American Express Travel is a booking portal for most American Express cards. Through the site, you can book flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises, and pay with points, cash, or a combination of both. The site also offers exclusive benefits to cardholders, such as discounted premium tickets, a 35% points rebate on certain bookings, and additional perks when booking premium hotels. However, reviews of the service are mixed, with some users praising the excellent customer service, while others complain about issues with booking and customer support.
Characteristics | Values |
---|---|
Booking | Flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, vacations, and activities |
Payment methods | Points, cash, or a combination of both |
Price | Not always the most competitive |
Customer service | Quick response time, effective problem-solving |
Perks | Discounted premium tickets, added benefits with Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, user-friendly interface |
Changes and cancellations | May encounter change and cancellation fees, often around $75 |
What You'll Learn
American Express Travel reviews
American Express Travel is a travel booking portal that allows users to book travel, including flights, cruises, and hotel stays. It is an additional service that American Express credit cardholders can use as part of their membership.
Cardholders can redeem American Express Membership Rewards Points directly to use on travel bookings. This is a convenient way to redeem points for travel directly in the portal rather than having to transfer points to a partner airline or hotel group.
However, reviews for American Express Travel are overwhelmingly negative. The company has a rating of 1.5 stars from 78 reviews, with reviewers most frequently mentioning poor customer service and problems with the Platinum Card. Many reviewers complain about the difficulty of changing or cancelling bookings, with some reporting that they were kept on hold for hours and that their issues were never resolved. Others mention that they were unable to get the benefits of their Platinum membership when booking through the portal, such as room upgrades and complimentary breakfast. Some reviewers also claim that American Express Travel does not honour its Lowest Price Guarantee policy.
On the positive side, some reviewers mention that they feel their travel is safer when booked through American Express, and that they have not encountered any inconvenient situations. One reviewer praises the Platinum Card travel agent, saying that they "learn and remember your preferences, help you find the best deal and are always there to help if something goes wrong."
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Booking process
Booking travel through American Express is a service available to American Express cardholders. The process for booking flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises is similar to other travel sites.
Booking Flights
To book a flight, you will need to input your departure and destination cities, as well as the number of travellers and your preferred class. You can also choose between one-way and round-trip flights. You will then be shown the price in dollars and the number of Amex Membership Rewards points needed to book. You can filter flights by the number of stops, departure and arrival times, flight duration, and airline.
Booking Hotels
To book a hotel, you will need to input your destination, dates, the number of rooms, and the number of guests. You will then choose your preferred room and pay with cash or points.
Booking Rental Cars
Booking a rental car is relatively simple. You will need to input your pickup and drop-off times and location, and then choose whether to pay with cash or points.
Booking Cruises
To book a cruise, you will first choose a destination, cruise line, and month of travel. You will then be able to filter by cruise duration, departure port, and ship. On the final payment page, you can pay with cash or points.
Additional Benefits
American Express cardholders may also have access to additional benefits, such as the Fine Hotels + Resorts program, which offers benefits such as room upgrades, daily breakfast, late checkout, and unique property amenities. There is also The Hotel Collection, which offers benefits such as a room upgrade and a $100 on-property credit. Platinum and Centurion cardholders may also be eligible for the Cruise Privileges Program, which offers onboard credits and additional amenities.
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Customer service
American Express Travel offers a wide range of customer services to help you plan and manage your trip.
Planning Your Trip
The Travel Help Center provides resources and information to help you plan your trip, learn about travel benefits, and make bookings. You can also view your itinerary, cancel a booking, or manage your trip through the "My Trips" feature.
Booking Flights
American Express Travel allows you to book round-trip, one-way, and multiple-destination flights. When booking, you can request special assistance, such as help with boarding, wheelchair access, or accommodations for a service animal.
If you need to add travelers to your existing flight reservation, you will need to create a new booking for the additional travelers.
American Express Travel also offers optional trip protections, such as Trip Cancel Guard and Gold Travel Protector, which provide reimbursement for trip cancellations due to specified reasons.
Booking Hotels
American Express Travel guarantees the lowest hotel rates. If you book a qualifying hotel rate and then find the same room for a lower price, they will refund you the difference.
Booking with Membership Rewards Points
You can use your Membership Rewards points to book flights, prepaid hotels, prepaid car rentals, and cruises. With Insider Fares, you can access select flights that require fewer points.
Payment Options
American Express Travel offers various payment options, including the ability to split travel expenses with friends or family through Venmo or PayPal. You can also use the Plan It feature to split the cost of your trip into equal monthly installments.
Travel Insurance
American Express offers travel insurance to help protect your travels. You can build your own insurance coverage or choose from their packages.
Customer Support
For further assistance, American Express provides customer support through their website and phone numbers specific to different departments, such as customer service, reservations, and billing.
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Membership Rewards points
The value of Membership Rewards points varies depending on usage. For example, when using Pay with Points, each point is typically valued at 1 cent, with a minimum redemption of 5,000 points. However, TPG values Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each when maximising Amex's transfer partners. Additionally, when booking flights, cardholders can expect a value of 1 cent per point, while hotel and rental car bookings may result in a lower value of 0.7 cents per point.
American Express cardholders can earn Membership Rewards points by making qualifying purchases with their eligible cards. These points can be redeemed for travel bookings through the American Express Travel portal. Cardholders can also take advantage of benefits like a 35% points rebate on certain bookings and discounted premium tickets through the International Airline Program.
When booking travel with Membership Rewards points, cardholders should consider the value of their points and compare it to other redemption options. While using points for travel can be convenient, transferring points to airline or hotel partners may offer better value in some cases. Additionally, cardholders should be aware of potential change and cancellation fees associated with bookings made through the American Express Travel portal.
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Fine Hotels + Resorts
- Noon check-in, when available
- Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
- Daily breakfast for two people
- Guaranteed 4 pm late checkout
- $100 experience credit, which may include spa or food and beverage credit
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
The Fine Hotels + Resorts program provides access to over 1,300 extraordinary properties worldwide, with competitive rates and an average total value of $600 in benefits.
Platinum Card Members can also receive up to $200 in statement credits each year for prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings made through American Express Travel.
To book a stay with Fine Hotels + Resorts, you can request a reservation, use the Experiences App, or call American Express directly.
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Frequently asked questions
Amex Travel is the booking portal for most American Express cards. You can book flights, hotels, rental cars and cruises through the site, and you can pay with points, cash or a combination of the two.
The flight booking process on the Amex Travel portal is similar to other popular sites like Kayak and Orbitz. You'll find a search box where you can enter your departure and destination cities. You can also use the options on the left-hand side to filter flights by the number of stops, departure and arrival times, flight duration and airline.
As with other travel portals, you can input your destination, dates, the number of rooms and the number of guests (with separate input fields for adults and children). After selecting your hotel, you'll choose your preferred room and pay with points or cash.
Reserving a car in the Amex portal is relatively simple. You'll input your pickup and drop-off times and location. You'll see rental car prices listed in cash and points. Although the format differs, you can also search for cruises on Amex Travel.
American Express Travel offers an array of booking options, including the ability to earn bonus Membership Rewards points on select purchases. Although you can use your points to book hotels, flights, rental cars and cruises through Amex Travel, you can get more from your points when you transfer them to Amex's airline and hotel partners.