Sep 22, 2022, 9:48 am
Last edit by: mia
Related discussion here: Report clawbacks of the FHR/THC $200 credit.
Terms and FAQ
Which charges are eligible?
Terms and FAQ
Which charges are eligible?
- Reservation must be pre-paid to be reimbursed.
- Pre-paids with a flexible cancellation policy are still eligible.
- Hotel rates under $200 are also reimbursed.
- If using Pay With Points, the cash portion of your charge is still eligible.
- Charges made at the hotel are not billed by Amex Travel and are not eligible.
- When checking in, the terms require payment with an Amex which need not be a platinum Amex.
- Browse Hotels here
- Benefit renews every January 1st.
- The $200 credit is based on the year you made the booking, not the year of the stay. You can use it this year to book a room for next year.
- Amex in general handles offers by the transaction date, not post date. For example, a 12/31/22 transaction date is eligible for 2022 credits even if posted in 2023.
- If you cancel a reservation, the $200 credit is reversed. The credit will be available to use again if you cancelled in the same year you paid.
- In general you can't modify reservation dates and need to cancel and rebook to change dates.
- "If you need to change your hotel booking, you must either cancel and rebook your reservation or call us for assistance."
- If you use the benefit for a future stay and cancel that Amex platinum card prior to your stay, Amex is not known to claw back the $200. You will still need to check-in with some other Amex.
- The $200 credit sometimes posts in a few days, but sometimes 3 weeks or longer.
To know your remaining $200 balance, ask Amex. There's no meter on the website.There is now a meter on the website which shows your usage against $200- If your platinum account has additional cardholders with a gold card, charges on the gold card are eligible. Not clear if they enforce the requirement that the platinum cardholder must be on the reservation.
- Terms of the FH&R $100 credit.
- Separate thread regarding elite benefits on stays.
Amex $200 Hotel Credit (FHR or THC)
Jul 30, 2021, 2:03 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 83
Amex $200 Hotel Credit (FHR or THC)
Does anyone know how it works if you have to cancel the Amex Travel reservation and are refunded the stay? I'm curious it'll be a pain to get the credit again when rebooking, I had to cancel a stay as I had for mid September. I plan to rebook once the refund hits and I see how the credit will be handled, but I wanted to see if anyone had already experienced this considering it is new. I figured it couldn't be as simple as the credit stay on your account for you to just rebook. I'm concerned the system will take back the credit, then not issue it again for a future booking. Any insights into this would be great!
Side note - I wasn't able to modify the reservation as a FHR, which I didn't know, so canceling was the only true solution.
Side note - I wasn't able to modify the reservation as a FHR, which I didn't know, so canceling was the only true solution.
Aug 18, 2021, 6:31 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,419
Does anyone know how it works if you have to cancel the Amex Travel reservation and are refunded the stay? I'm curious it'll be a pain to get the credit again when rebooking, I had to cancel a stay as I had for mid September. I plan to rebook once the refund hits and I see how the credit will be handled, but I wanted to see if anyone had already experienced this considering it is new. I figured it couldn't be as simple as the credit stay on your account for you to just rebook. I'm concerned the system will take back the credit, then not issue it again for a future booking. Any insights into this would be great!
Side note - I wasn't able to modify the reservation as a FHR, which I didn't know, so canceling was the only true solution.
Side note - I wasn't able to modify the reservation as a FHR, which I didn't know, so canceling was the only true solution.
As I understand it, the $200 credit is by annual year. So if I now book a hotel for February, and pay for it now, I assume it counts towards this year's credit. And I'll get credit issued almost immediately. Correct? But what happens if my plans change? And does it matter if they don't change until next year (like in January?)
And do we have any idea what happens if you use the credit, cancel, and don't rebook? I assume AMEX could/would claw that back?
Aug 18, 2021, 6:46 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Manhattan, Palm Beach Island, San Francisco, Boston, & Hong Kong
Programs: Lifetime United Global Services, Delta Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador, & Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,165
Any answer on this, and is there no master thread discussing use of the $200 credit? I've seen a few blog posts that explain the credit, but there are a few important issues that don't seem to be covered.
As I understand it, the $200 credit is by annual year. So if I now book a hotel for February, and pay for it now, I assume it counts towards this year's credit. And I'll get credit issued almost immediately. Correct? But what happens if my plans change? And does it matter if they don't change until next year (like in January?)
And do we have any idea what happens if you use the credit, cancel, and don't rebook? I assume AMEX could/would claw that back?
As I understand it, the $200 credit is by annual year. So if I now book a hotel for February, and pay for it now, I assume it counts towards this year's credit. And I'll get credit issued almost immediately. Correct? But what happens if my plans change? And does it matter if they don't change until next year (like in January?)
And do we have any idea what happens if you use the credit, cancel, and don't rebook? I assume AMEX could/would claw that back?
2) Cancelled bookings are clawed back automatically. However, RE-bookings will also have the $200 credit applied automatically
Aug 18, 2021, 7:19 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA
Programs: OZ Diamond
Posts: 6,134
1) The amex credit applies for when the reservation is paid. As it only works for prepaid bookings, all that matters is the year you made the prepaid booking. Ie a prepaid booking in August 2021 for a stay in March 2022 will count toward your 2021 booking
2) Cancelled bookings are clawed back automatically. However, RE-bookings will also have the $200 credit applied automatically
2) Cancelled bookings are clawed back automatically. However, RE-bookings will also have the $200 credit applied automatically
LAX
Aug 18, 2021, 8:20 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Manhattan, Palm Beach Island, San Francisco, Boston, & Hong Kong
Programs: Lifetime United Global Services, Delta Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador, & Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,165
Aug 21, 2021, 12:28 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: BAEC G, WN A-, Hyatt G, HH G, MAR T, Hz PC, was [UA2P, FL A+Elite, BD G]
Posts: 2,271
You could make two consecutive bookings: one booking with FHR (to get up to $200 back from AMEX) and a second booking directly with Hyatt (to use points).
Aug 21, 2021, 7:26 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
unless the terms of the offer state otherwise, I’m sure it will still trigger the credit.
Aug 22, 2021, 9:29 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,486
There is a report in Reddit that someone used points for 100% of a FHR prepaid booking and still received the $200 credit, but I suppose in this situation YMMV.
Aug 22, 2021, 1:08 pm
#10
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
Here are some pertinent rules as they appeared to me. Please correct whatever I got wrong.
1. Hotels must be prepaid on AmEx Travel from the list or FHR and THC.
2. Payments for a single booking on AmEx Travel can not be split between 2+ CC. This is relevant for households with more than one Plat.
3. Payments at the hotel are not eligible for this credit.
4. Bookings can be as short as 1 day for FHR, and 2 days for THC. The eligible hotel list will not include THC if the stay is 1 day. I don't know what will happen if one makes 2 consecutive bookings in a hotel, that is otherwise listed as THC for multi-day bookings.
5. Credit resets on Jan.01.
1. Hotels must be prepaid on AmEx Travel from the list or FHR and THC.
2. Payments for a single booking on AmEx Travel can not be split between 2+ CC. This is relevant for households with more than one Plat.
3. Payments at the hotel are not eligible for this credit.
4. Bookings can be as short as 1 day for FHR, and 2 days for THC. The eligible hotel list will not include THC if the stay is 1 day. I don't know what will happen if one makes 2 consecutive bookings in a hotel, that is otherwise listed as THC for multi-day bookings.
5. Credit resets on Jan.01.
Aug 22, 2021, 7:20 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Rockies
Programs: UA Platinum, HHonors Diamond, Bonvoy occasionally Bonvoyed Mostly
Posts: 428
Here's my datapoint on this
I had made a reservation in July using FHR and then the rates changed so i cancelled the reservation and made a new one. What i saw was was $200 charge and then another $200 credit for the new reservation. So it seemed like the credit did get applied to the new reservation. However in my case, I cancelled the reservation and made a new reservation for the same dates on the same day so that may have factored in. Having said that, the process of cancelling one reservation and creating a new one were completely independent so it makes me think that the credit does get "withdrawn" and "applied" automatically.
I had made a reservation in July using FHR and then the rates changed so i cancelled the reservation and made a new one. What i saw was was $200 charge and then another $200 credit for the new reservation. So it seemed like the credit did get applied to the new reservation. However in my case, I cancelled the reservation and made a new reservation for the same dates on the same day so that may have factored in. Having said that, the process of cancelling one reservation and creating a new one were completely independent so it makes me think that the credit does get "withdrawn" and "applied" automatically.
Aug 22, 2021, 9:34 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Manhattan, Palm Beach Island, San Francisco, Boston, & Hong Kong
Programs: Lifetime United Global Services, Delta Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador, & Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,165
I think you’re right about the credit being applied and clawed back automatically. It seems like Amex thought this credit through. The alternative is either too costly (a free $200 credit for just booking and cancelling a prepaid FHR stay) or too labor intensive (manually auditing all Plat accounts)
Aug 22, 2021, 10:16 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,419
Yeah, this seems the only situation that could be troublesome. I just made a reservation using my credit for February. Before Jan. 1, I need to make sure I'm going to want to keep that reservation.To avoid this modest risk in the future, I'll probably try to use my credit in the first half of the year. If you're a "value shopper," and don't travel constantly, you may have some difficulty making good use of the credit in many destinations. I do think most cardholders will be able to get at least a free night out of this at a decent (but not luxurious) hotel in popular destinations.
Aug 23, 2021, 2:59 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: California
Posts: 44
On a similar vein - can you use the $200 credit for an FHR reservation in another person's name?
For example, if both P1 and P2 have Platinums, can you use P1's account to book 2 FHR reservations, but use P2's credit card for the 2nd reservation?
For example, if both P1 and P2 have Platinums, can you use P1's account to book 2 FHR reservations, but use P2's credit card for the 2nd reservation?
Aug 23, 2021, 3:41 am
#15
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,703
I have a related question - does anyone know if I can book a hotel as a gift for a person who doesn't have a card?