American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge Access with American Express Platinum Club
Cardholders of American Express’s Platinum Credit Card now can use the American Airlines Club Lounge at airports if they are an American Express Platinum Card holder and if they have bought an american airlines ticket.
If your spouse or children are travelling with you, they can also access the lounge. Alternatively, you can also bring two companion travellers with you.
Presently, cardholders of American Express Platinum Card have access to Continental Airlines Presidents Club, Delta Crown Room Club®, and Northwest Airlines WorldClubs. This is a welcome addition to the airport lounge perks.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:06 am
I’ve been following your saga of Amex Platinum because I sprung for one last fall. I just attempted to book flights and hotel for a conference in Seattle in April ‘08, using the Amex Platinum Travel Service. I was sort of hoping that this was like a real travel agent, like I used to use ten years ago….you give them the dates and preferences, and they come back with some alternatives. I also was hoping that they would be able to advise regarding various Platinum perks.
1. They charge a $39.00 booking fee for airline tickets. This made their quoted ticket prices higher than the online tickets through the Platinum Travel web site.
2. They couldn’t assist with offering any airline upgrades (from coach to business class)….that had to be done through the airline.
3. They couldn’t advise or assist with the Starwood Gold Preferred Hotel Point plan, or whatever it is called…anything related to that had to be done at the hotel.
4. Bookings you do yourself through the web site give you double the membership award points that you would get if you book through their agency.
5. Their hotel rates were higher than the rate given through the conference hotel booking agency. Their lowest quote was $259, and the conference agency quoted $198. It will be interesting to see if these are subject to the upgrade via Starwood.
So, at least on the planning side, I would say the perks from the Platinum card are minimal, when compared to an Amex Gold card. I guess I might have expected a little more juice; when I first called the Platinum number, I could press 1 for travel, 2 for problems with my credit card statement, and 3 for bookings of private jets and 4 for bookings of yachts. Oh well.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Your take on the amex platinum card is dead on. Just got back from Hanoi, Vietnam. Was very difficult to find any establishment that would accept the card. Most would take master card of visa.
Went to the Amex office and was told that Amex had very limited exposure as they had not found an in-country financial institution (? ) to support their card.
Is the Amex card worth the annual fee charged?