Originally Posted by
GundamWing01
thank you for the clarification, but i think we are misunderstanding each other.
depending on the property and the dates selected, you do not have the option to "Pay At Hotel". meaning, you have to prepay amex FHR the full amount and its coded differently vs directly by property when paying at hotel. thats the point i was trying to convey and i was confused by your comment about deposits being directly charged by the property. i shouldve made my comment more clear. obviously, there is no issue with using amex aspire and amex offers if youre always able to "Pay At Hotel". also sounds like deposits are directly billed by the property when using "Pay At Hotel". thats a big win.
A "deposit" is a partial payment toward the full amount, which in this case is paid at the time of check-out. As I mentioned, most Vegas Strip hotels require a 1-night deposit to be paid at the time of booking, whether you book directly through the hotel or use a travel agent. In many cases the deposits are fully refundable until perhaps 3 days prior to arrival.
I've never encountered the situation you seem to be talking about where the ONLY option is to prepay the full stay, and there's no "pay at hotel" option. If you do see that on the website, I'd just call Platinum Travel Service. Of course sometimes a prepaid (and non-refundable) stay is less expensive, but I don't think the FHR program has any fully nonrefundable rates built into it.