Agreed that for the United flier, the Amex Platinum Card might not be for you. For me the lounge acc

I m enjoying a fabulous European vacation including a cruise aboard continental airlines reservation confirmation Celebrity Equinox right now.  While I m away I hope you ll enjoy reading some of your favorite content based on visits to the blog.  Today, in honor of the joy of travel, I write about the benefits of the American Express Platinum continental airlines reservation confirmation Card, and why I truly don t leave home without it.
In my third installment on the most popular search terms that bring readers to this blog, I d like to discuss the American Express Platinum Card. Particularly, I d like to write about why this card can still be a good deal for the frequent traveler, even though continental airlines reservation confirmation American Express continental airlines reservation confirmation recently dropped the domestic 2 for 1 companion travel benefit.
First things first, the Amex Platinum Card is going to cost you $450 dollars per year. Now that we ve got that out of the way, let s talk about why this card is worth the money. For me, the number one benefit of this card is airline lounge access on the day of travel. continental airlines reservation confirmation This benefit offers the cardholder and up to two guests access to the lounges of American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines when you present your Platinum card, a government issued I.D. and a boarding pass for travel continental airlines reservation confirmation on the airline s lounge you are trying to enter. In other words, if you want to enter an American Admirals Club, you need an American Airlines boarding pass for travel that day. If you ve read the blog before, you know that I highly recommend that frequent travelers continental airlines reservation confirmation join the lounge program of the airline they fly most. For me, that s American and Delta. If I were to join the lounge of both airlines, I would be out over $700 dollars in annual fees. With the Amex Platinum card, I have access to both lounges for the price of the card s annual fee. That s a good deal for me.
Another benefit of the card is the Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) program. FHR offers continental airlines reservation confirmation exclusive benefits including room upgrades, free breakfasts, and individual amenities that are unique to each hotel. To receive FHR benefits, you must book your hotel through Platinum Travel Service (PTS), a full-service travel agency available to Amex Platinum cardholders. I have used this benefit continental airlines reservation confirmation a few times with decent continental airlines reservation confirmation results. PTS can provide the full range of services you would expect from a travel agent, however I admittedly use my own local agent when I am booking a trip that I feel requires the use of agent services. Therefore, I cannot comment on the usefulness of PTS as your regular travel agent.
While Amex has discontinued continental airlines reservation confirmation the domestic 2 for 1 travel program, continental airlines reservation confirmation the international program remains in place. When booking a qualifying first or business class ticket, you are eligible for a complimentary ticket in the same class of service for a companion. There are no limits continental airlines reservation confirmation on the number of times you can utilize this benefit as there were in the now discontinued domestic 2 for 1 program. Other benefits I ve found useful are elite level privileges continental airlines reservation confirmation in several car rental company continental airlines reservation confirmation programs including Hertz and Avis. Additionally, Amex Platinum cardholders are eligible for Gold membership in the Starwood Preferred continental airlines reservation confirmation Guest program.
There are a number of other benefits, including those that are fairly standard across most American Express Cards. I ve only scratched the surface with this post. You can review full details about the Platinum Card by clicking here .
I have had nothing but overwhelmingly positive experiences with American Express dating back to my very first card in 1989 while in college. However, I have to write briefly about some of the news items surrounding American Express. There have been widespread reports of American continental airlines reservation confirmation Express reducing continental airlines reservation confirmation the charging ability of customers continental airlines reservation confirmation that appear to be good customers based upon charging habits or charging items in areas that American Express has modeled to be higher risk. Just this week, a thread appeared on FlyerTalk indicating that American Express was imposing spending limits on many cardholders with no pre-set limit cards like the Platinum Card. I can t comment beyond what I ve written as I have not experienced continental airlines reservation confirmation any of these problems, and have my fingers crossed that I won t. For what it s worth, continental airlines reservation confirmation I am blessed with employment that is about as stable as one can find in this country and an above average income. Furthermore, I rarely carry balances on my other credit cards, and have a history of on-time payments with a credit score close to 800. That said, it appears from some of the press reports and internet postings that cardholders with similar circumstances have had their charging ability curtailed. You ll have to do your own research and formulate your own opinions. I ve found a terrific source of information on the subject of credit at creditmattersblog.com . Check it out. In the meantime, keep reading. I hope this information is helpful.
I agree that the lounge access alone makes the Platinum Amex card worthwhile. Do note that the benefit is less powerful than a membership in the respective airline club, which lets you use the club regardless of whether you are traveling that carrier. For example, in Las Vegas, the only lounge is a Continental Presidents Club. It is at the D-gates which most airlines other than SW use (ie. UA, DL, AA, AS even B6). But the Platinum card only lets you in if you are flying on CO, while a membership on CO or UA lets you in regardless of you are flying (maybe also US membership lets you in), and CO has other reciprocity arrangements in LAS like AS. So the Platinum benefit is good, but not as good a full membership.
I have found the 2 for 1 international business class offer to be disappointing. The only qualifying fare is the highest possible business class fare, and the cost is substantially more than the cost of two discounted business class tickets. Moreover, the 2 for 1 offer is limited to certain airlines and is capacity controlled, so I am not sure it is any more flexible than buying discounted business class tickets. In the 2 for 1 offer, only one passenger gets mileage credit and elite qualifying miles, while if two passengers are traveling on discounted business class tickets, they both earn miles. I suppose if your business is paying for 1 passenger, then a companion can go along, and it works for that case, but most businesses have discount arrangements which disqualify the 2-for-1.
Agreed that for the United flier, the Amex Platinum Card might not be for you. For me the lounge access is the biggest continental airlines reservation confirmation deal, and we are getting continental airlines reservation confirmation some small benefits on our upcoming Celebrity cruise as well. FHR, isn t something I ve used yet.
It will be interesting to watch how Continental s relationship with Amex may evolve continental airlines reservation confirmation as a result of the United merger. I will be surprised, if lounge continental airlines reservation confirmation access continues after the merger. But if it does, then I think it might be worth your while to take a second look at Amex Platinum.
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