American Express Membership Rewards - 10% commission - am I being naive?
horowitz
Aug 3, 04, 2:08 am
Just spoke with the GM of Chewton Glen about a booking I had Centurion make for me. Rate is £360 per night room only and I called to try and get breakfast included (if you don't ask... :p ) He told me the minute AmEx get involved they have to pay them 10% of the room rate as commission so they find it very difficult to include anything else. 10% seems pretty high to me. AmEx must be raking it in or is this standard practice for all travel agents? If Michael Winner has a Centurion card they must be making a fortune on 10% :)
ralfkrippner
Aug 3, 04, 3:21 am
10% is the standard commission any TA gets from a hotel-booking
Raffles
Aug 3, 04, 3:24 am
... plus the 3%-4% they have to hand over if you settle your bill with your Amex.
Isn't Chewton Glen in 'Small Luxury Hotels of the World' or the 'Fine Hotels & Resorts' plan, which would give you breakfast? I would be surprised if it is not in either given that it is probably the best non-city hotel in the UK. (On the other hand, if they hate Amex that much, perhaps not!)
... plus the 3%-4% they have to hand over if you settle your bill with your Amex.
Plus the 2.73% that you pay Amex if the hotel bill is not in GBP.
Ex Amex Card
Aug 3, 04, 7:04 am
Which just goes to prove that there is no such thing as a free lunch (or breakfast). ;)
Is this not a FHR property and thus would automatically include breakfast?
RE: 10% (the original topic here) I've had an occasion or two where Amex screwed up a reservation and when dealing with the hotel or car agency to fix things I *specifically* requested that they cancel my reservation and rebook me with a NEW one just so Amex didn't get paid for their screwup. As noted above, 10% is the industry standard.
horowitz
Aug 3, 04, 10:53 am
Is this not a FHR property and thus would automatically include breakfast?
Includes massage and tea but not breakfast i think. Might be my fault though - I made it originally myself then asked Centurion to call them, take over the reservation and get me the FHR bonuses if possible.
I guess you have to decide if you want breakfast or Tea then.....