andreiz

Does one still earn hotel points when booking through Amex Travel site?

mia

Most hotel chains will not award points or recognize status on prepaid stays booked through any site other than their own. If you merely book online and pay at the hotel there is variation. I suggest you search in the Flyertalk forum of the specific hotel chains which you frequent. It is a common question, and the answer will be the same for a booking made through Expedia, Travelocity, or American Express, but not for bookings made through the FHR program.

tasnam

OK - I have had the SAME above questions for the longest time!!!

(Also I have been confused abot the dumb way MR points post on my account a month or two later after my statement is paid which compounds my above confusion.)

So I did a test - and IF I am right I do not like the results!!!
If I am wrong I know you wll correct me.




Test Purpose:
To see if booking on Amex travel site while using the Premier Rewards Gold card earns extra points.
.i.e are these bonuses stackable??? 3x pts + 2x pts



Step one: I started with a completely zero balanced Premier Rewards Gold card.

Step two: on 01/25/2012 I booked a ticket for a total of on $378.69

Breakdown is as follows:
$330.00 Fare
$48.69 taxes
$6.99 booking fee
$378.69 total
(On my statement it is listed as Amex Travel online $371.70 & Amex Travel online $6.99)


Here is where it starts to get interesting:



Step three: On 01/28/2012 I earned in my MR rewards account (and I do literally quote) "Earned 3x on Airfare 744"

How did we get 744 when I charged $378.69?

I figured out the breakdown is $371.70x2 (fare + taxes & fees - less $6.99 booking fee = $371.70) or $372x2 = 744 points for booking online.


So now Step four: Don't book anything else on the card for two months.


Step five:
Here is where it get's dissappointing:

Today (03/24/2012) my statement posts as it has closed.

I got 379 MR points!!!!! NOT anymore for putting it on the card!!!!!!!!!!!!

Test Result:

So I got 744 -for using their engine
and I got 379 - for using their card
Total 1123 MR Points


Show me where the 2x + the 3x points is please!?!?!?!?!


My conclusion is this:

YES you get 2x points for using their booking engine
YES you get 3x points for using their Premier Rewards Card
BUTTTTTTTTTT NOOOOOOOO you cannot stack both of them!!!

Why?
Because I believe they have "coded" their travel site NOT to be considered a airline if you use the Premier Rewards Card.

So you do get 2x pts but NOT with 3x for using their card!!!

Please show me where I am wrong....as I really wanted to earn more MR points.

I guess I will do the same test with my Chase Sapphire & (new) iNK Bold cards!!!!




.....And yes I do have too much time on my hands.....

mia

This is the problem in your example. The $371.70 transaction is not billed by an airline, therefore no Premier Rewards Gold bonus. This is not typical of the way airline tickets are processed. Which carrier did you book, and was the ticket bundled with anything else?

tasnam

Mia,

I understand that...
...but the test was to see if it was stackable (3x + 2x).

I am 100% certain when I have booked on Orbitz the "airline" books the ticket so YES from that site you get 3X points for using the card. (but no 2x Amex online bonus of course)

So when booking on Amex - since it is NOT charged (hence coded) by the airline - it does not count as an airline purchase; so no 3x card charge bonus (on top of online 2x)

So my whole point is you cannot stack 3x card + 2x Amex Online.
(which many of us had wondered about for a long time)

If fact (if you want to split hairs) you lose $6.99x2 for using the Amex site as they do not double that fee.


.....USAirways (not by choice)

mia

While this is true in your example, it has not been the general practice. American Express travel is operated by Travelocity, and airline tickets purchased are normally billed by the airline rather than the agency. The only reason I can think that Travelocity would take the billing is that they owned seat inventory purchased at a discount, as happens when buying prepaid hotel stays.

In any event, we are in agreement that americanexpress.com/travel is to be avoided for several reasons.

tasnam

Also I would raise this question:
("IF" Travelocity is owned by Amex)

When booking through Amex>{Travelocity site} > does Amex "remove" the airline "coding"

vs.

when booking www.>directly to Travelocity site Amex (or Travelocity for that matter) "Leaves IN" the "airline coding"?

mia

Travelocity is not owned by American Express. American Express has outsourced the operation of this specific travel booking site and Travelocity happens to have the contract. We would need reports from many members to know if they have changed the way airline ticket transactions are billed, but I doubt it because it would tie up a substantial amount of cash.

tasnam

Regardless....my test (in this case) that booking through Amex does not allow for stacking MR points from card and the site bonus.

Can anyone else confirm or disprove that they can stack the 2x site bonus with the 3x PR card bonus?

mia

Re-reading your original post I believe my previous replies were incorrect. You have already received the two bonus points per dollar for purchasing airfare with a Premier Rewards Gold card. You have not yet received the one point per dollar bonus for booking through americanexpress.com/travel.

It appears that you are expecting a total of five points per dollar, but it is only four:

1 base point for spending a dollar
2 bonus points for buying airfare
1 bonus point for using the portal

tasnam

You are incorrect yet again.

I received my 2x points for the AMEX online booking site in a few days of the actual booking.

Then two months later (after billing cycle) I got one (1) point in my account statement for using my PR card.

Remember I also have not used this card for any onther purposes since the beginning of the year.....

mia

americanexpress.com/travel awards only one bonus point per dollar. When American Expresss says "double points" they mean one bonus point.

tasnam

Yes.....and.....you cannot earn triple (1pt for charge + 2pt for airline bonus) from using your Premier Rewards Card.


Again:

1pt for AMEX Travel online + 1 Bonus point (for using AMEX Travel online)

+

1pt for using AMEX Premier Rewards card

=

3 Total points ONLY in total for airfare purchases


NOT 4 or 5 points as many of us had hoped /wondered /thought

mia

This is the misunderstanding. There is one, and only one, point awarded for booking through americanexpress.com/travel. Not 1 plus 1.

1 base point for spending $1 on the card, you have received this
2 bonus points for the PRG airline category bonus, you have received this
1 bonus point for using the booking portal, you have not yet rceived this. It posts 10-12 weeks after booking.

When American Express says that PRG awards 3X points for airline tickets they mean the one base point plus two bonus points. Likewise, when American Express says double points for booking through their travel portal they mean the same base point plus one bonus point. You will receive one more point per dollar for a total of four.

tasnam

Mia,


I believe you are incorrect again on this.

When using the AMEX online travel booking portal you do NOT get the triple points when using it inconjuction with using the PR Amex card on the card itself.

You ONLY get 1 + 1 pt from booking through the AMEX portal.
AND you get 1 pt for using the PR AMEX card.

I am not sure how else I can explain this for you to realize it is an EITHER-OR situation.

Either you use the AMEX portal w/the AMEX PR card and do NOT get the bonus on the card for using the PR card

OR you book from an airline and get the PR Card bonus but you do NOT get the AMEX Portal bonus.

Make sense?