Guide To Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® (FHR)

Ben, you may have mentioned this but is there anything stopping anyone from making multiple different consecutive reservations at the same property to get multiple "one-time" perks like the stay or spa credit?

I could be wrong but in my experience you have to stay a minimum of 2 nights to get the benefits. Also, it can be an annoyance but then needing to make a change such as adding or removing a day you can't modify am existing reservation, you have to cancel and rebook which .at be at a more expensive rate. Depending how far in advance you book it may be worth looking up the same property from time to time because prices due fluctuate. i did this on a upcoming trip I booked months ago, the price came down a couple hundred dollars so I cancelled and rebooked.

@ ckaught78 -- While The Hotel Collection has a two night minimum, Fine Hotels & Resorts doesn't. And good point about the pain of canceling and rebooking.

@ geoff -- If you're staying back-to-back at the same hotel on consecutive nights, that wouldn't qualify for additional credits. It's a different story if you switch up hotels, though, and return a couple of days later.

I've been a fan of the FHR program for many years, and used it as recently as last week at the Fairmont Banff and Fairmont Jasper (quick trip right when Canada reopened to vaxxed US travelers!). But you're right, the hotel programs themselves sometimes have more value. For example, booking directly through Fairmont Banff also gave a benefit of complimentary parking at the nearby Fairmont Lake Louise, and parking in Lake Louise is nearly impossible after 7am so it's a very valuable. I was able to convince the Fairmont Banff concierge to extend the benefit to me, but it technically wasn't included as a FHR booking. Still, I easily offset the annual cost of my personal Amex Platinum just on this trip via the $100 credits, included breakfasts, and room upgrade. I do at least 4-5 FHR bookings a year.

Hotels that are under $200 a night under FHR are a great bang for the buck, and definitely so for single night stays since the one time $100 credit is the same regardless of stay length.

Recently stayed at the Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner that had the rate for $149 plus tax through FHR. After subtracting the $100 credit and free breakfast factored in, the room was virtually "free"!

It's no longer reliably the case that you can earn hotel points on FHR stays. Stays made through the website seem to show to the hotel as an Expedia booking, so are typically ineligible for hotel points and elite benefits. I believe there are some reports that if you call Amex to book and make a postpaid booking, you do usually still get the benefits, though (but you can't combine that with the 5x points or $200 credit).

Careful with the room upgrades. I booked with FHR and I got a one category upgrade. Basically it was an upgrade to a different view and the room was priced exactly the same as the room I paid for so I really didn't receive an upgrade at all.

I got 5x points, $200 credit and hyatt points all in one. Just required contacting the property.

What is the best way to utilize 2021 $200 credit if I don't have travel plans for this year. Can I book and prepay next year's stay?

I just booked a couple of stays with Hyatt through FHR and in both instances was told that because the stays were booked via a third party they were ineligible for elite credit. Curious if others have had a similar experience?

The hotels were the Andaz Maui and the Grand Hyatt in Vail.

But what if it was 2 consecutive stays, on on my Amex Plat the next on the wife's Amex Plat?

That's not a problem so long as they're in different names with different cards. We stayed Thursday night on mine and Friday on my spouse's, and both got the $200 credit from Amex. I'd caution that if the hotel merges the two stays (letting you stay in the same room), you'll only get one property food/experience credit, and room upgrades will be limited to what's available for the whole stay.

That's typical. Each hotel's policy is different, but I've generally seen it limited to the same class of rooms, so you can go from a basic room to a shiny room, but not to a suite. The bigger value I've seen is that many hotels will give club level access if you ask for it, regardless of the room you're actually in, and get a nicer lounge, free drinks, etc.

The $200. credit is nice as amex processes it quickly. note that:
1. the room rate through amex was about 15% more than direct booking .
2. the $100. hotel credit is FLIMSY because the hotel i used it for indicated CAN ONLY USE FOR OBE BILL. so not really a credit bur rather a one time reimbursement for a meal .

You can most certainly prepay for the next year's hotel stay. Make sure book for a minimum of 2 nights if you are choosing the "Hotel Collection" and one night stay is enough for FH&R collections.

I cannot book online. I have platinum corporate card (issued in Canada).
What is wrong?

Hi y'all, on a similar note, if I'm doing a 3 night stay, and I'd like to book two nights on points and prepay the third night to take advantage of the $200 credit, is it just book as 2 reservations. Annoying to check-out and check in, but maybe worth it to get the $200 credit (which as of 10/29 I have no opportunity to use in 2021)?

This would be ideal, but every location that I've checked so far is far more expensive, even with the $200 credit, than what I would be willing to pay. So I'll have to leave this credit on the table. Nice to hear that you found a deal!

Does anyone know if the benefits for the existing prepaid FHR booking will be granted if at the check in time the Platinum card has been closed?

Hi, Geoff, the rule of thumb for consecutive bookings to qualify for the credit each time is a minimum 24 hours between bookings.

Ben,

Can you book through Amex FHR program and still qualify for an AMEX offer. For example, right now there is an active Amex offer for $500 back when spending $1,000 at Waldorfs Astorias. The terms do say to book directly with Waldorf, I'm not sure if that is a suggestive directive or that I will not get the credit if I book through Amex FHR