The Fine Hotels + Resorts® credit available with your American Express Platinum Card® or the Business Platinum Card® from American Express can be one of the easiest premium card benefits to use, but only if you know exactly where to book and what qualifies. Here’s the simple process I follow.

 

Log in to American Express Travel®

Log in to your American Express account, select one of your Platinum cards, and navigate to the American Express Travel® hotel booking section by going to Rewards & Benefits > Benefits.

 

 

Find the following Benefit and click on Book Now.

 

Search for Fine Hotels + Resorts® properties

Scroll down and enter your destination and travel dates, then look specifically for hotels labeled Fine Hotels + Resorts®. In this example, we’re looking at Oceanside, CA.

 

 

Choose a Qualifying Prepaid Stay

To trigger the credit, the reservation generally needs to be a prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® booking made through American Express Travel® with an eligible Platinum card. Generally, I am looking for a hotel that will cost $400-$500 to keep my out-of-pocket costs low. There were ten hotels listed in my search results for this example. In this case, I want to stay at the Seabird Resort, a fave of mine. 

 

 

I hit the Available Rooms button to see what is available. I choose a more expensive room than the base-level option because I want a beach view.

 

 

Note that there are two rate options: one is prepaid, which we need to pick, and one is a pay-later option. Don’t pick that one!

 

 

Be sure that you have a reasonable cancellation date.

 

 

Pay with the Eligible Card

Use the card that offers the Fine Hotels + Resorts® hotel credit when you check out online. I have used my husband’s credit many times and booked it in my name with no problems. Be sure to add your loyalty number to the reservation to get elite nights if that might apply to your stay.

 

 

 

Watch for the statement credit.
After the charge posts, the eligible credit should automatically appear on your account. 

Don’t forget the FHR benefits.
The credit is only part of the value. Fine Hotels + Resorts® stays can also include benefits such as daily breakfast for two, a property credit, room upgrades when available, noon check-in when available, guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout, and complimentary Wi-Fi. I look at the breakfast and property credit as additional savings.

 

 

Places where I’ve used this credit:

• Seabird Resort in Oceanside, CA
• Grand Kimpton Roatan in Roatan, Honduras
• Park Hyatt Beavercreek near Aspen, CO

 

Bottom Line

This benefit can turn what might normally feel like an expensive luxury hotel stay into something much more reasonable, especially when you stack the credit with all of the Fine Hotels + Resorts ® perks. I left a recent stay at the Seabird Resort with a $49 bill for three of us, including three nights, breakfast each morning, and two dinners. This is one of my favorite credits to use.