senatorgirth

I'm AMEX Platinum and have called the Platinum Travel Service (PTS) multiple times for quotes. What a joke! On cruises, car rentals, and limos I have been quoted prices significantly higher than the going rate found by the most simplest of searches. On top of that, their customer service is completely underwhelming.
The latest: I call PTS for a quote on a minivan rental in Mexico City. PTS quotes a best rate of $102./day. Fifteen seconds at expedia.com turns up a going rate of $67./day with Hertz. I've had similar experiences with cruises and quotes on limo service.
As if that isn�t enough, I�ve found PTS customer service to be average at best. The person I spoke to tonight at first told me that I was not Platinum (look again, please). This has been typical of the run-of-the-mill telephone CSR's I've encountered with PTS.
So far, I give PTS a grade of "F" - their service is completely forgettable and their rates have been downright awful. I'm I missing something? How can AMEX proudly advertise this "service"

LAXRuss

Senator,

I agree with you that PTS appears to have some internal challenges with their customer database that they must overcome. Normally I only use PTS to book Fine Hotel Room Rates and those few times where the Cruise Program has been a value. More recently, I booked an international ticket with PTS for the first time in many years simply because the circumstances of the itinerary flying multiple carriers made it easier for a travel agent to book than for me to obtain directly.

But you hit on their mediocre service and I can add two consistent problems that I have with PTS: (1) For some odd reason when I call they occasionally tell me that I only have a business Plat card and am not authorized to use their service and access the Fine Hotel rates. (This happened yet again as recently as last December when I called.) How can that be when I have had a personal AMEX card and a Plat account for many years and have never had a business AMEX account? Each time we go through this, they call AMEX customer service to verify in fact that I am a personal card holder; (2) Every time I make a reservation through PTS, they seem to have absolutely no record when I call back -- I must always provide them their own record locater. Last summer when I stayed at a Fine Hotel Program resort, PTS had to literally call the Inn to confirm that they had booked reservations for me because I had misplaced PTS's record locator and PTS could not find my reservation in their own system. I do not understand what the problem is with my account (I can only hope that my experience is an isolated case and that this is not a common experience among PTS customers.) It is a sad state of affairs when PTS can consistently never locate my past reservations and is unable to recognize that I have been using the service off-and-on for years and am not a first time caller. Naturally the experiences I have had with PTS have not bred my loyalty and I only use PTS when circumstances dictate.

DFW1972

Well, this is interesting. At least PTS quoted you a rate for a car in Mexico. I called recently to get a rate for cars in PVR and was told they do NOT make rental car arranged!!! Yes, they have bad service!! And incompetent reps!

senatorgirth

I guess my experiences haven't been an aberration after all. I expected AMEX Platinum service to be better -- obviously I was mistaken.

chalf

I've used AMex UK PTS (Amex Plat IDC) on three occasions now, and been generally pleased with the service. The first I was traveling on business, and in danger of missing my flight SVO-LHR due to being stuck in traffic. Though they couldn't see SU availability, PTS managed to find me an alternate routing. Not rocket science, but they were very polite and hard-working about it. The other two times were simple economy flight arrangements, but the pricing was actually cheaper than other arrangements. Admittedly this is in part because I live in Moscow, and airline fare databases are ticketed locally at RR33/$1 (the actual rate is RR28/$1), so ticketing abroad is an automatic 15% savings. Even including the Amex service fee, the pricing came out the same as or less than Expedia/Travelocity/Opodo for the same routing, and much lower than calling the airline direct in the US or Russia (the airline in question does not permit Russia-origin on-line bookings, probably since it is illegal to issue an e-ticket in Russia and they don't have the infrastructure to issue paper tickets based on an on-line reservation as do other airlines), was issued as an e-ticket and interestingly booked in a higher fare class. My only complaint is that calling UK PTS (the number listed on my card) results in a billing in GBP even on an IDC! I also knew that if there were a problem I could visit a local Amex office to straighten it out.

Would I have used Amex PTS for a similar itinerary originating in the US or UK, when I was not faced with the various Russian booking complexities? Probably not. But when faced with unusual circumstances, it can definitely result in some benefits. I note that I have not yet tried hotels, cars, etc.

senatorgirth

Given the woes you detail in booking a ticket in Russia, I can understand how PTS has provided some benefit to you. From this side of the Atlantic, however, booking arrangements are typically much easier, and everything I've seen suggests that PTS is not competitive. I suppose I'm surprised because I truly thought that AMEX's service would be a little better for Platinum Card holders.

kasop

Thank you, thank you for bringing this up, PTS is awful, I try to use them as much as possible, after all one of the benefits of Amex Plat is the PTS travel service, their rate in my experience is always higher for FHR program thus the free breakfast etc is not really "free" is it. I dont like to book with expedia etc but if I am sitting in front of my computer while the agent is checking rates I nearly aslways get a better rate with Leading Hotels Of The World (good benefits too) or Preferred Hotels (same benefits as FHR if you use an Amex). In fact today I just booked The Townsend in Michigan through Preferred Hotels (http://www.preferredhotels.com/) and a room in Montreal (Hotel Vogue) direct with hotel as PTS was taking too long to check a rate and the rates they did have were too high and not competitive. I dont get FHR program with Hotel Vogue but I am platinum with Loews so I get guaranteed upgrade plus later checkout. As for the townsend, just booking through preferred hotels using an Amex I get pretty much the same benefits all for less money.

If it wasnt for lounge access I would not keep AMEX PLAT
Kasop

kuroneko

I would have to concur that PTS is only good for the most mundane of travel arranging tasks. I've been let down on many, many occasions. Frankly, if you are asked to pay a premium to get access to a supposedly premium service, you should expect above-average returns. Plus they've upped the airline ticketing fee to a steep $35 this year.

A rundown of some of the trouble I've had with PTS:

1) While in Bangkok I called PTS (they booked my Bangkok ticket) to find out where the nearest office in Bangkok that offered the Amex check-cashing service. When I went to the office, not only did they not do check-cashing, they also never heard of American Express!!

2) They told me during a transit on mainland China to Macau (on a ticket they booked) that a landing visa was not necessary if I had an onward ticket. NOT. Thank god I had a double entry visa. Imagine the trouble and delay if, per their advice, I had only a single entry tourist visa????

3) When booking a last-minute fare for me, I was advised to go to the airport and complete the purchase of the ticket in question. When I arrived at the airport, not only could the airline with which the ticket was booked NOT find the reservation, they also offered me a better route and fare than Amex had booked!

4) On multiple times when I've requested them to research and find hotels for me in Asia, they simply could not do it, and failed to call me back to let me know!!!

PTS agents need better training. That's the bottom line. The fact of the matter is that I could do just as well or better booking on Expedia for only a USD 5 fee. I realize that my travel situations probably fall outside most norms, but isn't that why one uses a supposedly premium travel service?? But sadly, the young inexperienced kids that answer the phone really do no better than I could on the Internet.

Until PTS gives me a reason to pay the extra 30 in booking fees, and offers something more than the Internet can provide, I certainly won't use them again, unless it's to take advantage of the fine hotels or 2 for 1 airline ticket program.

senatorgirth

It would appear that that PTS CSR's are run-of-the-mill flunkies with minimal experience and knowledge. Unfortunate and lamentable, but understandable.
But here's what I can't understand: how can PTS quoted rates be significantly higher than that found at expedia, travelocity, or my local AAA travel agent? I mean, isn't PTS using Amadeus/Sabre/Galileo/Worldspan like everybody else? How is it that PTS quotes me on a car rental $50. per day MORE than the other guy? Are they assuming that becasue I'm willing to fork over $395./year for their card that I've no sense of value?

Tom.T

I'm glad to have found this thread. Friday I saw what appeared to be good promotion on Queen Mary 2 crossings in Departures magazine. I called PTS and spent 11 minutes on hold and then gave up. Today I called again and, to their credit, someone answered right away. Sadly, it was all down hill from there. The agent asked me my account number, date of birth, spelling of my last name, last four digits of my SS#, billing address and phone number. The inquiries took on the qualities of an adversarial police action, rather than account verification. OK, so then we got to my questions, the fares for two particular categories. I went on hold for 10 to 15 minutes and then the agent came back with fares for two categories I hadn't asked about. On top of that she knew nothing about the Membership Rewards bonus points or shipboard credits that Departures promised. I hung up; felt badly about it two minutes later; but then read the above post and decided it wasn't just me.

NoStressHere

The $395 per year comment might be the most accurate thing on this page. We cruise and/or fly multiple times each year. It amazes me how much more booking via Amex would cost if one was stupid enough to use them.

Time to move to a FREE card.

tmartazu

BINGO!!!

I've tried PTS, and use them on occasion, but find that I can get just as good or better rates online myself (and I usually get upgraded anyway). Usually if I call them I already have discovered the rate I want and ask if they can match that

I find that the FHR amenity is ok but I can pay for that myself if I really want it...or do without.

miikka

Topic says PTS is lousy and nothing about the country so I guess I am able to share my opinion. I have IEC Platinum and my PTS is provides by AMEX UK. I have got excellent rates, no special service fees at all. Always exceptional service. Very happy with the service.

MatthewClement

I phoned UK PTS to purchase several business class tickets to Asian. It took them a full day to even bother returning my call -- by which time, of course, I'd booked elsewhere!

miikka

Hmmm, interesting. I have always got my tickets pretty much right away during the same phone conversation. Once they had to confirm one of the legs and they called me back within 10 minutes after checking with the airline. Maybe I am asking something too easy