American Express has added new language to Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) bookings to prevent card members from booking back to back stays to maximize benefits. The new language states:
Back-to-back stays booked by a single Card Member, Card Members staying in the same room or Card Members traveling in the same party within a 24-hour period at the same property are considered one stay and are ineligible for additional FHR benefits (“Prohibited Action”). American Express and the Property reserve the right to modify or revoke FHR benefits at any time without notice if we or they determine, in our or their sole discretion, that you may have engaged in a Prohibited Action, or have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with your FHR benefits.
The reason why people would do this is because card members get a Unique amenity valued at US$100, such as a food and beverage credit per stay. By doing back to back bookings you’d get multiple of these. Usually checking out wasn’t even required as the front desk could merge the bookings on check in and even if check out was needed FHR benefits included a guaranteed 4pm checkout making moving rooms easier. Not really surprising that this change was made.
Amex giving away coupons from their little coupon book and then whining when folks want to use all of the coupons!
Gaming? That is rich! AMEX FHR routinely charges substantially more for hotel stays than can be found on the internet so the $100 credit is an illusion. What they want to do is to make you think you are getting a good deal with the “credits” and you book multiple days at a higher price and will all the credits you pay the same or more. Not to mention that sometimes you need to confirm with reception that you are getting a $100 credit and what few services/food it applies to. But when the cardholder books legal back-to-back reservations to take advantage of the well advertised and promoted “credit,” it is call gaming by AMEX and now is banned. Basically, whet the cardholder tries to use their “credits” to save money, it is called “gaming,” but when AMEX manipulates the system to rip off the cardholder it is not gaming or abuse when you pay $695 per card per year?
Qualifying for Amex and then manipulating bookings and changing rooms or reservations several times within several days, in order to maximize coupons? Not much different from a poor person manipulating food stamps. Money can’t buy class.
You don’t know what class is. Living in FHR hotels is class. Paying much less than others is ingenuity.
FHR is a great program if you use it wisely. Some greedy people out there are ruining it for others. Some complain about high AF, some call it coupon book. If you apparently feel it’s not a good fit for your needs then why are you even wasting your energy and time keeping it?
You must work for Amex.
The real impressive feat is finding a hotel in their collection that is reasonably priced.
Good. There are always a few people doing something intentionally abusive like this to ruin it for everybody else.
Couldn’t these folks at least do it discretely? For example, P1 will check in and then P2 checks in the following day. Then P1 moves their belongings to the new room. P1 then checks out. Don’t be together when checking in or out.
Will that not work? I guess the only hiccup is that both players have to be AmEx members?
Good luck getting your wife onboard with that. I get eyerolls before I finish the sentence.
Go on a few trips alone, and then repeat the question :)))
Hard part is you have to be near the hotel when the times over lap. I like to explore so would hate having to comeback and switch.
Honestly it’s dumb to try to prevent since you can do what you just said, and it seems perfectly reasonable for a husband and wife both want to use the credits they are entitled to. How is booking a Friday – Sunday any different than a booking two Saturday nights in a row? Or booking two rooms the same night and doing a couples night? Just seems like they are making it more difficult to use and actually cause more work for the hotel since they have to clean two rooms.
I did this in vegas this year… I did 3 hotels 5 nights.. 3 amex cards. All 3 hotels gave me upgrades. Guess what..there’s always a way..
I feel like this is often forced on people anyway. Half the time I use a free night, I have to use a separate booking for the rest the stay and then cross my fingers the hotel doesn’t mess up stitching the two reservations together so we don’t have to switch rooms mid trip.
I never thought of doing this but also never use it since I use Chase points or hotel chain points.
Thankfully, I’ve moved most of my spending to Chase and Citi points-earning cards.
I’m guilty of this. Seems as long as they don’t know you are in the same party, you can keep doing this.
Yeah if you are willing to move rooms at 4pm, then theres really no way they can stop you doing a back to back stay with your OH or anyone else. But this does make it a little more awkward.