American Express Membership Rewards - Flight Upgrades with Plat Amex

Hi - I'm a new subscriber to FT, and have recently applied for a Plat Amex Card - I've looked at the threads and couldn't really see an answer to this question.

Can you obtain seat upgrades as a Plat Amex card holder, on bookings you made before you became a Plat Amex card holder? (The bookings I made were with another Amex Card) - Do you have a specific threat on Plat Amex rewards? - I note you have one for hotels but what about other behefits?

I apologise if the threads are already there - but would appreciate assistance with links.

What seat upgrades are you referring to?

What seat upgrades are you referring to?

I have some cheapies with BA & United - economy (coach) London - New York City, London - Toronto, and Toronto - New York City - they were booked ages ago however I will be a Plat Amex holder when I travel. Is any airline likely to consider an upgrade on these flights, not suggesting business, prem economy would be nice.

Can you obtain seat upgrades as a Plat Amex card holder, on bookings you made before you became a Plat Amex card holder? (The bookings I made were with another Amex Card)

Just for holding a Platinum Card or buying the ticket with a Platinum Card? Not a chance. You can get into the lounge if you're flying Delta, Continental, or Northwest.

If you have enough Membership Rewards points and are flying the right airlines, you can transfer MR points to the airline's Frequent Flyer program and use the points to upgrade.

They only other air benefit for the Plat card is to buy a business class or first class ticket and get a second for free. This benefit is limited to pretty much full fare tickets, on international inits, on certain airlines and is outlined on the Amex website. https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=platinum.prospect

Melvin is from the UK. The UK Platinum card offers different benefits than the USA version, including upgrades.

http://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/platinum/platinum_listpage.shtml?uk_nu=leftnav

Complimentary upgrades - pleasant surprises every time you travel
It might be roomier aircraft seats than the ones you booked. Or a family-sized luxury suite instead of separate rooms, even an upgrade to a bigger car. When you travel with the Platinum Card, expect plenty of treats along the way, courtesy of our airline, hotel and car hire partners



dennis

Melvin is from the UK. The UK Platinum card offers different benefits than the USA version, including upgrades.

dennis


Sorry! Totally missed that!

Nevermind. The above applies to the US version. :)

Thanks for the postings - yes my Plat Amex will be a UK card - its nice to know so many people are prepared to offer advice - thanks once again ^

Complimentary upgrades - pleasant surprises every time you travel
It might be roomier aircraft seats than the ones you booked. Or a family-sized luxury suite instead of separate rooms, even an upgrade to a bigger car. When you travel with the Platinum Card, expect plenty of treats along the way, courtesy of our airline, hotel and car hire partners



dennis

Whilst that makes it sound as if upgrades are going to shower down on you just by flashing the card around when you travel, that is not going to happen in real life. You have to assess the worth of, and book, the deals through PTS.

Melvin

What you are looking for is this:

http://www.americanexpress.com/uk/personal/cards/benefits/flightcompanionintro.shtml

This list is out of date but is roughly right, at least as far as airlines go. Basically, if you buy a FULL FARE FLEXIBLE economy or business ticket on some airlines, Amex will upgrade you to Business or First.

The big snag is that the cost of a full fare flexible economy ticket is usually MORE than the cost of buying a restricted business class ticket in the first place! The same problem occurs with the 'buy one get one free' offers on that webpage - if you are travelling on your own money, it is usually cheaper to buy 2 restricted business class tickets than to buy 1 fully flexible one and get another free.

The programme is only really of value if your employer pays for fully flexible tickets when you travel. In these case, you may get some value if you book your tickets through Amex on these qualifying airlines.

BA is not part of this programme, never has been and almost certainly (for UK Amex card holders at least) never will be.