TLTyler86

New to the forum, I had a quick question for anyone who might know the answer.

I am planning on booking a trip on my card though AMEX travel. If I book the package trip together w/airfare, does anyone know if I will still receive the 3x points for the airfare? I am leaning towards no, but the travel agent said that they did not know for sure if it would be credited with 3x points.

Has anyone ever booked a trip like this before?

Thanks!

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk. The bonus is specifically for airline purchases, not for travel in general. Will the charge transaction be processed by an airline?

vrbaba

Anyone know this? Amex offers 2X for booking an airfare through amex travel. With the Premier Gold card, do you still get the additional 3X?

I am not sure whether the charge shows up as Amex charge or Airline charge - I guess that would answer the question. Has anyone booked through amex and can check their summary?

mia

Yes, you will receive a total of 4 points per dollar, but will also pay a booking fee. Discussed in the primary Premier Rewards Gold thread, start reading at about post 85 and continue to about post 161.

greek2me

I am new to the game. Looking for advice.
I am about to book 4 RT open jaw tickets for family on Continental (BDL-ATH, DXB-BDL) which are roughly $1,500 each in coach, so $6k total. I have Amex Platinum, Amex Premier Rewards Gold, am pending on Chase CO Mastercard and am about to get CO to challenge match my Delta Silver elite status. Question is how best to max miles on this purchase. If I charge to Amex Prem Rewards Gold I get 3x MR pts for it. Can I book through Amex Travel and double dip for the 2x they give? If I book thru Amex Travel will it be a triple dip and get CO miles as well?

sorrowfull

If you use the Chase United card you get 3 miles per $ as well as 1 elite qualifying mile per $ when you buy the tickets on united or co.com . I find that to be the best deal since you will get 5K eqm (limited to 5K eqm max per year) which will help with your elite status. If you use your Amex platinum you could get the extra premium trip insurance and baggage insurance which might be worth it for you. Hard to say which is the best card since each one offers different benefits like miles or insurance.

mia

I have merged greek2me's question into last Friday's discussion of the same the same question. To avoid repetition, please review the earlier posts before replying.

JH4

First time poster...upcoming trip, first time with a baby and first time work isnt helping us out. Flying EWR to CDG with Air France. Definitely want premium economy, have a few amex points to use however booking thru their site I only see Economy, Business or First. No premium economy. I can go thru expedia or someone, or even Air France themselves but I dont have Fly Blue card and dont really want to get one because this is most likely a one off trip for us between these destinations.

Anyone been successful getting prem econ through amex travel?

Thanks in advance

vrbaba

mia, I am guessing your latter post is correct, but that would suggest you know the answer to your first question. So, I am confused?

I think the booking fee ($5 for domestic or $10 for intl?) is likely worth it especially for intl travels. I need to start looking here when booking.

CMHFlyerOH

I don't know the answer to your question, unfortunately. But you don't need a Fly Blue "card" (or membership in their rewards program) to purchase premium economy directly from Air France. Make sure you give them your Delta FF#, though, so you can earn miles for your trip.

I would just call Amex up, and they should be able to tell you. They can book your flight over the phone as well, and I've found them to be very knowledgeable in the past.

Cypriote

I have called Amex with this very question a couple of months ago. Nobody (CSR, Tech Support, etc.) even really knew what Premium Economy was. After searching for hours on their site if I could book a W class economy ticket (premium eco), I gave up and called Amex Plat Travel. They were able to book it on the phone for me (there's a booking fee). However I didn't get the 2x points per $, because that only works if one books online. So all in all, if I had to redo it, I would book on AirFrance.us and save the booking fee.

Amex needs to keep up with classes and seriously improve its (dated?) travel website. Other websites include very nice filtering options (time of departure, time of arrival, etc.) that are quite useful. I find myself searching for flights on their sites and then booking the flight on Amex/Travel to get 2x MRP... A bit convoluted.

mia

americanexpress.com/travel is outsourced to Travelocity. If you look on travelocity.com you will also not see premium economy fares offered. This said, I cannot see a compelling reason to book through this site because they add a booking fee.

mia

In the case where you book only flights the transaction is very likely to be billed by an airline, and you should earn four points per dollar.

In the case where you book a package I think it is likely to be billed by someone other than an airline. It may be a tour company owned by an airline with a similar name, but if the merchant isn't classified as an airline it should not qualify the Premier Rewards Gold bonus.

Cypriote

Interesting. I didn't know they outsourced to Travelocity.com
I just visited the site and indeed the layout and options look very similar, if not identical, to the ones on americanexpress.com/travel. However, the Travelocity websites boasts a big "NO FEE" sign right next to its Flight finder tab. Does this mean that they recently stopped charging a booking fee? I could not find any info on their website.

mia

There is no booking fee on Travelocity.com. As far as I know there still is a booking fee on americanexpress.com/travel. Enter a test booking on both sites to test.