Comments on: American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge Access with American Express Platinum Club

By: Amexer

Amexer — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:31:04 +0000

I haven’t had a problem accessing the lounge, but one thing they don’t advertise is that you don’t get all the perks of a regular admiral’s club member. Amex platinum card holders still have to pay for wi-fi inside the lounge, even though it is free to normal admiral club members.

By: Ryan K

Ryan K — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Come on. You have the FREE “platinum” credit card and you think you’re getting airport lounge access just for using it? Unlikely, sir.

The people with the REAL platinum charge card pay $450 a year for it. That’s why they get crazy benefits like lounge access.

They make the lounges for people who are either loyal to American Airlines or willing to pay for it. If anyone could get into the lounges with a free credit card, it would kill the whole point of the lounge to begin with.

By: Simon De Lao

Simon De Lao — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:02:20 +0000

Amex plays games with its customers. They are quickly losing their ststus with the “status travellers” – We are done with Amex. Amex is a dinosauer and this platinmum crap with the Adrmirals Club is pretty much the nail in the coffin. Diner’s Club is gone, now Amex is going to be right behind it.

By: Otto

Otto — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:26:03 +0000

It is important for people to understand this. American Express has two type of cards. Lending cards and charge cards. They are different. Lending cards allow you to pay charges over time, carry interest charges, and have small or no annual fees. Charge cards have a high annual fee but are due in full every month (unless you sign up for a special program). The Platinum card that carries all the special perks, including the airport lounges is the Platinum “charge card”. This is the card with a $450 annual fee. If you have anything else, even if it is called Platinum, you do not have all those benefits and need to read your cardmember agreement for details.
Read your agreements to know what it is that you are paying for, what your responsibilities are, and what benefits you are entitled to.

By: Simon De Lao

Simon De Lao — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:42:54 +0000

Oh and another thing – How the hell are we supposed to know there are different versions of their “Platinum” card – Bait and Switch -

By: Simon De Lao

Simon De Lao — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:41:04 +0000

Same thing happened to me – I am an AA 1,000,000 mile frequent flier and wen tinto the Admirals Club with my AMEX “Platinum Business” card. Not only was I denied access at DFW, The AA employee wasnt even nice about it. He treated me like I squatted down and squeezed out a giant turd on his desk. What a bunch of LIARS. Why do we even bother being the least bit loyal to these pricks?

By: dan

dan — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:36:55 +0000

Mike. I’ve used my Amex Platinum card at DFW to gain access to the lounge twice in the past year. You should have called American Express to sort out the problem.

There are Amex “Platinum” card that do not have the airport lounge access perk (generally the cards without annual fees).

By: Mike L

Mike L — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:29:00 +0000

I went to Dallas Fort Worth, Texas.
I went to American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge Access with American Express Platinum Club, and was flatly DENYED !!!!

I had two AMEX Platinum Cards and both were on the “do not honor” side of the card telling the admittance person which cards to allow.

If they exclude the Gold and Green, OK I can under stand the rule.
But I have 2 Platinum Cards and AMEX says they are the ’sh*t cards’ don’t lket these people in. F*** them !!!!

By: Bob Allen

Bob Allen — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:05:58 +0000

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?

By: Lawrence Keyes

Lawrence Keyes — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:06:49 +0000

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.