Stay 5 Nights in a Luxury Hotel With Amex Platinum’s Welcome Offer — Here’s How

American Express Membership Rewards are among the most versatile travel rewards points. You can transfer them to 21 loyalty programs, including 18 airline and 3 hotel loyalty programs. And while we often talk about using these points to book high-end airfare, let’s switch gears to hotels.

Membership Rewards points transfer to 3 hotel loyalty programs: Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, and Choice Privileges. Typically, you find the best deals when you transfer to Hilton because these transfers process at a 1:2 ratio, meaning 1,000 Membership Rewards points transfer to 2,000 Hilton Honors points.

With this in mind, I set out to see if I could use a targeted welcome offer from The Platinum Card^® from American Express to book 5 nights at a luxury hotel. Here are the options I found.

Amex Platinum Card Welcome Bonus Offer

The Amex Platinum card is American Express’ flagship travel card, offering a slew of benefits (some of which may require enrollment), such as airport lounge access, hotel and rental car elite status, statement credits, and more. These benefits help offset the card’s $695 annual fee (rates & fees) and help give frequent travelers a more enjoyable travel experience.

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The Platinum Card^® from American Express

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The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

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The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

Welcome Offer

Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

80,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $1,760

Annual Fee

$695

APR

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Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card^® from American Express.

Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• The best airport lounge access out of any card (by far) — enjoy access to over 1,400 worldwide lounges, including the luxurious Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), Plaza Premium Lounges, and many more!
• 5x points per dollar spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year)
• 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com

Cons

• $695 annual fee (rates and fees)
• Airline credit does not cover airfare (only incidentals like checked bags)

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Card Highlights

• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 5X Membership Rewards^® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards^® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
• $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts^® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card^®. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card^® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• With American Express Global Lounge Collection^® you can enjoy access to over 1,400 airport lounges globally, including The Centurion^® Lounge, Unlimited Delta Sky Club^® Access when flying an eligible Delta flight, Escape Lounges, Lufthansa Lounges when flying Lufthansa Group, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass™ Select Lounges, & Additional Global Lounge Collection Partner Lounges subject to visit limitations. Lounges may have their own rules, like additional access rules and guest fees, and for Priority Pass Select, you need to enroll and there are unlimited airport lounge visits for Card Members. With Delta Sky Club Access, Card Members will receive 10 Visits to the Delta Sky Club to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year and can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in a calendar year. To find a lounge, visit the membership section in the American Express^® App or visit http://www.americanexpress.com/findalounge#/loungefinder.
• $155 Walmart+ Credit: Save on eligible delivery fees, shipping, and more with a Walmart+ membership. Use your Platinum Card^® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership and get up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes back on one membership (excluding Plus Ups) each month.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card^®.
• $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card^® Members can ride or dine in style with $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a bonus $20 in December after adding their Card to their Uber account. Use your Uber Cash on rides and orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
• $199 CLEAR^® Plus Credit: CLEAR^® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
• Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck^® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card^®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card^®. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
• Unlock access to exclusive reservations and special dining experiences with Global Dining Access by Resy when you add your Platinum Card^® to your Resy profile.
• $695 annual fee.
• Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: See Pay Over Time APR
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

The card also has a substantial public welcome offer: Earn 80,000 points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchase in your first 6 months. However, you can often find higher welcome bonus offers using CardMatch or through a referral link, which you can get from an existing American Express cardholder.

Targeted offers are not available to all applicants. Any information related to targeted offers has been collected independently and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Over the years, I’ve seen welcome bonus offers of up to 175,000 Membership Rewards points, but a targeted bonus of 150,000 points is more common. In this article, I’ll use the 150,000-point targeted welcome bonus offer when discussing redeeming the Amex Platinum card’s bonus to book 5-star hotels.

As a disclaimer, using 150,000 Membership Rewards points to book a 5-star hotel room is possible, but not everywhere. It’s often easiest to find 5-night awards at 5-star hotels in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other regions with low-cost hotels.

Booking 5 Nights at Luxury Hotels With Hilton Honors

You’ll have the best luck booking these stays with Hilton Honors points. Again, this is mainly because Membership Rewards points transfer to Hilton at a 1:2 transfer ratio.

However, Hilton Honors also gives elite members a fifth night free on award stays, further reducing the cost of award nights. (Remember that the Amex Platinum card offers complimentary Hilton Gold elite status, though enrollment is required).

Conrad Bali

If Bali is on your radar, you can book the Conrad Bali for as few as 39,000 Hilton Honors points per night. However, rates generally hover around 50,000 points per night. Given the 1:2 transfer ratio and fifth-night free benefit, you can book a 5-night stay for just 100,000 Membership Rewards points.

Nobu Hotel Warsaw

Switching our focus to Europe, Poland’s Nobu Hotel Warsaw, part of Hilton’s partnership with Small Luxury Hotels, is also available for 50,000 Hilton Honors points per night for much of the year. This would cost the same 100,000 Membership Rewards points for a 5-night stay.

Conrad Abu Dhabi

In the Middle East, the Conrad Abu Dhabi is bookable for 39,000 Hilton Honors points per night on many dates this year. As a result, a 5-night stay at this hotel costs just 78,000 Membership Rewards points.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of 5-star hotels bookable with 150,000 Membership Rewards points. You might be pleasantly surprised with how far Membership Rewards points can go with a 1:2 transfer ratio to Hilton Honors and the loyalty program’s fifth-night free benefit.

Booking 5 Nights at Luxury Hotels With Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy is another Amex transfer partner, but it is more difficult to use them to get value at 5-star hotels. This is because, unlike Hilton Honors, Membership Rewards points transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at a standard 1:1 transfer ratio, unless there is an active transfer bonus.

I rarely recommend transferring Membership Rewards points to Marriott. We value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents per point. Meanwhile, we value Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents per point.

However, Marriott elite members also get their fifth night free on award stays, which can substantially increase the value of Bonvoy points on longer stays. I’ll factor this into my examples since Amex Platinum card members receive complimentary Marriott Gold status (enrollment is required for this benefit).

W Bangkok

The W Bangkok is a 5-star Marriott property where you can book 5 nights for under 150,000 Membership Rewards points on many dates. Rates vary throughout the year, but I found many weeks with 5-night stays that cost just 117,000 Bonvoy points when you factor in the fifth-night-free benefit.

Booking Hotels With AmexTravel.com

Sometimes, booking 5-star hotels with Membership Rewards points through AmexTravel.com might make sense. You can redeem points toward Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) and Hotel Collection stays at 1 cent per point and all other hotel stays at 0.7 cents per point. This isn’t the best use of Membership Rewards points, but it works in a pinch if you need to book a hotel stay.

Amex Platinum cardmembers can book FHR stays through AmexTravel.com and are eligible for benefits like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, and more. Cardmembers also get up to $200 annual prepaid hotel credit that can be used toward FHR and Hotel Collection bookings (requires a minimum 2-night stay) through AmexTravel.com.

If you’re looking for a hotel in Bangkok, the 5-star Waldorf Astoria Bangkok — an FHR property — can be booked for roughly 25,757 Membership Rewards points per night on some dates through AmexTravel.com. After taxes and fees, a 5-night stay costs 137,800 Membership Rewards points on these sample dates.

Final Thoughts

With the Amex Platinum card, you can significantly cut costs on hotel stays — even at hundreds of high-end properties — by leveraging its huge welcome bonus offer right now. When redeemed strategically, those points can cover luxury stays that would otherwise cost hundreds per night.