I just went through a big hassle changing an FHR reservation at the Kahala. First I called the number on the reservation. That got me to AMEX online travel services. Worthless waste of time with an agent who was barely literate.

So I just canceled my existing reservation, and used the Platinum Travel Services chat function to rebook for new dates. It was really slow. The agent had to call the property to check availability. Apparently their online systems are down, too. This would basically not have worked at all if I had not already known the property and room type I wanted to book.

I mentioned frustration at inability to book FHR online. Agent said they are working on upgrades, and ability to book online will be restored. No timeline for restoration. My suspicion is they've run into some kind of major IT snag.

Oh, and there's no option to get the 5x points booking through an agent.