onlyforleisure

sorry for the paragraphs I used to get in trouble for that and run on sentences in grammar school but thats the first time I have been called out about it on a forum board

Most of the benefits listed were through FHR bookings as we are all aware sometimes FHR benefits may not be worth it like when their rate is significantly higher or its hotels you would never plan on staying in. I have many times not been able to use FHR because it was not practical but I wanted to point out the times it has been succesful this year.

The breakfast coupouns in vegas were $20 per person per day. Since there was no extra fee for additional people I had the CSR at FHR put down down 4 people per room. So about $80 a room a per day. The actually ran out of coupouns and had me come down later for more.

The clubs is a benefit through concierge. When you call ask to be put on the VIP guest list. This may not work every night nor at every club but for us it was a nice bonus.

The bottom line I was trying to get across is we all know the card has some great benfits but the the annual fee may seem steep. The 2-4-1 loss is a big blow but hopefully they will shock us with something real good. The best thing about this board is for us to share benefits about the card that others may not have known about and can now hopefully use them to their advantage.

Nepenthe

Thanks for both sharing your experiences as well as for some great ideas for future travel!

Knox

Amen to that! I just booked the Vegas Hilton for 4 nights $35/night in January via Player's Club account offer. I have been locked in on some flights for a last shot at the 2-4-1 ending tomorrow, but enduring some drama getting some friends and the wife on board. Wish me luck!

upgrader

LAST DAY TODAY! All you shirkers, malingerers, procrastinators and just plain lazy people. (I am example #1) Let's get it done.

ijgordon

So the domestic companion program office closed at 2pm EST today! AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH. There was no notice of this particular cutoff, to my knowledge. I lodged a complaint with cardholder services. Any other suggestions? I guess I can cancel my card out of spite, but then I'd have to buy CO and AA lounge memberships.

bigbrownboy

I'm pretty sure they always closed at 2pm EST on Saturdays--as a west coaster I was annoyed by this a few times.

scubadu

So, you waited until the almost last possible moment, on the long communicated last day, and now your mad. Huh? Their closing at 2 PM eastern has been a fact for the whole life of the program. Almost any travel agent I've ever dealt with has limited hours on Saturday (if open at all) relative to weekday hours. Were you just expecting they'd be waiting around for your call?

We've had like a month and a half of notice that the 15th was the end game, no? Sorry that you missed the opportunity (seriously) but it seems like you own a bit of this as well.

Regards

ijgordon

As a matter of fact yes. I don't care what bozo travel agents you use. The "regular" Amex Plat travel agents were there and answering their phones mid-afternoon on Saturday, as they always do, so why should I have expected any different from the Domestic Companion Program, when there was NO INDICATION IN ANY OF THE MATERIALS that they would close at 2pm.

Sorry, I do not agree.

MMOB

I just read all nine pages of this thread. I'm surprised that in discussing all of the benefits of the platinum card, no one mentioned the cruise program. Am I the only cruiser here? I've had the platinum card since it first came out and the main benefit to me has been the $300 shipboard credit that I receive on each cruise. Plus, there is also an annual $100 credit that appears on my AmEx statement for booking the cruise or other vacation package.

To me, the adde 241 benefit wa just icing on the cake when it was added last year. I'm sorry to see it go, but it won't cause me to cancel the card.

scubadu

I'm sure your cheery disposition will get you the redress you seek. Please report back on, I'm sure the generous compensation adjustment you'll receive from your lodged complaint with card holder services.

The hours of the Amex Plat travel desk, as you are now aware, are quite irrelevant, as the vendor providing the 2-4-1 service for this program is in fact NOT the Amex Travel desk. By your logic should all vendors that provide a travel benefit on the Plat/Cent card have the same business days/hours as Amex Plat Travel? (e.g. Starwood, Avis, Hertz, etc.)

You procrastinated to the last moment of the program and you missed out. Your angry about that; fair enough. But that doesn't mean it's someone else's fault.

Fair enough, but whether you agree or disagree is irrelevant. Your the one that didn't get what you wanted and are obviously angry about it, not me.

Regards

Dreps

MMOB, The only reason we have kept the Platinum card is for the cruise credit and the ability to occasionally obtain good seats at broadway shows. Sometimes the bonuspointsmall is useful for a point boost.

Knox

I was able to get through on the last Saturday and purchased my Vegas tickets. I was running last minute, so I was able to book before 2PM after going through the whole line busy, redial repeatedly, finally get through, hold for a long time drill. Then they transferred me over to "confirm" my reservation. I got put on hold for a while again, finally about 10 minutes after 2PM, I get the dreaded "fast busy". In other words, disconnected. the recording answered when I called back, API is closed (of course).

I called Monday and got through and I provided my confirmation number. The gal said I was good but ran through the whole billing process again. This was a $422 ticket, and the total was going to be $662 or so. She mentioned something about $73.99 fee, per passenger + of course all the other taxes and fees associated with any airline ticket. I reluctantly agreed, since I'm still saving $180 in the deal,worse case I figured.

To date I have still not received the e-mail receipt they were to send. I went ahead and disputed the amount with Amex, I figure it is worth checking into. The first time I used the program I paid an $100 for the companion ticket for a $320 ticket. Now suddenly it is $240? What amount of fees have others paid when using this program?

I was able to confirm the reservation on the AA website and "fix" the seat assignments, so I feel good about that.

Before anyone chastises me for being last minute, the reason for that was my wife being indecisive, not me. I book things way ahead normally.

Thanks for any input on fees paid in the past for this program. I have never seen where these fees were spelled out in writing as part of the account agreement. However, I would not put it past API to 1) make an error, or 2) try to rip me off. Will advise on the dispute response.

ekwang

I was able to use the 241 domestic program this past January for SFO-JFK RT for myself and gf as part of our trip to Kenya. It was $288 RT for the both of us on United coach, and believe it or not, we were upgraded to BC due to a group of 40 on our flight and they wanted to keep them all together in Coach. Since there was an opening in BC, my gf and I were upgraded!

Sorry to see them drop this, but thankfully, through my Delta Reserve and United Plat Visa, I get domestic travel vouchers for both airlines for 1 flight each year which we'll be using up from now on with this Plat benefit being dropped. What a shame

Eric

Potay

I'm wondering what credit cards those who chose to cancel their Plat AMEXs replaced it with? Any ideas on "close second" place to the benefits, specifically airport lounge access & 241 domestic tix?

kuroneko

(Emphasis added)

Reading over your post, its seems like you haven't actually used any of the benefits I reported I value. If you haven't actually tried to use them, how can you really judge how much it is worth to someone else? It has been worth it for me, for a number of years, and this is why I keep renewing. Apart from FHR, the other services/benefits may seem like they are equivalent to other cards, but IME, they are not. It has been much easier and smoother for to access those benefits with Amex compared to other cards, and that means something to me that I am willing to pay a premium for. Whenever I buy a high value item, or make a purchase that may seem risky, Amex is always my card of choice. Why? Because in these matters, they put the customer first over the merchant. With other cards, I find the opposite to be true.

As for FHR, I have never not received my upgrade as promised. Sure, you have to use the FHR hotels, but IME, FHR+Upgrade and perks (assuming you need the upgrade) has made it less expensive than or at least equivalent to booking a lesser hotel with a higher room category.


Roadside assistance for Amex is roughly equivalent to a $90 AAA membership. If you're one who doesn't like to have the convenience of having AAA, then fine, this has no value for you. But I personally was able to cancel my AAA, which I found to be valuable, and save the $90 a year.

As always, YMMV. Everybody has their own travel pattern, and based on my particular travel and situation, Amex has been worth it. I can't say that I don't, at the end of the day, get my money's worth.