Bartolo

Does anyone have experience using the new travel credit benefit with Membership Rewards? Called Amex but CSR not especially knowledgable and the wording on the info sheet not that clear.

Questions:
1. Iif I book directly with the airline (rather than Amex travel service), do I still get the credit? Perhaps after the fact?

2. Is there a travel agent fee for using the travel service as there would be with a regular travel agent? I used to use Amex travel when they had a bricks and mortar place. They began charging $50 to issue a tx and closed the storefront. Easier to deal direct with the airline.

3. Does the supplementary cardmember also get the travel credit also or just one per “account”?

4. Does each card on an account get the Nexus renewal credit?

Any hints/tips/ideas re them new benefits would be most appreciated.

mia

Do you mean this credit? https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/e...el-credit.html

This rules out using the credit for a direct purchase from an airline.

The terms specify that only the Basic Cardmember is eligible. That's American Expresspeak for the primary cardholder. Additional cards on the same account are not eligible.

Bartolo

i meant the Gold/Rose (updated benefits from last fall) card in Canada. Assume it likely operates in the same way as platinum but don’t know for sure. CSR said something about “claiming” it after the flight regardless of how booked but I didn’t trust the info. Hence wondering about others’ experience.

mia

Here are the terms:

Source: https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/e...-rewards-card/

Bartolo

Thanks. Definitely not what agent said, hence my question here. I was not confident in her response for a number of reasons.

Bartolo

What experiences have card holders had with the new travel benefit for Gold card members ($100/yr)? Using the Amex travel team seems to increase the cost of a booking significantly, for hotels anyway.

How have others used it?

mia

Are you booking online at americanexpress.ca/travel ?

Bartolo

For research purposes, yes. Does it make a difference to call in? In one instance the site quoted more than $300/nte for same room (a Hilton).

msp3

If you make a booking with the $100CAD booking and cancel it afterwards, do you get to keep the $100 or do they make the refund less the $100 credit amount? For NEXUS, can you change to it if currently holding Global Entry?

YYJMSP

Make a fully prepaid cancellable booking greater than $100. Full price is charged to card. $100 credit shows up. Cancel booking. Full price is credited to card. Net effect of $100 credit remains on card

Same as Platinum with $200 credit...

Bartolo

I want to do something similar (Canadian Amex gold card). I would be prepared to use Amex to get a hotel or car booking but every time I’ve tried the pricing is significantly more than doing it directly. In one case triple. Rack rates, I assume.

i saw various car rental options but could not see how to do a pre-paid cancellable rate. It did not seem to be offered as an option. Do I have to call in for this?

I’m also confused. In other posts about using the credit, I thought some indicated the credit was clawed back in such scenarios.

Can anyone shed light on this?

Bartolo

I now see a post in another thread where the poster indicates the credit was clawed back. Someone else intbe same thread says they got to keep it despite cancelling their booking. Hence the confusion on my part.

YYJMSP

Never had a problem with my Platinum card, and now the Gold card since they upped the annual fee and added the travel credit.

Did the person who got the clawback cancel their card after getting the credit? I would assume if you use the 2024 credit, you need to have paid the 2024 annual fee and keep the card for 2024. Otherwise you are double dipping and I can see AMEX going after the credit to get the balance of their annual fee.