cargasm66

The concierge secured me decent seats for a great price last minute for the Seahawks v Rams game last night. About the same price that I was seeing on the secondary market, but better seat location.

The best part was that during our conversation about football, the concierge I spoke to gave his score prediction for the game last night.

Nailed it.

United747

Haha, smart guy

Travelchurner

Really impressive. Ask him for the lottery numbers next.

orca1114

This was my experience, as well. I've used them before, often successfully for restaurant reservations (though not always), but I called in October for reservations at Pujol in Mexico City for a birthday visit in January. They assured me they'd keep checking for me, but they missed the posting of the reservations (clearly visible on Twitter and Opentable), and my requested dates and times were booked by other patrons. When I didn't hear anything from them, I called in, and they told me that they'd have to investigate what happened. The investigation has revealed, at least so far, that they pretty much just dropped the ball and did nothing from Nov 22 to Jan 2, thereby missing the reservation window.

They offered to find me alternate locations, apologized, and mentioned something about compensation (still don't know what that means yet, as no one has committed to anything), but we're pretty upset, as dinner at Pujol was one of the central reasons for this trip. Next time I'll rely on myself (free) rather than the concierge services of an expensive credit card.

dadig

In my experience across MC/Visa/AMEX and Starwood ambassador, I found Amex was the quickest to respond and with the best outcome.

Got tickets to Alcatraz under short notice and research done by the concierge team, given they are sold out. Amex looked after the process from start to finish.

Granted the request was not spectacular by any standards - I just didn't had the time to research and call up for availability.

I find opentable beats any concierge service.

joachimm

I've had some good luck with Amex Concierge especially when they have a relationship with the restaurant. I've gotten in off of a waitlist to a restaurant (Giulia in Cambridge) with no availability that they say is only available through the Concierge.

I also have to say that they do reservations right- book and often double/triple book and then cancel based on my feedback regarding time and selection. Citi Concierge is practically useless when making reservations outside the US when slots are going fast. They just leave a message, wait for a reply, email me the reply, and wait for me to respond. Twice in the last week I lost a slot because of this painful process. I only used them because of the Prestige hotel booking, but Amex Concierge it is from here on out.

drwilliams

Dropped the ball on a simple dinner reservation. One victory, then back to previous standards...

bolaber

I'm confused .. how are you guys emailing/texting Amex concierge? Only way I see to contact them is to call the call center

mia

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...s-via-sms.html

donotblink

Last week I was looking on Open Table trying to find a reservation at Nougatine at Jean-Georges sometime during restaurant week. It appeared that they were booked solid. I reached out to concierge and they were able to get me a table for four booked at 8:30PM on Monday night.

When we got to the restaurant they weren't able to seat us right away and had us wait at the bar for about 15 minutes. Around 8:45 the manager came to me and let me know that if we wanted to sit in Nougatine itself it would be another 15 minute wait, but that they would be happy to seat us in Jean-Georges (the adjacent three-Michelin-star restaurant) and serve is the Nougatine restaurant week menu.

This was a really cool experience, and only the third time in my life sitting in a three-Michelin-star dining room. I have a feeling that booking through concierge had something to do with being able to sit in the Jean-Georges dining room.

While the food was the same as what I would have otherwise had at Nougatine (and was excellent), the service was amazing. Has anyone else had an experience like this?

I usually book through Open Table for the points, but notice that sometimes when I make a reservation through concierge, I'll get free drinks or something.

mooses

Emailed the concierge to see if they could get me good tickets to O at the Bellagio. The Vegas Cirques recently changed to using ticketmaster so they can charge you 30 dollars in fees on top of the tickets, and I assume they are also now selling everything to third party sites, as every good seat is completely gone for the entire year which is a pretty stark contrast to my experiences in the past. Wasn't too hopeful, but figured it was worth a shot. They used ticketmaster, the bellagio website, and called bellagio (told me all this in their reply). No dice beyond what I could've gotten myself. They did respond very quickly though.

On a semi-related note, I did find good tickets on my own later so at least the story had a happy ending I guess?

BigPoppa99

The concierge got me Hamilton tickets for July 3rd. Left orch row c. Face value (199) and no fees or taxes charged to my card.

dc_traveler

I have found AmEx Concierge very much hit or miss on restaurant reservations. Their success rate is about 1 in 4 times, so worth calling/e-mailing when there is no Opentable availability but you can't rely on them to secure reservations. Also they sometimes make basic mistakes such as date/time, which is pretty disappointing.

GiantCow

Has anyone used the concierge to make restaurant reservations for someone else? As in, you the cardholder isn't part of the dining party? Any issues with that?

drwilliams

I am sure you could just book it in your name, restaurants never ask for ID (unless you look like you may be underage for alcohol).