Never used Amex concierge, some guidence please?
 

I've got a couple questions with Amex concierges. I'm planning a trip to LA at the end of October and I'm looking at staying at one of the Disney hotels. It's expensive, around $450/night. Booking direct with Disney doesn't seem to get me anything extra, so I'm wondering if I can book via AmexTravel.com to earn the 5x points, plus I have a bonus offer for any booking made on AmexTravel of $500 or more (I'll be staying three nights) I can get a one time bonus of 10,000 pts.

All three Disneyland hotels DO show up in Amex travel when I search for them, but they say they're all booked for my dates. However, when I go over to Disneyland's web page I can see for the extra same dates that two out of the three hotels have a room open. (Disney's Grand Californian Hotel at ~$571/night and Disneyland Hotel at ~$453/night).

My questions are this... if the Amex concierge did see that there were rooms open and able to book them on my dates, would that count as 5x membership reward points booked via AmexTravel, or is it booked as a separate "service"? Also, do you think the 10,000 bonus points would apply? It said it needs to be prepaid from AmexTravel.com, I don't mind prepaying, but I'm not sure the concierge books it that way...

Also, the other question is this, when I make a request (I was going to use their new online feature) will the contact me first to verify options and then book the room. Or could the book the Disney Grand Californian at over $100/night more because that happens to be the first one they check... or what if they don't see the standard room at the Disneyland hotel available but instead see the premium for $50/night more? I don't care about that stuff and I just want the best deal for on property hotel. I don't want to book via Amex and get stuck paying $150 to $300 more a night because it's a "nicer room" or something that they saw first. I don't think Disney allows for rooms to be cancelled either, so I don't think I can just call up Disney afterward and cancel the res. There is a little check box you need to select that says "*I authorize Amex to release my phone & credit card information if needed to secure my request", but I'm wondering if that's for more cut and dry requests, like if there are any tickets left to the show, get one, etc.

Any advice on this?

Are you talking about a genuine AmEx concierge for a fancy AmEx card or just phoning to some AmEx branded travel agency? AFAIK at least for the Plat card, travel normally goes through PTS (not at all the same as local AmERx travel offices) while the concierge service would do other more individual stuff.

Sorry, forgot to mention that. Yes, it's for an Amex Platinum card.

Edit: But it also still stands that on my Platinum card I'm being pointed to booking via their travel portal (amextravel.com) to redeem my membership points and earn 5x on air/hotel.

Well, to put your mind at ease, Disney room are cancellable up to 7 days in advance. They will charge a one-night deposit, but you can get it back (no questions asked) if you cancel before the deadline.

If you're willing to do all the research yourself to find room pricing, availability, categories, etc. then you're not the target customer for the platinum concierge. You have to ask yourself if the 5x MR points are really worth all the hassle you're potentially putting yourself through, not to mention the fact that every moment you don't book, more Disney rooms are being sold so the prices are only going up. October is now Halloween season at Disney, which is popular enough to fill the hotels and lead to premium rates for those who don't book early.

Are you eligible for any "standard" Disney discounts such as California resident, military, etc.?

First, no, no standard discounts like SOCAL resident or military or anything. So it's paying posted prices for me....

Normally I don't go for the points and instead just consider them a bonus that'll slowly add up on the back end. Usually I book based on perks (like if the card gets me gold status with a hotel program, etc). But since Disney isn't part of any big hotel rewards program, and I don't see big discounts by booking via certain sites, I figure this one might be worth trying to squeeze out as many bonus points as I can.

I was planning on transferring these points on over to Virgin America since their F redemption is pretty good... but I see that option ends on 10/31/17 with Amex and I doubt my points from Disney will post that fast... So this probably was all worthless and instead I'll put them on the CSR and earn 3x.

Thanks for the Disney cancellation tip though!

No, you need to book per the terms of the benefit.

There are three entities:

American Express Travel - currently outsourced to Orbitz.
Platinum Travel Service - this is who you would use to book Fine Hotels and Resorts stays.
Platinum Concierge - Seldom used for travel bookings. See here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-done-you.html

There are discounts to be had at different times before arrival like 180 days, 90 days etc. You really need to research some of the disney message boards like mousesavers or disboards to get the best deal.