When you book a hotel through the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts program, you get access to a VIP experience during your stay thanks to several elite perks.
The Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program can add serious perks and benefits to your hotel stays and may not cost much more than booking directly. However, Amex has packed its Platinum- and Centurion-branded cards with benefits you may have overlooked or underestimated under the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program.
These perks can help offset the high annual fees on each card (see rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express and rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express).
Here is everything you need to know about the program.
Related: Best American Express credit cards
What is American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts?
The Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program provides elitelike benefits at more than 1,600 properties worldwide when you book through it. Amex reserves access to its Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program for cardmembers with a Centurion or the following Platinum cards:
American Express® Gold Card members are not eligible for Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits.
The properties bookable through the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program are a mix of branded and independent locations. The program offers a collection of highly rated luxury properties that Amex says are hand-selected. While you may choose to book a stay through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts for many reasons, most cardholders primarily book through the program to get extra perks on their stay and ease a few of the stresses of traveling.
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Main perks and benefits
Booking through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts is often not the cheapest option, but the perks you’ll receive may make up for any price difference.
Here are the can’t-miss perks you’ll receive with every Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts booking, regardless of the length of your stay:
- Room upgrade upon arrival, when available at check-in (properties may exclude some room types, and some may only give you a room with a better view)
- Daily breakfast for two people
- Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout
- Noon check-in, when available
- Complimentary Wi-Fi (when a property includes Wi-Fi in a mandatory resort fee, you’ll receive a daily credit equal to the Wi-Fi cost)
- Experience credit (the experience should be valued at $100 or more and usually consists of a property, dining or spa credit)
You may value some amenities more than others, so consider the value you’ll obtain when comparing your options and see if any experiences pique your interest. For example, some will value a $100 food-and-beverage credit more than a $100 spa service credit because it may be a struggle to find spa services for less than $100 at some properties and may not be as commonly used if not for the credit. Regardless, Amex prohibits you from stacking benefits by booking back-to-back stays, so you can only earn one experience credit per stay.
These perks are useful and easy to capitalize on, and if you book your stay through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts with the Amex Platinum‘s hotel credit, you’ll get an even better deal and your high-end benefits.
Suppose you use the Amex Platinum to prepay for your stay through American Express Travel. In that case, you’ll enjoy a statement credit of up to $200 once per calendar year, giving you easy access to a discounted trip. There are properties worldwide where you can practically stay for free thanks to the new perk.
How to book Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts stays
To get Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits, you’ll need to book through American Express Travel. You can book Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts stays through the Centurion Travel Service, the Platinum Travel Service or American Express Travel Online.
Prepaid Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts stays booked online earn 5 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar spent with the Amex Platinum or Amex Business Platinum card. That being said, you may use any American Express card in your name to pay for your reservation.
To get Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits, the Platinum or Centurion cardmember must stay on the itinerary booked. However, you can book up to three rooms for a stay under your account, and all three rooms will qualify for Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits. If you need to book more than three rooms for a trip with family or friends, keep in mind that you can get up to three authorized users for $195 each per year (see rates and fees) on the Amex Platinum consumer card. These additional cardholders could book more rooms under their own accounts.
Just note that only the personal Amex Platinum is eligible for the up-to-$200 Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts statement credit.
Will I earn elite status or loyalty benefits?
In short, maybe.
We’ve received reports from TPG readers of some properties refusing to offer elite status earnings or benefits on Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts stays, but we’ve also received multiple reports of the opposite.
Whether you’ll get elite earnings and benefits varies greatly. Our advice is to book a refundable prepaid Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts reservation. Then, email the property a few days after making the reservation and ask whether your stay will be eligible for elite earnings and benefits. Although it’s not an ideal solution, at least you’ll know what benefits you can expect before your visit.
If the rate for booking a hotel via Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts is comparable to booking directly with the property, the array of perks you’ll receive may outweigh the fact that it won’t count as a qualifying stay.
Can you use Amex points to book?
You can use Membership Rewards points for Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings. Specifically, you’ll get a value of 1 cent per point when you redeem Amex points for Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings.
However, according to TPG’s August 2024 valuations, Membership Rewards points are worth 2 cents each. This is based on the value you can get when transferring Membership Rewards points to Membership Rewards transfer partners. As such, most travelers will be better off paying for their stays with a Platinum card and earning 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid bookings.
Related: Best ways to use Amex Membership Rewards points
Can I get a free night?
Amex highlights Fine Hotels + Resorts properties on its webpage that currently offer a third, fourth, fifth or sixth night free. During your stay, you’ll get all the standard Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits and perks.
For many of these properties, the free night is the most valuable amenity you’ll get by booking through the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program.
Is Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts worth it?
Booking through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts can provide valuable benefits, but the program’s rates are often (but not always) more expensive than booking directly.
That said, the nightly rate isn’t everything. The elitelike benefits provided on Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts stays have tangible value.
Plus, using your Amex Platinum to make a prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts booking online will earn you a 10% return via the 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent. At some hotels, you’ll still get elite benefits and earnings when booking through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts.
That means booking through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts may still be the best choice for some trips, even if it doesn’t provide the least expensive rate. Also, if you snag an Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts property offering a free night, booking through the program can be significantly cheaper than booking directly.
When should I use Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts?
Despite not always offering the lowest rates, Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts can still be an incredibly compelling booking option. Here are a few scenarios in which you may get outsize value by booking through the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program:
- Short stays: One of the most significant selling points of Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts is the experience credit unique to each property. After all, this credit should be worth at least $100, regardless of how long you stay. So, the shorter your stay, the better value this credit represents. This is even more important when considering the personal Amex Platinum’s up-to-$200 statement credit; this once-yearly perk allows you to cover a larger portion of a shorter stay.
- Boutique/nonchain hotels: When you book through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, you can snag elitelike benefits at nonchain hotels. Unlike at chain hotels, you don’t need to worry about whether you’ll get elite earnings and benefits during your stay.
- Travelers without elite status: Hotel loyalty programs often offer their elite members many of Amex Fine Hotels + Resort’s perks. As such, booking through the program will typically provide more value if you don’t have a mid to high tier of elite status with the hotel’s loyalty program.
Bottom line
If you plan to stay at a luxury hotel, booking through Amex’s Fine Hotels + Resorts program can provide extra elitelike benefits. Sometimes, you can book through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts for little to no additional cost compared with booking directly. On top of the savings available to Platinum cardholders through the new hotel credit perk, you might save even more money through the promotions offered at some Fine Hotels + Resorts properties. That said, you don’t usually book through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts for cost savings — you book for the benefits of Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings.
Indeed, the benefits of an Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts booking can sometimes make paying more for the stay worthwhile — even for budget-conscious travelers. That’s especially true if you need an early check-in or late checkout and lack the status to get these benefits.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card, click here.
