michelle227

No issues with a reservation being in the system when I checked in last week. They noted that it was booked through 'Expedia' and, as a result, could not (would not?) offer any sort of credit for the poker rate that I learned about only after booking the room (tournament play earns a lower rate upon presentation of the event receipt).

Given that my per night was still less than the resort fees charged by most LAS properties, I wasn't that worked up over it...much like the AAA rates, it would have been nice to save the few bucks a night, but it isn't going to break the bank, especially when the first tourney cash covered all three trips...

nomii

It seems that amextravel.com for booking flights has some limitations:

- Its not showing any Qatar Airlines business class flights (e.g. try to find nonstop DOH-LAX or any route served by Qatar, that isn't shown as an option). Economy class flights show up fine. Will call tomorrow to see if they can help with this through phone if not online.

- AmexTravel doesn't allow to book tickets to or from certain countries (e.g. no itineraries involving pakistan airports). Even asking them to do this on the phone they refused.

I will call them tomorrow to see if they can book me a Qatar flight on the phone (I was hoping to use my MR points which is why wanted to book through amextravel), but if people have other examples of limitations it would be great to list them out.

MaxVO

I notice that too with amextravel, expedia (possibly others) not displaying QR in general searches. It's not surprising, since the US3 are the biggest customers of US-based online travel agents (and have the power to bully).
This can be avoided with amextravel.com by specifying QR as one of your preferred airlines (max 3 preferreds allowed). You will then be able to search and book QR online.

moe8555

Being that this is run by Orbitz, are there ever any promotion codes (e.g. 15% off codes that appear every so often on Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.) for hotels?

I am aware that there are statement credits (Amex Offers) here and there, but haven't found anything regarding "coupons."

I am asking because the 5X is very lucrative and nearly all my bookings are prepaid, however between coupon codes and cashback sites, I'm not sure the 5X is actually worthwhile without any further discount or cashback.

On the other hand, I am also aware of the complexity of the comparison, as MR can be turned into very valuable airfare redemptions, and Amex does offer transfer bonuses every so often.

oneworld82

Hi,

I am trying to book a SEZ-CMB-DXB itinerary on Amex Travel in business class on Sri Lankan Airlines, but the airline does not show up in the search results.

Do you know if by calling Amex directly I would be able to book them and to get the 50% points back?

Thanks!

mia

If you go to this page:

https://www.amextravel.com/flight_se...new#multi_city

...and check Search only my preferred airline you can scroll through a list of carriers which does include Sri Lankan Airlines. This suggests that the telephone agents should be able to book their flights.

oneworld82

Thanks mia, that's what I thought. I will give them a call!

weaseltown

Found an itinerary on ITA Matrix this afternoon for a Delta flight at a great price point. However, due to the complexity of the fare construction, neither Orbitz nor Priceline nor Delta (nor any of their phone agents) could book a ticket with this fare. Called Platinum Concierge, and they were able to reconstruct the fare and ticket it with a minimum of frustration. Friendly agents and overall a positive experience.

moe8555

I'm assuming no 5X on this booking?
What information did you give the agent that allowed him to find the flight?

weaseltown

This booking should qualify for 5x. From the Platinum Terms & Conditions regarding 5x: "Eligible air purchases are purchases of scheduled flights made directly with a passenger airline or through American Express Travel (via the phone by calling 1-800-525-3355 or online via amextravel.com), minus returns and credits."

In this case I mentioned that I found the fare code manually in the GDS. Gave the agent the desired flights, including the bucket for each segment, then the fare code for each leg. Thankfully didn't require the entire fare construction. Apparently this isn't a common request (surprise! ) so it took the agent a few minutes to figure out how to ticket it.

I'll try following up with the original agent and see if there are any magic keywords we can use while booking in case I need to do this again with a different agent in the future.

moe8555

Thanks, that'd be great. I asked about the 5X because you mentioned it was booked through Platinum Concierge/Travel Services, which is separate from Amextravel.com. Could you verify if this was done through Amextravel (and therefore eligible for 5X) or Platinum?

mia

Assuming this is a personal Platinum card the bonus should be triggered by the billing transaction. If it's billed by an airline, rather than by an agency, I would expect the bonus points to be awarded.

weaseltown

The agent was a Platinum Travel agent.

The pending charge is from Delta and the ticket is 006. Makes sense I suppose since it was an all-Delta itinerary. Unfortunately that means I won't have a useful data point for you here re: 5x travel agency charges. Sorry.

slylust

just had the worst experience with Amex travel. Had booked ticket almost a month ago for my mom travelling to india, had to rebook departure flight from india to a earlier date, business class wasn't available had to book her into first class paid fare difference etc.

Now try to do online check-in for her flight it is in business class and standby. Calling Amex travel they said airline changed their codes in their system its first class, and the new code is economy class etc. Spent over a couple hours on the phone dealing with this issue.

This single experience makes me want to cancel the damn card after i use up my points just got the stupid card less than 2 months ago already spent over 8k...

miomi

Hi,
I booked a business class ticket with Amex Travel and it ended up in Z, which gives me half the tier points that it would be if the ticket was in J/C/D/I.

I called Amex Travel - acc. to the agent, there is no way for him (or me) to know what fare class a ticket will be booked into until after they do the booking. I have Amex Plat (US).

I flew the same airline (VS) two months ago, paid same price, and the ticket was in J. How is this possible - and is there any way to fix this other than canceling the ticket, booking a different one, seeing the class, canceling, booking another one... it just sounds insane.

Thank you...