Originally Posted by senatorgirth
I'm AMEX Platinum and have called the Platinum Travel Service (PTS) multiple times for quotes. What a joke! On cruises, car rentals, and limos I have been quoted prices significantly higher than the going rate found by the most simplest of searches. On top of that, their customer service is completely underwhelming.
The latest: I call PTS for a quote on a minivan rental in Mexico City. PTS quotes a best rate of $102./day. Fifteen seconds at expedia.com turns up a going rate of $67./day with Hertz. I've had similar experiences with cruises and quotes on limo service.
As if that isn’t enough, I’ve found PTS customer service to be average at best. The person I spoke to tonight at first told me that I was not Platinum (look again, please). This has been typical of the run-of-the-mill telephone CSR's I've encountered with PTS.
So far, I give PTS a grade of "F" - their service is completely forgettable and their rates have been downright awful. I'm I missing something? How can AMEX proudly advertise this "service"
Senator,
I agree with you that PTS appears to have some internal challenges with their customer database that they must overcome. Normally I only use PTS to book Fine Hotel Room Rates and those few times where the Cruise Program has been a value. More recently, I booked an international ticket with PTS for the first time in many years simply because the circumstances of the itinerary flying multiple carriers made it easier for a travel agent to book than for me to obtain directly.
But you hit on their mediocre service and I can add two consistent problems that I have with PTS: (1) For some odd reason when I call they occasionally tell me that I only have a business Plat card and am not authorized to use their service and access the Fine Hotel rates. (This happened yet again as recently as last December when I called.) How can that be when I have had a personal AMEX card and a Plat account for many years and have never had a business AMEX account? Each time we go through this, they call AMEX customer service to verify in fact that I am a personal card holder; (2) Every time I make a reservation through PTS, they seem to have absolutely no record when I call back -- I must always provide them their own record locater. Last summer when I stayed at a Fine Hotel Program resort, PTS had to literally call the Inn to confirm that they had booked reservations for me because I had misplaced PTS's record locator and PTS could not find my reservation in their own system. I do not understand what the problem is with my account (I can only hope that my experience is an isolated case and that this is not a common experience among PTS customers.) It is a sad state of affairs when PTS can consistently never locate my past reservations and is unable to recognize that I have been using the service off-and-on for years and am not a first time caller. Naturally the experiences I have had with PTS have not bred my loyalty and I only use PTS when circumstances dictate.