I want to do something similar (Canadian Amex gold card). I would be prepared to use Amex to get a hotel or car booking but every time I’ve tried the pricing is significantly more than doing it directly. In one case triple. Rack rates, I assume.

i saw various car rental options but could not see how to do a pre-paid cancellable rate. It did not seem to be offered as an option. Do I have to call in for this?

I’m also confused. In other posts about using the credit, I thought some indicated the credit was clawed back in such scenarios.

Can anyone shed light on this?