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Travelers have seemingly a million different ways to book hotels — whether directly with the chain or via an online travel agency such as Expedia. While we shy away from the latter (as it keeps you from earning elite night credits and getting any status benefits), there are also certain situations where booking elsewhere can be a boon. Using your Amex card to book a stay through The Hotel Collection is arguably one of them.
Amex cardmembers might recognize seeing The Hotel Collection by American Express as one of their benefits and wonder what this card perk is all about. Offering benefits that mimic elite status, the Amex Hotel Collection is available to eligible Amex cardmembers and can provide some pretty solid value.
While it's not as lush as American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts®, The Hotel Collection is still a solid option for those wanting to score room upgrades and amenity credits without holding hotel elite status. Let's take a look at Amex's The Hotel Collection, the benefits it provides, and who's eligible to take advantage of this program.
Page Contents
What Is the Amex Hotel Collection?
Amex's The Hotel Collection is a collection of over 1,000 properties curated by American Express. Each property offers guaranteed benefits to eligible Amex cardmembers when they book an eligible stay through American Express Travel®. The amenities offered through The Hotel Collection mimic elite status, such as:
- Room upgrade on arrival
- $100 amenity credit
- 12 pm check-in
- Late check-out
To get these benefits, you must book a stay of at least two nights through Amex Travel and pay with your eligible Amex card. It's that simple.
Who's Eligible for the Amex Hotel Collection?
Not everyone is eligible to book hotels using The Hotel Collection. First, you must be an American Express cardmember. However, not all Amex cardmembers receive this benefit. It's limited to those with the following cards:
- American Express® Gold Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- Centurion® Card from American Express
- Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That's up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made at restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- 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.
- Rates & Fees
- 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel booked on amextravel.com
- 1X on other eligible purchases
Note that those who have the Amex Platinum, Business Platinum Card, or an Amex Centurion Card card also have access to Fine Hotels & Resorts — which is essentially a more upscale version of The Hotel Collection.
It's also worth noting that the $200 prepaid hotel credit granted to those who hold the Amex Platinum can also be used for The Hotel Collection bookings.
How To Find Properties Through The Hotel Collection
Over 1,000 hotels participate in The Hotel Collection, which means the odds are good that there'll be one near you. To search for hotels, log in to your American Express account and then select “Travel” from the drop-down menu; this takes you to the Amex Travel portal. From there, you can select “Book The Hotel Collection.”
You'll then be taken to the search page for The Hotel Collection:
Once you put in your destination and travel dates, you'll be taken to the results page:
As you can see, you can either pay cash using your Amex card or use your Amex points to pay. Don't do the latter; Amex will only give you a value of 0.7 cents per point when redeeming this way. This is in contrast to recent AwardWallet user redemptions, which peg the average value of American Express Membership Rewards points at 1.96¢ each.
Once you've found a property you like, you'll select it and proceed through the checkout process. And be sure to have your Amex card on hand when you check in at the property.
Related: 5 Excellent Redemption Strategies for Amex Membership Rewards Points
Is Amex's The Hotel Collection Worth it?
The Hotel Collection can offer some good benefits, but is it worth it? There are a few factors to consider here:
- How much money are you willing to pay? The Hotel Collection properties tend to be more expensive than your standard chain hotels.
- Do you have hotel elite status? You won't be able to get status benefits when booking The Hotel Collection. Similarly, many of the benefits from The Hotel Collection bookings can be replaced with elite status.
- Do you want to use points? While you can use points to book The Hotel Collection, it's a terrible idea.
- Is the property near where you want to be? Because not all hotels are on The Hotel Collection, you'll want to make sure that the property you book is near where you want to be.
- How long are you staying? Benefits for The Hotel Collection kick in on bookings of at least two nights. This means a one-night stay won't get you perks. Similarly, longer bookings aren't going to give you repeats of credits; a ten-night stay will still only offer a single $100 amenity credit.
- Are the amenities worth the price? You'll usually be paying an inflated rate when booking through The Hotel Collection, so you'll want to be sure that the price difference isn't too extreme.
Here's an example of the Cheval Old Town Chambers, where a two-night stay booked via The Hotel Collection will cost you $1,386:
In contrast, here's the price when booking directly:
After factoring in the currency change, booking directly costs $1,242. That's a little over $140 less than booking via The Hotel Collection. You'll miss out on the amenity credit, but the price difference is significant enough that it's worth considering booking directly instead.
Bottom Line
Amex's The Hotel Collection offers eligible cardmembers a way to book hotels with extra benefits. However, you'll always want to do the math before booking. Even though The Hotel Collection stays offers amenities such as dining credits, the incremental cost over booking directly may not be worth it.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees)
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