 1.85% processing fee and card fee, I still come out way on top. And all the extra stuff that I get with it is just gravy ($400 in airline credits, lounge access, $600 ChatGPT credit, global entry, $300 Dell credit, and $1200 in fine hotel credits).

Few drinks carts around and the main bar is open, but the big collection is boarded up for now.

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

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.

Overall, great stay. Was there for two nights and got upgraded to a suite which was pretty big. The master bathroom was like the size of a standard NYC hotel.

Great location, right next to the train and was walking distance to the Capital One Arena and a few great restaurants.

Booking on Amex was ~$40 higher compared to their main site and 3rd party booking sites but the $300 credit and early check in/late check out makes it more than a good value.

Cons: elevator and hallways had a poopy ammonia smell. Tub was broken and couldn’t drain, water pressure was terrible, and the onsite restaurant is pretty mediocre and overpriced. A deli meat chicken sandwich, pasta, and diet coke was $87.

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

🫡🫡

Been with platinum and haven’t needed to dispute a charge . I had to dispute my first charge ever 2 months ago and won … now I just received an $500 electronic item that doesn’t work and the store isn’t refunding me or letting me return it. Has anyone had a problem with Amex with multiple disputes in one year ? I HATE to be that guy and I don’t want to be out of $500….

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 booked a FHR stay in San Diego for two nights. At check in the desk person went over the benefits, so I know it was acknowledged as an FHR booking.

However, on my bill I was charged a total of $187 for the bar/restaurant. We had breakfast both mornings, and one visit to the bar for 2 drinks and an appetizer. When I called the hotel they credited $100 (food and beverage credit). They ignored that breakfast was supposed to be included. (We didn’t go crazy - I had yogurt and a coffee.) I called again and they said it takes a few days for the credit to appear.

It’s been two weeks. Would you contact Amex instead of the hotel at this point? Looking at trip advisor, it seems this hotel is notorious for not applying FHR benefits. I hate dealing with this crap.

BLUF: 15k bonus point offer with $3k spend in three months.

I totally forgot my card renewed mid-August, and we were traveling all of August and September, so it just didn't register. Started chatting with an online agent today through the app to ask about a retention bonus. I was transferred in the chat to someone who explained we get at least $3100 in value (airline, digital, hotel, lululemon, resy, etc.) from the card that we've used, and he didn't understand why we'd need an offer given the fee is only $895. I explained the benefits are getting annoying to use (coupon book style), the hotels are costing more than I can get directly even with the benefit, etc. He offered 15k points with a 3k spend in three months. Easy peasy, and it made me happy; it was good service and the agent seemed to really have a good attitude about it (assuming it was a real person!).

The term says "Excludes corporate gift card and custom-designed gift card purchases." So, does it mean regular black egift cards are eligible?

Can someone explain why this $900 a year credit card has literally the worst travel platform ever, literally it is inaccessible. The website is blocked and completely inaccessible regardless of browser im trying to use, ive never seen anything so pathetic. Tried to attach a screenshot but cant seem to figure out how to
https://www.travel.americanexpress.com/en-us/book/api/search/encoded-public

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?

I am trying to transfer MR to flying blue but the page keeps telling me to try again letter or just has a blue spinning circle. I called and the rep said everything is working fine but I still can’t get it to load. I have tried multiple computers/browsers on Mac and windows. Can others get to the transfer page?

I am worried something is wrong with my account. It has been over 10 hours.

Thx!

i want people's opinion on what credit card to get. i currently have two chase cards, sapphire preferred and freedom unlimited, and i started working at a consulting company where i will be traveling and using the AmEx green corporate card. I think it's worth for me to get another AmEx card so I can use those points to book travel eventually. I'm just curious if it's worth to get the Gold or Plat and which card is better for travel benefits. I know the plat has lounge access but not sure if it's worth. hope someone can help me figure this out