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One of the cool benefits of holding The Platinum Card® from American Express is access to Fine Hotels & Resorts® collection. The curated picks include some of the nicest luxury properties around the world and apparently it takes a lot to make the cut as Amex only accepts around 13% of hotels that apply (according to a recent article in Travel Weekly).
Fine Hotels & Resorts® offers guests benefits that are on a par or better than what they’d get with elite status and in some cases serve as a pseudo-elite status for properties that do not have a loyalty program (like Four Seasons). When booking a reservation through American Express’ Fine Hotels & Resorts®, you can expect the following benefits:
- 12:00 PM check-in (when available)
- Room upgrade (subject to availability)
- Daily breakfast for two
- $100 credit (this varies between spa and food & beverage credits depending on the property)
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Guaranteed 4:00 PM check-out
These benefits are valuable and will stack with any that you might receive from Marriott Bonvoy®, World of Hyatt, or Hilton Honors.
This year, American Express Travel has added 164 new properties to Fine Hotels & Resorts®. The program began in 1992 and only included 200-300 hotels. It has since grown to around 1,500 worldwide. I’ve booked many properties around the world including Bellagio in Las Vegas, Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest, St. Regis New York, and where I’m currently staying at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
Hotels are selected by a team at American Express that determines if a property fits based on design, amenities, walkability to attractions, and several other factors. American Express Travel ensures benefits are being honored and it has a compliance team that regularly visits hotels.
Anthony’s Take: I love the benefit of being able to get a bunch of additional perks when booking through Fine Hotels & Resorts® with The Platinum Card® from American Express. It’s one of many benefits that makes me keep the card and I find the value outstanding for many of the reservations I have made (rates are comparable to standard bookings at most hotels).
Anthony’s Credit Card Pick: I love the lounges where The Platinum Card® from American Express grants me access. It has had a prominent place in my wallet for many years now. While it does have an annual fee of $695, it provides many travel benefits and will always be my go-to for lounge access (both Delta Sky Clubs® and Centurion® Lounges) and booking airfare from the airlines to earn 5x points (up to $500,000 per calendar year booked directly with passenger airlines or through American Express Travel). Learn more. Rates & Fees. Terms apply.
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
All information about The Centurion® Card has been collected independently by The Bulkhead Seat.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
Fascinating. It’s sure nice to know that hotels in the program are being rechecked to verify compliance with the terms. I sure wish Marriott would do that.