American Express Membership Rewards - AmEx website, Plat Card Travel Service, dbl MR pts

Visited the AmEx website today and noticed that if I book travel online, for most bookings, I can earn double MR points. This was a bit exciting, didnt notice it before. Thought I'd book a few hotel stays and flights, I believe I wouldnt be penalized by Hilton for not using their website since AmEx is not a discounter PL type site. Rates were comparable to Orbitz and hotel direct. WOW, so good so far. I entered most of my info but didnt find any area to input FF# or HHonors # (wanted to be recognized as Diamond so maybe I get a free bottle of water...). I called the AmEx Plat Card travel line (only on hold 9minutes-they suggested I call during non busy hours-Tue through Fri), today is Saturday, didnt feel like waiting three days...got through finally. I was advised by the Plat Card Travel Specialist(?) that she didnt know how the loyalty programs worked at Hilton but "couldnt I just show my card at check in." Hmmm. Um, no, because if I ck in later in the evening all the Gold will be provided with upgrades...and I'll get stuck in a closet near the ice machine and elevator with a view of the roof. Kind personality, but no help. Went back to the Hilton site and booked four stays and a flight on Spirit's site, so much for the dbl bonus MR points.

Air, Hotel, Complete Trip and Last Minute Deals
Offer is valid for flights, select hotels (Lowest Rates Guaranteed hotels), Complete Trip (flight + hotel packages), Last Minute Deals and American Express Vacations packages purchased on the americanexpress.com/travel website through December 31, 2007. Car only reservations and non pre-paid hotels, other purchases and arrangements made during your vacation stay and any charges not included in the vacation are not eligible for bonus points. Bonus points will be credited to your program account 10-12 weeks after time of purchase. Bonus ID-3218. Air bookings purchased through this online booking system are not eligible for the International Airline Program and hotel bookings purchased through this online booking system are not eligible for the Fine Hotels & Resorts Program. These programs are available through Platinum Travel Service.

Is there a way to input my FF or hotel loyalty program numbers on the AmEx site?

just call the hotels/airlines directly after making reservation?

thats really odd the site doesnt seem to have a place to enter it.. could be a glitch.

Stays that are booked via third party websites other than the websites of Hilton HHonors airline partners are not Eligible Stays irrespective of rate paid, for the purpose of earning points, miles or stay credit toward VIP tier status.

http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/terms.do#accrual_of_points

I was very excited about the double MR option as well for a recent HH booking i needed to make, until i found the fine print that mia posted above. You will get nothing if you book through AMEX travel or Orbitz or Travelocity, even though they are not an opaque booking channel. I do not know if other brands beyond HH have implemented similar restrictions. But for HH you pretty much are forced to book through them directly for credit.

Same problem for different reason with Starwood...

The American Express hotel offfer applies only to prepaid hotel stays "non pre-paid hotels, other purchases and arrangements made during your vacation stay and any charges not included in the vacation are not eligible for bonus points.

Starwood Preferred Guest excludes earning points, stay or night credit on third-party prepaid stays...

4B.4. An “Eligible Rate” is the rate you pay for your room, but excludes:

(a) pre-paid rooms where the booking is made by an agent or third party and you pay for that booking directly to such third party, such as tour or tour operators, and pre-paid channels, including, but not limited to priceline.com, expedia.com, hotels.com, hrn.com, hotwire.com, lastminute.com, site59.com, orbitz.com, travelocity.com, cheaptickets.com, quickbook.com, travelweb.com, lodging.com, yahootravel.com, and msntravel.com;

This means you can earn SPG credit on bookings made through American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, but not on the type of booking that earns double Membership Rewards points.

Stays that are booked via third party websites other than the websites of Hilton HHonors airline partners are not Eligible Stays irrespective of rate paid, for the purpose of earning points, miles or stay credit toward VIP tier status.

http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/terms.do#accrual_of_points

I have to book all my biz travel through the Amex corp travel website; apart from a few company-specific negotiated rates, the rates seem to be the same as on the public Amex travel site. I have always gotten HH points & eligable stays on those bookings.

Indeed the best way to find out how things really work is to try, because practice often differs from the written rules. Are your Hilton stays prepaid at time of booking, or do you pay at the hotel? Is your HHonors member number stored in your American Express travel profile or do you have to provide it at check-in?

Booking throught the Corporate web site is considered the same as booking through your travel department where you would receive credit for your stays. It's less expensive for your company to push you online rather than work with a "live" person.