Questions and Answers

Greetings- I’ve just gotten a promotion that will mean more travel (though still not as much as many of you here!). Mostly US domestic, with 1-2/year international.

I decided to get the Amex Platinum card for its lounge access and status. Most of my hotel stays are Hilton branded.

Here’s my question: if I book Hilton stays on amextravel.com, I get the 5x MR points per dollar. But:
[LIST]
[*]Do I give up earning HHonors points for the stay because I’ve not booked directly with Hilton?
[*]What about credit for the stay toward status?
[*]Finally, do I receive the perks of HHonors Gold status (included with Platinum), such as free breakfast, room upgrade, etc., if I’ve booked with amextravel instead of direct with Hilton?
[/LIST]
Thanks for your help.

[QUOTE=”AJP, post: 65769, member: 5866″]Greetings- I’ve just gotten a promotion that will mean more travel (though still not as much as many of you here!). Mostly US domestic, with 1-2/year international.

I decided to get the Amex Platinum card for its lounge access and status. Most of my hotel stays are Hilton branded.

Here’s my question: if I book Hilton stays on amextravel.com, I get the 5x MR points per dollar. But:
[LIST]
[*]Do I give up earning HHonors points for the stay because I’ve not booked directly with Hilton?
[*]What about credit for the stay toward status?
[*]Finally, do I receive the perks of HHonors Gold status (included with Platinum), such as free breakfast, room upgrade, etc., if I’ve booked with amextravel instead of direct with Hilton?
[/LIST]
Thanks for your help.[/QUOTE]

I’m in a similar boat. Mostly domestic (and mostly Hampton Inns in the ‘burbs) but maybe 3/4 international trips a year. I also got the Amex Platinum for the same reasons (lounge access especially). I have yet to book a Hilton (or any hotel) through Amex because I also have the Amex Hilton Ascend card. That helps boost earning Hilton points rapidly. But it too is an expensive card. I think it is worth it, however. It gets you Diamond status) which is pretty much worthless at a Hampton Inn (close in parking? I guess that’s nice), but is nice to have at a Conrad or a Curio property.

But to answer your question – I am not 100% certain, but I do not think you get points for the stay, but I believe you would get the Gold perks. I really don’t know about the stays counting towards status – I would barely make Gold on stays without the Ascend card getting me Diamond. I’ve stopped paying attention to how many stays / nights I have.

This might be helpful (including the comments): [URL]https://onemileatatime.com/hilton-hhonors-eliminates-elite-benefits-on-third-party-bookings/[/URL]

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 65792, member: 79″]This might be helpful (including the comments): [URL]https://onemileatatime.com/hilton-hhonors-eliminates-elite-benefits-on-third-party-bookings/[/URL][/QUOTE]
Thanks – so the question becomes what GDS amextravel.com uses.