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Why Amex Platinum Fine Hotels & Resorts is a great choice for one night stays

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If you have an American Express Platinum card then you should know about the Fine Hotels & Resorts hotel booking programme.  This is a grouping of 5-star hotels which offers special benefits to Platinum cardholders when they book via American Express Travel.

Regular readers of Head for Points will know that I place £0 value on hotel benefits if they do not have the word ‘guaranteed’ in front of them.  Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings use the word ‘guaranteed’ a lot which I like.

The point of this article is to show how you can use the use the guaranteed 4pm check-out to your advantage and how the $100 hotel credit is maximised on a one-night stay.

Is American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts any good?

The same principles apply whenever your trip involves a late night arrival and / or a late night or early morning flight out.

Here’s an example of Fine Hotels & Resorts in action

A good example of when Fine Hotels & Resorts can really pay off was on a short HfP trip to Dubai a couple of years ago.

I was arriving very late at night (my flight arrived at 9.30pm on a Tuesday) and leaving very early (7.45am on Friday).  This meant I was looking at three nights in an expensive hotel – as I wanted to be on a beach – for only two full days on the ground.

This is where two of the Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits kicked in:

  • noon check-in if available
  • 4pm guaranteed late check-out

The other FHR benefits are:

  • room upgrade upon arrival, if available
  • daily breakfast for two
  • $100 to spend in the hotel (not valid against room rate)

I booked myself into a cheap Hyatt Place hotel for the Tuesday night after my flight.  I arrived very late, woke up at 10am and was gone an hour later.

I headed down to the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, booked via American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts.

I had only booked for one night.

Waldorf Astoria Dubai

I had booked a standard room to maximise the chance of it being available on arrival around noon (remember I had a ‘noon check-in’ benefit).  It was.

My check-out was guaranteed for 4pm the next day.  I left at 4pm, heading to a budget hotel near the airport, went to bed and woke at 5am the next morning for my return flight.

I had got a 28 hour stay at the Waldorf Astoria for the cost of just one night.  This compares to 21 hours for a standard one-day stay, checking in at 3pm and leaving at noon.  I didn’t lose much by downgrading to the Hyatt Place because the only time I spent there was asleep.

Let’s turn to cash

Sometimes Fine Hotels & Resorts rates are a little more expensive than the Best Flexible Rate offered by the hotel.  Surprisingly this one was cheaper, in fact it was cheaper than any other rate the Waldorf Astoria was offering.

The FHR package comes with:

  • free breakfast for two
  • $100 hotel credit

The $100 hotel credit is key.  This is per stay, not per night.  You are maximising the value when you only stay for one night.  Given that breakfast was also free, I covered my entire food bill for the stay – two one-course lunches, one one-course dinner – with the $100.

I turned what would have been a 3pm check-in / noon check-out stay into a noon check-in / 4pm check-out stay and got free breakfast and a $100 food, beverage or spa credit too.

(If we are being fussy, you can argue that – as a Hilton Diamond – I should have been able to negotiate a slightly later check-out had I booked a normal rate.  This is true but it would not have been guaranteed and may not have been until 4pm.  Note that Fine Hotels & Resorts rates earn loyalty points as usual as long as you pay on departure and not in advance.)

Waldorf Astoria Dubai using Fine Hotels Resorts

Because the 4pm check-out is GUARANTEED, Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings work particularly well if:

  • you have a late flight home or
  • you have a very early flight home and are happy to check-out at 4pm and transfer to an airport hotel for the last night, or
  • you want a weekend break (check-in at noon on Saturday, leave at 4pm on Sunday) whilst just paying for one night

Either way, you can get good value.  I got three hotel nights at peak season in Dubai for under £500 (and offset by the $100 food credit and free breakfast at the Waldorf).  I still managed to spend almost all my daylight hours in a five-star beach resort selling for over £300 per night.

The key issue is the Fine Hotels & Resorts price you are quoted, which can be more than the standard Best Flexible Rate (although it wasn’t in my case) or higher than any highly discounted Advanced Purchase rates on offer.

Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings can be made online via the Amex Travel website, although you need to be logged in with your American Express Platinum details for the pricing to show.

If you book a couple of Fine Hotels & Resorts stays each year it definitely helps to justify the annual fee for The Platinum Card.

Our full review of The Platinum Card, which currently comes with a bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points, is here.

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Comments (47)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • krys_k says:
    19 May19 May 12:11

    This tactic doubles up nicely with Amex platinum’s £200 credit. I went to Dubai for 7 nights. As per Rob, first night cheap airport hotel (Aloft for about £60) as arrived after midnight. Five nights at Grovesnor House (on points for 4-for-5…hotel a great recommendation from comments on this site) and last night FHR at St Regis Downtown for £206, so with the $100 spend essentially was paid to stay at the hotel (in fairness the $100 doesn’t go super far with family of three for evening meal). As an aside, because used points and vouchers for BA J flights and due to status had lounge at Grovesnor, the seven night trip with flights for 3 was £1800 (in March this year).

  • a270 says:
    19 May19 May 12:43

    Does this need to be made by the main card holder or can the supplementary make the booking too and avail the benefit? Thinking of a two night stay example, people share the cost of a holiday with their partner. If Partner A makes a booking for one night with main card and Partner B the other night with the supplementary card in their name ofcourse, would it still be $100 per night or per stay? They would ofcourse know both are together as the booking would need to be linked BUT there are many couples who each pay half the cost of the holiday.

    Has anyone tried one night with FHR and one night with Emyr as he offers the $100 credit too for some properties?

    • a270 says:
      19 May19 May 12:45

      Also, if the booking is made and fully paid, but the platinum card is cancelled in a few months time, will you need to produce the card at check in? I am considering a booking for February 2025, but who knows what Amex Platinum fees and refund policies will be then!

      • Rob says:
        19 May19 May 14:53

        In theory you just need to pay with an Amex, so if you pull out another Amex then it should be fine. They will want to see a card for security at check-in so you’d need some sort of card.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 13:00

      Supp card holder can book in their own name… you sometimes have to show the Platinum card and they might insist you pay with it on checkout but in most cases they’ll just let you pay with any card

      You would have to physically check out and in and technically if they knew you were connected party they could say it’s still a single stay and the second $100 isn’t applicable.

    • Rob says:
      19 May19 May 14:55

      The only way to get away with this would be to fully check out after the first night and check in again, and even then it would be clear to the hotel that you were breaking the spirit of the deal.

      A Plat supp can book OK.

  • Cercwc76 says:
    19 May19 May 12:57

    Just wondering will the FHR earn hotel points or recognition of elite status as booking via Emry?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 13:01

      FHR stays which are pay at checkout do but not prepay except for Hyatt who allow for pre paid stays.

      • meta says:
        19 May19 May 18:48

        I got full points at Marriott/Hilton/IHG hotels even on prepaid bookings over dozens of stays in the last two years. Accor seems to be hit and miss.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          19 May19 May 19:08

          If you look at flyertalk it’s very hit and miss for all those hotel groups as FHR pre paid books via Expedia and it seems even a claim to the programme yields no results.

          Hyatt specifically say they will give points

    • Ian says:
      21 May21 May 09:19

      I just had 3 nights at the Waldorf Palm Dubai and got the benefits but no points from Hilton – and they are claiming the rate is not eligible for points.

  • brian says:
    19 May19 May 15:08

    I’ve used FHR numerous times over the years but as someone who regularly visits this site to help in my quest for affordable luxury I find it difficult to leverage this benefit as much as I’d like. Sifting through hotels that cost £1,200 a night hoping to chance on something more affordable often feels like a complete waste of time. I have yet to figure out a more efficient way of using it.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 17:19

      No what Rob means it’s the same as the best flexible rate the hotel offers direct.

      FHR pricing is not the same as their best rate and as JDB says on some stays you might be better contacting the hotel directly.

  • JG says:
    19 May19 May 15:08

    How do the benefits work if you are booking multiple rooms? Is it more effective to make separate bookings, and if so do you need to use independent cards? Or am I overthinking things and the benefits “scale”?

    I have an upcoming trip booked through Fine Hotels for four of us across two rooms, but based on my reading of the rules I’m only expecting breakfast provided in one of the rooms and kicking myself for not thinking ahead to make two bookings; one on my card and one on my wife’s companion platinum.

    • Rob says:
      19 May19 May 17:10

      This is addressed in the T&C – it may count on two rooms. Off top of my head I can’t remember ever booking one via my wife and one via myself.

      • JG says:
        20 May20 May 18:03

        Ah, good point. Sure enough the T&C’s say:

        “Benefits are applied per room, per stay (with a three-room limit per stay).”

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 17:22

      They can’t deny two rooms booked by two separate people regardless of your relationship.

      Is it too late to cancel and rebook? Rates changed considerably?

    • sm says:
      19 May19 May 23:25

      I made a booking on my plat for FHR for 2 rooms for my family if 4. The booking stated benefits would apply to rooms per stay for up to 2 rooms ( ie $100 x2 early check in late check out etc…) so no need to book 2 rooms on separate cards 🙏

  • Robert says:
    19 May19 May 16:13

    My best value FHR stays have no doubt been in Vegas, including the Palazzo, Encore, The Cosmo and the Bellagio.
    I think the best value was a night at the Bellagio where the nightly rate was just $140. I got $100 worth of property credit, and $60 breakfast credit (which doesn’t necessarily have to be used only for breakfast).
    The next day I checked out and into the Palazzo with another set of FHR benefits for that night.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 19:10

      Can imagine vegas is exactly the sort of place where this works well. Can be a bore even in Dubai due to the roads even ones “across the road” can be miles apart

  • jeremy i says:
    20 May20 May 11:04

    We enjoy the Hotel Royal Evian Les Bain using this deal.

  • S says:
    20 May20 May 11:18

    I stayed at an Anantara and paid at check-out as recommended – however the points were not added as the check-out invoice showed a third-party (Expedia) as source of booking since this is what Amex uses for FHR bookings? Surely this would be an issue for all Amex FHR bookings then for points – am I missing something or doing something wrong?

    • Rob says:
      20 May20 May 11:22

      When Amex moved its back-end to Expedia and started offering pre-paid as an option, a deal was done with the hotels that ‘pay on departure’ rates would continue to be qualifying for points. This isn’t documented anywhere but it was agreed and 99% of the time it isn’t an issue (and, as others have posted here, even if you pre-pay there is a chance of getting points, especially with Hyatt).

      • Ian says:
        21 May21 May 09:22

        I paid at the hotel (Waldorf Palm Dubai) in May and didn’t get points , but I did when I was there in November.
        It seems very hit and miss and now Hilton won’t issue points.

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