The personal American Express Platinum card carries a very heavy annual fee of $695. Many people choose to not open this card because of that. However, if you take advantage of the credits and its perks, the annual fee won’t seem as daunting.
The most notable credits and perks are:
- $200 Hotel credit
- $200 Airline Fee credit
- $240 Digital Entertainment credit
- Access to Lounges
- $200 in Uber Cash Credit
- Up to $100 in Saks credit
- So many other benefits to list
For this blog I will be focusing only on my experience with using the $200 hotel credit for the first time.
Booking the Hotel
You can use the $200 hotel credit for either American Express’s The Hotel Collection or for their Fine Hotels and Resorts program. The Hotel Collection is the junior version, while the Fine Hotels and Resorts program is the more luxurious version. There are some similarities for both programs but some differences as well.
The Hotels Collection requires a minimum of 2 night stays. While there, you will receive $100 credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa, or resort activities. You will also receive room upgrades when available. The Fine Hotels and Resorts program does not require a two night stay and comes with a lot more perks. Booking a room with the Fine Hotels and Resorts program has the perks of a room upgrade, the $100 property credit, daily breakfast for two people, guaranteed 4 pm checkout, and early check in at 12 pm when available.
Your reservation for both programs must be paid for with your American Express Platinum card, and the cardholder MUST be present in order to receive benefits.
To book I went through the American Express hotels portal. I put in my dates for one night so that it would show me Fine Hotel and Resorts properties. The only hotel in Vegas that was close to the $200 mark was the Palazzo at the Venetian. It was renting for $225.86 per night. I paid with my platinum card and about a week later the $200 were credited to my statement, but it can take up to 90 days.
Another perk of this trip was that since The venetian is part of Hyatt, I was able to give them my Hyatt rewards number. So that stay, courtesy of American Express, helped me with my Hyatt Brand explorer. Brand explorer is like Bingo. Every time you check off 5 stays at Hyatt’s different brands, you get a free night certificate. So before you book this trip, be sure to create a free Hyatt account and have your rewards number handy in order to be on your way to a free night certificate with Hyatt.
The Hotel Experience
We did not get to the hotel until about 6 pm so I was not able to see if I would have gotten the 12 pm early check in perk. Upon arrival we had a pleasant experience checking in. They were so kind. The concierge gave us a detailed explanation of our credits and perks as well as an information sheet explaining all the benefits of the Fine Hotels and Resorts in case we forgot what we had access to and what restaurants counted towards the program. He also gave us two free drink tickets to be used at any of the bars in the hotel.
He also explained to us that if we wanted we could combine our $100 credit and the $65 breakfast credit into one meal if we wanted to. We chose to split them up because the whole purpose of the trip was to eat at Bazaar Meats by Jose-Andres. But that would have been nice for people looking to have one nice meal.
After all of this good news, he gave us the last bit of good news that we had been upgraded to a city view room. Below you’ll find a picture of the view.
I booked a king bed with a separate living room area. There was only 2 of us but this could easily have fit a family of 4. 2 kids could have slept on the couch in the living area. It was not a pull out couch. At booking I only had to pay $25.86. After the stay, I also had to pay resort fees that was another $56.69. This brought the grand total to $82.55 out of pocket for my one night stay including all of the perks.
We used part of the $65 breakfast credit at one of the Starbucks inside Venetian. The $100 credit we used at Buddy Valastro’s Ristorante. To get the credits, charge everything to the room AND be sure give your American Express Platinum card at the concierge in order to get the credits.
If you have any questions, please DM me on Instagram @mamitravelswithpoints
Happy travels!
