am1996

Are you talking about a specific hotel or resort credits in general? If it's the latter, then it'll really depend on the hotel. For instance, I frequently stay at the Ritz and its resort credits do apply to taxes and tips.

In fact, although they say that the credit cannot be used towards room charges, I recently had a few dollars in unused resort credits at the Ritz that did just that -- reduce the room charge. YMMV.

By the way, from my standpoint, the Visa Luxury Hotel program is not even in the vicinity of AMEX's FHR program. The FHR program gives you access to an enormous number of luxury hotels out there, while the Visa program is EXTREMELY limited in the hotels that participate in it. The benefits of the former are also more extensive (the hotel credits tend to be much larger and then there are occasional stay 3 nights pay for 2, etc... offers).

To me, the Visa program is largerly a gimmick, as you can usually secure better terms on your own.

chelmkamp

I agree. Very few hotels to pick from in the collection, and when there is a hotel I like, it never seems to have availability.

leonard016

Thanks for the detailed report escog.

After I saw the post it took me a while to find the $100 credit thing. It is not a "permanent" additional benefit that you will normally find under the list of benefits (below the standard 7 benefits) but rather a limited time offer between 8/1 and 12/28/2011. They certainly don't advertise it well (maybe intentionally?).

escog

I was referring specifically to the Aria which was the subject of my post.

bgriff

I think it depends where you are looking--I've looked at both FHR and Visa Signature options in a few cities lately, and while Visa came up empty some places (Manila, for example) they came up with as many or more options than FHR in others (Vegas, Hong Kong).

I agree that the Visa benefits are not as extensive as the FHR benefits, but that can vary somewhat--at many properties, the biggest FHR benefit is a $100 spa credit, and if you weren't planning to use the spa, that isn't necessarily all that valuable. Especially in a city like Vegas where many spa treatments cost more than $200. The Visa Signature program also promises always to offer you the lowest available rate (excluding special discounts and the usual exceptions), which can sometimes also be useful--I have seen cases where the prevailing FHR rate was substantially more expensive than the rate available through the hotel itself without FHR benefits.

I used the Visa Signature benefits at the Jamaica Inn in Ochos Rios, Jamaica earlier this year (I was attending a wedding there, and it happened to participate in Visa Signature but not FHR, so it was convenient). I can't say it was a great experience--most staff at the hotel seemed to have no idea what I was talking about when I asked about it. Eventually I was able to get through to them, but they said they had been booked so unable to upgrade me (wasn't sure I believed that). I did get the $25 room credit, and the breakfast, though they were very strict that it would apply only to their set continental breakfast, and could not be used as a value deducted against any other breakfast option.

I have a booking coming up soon at Aria in Las Vegas, which I will report back on (would be useful if we could get a thread going like the extensive and detailed FHR one...). I'm booked on the $100 resort credit offer that escog wrote about earlier, which certainly makes the Visa program more competitive with FHR for that particular property among choices in Vegas.

wjm457

Really? I have stayed at the MO Las Vegas with and without Visa Signature benefits and I can assure you that no one rushed up to me offering free breakfast or valet parking the first time I stayed. Granted, they don't have as many hotels in the program, but at least in Las Vegas it's a nice mix with usable benefits.

bgriff

As promised, a few notes on my stay at Aria--

1. I had called to confirm the reservation and the agent specifically invited me to use Invited Guest Check-In upon arrival, so that feature is definitely honored.

2. I was supposedly given an upgrade to a "city view" room, but it's a pretty lame upgrade, since that apparently covers a room on the 5th floor that's otherwise no better. Still, the room was nice, no real complaints.

3. Breakfast was explained as an $80 credit ($20 p.p. for 2 nights), which was handily useable on day of arrival as well (since I got in very early). The $100 promo credit and $25 Visa Signature credits did not apply automatically but were quickly corrected at checkout.

4. The Aria buffet for brunch was somewhat disappointing...I had been before and keep wanting to like it, but it's just not thrilling. In my estimation the Wynn is probably the best buffet in Vegas these days.

Given that the Signature $100 credit offer is over, I don't know if I'd bother to stay at Aria on Visa Signature again--especially since Aria is offering a $100 credit for directly booked rooms for the next few months. The Invited Guest Checkin is nice on the weekend, and the upgrade could possibly be nice if you booked a view room to start and possibly got a suite upgrade*, but the direct book resort credit offer is a better total value. And in Vegas in general, FHR at other properties is probably better if you have access to both. (Though for most of the Vegas FHR properties, that also raises the question of whether you want to go to the spa.)

*Would be curious to hear more experiences with attempting to get suite upgrades at Aria--I know sometimes properties under FHR-type programs will erect barriers between certain room types where they won't actually upgrade you to the next room type up and will instead just give you a higher floor or something and claim it's an upgrade.

suspire

Any other experiences with the program? I've booked a stay through it at the Andaz Wall Street and I'm curious to hear how upgrades and other issues have been handled. I'll report my experience in a few weeks time!

am1996

Any updates? I am always looking for good alternatives to FHR.

suspire

Sorry for not replying sooner:

So this ended up being a little off the norm.

I ended up using the World Elite MC program instead of the Visa Signature, because it had better terms than Visa Signature and also had a lower rate offered. What I--and the World Elite MC rep I was talking to--did not realize was that it was a pre-paid rate.

So a few things ended up happening: A) I got locked into a pre-paid stay. Which was fine, but I would have liked to have known this beforehand. Still, the World Elite MC rep offered to cancel it as soon as I discovered it was pre-paid if I wanted to. I stayed with it, since I was pretty sure I wouldn't have reason to cancel. B) I called Andaz to ensure I was getting all the benefits. They said 'no', because it was a pre-paid rate and on pre-paid rates, you apparently don't get the World Elite MC benefits.

I called my World Elite MC rep and told him this and he initiated contact with Andaz. It actually ended up taking a couple of weeks for them to sort it out--thankfully, I'd made the reservation well in advance.

In the end it all worked out and it was a wonderful stay and I got all the MC World Elite benefits. But it only worked out because I was totally on top of the situation, monitoring each step of it and because I had that extra lead time to ensure the snafus could be corrected.

I have to say, I wasn't super-thrilled with how it was handled, but for the rates and benefits I got, it was worth it and I'd consider using MC World Elite again.

Back to Visa Signature: The main difference is that you just book online (I suppose you can call in; for MC World Elite, you HAVE to call in because they don't offer bookings online). So in some ways, I am guessing you'll run into less problems.

am1996

Thanks for the update!

BarbShifty

So the current Aria Hotel offer on Visa Signature Hotels is even better than before;

VISA EXCLUSIVE: STAY 3 NIGHTS – ENJOY A $200 RESORT CREDIT
Aria Resort & Casino, City Center / Las Vegas, United States

Exclusive for Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cardholders and select Visa Platinum and Visa Gold cardholders – book 3 nights or more at this modern, urban resort in Las Vegas and receive a $200 ARIA resort credit to be used towards ARIA dining, spa or salon services, or entertainment.

Includes the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection’s 7 exclusive benefits: Best available rate guarantee; Automatic room upgrade upon arrival (when available); Free in-room Internet or Valet parking; Complimentary continental breakfast; 3PM check-out (when available); VIP Guest status; $25 food or beverage voucher.

http://www.kiwicollection.com/specia...-resort-credit

tigerhunt2011

[vent]

I'm an AMEX fanboy. Always have been. Love FHR, used it many times, love the benefits. Even love just plain 'ol Amex Travel. BUT, when I was approved for my Chase Sapphire Preferred, I received my first Visa Signature card. I knew they had a luxury hotel incentive program, and a concierge to help book, so I decided to check it out for a last minute family getaway before college starts again.

So after poking around on AMEX, I decided to look at the Visa Signature hotel program. Room upgrade, $25 credit, VIP status... cool. BUT, the site doesn't show tax. Room for 2 nights was $450 "subtotal" for the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. So, I called the Visa Signature Concierge, and was put on hold while he called the hotel. After about 20 minutes, HE couldn't tell me the amount with tax! AND he finally disclosed to me the $29 resort fee that the website said nothing about.

Yes, there's fine print that says "additional charges may apply" but I just feel very disgusted that Visa will not disclose the tax or resort fees on the website at the time of booking.

Now I know why guests were so upset at checkout at the Visa Signature luxury hotel I used to work at...

[/vent]

Adam1222

I've always had tax appear on my reservations on this site.

ctbarron

The tax almost always shows up when I search. That said, I did have one issue when trying to reserve a Fairmont. I only found it when doing a little comparison shopping and noticed the price differential was the tax. I can't comment on resort fees.