Originally Posted by GundamWing01

thank you for the DP. super helpful.



for either FHR or THC, its critical to identify when your bookings are "PAY THE HOTEL" vs pre-pay the full/deposit amount via the amex portal. this is because pre-pay means amex is an OTA (eg Hotels.com) and there has been many YMMV DPs on receiving EQN and various bonus points. the key benefit for FHR is when you can book via FHR, but pay the hotel to maintain all the hotel elite benefits. essentially a double dip. (eg Virtuoso)

you will see this option only for certain hotels and certain dates. after you have selected the hotel and proceed to select a room rate, you will see a popup:

"PAYMENT OPTIONS - FINE HOTELS & RESORTS"
1) Get 5X Membership Rewards Points or use Pay with Points when you pay now
2) Don't want to pay now? Wait to pay the hotel directly

for THC, I have yet to see the "pay hotel" option. meaning its like booking via Expedia. you will not get diamond benefits "officially". however, its YMMV. sometimes, I have booked via various OTAs and still get the diamond benefits, but I have never used THC. i actually try to avoid all OTAs in general. that way, when problems arise, they could never use the stupid excuse "oh, you didnt book direct".