New Platinum Benefit - request
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat Pro, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,008
Suggestion for a New Platinum Benefit
Hello all,
I thought I'd write a thread suggesting a new Platinum benefit and perhaps if you like the idea, you can +1 this thread. Maybe if enough of us do this, Starwood will take notice and consider it.
The idea is simple... Waive the 2.7% foreign transaction fee for Platinum Starwood American Express card holders.
We travel a lot. And we are the most valuable segment of Starwood. To hit use with a foreign transaction fee when we travel abroad is onerous. Although it used to be different, today, we have numberous choices of alternate cards without foreign transaction fees. It's time Starwood and American Express stepped up and matched this benefit so many other cards are offering.
If you like this idea, +1 it or comment below. I hope enough of us can convince Starwood and American Express to change this for Platinums.
I thought I'd write a thread suggesting a new Platinum benefit and perhaps if you like the idea, you can +1 this thread. Maybe if enough of us do this, Starwood will take notice and consider it.
The idea is simple... Waive the 2.7% foreign transaction fee for Platinum Starwood American Express card holders.
We travel a lot. And we are the most valuable segment of Starwood. To hit use with a foreign transaction fee when we travel abroad is onerous. Although it used to be different, today, we have numberous choices of alternate cards without foreign transaction fees. It's time Starwood and American Express stepped up and matched this benefit so many other cards are offering.
If you like this idea, +1 it or comment below. I hope enough of us can convince Starwood and American Express to change this for Platinums.
Last edited by TravelinSperry; Mar 18, 2013 at 12:06 am Reason: More clear title
#2
Join Date: Oct 2000
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, Marriott Ambassador/Lifetime Titanium, Accor Silver, Club Carlson Gold, BW Diamond
Posts: 2,432
Bad thread title.
#3
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, IHG Plat, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 5,015
Starwood has nothing to do with determining CC benefits, only Amex does. Well, everyone would like that, but it costs Amex money to do that. They probably think the card has enough benefits already so it doesn't need that one, too. The extra Starpoints for using the card at a Starwood hotel overseas offset the extra fee. For non-Starwood purchases overseas, I use my forex-free Amex Platinum, Chase Hyatt Visa, Chase Priority Club Visa, or Citi Hilton Hhonors Reserve Visa card.
Last edited by DCBob; Mar 16, 2013 at 11:09 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: DEN
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Titanium, CX DM, SQ Gold
Posts: 1,607
That benefit would be too US-centric.
The SPG Amex is not available in many markets and Plats who would not be able to receive this benefit probably greatly outnumber those who would.
The SPG Amex is not available in many markets and Plats who would not be able to receive this benefit probably greatly outnumber those who would.
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 12,456
This thread belongs to Amex forum, not here. The foreign transaction fee is charged by Amex, not SPG.
#6
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, IHG Plat, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 5,015
Yes, as I stated in Post #3. What Starwood could do is to NOT tack on any EXTRA credit card transaction fees to your hotel bill. All Starwood hotels in Australia tack on an extra 1.5% there. This is a line item on your hotel bill and you pay it whenever you use a CC. Not sure if this is done in any other country.
#7
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: perth
Programs: SPG(LTG), QANTAS gold, Korean, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,500
Yes, as I stated in Post #3. What Starwood could do is to NOT tack on any EXTRA credit card transaction fees to your hotel bill. All Starwood hotels in Australia tack on an extra 1.5% there. This is a line item on your hotel bill and you pay it whenever you use a CC. Not sure if this is done in any other country.
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat Pro, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,008
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,562
perhaps 'suggestion for a new platinum benefit'....your thread title seemed like spg was offering a new plat benefit which had to be requested....
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat Pro, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,008
#11
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Toronto
Programs: AC E, *A G, Starwood Platinum, Fairmont Platinum, Porter Points
Posts: 719
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9700; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.666 Mobile Safari/534.8+)
I'll give it a +1, very very few cards in Canada with no FX
I'll give it a +1, very very few cards in Canada with no FX
#12
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 33
The Platinum benefits in the past two years have screwed me royally. How will the New Platinum Benefits do a better job in screwing me? What am I missing here?
#14
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: From: PWM
Programs: United GS, Fairmont Platinum,SPG LTPlat, Hilton Diamond, MarriottGold..like the rest of the world
Posts: 4,401
nah. Too many other good cards out there with no foreign fees. I'd like to see incremental benefits for card holders, but this wouldn't be on the top of my list. I'm not sure we'll ever see Plat-specific benefits for AMEX card holders.
#15
Join Date: Nov 2011
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, Qantas Platinum 1, IHG Diamond, United 1K, Avis President
Posts: 347
I guess it could be a new angle of "screwing"? Like, if Starwood promised you a Maserati every time you checked in, but gave you a ford focus, that would be a pretty good spin on your screwing.