Good Amex hotel promo for FHR and The Hotel Collection – but is there a catch?

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American Express launched a new promotion yesterday for:

Platinum charge card holders who book a hotel via Fine Hotels & Resorts

Preferred Rewards Gold card holders who book a hotel via The Hotel Collection

Amex is offering you a big points bonus for booking, but is there a snag?

American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts now prepaid bonus points

Why we like Fine Hotels & Resorts

We are big fans of Fine Hotels & Resorts, and I personally use it a lot. This HfP article explains how Fine Hotels & Resorts works.

FHR, as it is known, is a collection of 600 luxury hotels worldwide which commit to offering special benefits to American Express Platinum cardholders when you book via Amex Travel.

These special benefits vary in their usefulness, to be honest, but do add up. They are:

Noon check-in when available (I value this at nothing! I want it guaranteed or it is useless.)

Room upgrade on arrival when available (can be very good but not guaranteed)

Free breakfast for two people (very valuable at expensive hotels)

GUARANTEED 4pm check-out (very valuable, especially on short breaks)

Free in-room wi-fi (valuable, many luxury hotels still like to charge)

An additional benefit worth $100, usually a $100 food and beverage credit per stay

You can check out the full list of participating hotels in FHR at this special Amex website.

The Hotel Collection is a similar scheme for Gold cardholders although the benefits are not as impressive.

What has changed with FHR?

FHR bookings had one other feature – you always paid at the hotel.

A 2nd feature was you would always earn loyalty points and elite night credit if the hotel was part of a loyalty scheme.

The first point has now changed. We’re not sure about the second one.

Amex has launched a new promotion based on pre-paid FHR and The Hotel Collection rates. When you try to book a FHR hotel, this is what you now see:

American Express is offering 5 bonus Membership Rewards points with every PRE-PAID Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Luxury Collection booking.

This is on top of the standard 1 bonus point per £1 that Platinum cardholders receive for pre-paid Amex Travel bookings, and 2 bonus points per £1 that Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders receive.

This means that a Preferred Rewards Gold cardholder would earn 7 bonus Membership Rewards points per £1. A Platinum cardholder would earn 6 bonus Membership Rewards points per £1.

The rules are:

book between 1st June and 30th June at americanexpress.co.uk/travel

stay by 31st December

pre-paid rooms can be cancelled and refunded on request

Will you still earn hotel points on pre-paid bookings?

This is the question. It is possible that you will not earn hotel points and elite status nights if you pre-pay your room.

This is because American Express is taking your money, not the hotel directly, and in many cases this would disqualify you from hotel points.

We simply don’t know, at this stage, if this is the case. I am only flagging it up as a warning – if you need the hotel points or status night credits from your FHR or The Luxury Collection stay, do not pre pay until we have more evidence.

Apart from that, this is an impressive offer – especially as FHR and The Luxury Collection packages are usually good value anyway.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending: