scottxxxxx

I recently singed up for an AMEX Business Platinum card because I have been traveling a lot, and thought it would be worth the annual fee. I have been purchasing my AA tickets with my AA branded CC to accrue more miles. When I called AMEX to activate my card, I mentioned that one of the perks which motivated me to sign up for the card was the airport lounge access. The CSR mentioned that I needed to purchase my tickets using my AMEX card in order to gain access to them with my card. I have been in the Admirals club several times when people use an AMEX platinum card to gain access and don't recall them looking up how the ticket was purchased, but I am not positive.

Does anybody know if you must purchase your airline ticket with an AMEX platinum card to access the lounge? If so, I am not sure how I missed that caveat when I was reading about the benefits of the card. Since I don't always purchase my own tickets, this could make things more difficult, and lessens the appeal of the card a bit.

90minfromJFK-CDG

No, there isn't an requirement to purchase tix using the Amex Plat in order to access the club. The CSR appears to have been misinformed.

scottxxxxx

Thanks for clearing that up, I don't mind following the rules, but think the AA citi card provides more miles than the AMEX and would rather use it if I have a choice.

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Why do you think this? Citi awards one AAdvantage mile per dollar, right?

Chaiyakan

no you don't

scottxxxxx

Yes, but that is one more per dollar than what the AMEX card provides. I do not know what the conversion rate is from AMEX points to other airlines, but AA is not listed on their site.
http://www.amexcardadvisor.com/rewar...rship-rewards/

I will have to look in to the conversion for Marriott, when I use my Marriott branded credit card at a Marriott hotel I receive 5 points per dollar spent.

mia

American Express Membership Rewards points convert 1:1 to miles on all of the carriers listed here (the conversion rate is different for airline programs which do not use "miles" as their loyalty unit):

http://www.membershiprewards.com/cat...lFreqFlyerProg

You are correct that AA does not participate in Membership Rewards, but MR points can be used to travel on AA by redeeming through British Airways Executive Club (currently excluding transatlantic flights between the USA and the UK).

Most airlines belong to one of three aliances: OneWorld, SkyTeam or Star. In general, it is possible to redeem through one airline for travel on any other airline which belongs to the same alliance. This means you do not need to be able to transfer to the airline that you want to fly, only to one of their partners. However, alliances do not allow you to pool miles from different frequent flyer accounts. This means you need to plan ahead to accumulate miles in only one program per alliance.

The benefit of using a Membership Rewards card versus a card tied to one airline is the greater redemption flexibility.

scottxxxxx

You have made a good point about about redemption flexibility, which is why I will use the card for certain purchases. However I would not use it if I intended to convert them to a different carrier with the intention of using them on AA (oneworld alliance), since I don't know how easy it would be to mix and match miles from two different carriers.

mia

If you primarily fly AA (as I do on domestic routes) it does make sense to earn some AAdvantage miles with a credit card. Surprisingly, it turns out that Citi AAdvantage Mastercard is not the best card for earning AA miles. I suggest you investigate the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card, which is also issued by American Express.

Even if you never set foot in a Starwood hotel you should understand the Starwood Preferred Guest Program because it offers the flexibility of a program similar to Membership Rewards with the ability to accumulate AA miles. Used correctly you can earn 25% more AA miles per dollar spent, and have the flexibility to redeem on about three dozen airlines.

I do realize that when one first joins Flyertalk there is genuine information overload. You can't do everything today, this month, or even this year, but keep it in mind for the future.

anniefree

just show your plat card when you check into the lounge. that is all i have ever done.

Sunriser

Do you need to actually fly with American Airlines or Delta if you want to go to their Lounges, or can i also fly with other Airlines and still use my Platinum Card to access their lounges?

mia

Yes. In the case of AA only there is a small exception for AA codeshares operated by another carrier (such as Alaska Airlines), but in general you must fly on an aircraft operated by the same airline as operates the lounge. Complete rules are on the The Platinum Card website:

https://www217.americanexpress.com/c..._c&benefitId=1

hopscotch1

I did not know this. So if I book an AA codeshare on Alaska, I can use Alaska Boardroom. This would be nice if true since at LAX everything is in different terminals. I checked out the benefits website, but couldn't find an answer to this direct question.

mia

No, but if you book an AA flight operated by AS you can still use the Admiral's Club:

Complimentary access is specifically for the airport club that corresponds to the airline operating the flight (access pertains to the aircraft, not the flight number) except with respect to American Airlines marketed code share flights with an American Airlines flight number which are also eligible for complimentary access to the lounge.

scottxxxxx

Thanks for the advice, I will look in to the Starwood CC. I do stay at Starwood a fair amount, enough to earn Platinum with SPG, not sure the amount of days required, but less than Marriott.

I actually joined the board a few years ago, but still feel like there is a lot that I can learn from the members.