American Express Travel: Your Guide to Booking Flights, Hotels, Vacation Rentals, Car Rentals, and Cruises

Key Takeaways

• AmexTravel.com is an online travel portal where you can book hotels, flight deals, cruises, and car rentals.
• AmexTravel.com offers incredible customer service, and certain credit cards can earn double points or more for booking through the website.
• The Fine Hotels + Resorts program provides Platinum and Centurion cardholders with amenities like daily breakfast, late checkout, and complimentary Wi-Fi.

American Express is best known as a credit card issuer, but the company also offers other products and services, including travel booking and planning using AmexTravel.com.

While AmexTravel.com is available for anyone (not just cardmembers), holding an Amex card can definitely help you get extra value when using the program.

Here’s a look at what AmexTravel.com is, what services it provides, what the cost to use, the best ways to use it, and when it’s worth using!

What Is AmexTravel.com?

At its most basic, AmexTravel.com is an online travel booking portal just like Expedia, Kayak, and Orbitz. Anyone can use it, but only Amex cardholders can take advantage of its points-earning and redemption features.

You can use it to book a whole trip or just a flight, hotel, vacation rental, rental car, or even a cruise. If you’d like extra assistance from a customer service agent, you can book by phone, as well.

Flights booked through the portal can be subject to small fees. However, sometimes the benefits can make these fees worth it, and they’re eliminated for holders of the Platinum Card^® from American Express.

There are also a few subcategories that fall under the AmexTravel.com umbrella, including The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotels + Resorts.

Why Should You Use AmexTravel.com?

The main reason to book with AmexTravel.com is the incredible customer service. If you run into any problems during your trip (like delays, cancellations, overbookings, etc.), you can connect with a live travel agent by phone 24/7 who will work with you to find a solution.

Additionally, if you hold an Amex credit card that earns Membership Rewards points, you can often earn 2x points or more by using it to pay for travel services booked through AmexTravel.com.

Hot Tip: If you use your Amex Platinum card, you can earn 5x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, then 1x). 

Fees for Using the Portal

Anytime you book a flight through AmexTravel.com (either on its own or as part of a package), you pay a fee of $6.99 for domestic flights and $10.99 for international flights. These fees are waived if you have the Amex Platinum card and are logged in to your account.

If you book a flight by phone rather than online, there’s an added $39 phone service fee.

If you make changes to your flight, there’s a $39 reissue fee in addition to whatever fee the airline charges. This only applies to advance changes, not changes caused by problems like canceled flights.

Below, we’ll take a look at how to use AmexTravel.com to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises.

Booking Flights With AmexTravel.com

Searching for Flights

Searching for flights with AmexTravel.com is similar to other online travel agencies. You can search by city or by specific airport, select your departure and return dates, and click whether you want to search for lower fares within 3 days of your chosen dates.

On the results page, American Express lists the most relevant Delta result at the top highlighted as a “featured airline.” The featured airline is followed by the lowest available fares.

When you scroll down, you can use the controls on the left sidebar to filter the results by the number of stops, departure and arrival times, airline, or even specific flight number.

By default, flights are displayed in price order starting with the lowest, except for a featured Delta flight at the top (when available). At the top of the search window above the results, all available airlines are shown, as well as the lowest available price with each airline.

Insider Fares

Depending on your search, you may see a blue tab labeled “Insider Fares Available” above some of the airlines listed at the top of the search window. These are discounted fares, and they only apply if you pay for the entire flight with Membership Rewards rather than cash. Note that cash prices are rounded to the nearest dollar.

If you’re logged in and have enough Membership Rewards points to cover the entire flight, you will be able to see these discounted fares.

For example, in the below search, you’ll see an example of an Insider Fare available for purchase. The Insider Fare offered a slight discount rather than just matching the cash price in points with each point worth 1 cent (more on that below).

The difference can be fairly minimal. In the New York (JFK)-to-Atlanta (ATL) example above, the discount was from 25,259 Membership Rewards points to 24,120, changing the value from 1 cent per point to about 1.05 cents per point.

Fees

AmexTravel.com charges a fee to book, but they bundle this into the displayed price. The fee is $6.99 per domestic ticket or $10.99 per international ticket. These fees are eliminated as a benefit of the Amex Platinum card — just make sure you’re logged in to your Amex account when booking.

Hot Tip: AmexTravel.com now offers Trip Cancel Guard coverage that you can add when purchasing flights via AmexTravel.com when paying with an American Express card, with Membership Rewards points using the Pay With Points option, or a combination of both. It provides for reimbursement of up to 75% of the cost of the nonrefundable prepaid flight expense, penalty and change fees caused by the cancellation, or the amount of any expired vouchers or flight credits received for the canceled flight. Coverage is applicable when your flight is canceled for any reason and is valid until 2 full calendar days prior to your trip’s originally scheduled departure date.

Rates

When searching several different flights across different online travel agents, we found similar results to the below example each time. To compare prices, we searched multiple online travel agents and portals using the same search parameters: departing New York Kennedy (JFK), arriving at London Heathrow (LHR), round-trip, 1 traveler, economy, and nonstop on specific dates.

We selected the lowest-priced nonstop flight available through AmexTravel.com: a Finnair flight operated by Oneworld partner, American Airlines. When searching on AmexTravel.com, the flight was $595.86. This broke down to $133 in base fare and $462.86 of government, airline, and American Express-imposed fees. We received the same search results when we replicated this search on Finnair’s U.S. website, Kayak, and Orbitz.

In a second search, we looked for a domestic round-trip from Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) to Los Angeles International (LAX) on the same dates. This flight was priced at $199.40. Keep in mind, you would usually see this rate plus the $6.99 Amex booking fee, but again, this is eliminated for Amex Platinum cardholders.

When cross-referencing this itinerary on Delta’s website, we found the same price listed for a regular economy fare of $199.40. However, there was a basic economy fare that was a bit cheaper, which was not available through AmexTravel.com. Other online travel portals, including Orbitz and Kayak, listed the same price.

This means that if you’re already set on the specific itinerary you want to fly, booking through AmexTravel.com can often cost the same as booking directly with the airline or through a third party. This assumes you receive no booking fees for being an Amex Platinum cardholder.

However, what if you’re just looking for the cheapest flight on a particular day? If you do a general search for a route on set dates, will AmexTravel.com find the same rates as other portals? In our experience, the answer is no.

In our example search, here are the lowest available regular economy nonstop flights we could find between New York (any airport) and London (any airport) when searching the same set of dates on a few different websites (sorted by price ascending):

The reason for these results is likely that the Amex portal doesn’t include some low-cost carriers like Norwegian, so travel portals that do often win on price. Even excluding the low-cost carriers, though, other portals like Expedia and Orbitz were able to offer lower fares by about $15.

That said, AmexTravel.com was able to find about the same fares you would find when booking directly with an airline.

Hot Tip: If you hold The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, you can get a 35% rebate on flights on your airline of choice when you pay with points through AmexTravel.com (up to 1 million points back a year).

AmexTravel.com Hotel Programs

There are actually 3 programs offered for booking hotels:

• The Hotel Collection
• Fine Hotels + Resorts
• AmexTravel.com booking (standard)

The Hotel Collection

What Is The Hotel Collection?

The Hotel Collection is a program through AmexTravel.com only available to holders of certain cards:

• The American Express^® Gold Card and the American Express^® Business Gold Card
• The Amex Platinum card and the Amex Business Platinum card
• Centurion^® Card from American Express

Perks of The Hotel Collection

When you book a hotel through The Hotel Collection, you get certain perks including:

• Room upgrade at check-in (if available)
• Up to a $100 hotel credit for on-site amenities like the restaurant, bar, room service, or spa
• Ability to use Pay With Points on prepaid reservations
• 2x Membership Rewards points for Amex Gold cardholders on prepaid bookings
• 5x Membership Rewards points for Amex Platinum cardholders on prepaid reservations
• Up to $600 credit each year toward prepaid hotel reservations with either The Hotel Collection (2-night stay) or Fine Hotel + Resorts with select credit cards

Rates

Usually, American Express guarantees that any hotel booked through AmexTravel.com has the lowest publicly available rates (prepaid rates only), but this does not apply to bookings through The Hotel Collection (terms and conditions). Be certain to check multiple booking options to ensure you’re getting the best deal.

Terms

Rooms have to be booked through AmexTravel.com. That means that if you book directly through the hotel or another service, you don’t get the perks, even if the hotel is a part of The Hotel Collection and you pay for the stay with your American Express card.

Further, you must stay a minimum of 2 nights and cannot book consecutive stays within 24 hours of each other.

The good news is that these benefits are available for up to 3 rooms per stay. So if you book 3 rooms for family members, you get a total hotel service credit of up to $300.

Hotel Points and Elite Benefits

Typically, you don’t earn points through a hotel loyalty program if you book through a third party, and this includes the AmexTravel.com portal.

Furthermore, you don’t get any elite benefits that you might otherwise be entitled to if you have status with that hotel chain.

Bottom Line: The Hotel Collection is potentially useful if you’re planning to pay with your eligible Membership Rewards-earning card. This comes at the expense of hotel-specific elite benefits, including points and elite credits in any hotel loyalty program.

American Express Fine Hotel + Resorts

What Is the Fine Hotel + Resorts Program?

AmexTravel.com runs a second hotel program called Fine Hotel + Resorts, or FHR. It can be confusing because it sounds like it overlaps with the Hotel Collection, but that’s not the case.

The Fine Hotel + Resorts program is exclusive to Amex Platinum cardholders (personal or business), as well as those with the invitation-only Centurion card.

FHR includes different hotels and resorts than The Hotel Collection, with minimal overlap. The FHR collection tends to be more geared toward leisure travelers who wish to book stays at higher-end properties.

Perks of Fine Hotel + Resorts

Booking hotels through the Fine Hotel + Resorts collection entitles you to a handful of potentially valuable perks, including:

• Early noon check-in (when available)
• Room upgrade on arrival (when available)
• Daily breakfast for 2 people
• Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout
• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• A unique amenity valued at $100 or more (examples include a property credit, dining credit, spa credit, or similar amenity)

Rates

Unlike The Hotel Collection, rooms booked through Fine Hotel + Resorts are not all prepaid. In fact, most are standard rates that you pay for at the end of your stay when you check out. In comparing several properties, including the Park Hyatt in Chicago, we found rates identical to the rates that weren’t prepaid when booking directly through the hotel.

However, keep in mind that the hotel may directly offer prepaid and early-purchase options that may be much cheaper, though you wouldn’t benefit from the Fine Hotel + Resorts perks.

Terms

There are fewer terms with Fine Hotel + Resorts than with The Hotel Collection. You must book through AmexTravel.com/FHR to receive the benefits.

As with The Hotel Collection, if you book directly with the hotel or through a different travel agency or portal, you won’t be able to claim FHR benefits even if it’s a participating hotel. Other terms vary by property.

Hotel Points and Elite Benefits

Good news here! Unlike stays booked through The Hotel Collection, stays through American Express Fine Hotel + Resorts count as qualifying rates for hotel loyalty programs. That means if you’re staying at a hotel that’s part of a loyalty program, you can earn points and receive the relevant benefits if you hold elite status.

Hot Tip: Want to know about the differences between these programs? Dig into our dedicated guide on the differences between The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotels + Resorts.

Standard Hotel Booking

Searching Hotels

Searching for hotels at AmexTravel.com works more or less the same as with flights. You enter your city, dates, number of rooms, and guests. You can check a box to have properties from The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotel + Resorts displayed at the top.

Of course, if you’re interested in booking through either of those programs, you could also just book on their dedicated pages.

By default, search results are ranked by recommended results, which seems to be decided by an algorithm factoring in price, location, and reviews.

Terms

Terms vary by the specific hotel and rate you book, so make sure to read the fine print.

Rates

The site can confusing when trying to compare prices because American Express doesn’t include all taxes and fees in the price displayed (while some hotel websites do).

For example, we searched for a 4-night stay at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill. American Express quoted an average of $337 a night, which should’ve made the total stay around $1,348. When we went to book, though, the total with fees was $1,625. While it initially looked more expensive to book directly with Hyatt (where the cost was quoted at $404 a night), that price included all taxes and fees, so we would’ve actually paid $1,611, or $14 less.

Our search for the Marriott Regent Park yielded similar results. It was listed at $233 per night in the search function, which implied the total to be $932. In reality, once we clicked through, the total was $1,120. Booking directly with Marriott, rates were listed at $261 a night, but that included taxes and fees — for a total prepaid rate of $1,080.

For the 2 hotels in question, here’s how total prices compared through different portals (sorted by price ascending):

Marriott:

Hyatt:

In both tickets, AmexTravel.com was within a few dollars of the other online travel agencies, which were all more expensive than booking directly through the hotel’s website.

Hotel Points and Elite Benefits

Similar to The Hotel Collection, rates booked through AmexTravel.com aren’t eligible for elite benefits or hotel loyalty points.

Bottom Line: Like most other online travel portals and agencies, prices can vary between AmexTravel.com and the hotel’s direct booking channel. You don’t get elite benefits or hotel points, so it might be worth booking directly if those are valuable to you. 

Vacation Rentals

Similar to hotels, you can also book vacation rentals through the AmexTravel.com website.

Searching

When starting your search for a vacation rental, click the vacation rental tab, the location you are traveling to, and your check-in and checkout dates.

Results and Filtering

Once you’ve clicked search, you receive the results for all of the vacation rentals that are available during your travel dates.

From there, you can filter through this list of properties by the type of place (either a vacation home or condominium), the number of rooms, beds, and bathrooms, the price, whether pets are allowed, and other specialty filters like parking, a pool, views, and other amenities.

You can also search via the map tool if there is a certain neighborhood within the destination city that you’d like to make sure you’re in. Once you’ve started to narrow down your choices, you can even click to compare multiple properties against each other.

Rates

Comparing and contrasting rates is more challenging when it comes to vacation rentals, as not all properties are listed on every vacation rental booking platform in the same way that hotels are. Making it even more difficult is the fact that some booking platforms have restrictions on the types of properties that can be listed.

Rest assured, the pricing you see on AmexTravel.com should be relatively competitive with competing platforms. That said, it is always worth it to compare prices.

Booking

Once you’re ready to book, click to reserve on your chosen property, then enter your traveler details and your payment details, which include whether you’re paying with your card or with your Amex Membership Rewards points. After that, you can review and submit your booking. Then you’ll be all set.

Rental Cars

AmexTravel.com also offers a rental car booking service. You can make reservations from rental stations at airports and elsewhere.

Searching

To search for rental cars, simply enter an airport or city. You can also click a button to search near a specific address.

Results are shown in a handy grid format, with each column showing a different rental company, and each row displaying the pricing for a different category of car (economy, compact, midsize, and so on).

Rates

Bookings of up to 4 days are charged a daily rate, while bookings of 5 to 7 days are charged on a weekly basis. There are specific rates for weekends and weekdays, as well as monthly options, with specific details varying by the rental agency.

In several sample searches, prices were generally consistent with other online travel agencies — though sometimes lower by $1 or $2 per day. Prices were identical to booking with the rental company directly.

Bottom Line: Renting a car through AmexTravel.com doesn’t get you any benefits above what you’d receive for paying with your card, such as the car rental loss and damage insurance for paying with your Amex Platinum card. However, the convenient search page makes it a great way to compare multiple prices at once. 

Cruises

AmexTravel.com also offers tools to book cruises. In addition to letting you search for cruises all over the world, AmexTravel.com periodically highlights special offers on cruises, usually in the form of credits to use on board.

Searching for Cruises

To search for cruises, enter the region you want to travel in, the cruise lines you want to travel with (or search all available lines), the month you’re planning the trip for, and the approximate length of the cruise you want.

Results are shown in order, from the lowest-priced option to the highest. Note that this is based on the lowest available rate; hovering over any result shows all available cabin types and the corresponding prices.

Under each result, the information shown includes the port of departure and return, date of departure, and ports visited.

Hot Tip: Wondering what to pack for your time at sea? Check out our ultimate cruise-based packing list — it’s printable and complete with tons of tips and advice!

Rates

When we looked, cruise rates booked through AmexTravel.com were within $1 or $2 of rates found on other online travel agents and websites. We found identical prices on the various cruise company websites — though each online travel portal and cruise line offers different promotions, so it might be worth comparing them.

For example, during a sample search for a weeklong Caribbean cruise in December, we found that Royal Caribbean was offering a $50 onboard credit if you booked directly.

Special Offers

On the search results page, you might notice a tab labeled “Special Offers.” Those offers are generally onboard credits but can also include discounts or other special features. If you aren’t committed to a specific cruise line, these are often worth exploring.

Cruise Privileges Program

Those with the Amex Platinum card have special access to the Cruise Privileges Program. Like the Fine Hotel + Resorts program, this is only available on specific cruises, although it’s more limited than FHR.

It includes onboard credit (often higher than otherwise offered) and a special onboard amenity, like complimentary dinner for 2 or a bottle of premium Champagne.

Bottom Line: It can be worth booking a cruise through AmexTravel.com, especially if there are special offers. Make sure to compare different booking sites, though, as some may have better or exclusive promotions.

AmexTravel.com Insiders

AmexTravel.com offers a feature called Travel Insiders. When you use the program, American Express connects you with a travel expert who can help you plan an itinerary based around your desired destination. Fees vary by location, length of the trip, and details of the itinerary.

Final Thoughts

AmexTravel.com can be a very useful tool when booking flights, hotels, vacation rentals, cruises, or rental cars. In many cases, it may not offer the best rates, but it’s worth comparing to other booking sites and airlines or hotels directly.

If you have an American Express card that offers access to The Hotel Collection or Fine Hotel + Resorts, the perks can be worthwhile.

Additionally, the extra Membership Rewards points you earn by booking through AmexTravel.com can be valuable, as long as the price is right.

Aside from The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotel + Resorts, the real value of AmexTravel.com is in the customer service provided. Booking a trip on your own is easy — dealing with problems when they arise can be less so!

If you book through AmexTravel.com, you have easy access to someone who can help you get on a new flight, find a new hotel, or manage whatever other issues come up day or night. So if you’re looking to have that extra support, AmexTravel.com might be a great choice for you!

For the car rental loss and damage insurance benefit of the Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.