Don’t make this mistake with the Fine Hotels and Resorts benefit!

I’ve carried the Amex Platinum Card in my wallet for many years now. Over the years, the Fine Hotels and Resorts benefit has been one of my favorite benefits to use. Recently, after Amex refreshed the card, Amex increased their hotel credit to $600 instead of the previous $200 per year. You can refer to this post in which I’ve outlined a complete guide to the new $600 Hotel Credit benefit on the Amex Platinum Card.

For many of us who have used the benefit before in the past, we know what to expect. However, if you’re someone who has just picked up the Amex Platinum Card after the refresh and plan to use the benefit, then it would help not to make this rookie mistake.

Fine Hotels and Resorts Credit Benefits

Reddit user Delicious_Library364 shared this:

I called concierge to book a room at the Equinox Hotel for my birthday, when I booked the hotel the agent listed all the benefits I would receive being it was a Fine Hotel & Resorts hotel and it was my birthday so I was excited. It was my first time booking a room so I was unsure of the envelope you receive upon checking in. But around 3pm on my day of check out, the hotel calls and says the housekeeping tried to clean but I wasn’t packed. I was not at the hotel so I told them I was under the impression that I had a 4pm check out & they then informed me that on their end it just says it was booked through Expedia and that the benefits weren’t applied and they charged me for a late check out. Has anyone had experience not getting the benefits? I made a claim but wondering how it will fare.

In this case, this surely looks like oversight by the hotel’s front desk. Ideally, the customer should’ve received an envelope explaining all the benefits applicable at that property. Most recently, I stayed at the beautiful The Oberoi, Mumbai, which is a Fine Hotels & Resorts property.

While check-in, I was also told that it was an Expedia booking but was then handed the envelope explaining benefits, which were all the FHR benefits that had shown up when I made the booking on Amextravel.com. Needless to say, my stay was truly memorable.

The Pundit’s Mantra

There are a few things to note here:

• Firstly, your booking almost always shows up as ‘Expedia’ on the hotel’s systems, even if you’ve booked via Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection on Amextravel.com.
• Secondly, upon check in, the hotel staff usually hands you an envelope, that envelope has all the benefits applicable to your specific booking. Always make sure that you see the same benefits that you saw when you booked.
• Thirdly, while Amex’s FHR and Gold Collection amenities are standard, not all properties offer all of them at once. I always make it a point to put in a request while checking in. So, let’s say you have 12 PM check-in and guaranteed 4 PM check out, but you’re arriving in the morning by 11 AM but don’t need late check-out, you can always message the hotel to request an even earlier check-in. In the past, I’ve had success by simply informing them in advance about which benefit I’d find helpful and in most cases, the hotels have been happy to oblige.

In this particular case, while staff oversight was clearly an issue, as a customer, it always helps if you verify all the details while checking in. Also, if you plan to use the late check out option, it’s always best to inform the hotel in advance as opposed to just a few hours before as it helps them move around their room inventory accordingly.

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