Guide: American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts programme

The American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) programme is a collection of more than 3,000 luxury hotels worldwide, which offer additional elite-like benefits such as free breakfast and guaranteed late check-out to AMEX Platinum Charge and Centurion Cardholders.

AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts

These stays are priced according to the hotel’s best flexible rate, and while this might not necessarily be the cheapest (compared to non-refundable rates), the added benefits can make it more than worthwhile.

In this post, I’ll go through everything you need to know about the AMEX FHR programme, as well as some commonly asked questions.

Who can book AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts rates?

The AMEX FHR programme is exclusively for principal and supplementary AMEX Platinum Charge and AMEX Centurion Cardholders. 

It is not available to AMEX Platinum Reserve or AMEX Platinum Credit Cardholders.

AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits

AMEX FHR bookings enjoy the following benefits.

In addition to this, you can sometimes take advantage of 3rd, 4th or 5th night free offers through FHR. You can see the full list of available offers here (ignore the mention of a US$600 hotel credit; that’s only for the US-issued AMEX Platinum Card).

In its marketing materials, AMEX claims the FHR benefits are worth S$750, based on a two-night stay. Of course, the actual value will vary.

Daily breakfast: A great perk to have, and can save you a lot of money at more expensive resorts

US$100 hotel credit: Probably the best perk of all (and sometimes hotels upsize it to as much as US$150), though some properties may limit its use to the spa, which drastically reduces its usefulness

Guaranteed 4 p.m check-out: Can be a lifesaver, especially when you have a late departure. And it’s guaranteed, so hotels shouldn’t be playing games the way they are with elite benefits

Room upgrades: Not guaranteed, but in my experience I usually do receive a bigger room (and not just a nonsense “view upgrade”). I haven’t received a suite before, though I’ve read reports from people who have

12 p.m check-in: Also not guaranteed, though in my experience most properties do their best

Welcome amenity: Usually a fruit basket, box of chocolates or bottle of (cheap) wine

Complimentary Wi-Fi: More or less standard these days so it’s nothing to shout about

Could you get S$750 of value? Sure, but it really boils down to where you’re staying, whether you get an upgrade, and whether you’d have been willing to pay for that upgrade in the first place.

Do AMEX FHR bookings cost more?

Yes and no.

AMEX FHR bookings price the same as the hotel’s best flexible rate. For example, the Conrad Centennial Singapore costs S$539.55 nett on the AMEX FHR portal…

…which matches what I see on the Hilton website.

But there are cheaper rates available. If I were a Hilton Honors member, I could get that same flexible rate for S$507.45, and if all I cared about was the lowest possible rate, then a non-refundable advance purchase rate would cost S$410.06.

So the FHR rate will not always be the absolute lowest possible, but you will have the added benefit of flexible cancellation, plus the additional benefits mentioned earlier.

How do you book AMEX FHR rates?

To book AMEX FHR rates, visit this page, log in to your AMEX account and enter your search criteria.

You’ll then see FHR-participating properties in grey and black. By default, prices are displayed in SGD, inclusive of all taxes and fees. 

Select whichever property you like, and proceed to complete your booking.

You have the choice to pay now (in SGD), or pay at the hotel (in local currency). I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t choose the latter, unless:

• you want to use Membership Rewards points to pay for your booking (poor value, at 1,000 points = S$6)
• you’re trying to meet the minimum spend requirement for a sign-up bonus and need to charge the expense sooner rather than later

Remember, stays follow the hotel’s flexible cancellation policy, so even if you pay now, you can still get your money back if you change your mind later.

Do Fine Hotels & Resorts rates enjoy elite benefits and earn points?

Generally yes. Unlike regular third-party bookings like Hotels.com or Expedia, AMEX FHR bookings are eligible for elite benefits and points with loyalty programmes like Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt.

That said, I did encounter one case where a Six Senses booking did not earn IHG One Rewards elite credit or points, and it took several emails before that was sorted out. Be sure to monitor your account, just in case.

How can you get the most value from a Fine Hotels & Resorts booking?

Since the hotel credit is fixed at US$100 regardless of how many nights you stay, the optimum approach would be to look for the cheapest possible one-night stays.

MaxFHR is a tool created for exactly this purpose, allowing you to browse properties by room rates, and quickly identify the dates with the lowest prices. 

You can even see which hotels have upsized their property credit, and filter out those which only allow it to be used at the spa. If you get lucky, you might even be able to find a property where the room rate is less than the credit!

Other FAQs

Can you pay with a different card?

The AMEX Platinum Charge (0.63 mpd) and AMEX Centurion Card (0.78 mpd) don’t have the best earn rates, so is it possible to pay with a different card? 

My experiences are mixed. Some properties have insisted that I use the same card for payment, others didn’t care so long as I paid with an AMEX of some sort.

That said, it’s worth noting that the T&Cs previously stated the payment must be made in full with an American Express Card in the Platinum/Centurion cardholder’s name, not necessarily the Platinum/Centurion card itself. Now, it’s been updated to state that you must pay with the Platinum/Centurion card, so they might have tightened this. 

Can you make back-to-back bookings?

Since the US$100 hotel credit is granted per stay, you might be tempted to book back-to-back one-night stays at the same property, so you can enjoy it multiple times.

AMEX is well aware of such behaviour, and explicitly disallows it in their T&Cs.

If you make multiple back-to-back bookings with a single card, they’ll be considered as a single stay, and the credit granted only once.

To get around this, some people have tried using a ” two-player approach”, where one person books one night, the other person the next, and so on. But the T&Cs also prohibit such a practice.

If you ask me, the risk is much greater if your roommate is a supplementary cardholder. If he/she has their own principal card, it feels like it’d be harder to detect, though as with all things you’ll need to decide for yourself whether it’s worth the risk.

Do Fine Hotels & Resorts rates stack with AMEX Offers?

Yes. If the FHR booking you’ve made is at a property that’s also participating in an AMEX Offer, you can enjoy the AMEX Offer too provided you hit the minimum spend requirement.

For example, I recently made an FHR booking at the Ritz-Carlton Perth, which was also a participating property for the Marriott Bonvoy spend S$400 get S$80 offer. Since the final amount was charged by the hotel itself (and not AMEX), that triggered the offer.

Can you book multiple rooms?

Yes. According to the T&Cs, each cardmember can book up to three rooms per stay. All three rooms will enjoy the AMEX FHR benefits. 

Can you book on behalf of someone else?

No. The T&Cs state that the stay must be booked in the name of the cardholder. 

How is the US$100 hotel credit converted?

The US$100 hotel credit will be converted into local currency, at the hotel’s rate. Sadly, this is at the hotel’s discretion, and can be very poor. For instance, in my two stays in Perth, one hotel gave me A$125, and another A$130 (the actual rate at the time should have been closer to A$150).

Could you get the same benefits elsewhere?

As valuable as the AMEX FHR programme is, there are other alternatives available through luxury travel advisors that can offer similar perks, without the need to have an AMEX Platinum Charge or Centurion.

These include: 

• Accor HERA
• Four Seasons Preferred Partner
• Hilton Impresario
• Hyatt Prive
• IHG Luxury & Lifestyle
• Mandarin Oriental Fan Club
• Marriott STARS
• Peninsula Pen Club
• Shangri-La Luxury Circle
• Virtuoso

The easiest way to book these rates is to download the HoteLux app and sign up for a membership. This, in theory, requires paying an annual fee, but HoteLux practically gives away memberships so you should never be paying out of pocket:

• World Elite Mastercard: 12-month HoteLux Elite Plus Membership
• PPS Club: 12-month HoteLux Elite Plus membership
• World Mastercard: 12-month HoteLux Elite Membership
• KrisFlyer Elite Gold: 12-month HoteLux Elite membership

Keep in mind that guaranteed 4 p.m check-out is what sets AMEX FHR apart from the rest, because not every luxury travel advisor rate guarantees the benefit. 

Fine Hotels & Resorts T&Cs

The T&Cs of the AMEX FHR programme can be found below.

What about The Hotel Collection?

When browsing through the results, you may see hotels labelled “The Hotel Collection”.

This is FHR’s cheaper sister, for upscale hotels that don’t quite meet the threshold of all-out luxury. THC stays require a minimum of two nights, and offer room upgrades, 12 p.m check-in and 4 p.m check-out, all subject to availability. Bookings also receive a US$100 hotel credit.

Conclusion

American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts is a great way for non-elites to enjoy elite-like benefits on their stays, or at non-chain hotels which don’t offer a loyalty programme. It’s ideal for one-night stays, since the US$100 credit is fixed, but longer stays can sometimes be rewarded too with 3/4/5th night free offers. 

Even though stays should price the same as the hotel’s best flexible rate, always make a point of checking the hotel’s official website for special packages they might be offering. 

What have your Fine Hotels & Resorts stays been like?