So I travel for work and I spend more than 200 nights a year on the road. I already picked up the Gold card for my food costs but since we used a company card for flights, hotels, and rentals I never saw the need for the Platinum beyond the lounge access.

However, there's a policy change in the works that may allow us to use our own cards and be reimbursed which puts the Platinum back on the table for me. The only issue is I book hotels directly with the hotel online or in the app so I can apply company rate codes. The AmEx travel portal doesn't allow me to connect my hotel status for my stays.

Do I really only get the 5x bonus for using the Portal or can I still book through the hotel itself? (Note: I stay at Marriott or Hilton pretty much exclusively)