You Can Now Use AMEX Membership Rewards Points to Book Fine Hotels & Resorts Stays

April 3, 2019 by Jason Stauffer Jason Stauffer

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If you’ve got any version of an AMEX Platinum card you’ll have access to the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program (FHR). When you make a booking through FHR you’ll get a variety of perks like early check-in, late check-out, upgrades, and dining credits. The specific benefits vary by hotel, but it’s similar to what you would get if you have elite status.

As of late last year both The Business Platinum® Card from American Express and The Platinum Card® from American Express earn 5X AMEX Membership Rewards points on prepaid FHR bookings made through the AMEX travel site. And now you can use AMEX’s Pay with Points feature to book FHR hotel stays. Pay with Points allows you to pay for travel booked through the AMEX travel site at a rate of 1 cent per AMEX point.

It’s nice to have this option, but this isn’t likely to be a great deal very often.

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With this change you’ll be able to use AMEX Membership Rewards points to pay for stays at luxury hotels, like the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow…eventually

Use AMEX Membership Rewards Points for FHR Stays

In most cases, using Pay with Points is going to get you less travel than other options, like transferring your AMEX Membership Rewards points to travel partners. But some FHR locations offer a 3rd or 4th night free when you book through AMEX. And if you can find a cheap nightly rate you might end up using fewer points than other options.

In general, AMEX Membership Rewards points aren’t the best for booking free hotels nights. So having an extra option is nice. Plus with FHR hotels you’ll get these perks:

12:00 pm check-in, when available
Guaranteed 4:00 pm late checkout
Room upgrades when available
Free daily breakfast for 2
Free in-room Wi-Fi when available
A benefit unique to your hotel, like a $100 dining credit, free meal, or spa service
3rd or 4th night free at certain hotels

Right now the ability to use Pay with Points is just being rolled out and isn’t available for every FHR hotel just yet. Also, FHR bookings normally earn hotel points as well. But I’m not sure if that will be the case if you book using Pay with Points. If you have made an FHR booking using Pay with Points, let me know your experience.

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Hat tip: The Points Guy

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The Business Platinum® Card from American Express

Welcome Offer: Earn up to 75,000 Membership Rewards® points.
Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 points after you spend an additional $10,000 all on qualifying purchases made on your Business Platinum Card® within your first 3 months of Card Membership.†
Get 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
Get 50% more Membership Rewards® points. That's an extra half point per dollar, on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more. You can get up to 1 million additional points per year.
35% Airline Bonus: Use Membership Rewards® Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with your selected qualifying airline, and you can get 35% of the points back, up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year when flight is booked on amextravel.com.
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