Originally Posted by
richarddd
How does treatment of FHR guests differ from treatment of guests who book with a Virtuoso TA? There seems a large overlap in hotels and benefits offered.
I'm trying to decide whether to get a Plat card and this would be a major factor.
This will depend on the property and management. With Select Hotels (my agency's consortia network similar to Virtuoso), in addition to the stated benefits, some properties will include a welcome note from management along with a small amenity delivered to the room. Some properties may do this with FHR as well (been a long time since I've booked through FHR).
FHR is unlikely to send a note to the hotel mentioning a special celebration (especially if booked online), while a travel agent has a specific contact as part of the consortia program at each hotel they can reach out to ahead of your stay.
Between Virtuoso, Select Hotels, Signature Travel, etc, (plus the luxury chains and Visa and MC have their own booking amenity programs), there are ways to get these benefits without the Plat card.
That said, while FHR itself probably doesn't move the needle much, Amex Plat does have another set of properties (the Hotel Collection), including some upscale/non-luxury locations, with benefits on min two-night stays, as well as complimentary membership in Travel Leaders' Travel Collection (yet another set of properties with booking amenities, plus discounts/perks on air/car/vacations). With three different programs, there are a broader range of locations/property types covered.
Utility of the various statement credits/lounge access/membership rewards should be the primary factors in selecting the card, IMHO, with access to the various travel programs a secondary consideration.