The $200 Amex annual travel credit you get with the Platinum and Business Platinum cards is one of the best ways to get a premium hotel experience for less.
While the credit can be used on flights, hotels, car rentals, or vacation packages booked through American Express Travel. Fine Hotels and Resorts is how you can maximize the value.
Fine Hotels and Resorts are booked through the American Express Travel portal and give you a premium hotel experience with multiple benefits, including a $100 USD property credit in addition to the $200 annual travel credit.
Here’s how to make the most of the $200 annual travel credit with Fine Hotels and Resorts.
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What is the Amex Platinum $200 Travel Credit
The annual travel credit from the American Express Platinum Card and Business Platinum Card give you an opportunity to save $200 on travel booked through the American Express portal every membership year.
You can apply it to flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacation packages booked through the Amex travel portal.
The $200 credit is applied to prepaid travel right at checkout, so you’re practically reducing your cost upfront.
One of the most valuable ways to use this credit is at American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts. This lets you combine the $200 travel credit with the Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits to supersie your overall value while saving you even more.
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Annual Value: $2,385
Annual Fee: $799
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The American Express Gold and Business Gold cards also include a $100 annual travel credit.
You can use it toward The Amex Hotel Collection bookings, which come with a $100 USD hotel credit and room upgrades on eligible 2-night stays.
What are American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts
The American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts programor FHR for short, is a hotel program available to Platinum Card members that gives you access to a curated collection of luxury hotels worldwide.
You book your hotels through the American Express Travel portal, and your rate includes added FHR stay benefits.
You can take advantage of American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts to stay at some of the best hotels in the world where points redemptions may not be available, like Rosewood, Four Seasons, or Fairmont.
Plus, if you have elite status at hotels like Hilton or Marriott, you’ll enjoy both the Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits as well as your elite status benefits. Just make sure to add your membership number when booking.
American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts Benefits
American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts includes premium hotel benefits that add value to your stay when you book through the American Express Travel portal.
You’ll get the following benefits with your booking:
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Award Booking Concierge
Let us find your award flights and hotels
You’ve earned your points! Now let me do all the work of finding the best available award flights and hotels for your next trip.
Limited-time sale pricing. Limited spots available.
How to Use YOur Amex Platinum Travel Credit at FHR Hotels
You can book American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts through the American Express Travel portal.
Log in to your American Express account and go to the Travel portal. Select the $200 Amex Platinum annual travel credit, then search hotels and filter for Fine Hotels and Resorts.
Select your hotel and make sure the Fine Hotels and Resorts rate with included benefits is shown. The booking must be prepaid to use the $200 travel credit.
Before checkout, select the $200 annual travel credit and confirm the booking.
The $200 credit is applied at checkout, and you’ll prepay the remaining amount. You’ll receive all Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits when you check into your hotel.
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One advantage of using your $200 travel credit on hotels is flexibility. Many Fine Hotels and Resorts rates allow changes or cancellations; just make sure to select that rate.
So if you have to cancel, the credit will be returned to you and can be used again.
How to Maximize Fine Hotels and Resorts Benefits
One of the best ways to maximize Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits is with shorter luxury hotel stays. You get a $100 USD property credit per booking, not per night. That means that shorter, one night stays, can offset a larger portion of your hotel cost.
Back to back bookings with different Platinum Cards are another great strategy. For example, if you have the personal Platinum Card and your partner also has one, you can each make a separate booking to receive the Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits. The same works if you have both the personal and Business Platinum Card.
Some properties include additional perks beyond standard Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits. For example, top Universal Orlando hotels like Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, and Loews Royal Pacific Resort include Universal Express Pass on both the check in and check out days. This can be worth up to $1,500 for a family of four.
Free tools like maxfhr.com make it easier to compare Fine Hotels and Resorts properties and find the best overall value.
Example Fine Hotels and Resorts Savings at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando was one of our best Fine Hotels and Resorts bookings because of how much value was included in a single night stay.
The hotel cost was roughly $1,300 CAD for one night. The booking included a $100 USD property credit that we used toward dinner, plus daily breakfast for two.
The biggest value came from the Universal Express Pass we received for both check in and check-out days for our family of five. During peak times like December, an unlimited Express Pass is close to $300 per person per day. The hotel also included complimentary water taxis to the parks and early park admission at Universal Orlando.
+$3,000 Universal Express Pass value
+$100 USD dining credit
+$50 breakfast for two
+$200 Amex Platinum travel credit
-$1,300 CAD hotel cost
That meant we came out more than $2,000 ahead while enjoying one of the top luxury hotels at Universal Orlando.
Bottom Line
The $200 annual American Express Platinum and Business Platinum travel credit gives the most value when you use it toward Fine Hotels and Resorts bookings.
Fine Hotels and Resorts bookings already include valuable benefits like breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout, and a $100 USD property credit, which can easily offset a large portion of your hotel cost.
Fine Hotels and Resorts also gives you access to some of the best hotels in the world, including luxury brands where points redemptions may not be available.
That’s what makes the American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cards some of the best credit cards in Canada for luxury travel.
