Good afternoon everyone, I hope your Memorial Day Weekend is going well. I have the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card and some of the card benefits get a lot of attention: Centurion Lounge access, Priority Pass membership, $200 airline reimbursement annually, Global Entry fee reimbursement, and the 50% Pay with Points rebate on flights.
Surprisingly, there are several other less talked about benefits of the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card too. One such benefit that I just used for the first time was the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card Concierge (I believe the various versions of the American Express Platinum Charge Card also have this benefit). I wanted to make a dinner reservation for a special occasion and I wasn’t having any luck with OpenTable (unless I wanted a 5pm or 10pm reservation – no thank you!). I decided to call the Concierge (1-800-492-8468) and see if they could help me out. If you have a personal American Express Platinum Charge Card, just call the number on the back of your card and you can navigate to the Concierge Department.
When you call the Concierge, you need to have your American Express Business Platinum Charge Card available since you will have to type in the number to verify that you own an American Express Business Platinum Charge Card. A few moments later, a helpful concierge was there to help me. I told him my first choice of restaurant (House of Prime Rib in San Francisco), my preferred date and time, and my party size. He put me on hold for 2 minutes (I assume to call the restaurant directly) and inquire about a dinner reservation. Unfortunately, after speaking with the on duty restaurant manager, I was told that there were no tables available on the date and time I wanted.
Undeterred, I asked the concierge to check my second favorite steakhouse (Ruth Chris in San Francisco) to see if there was a table available at that restaurant. He put me on hold for another 2 minutes and came back with good news. My dinner reservation was confirmed and I was all set. The entire phone call was less than 10 minutes and I saved myself the work of checking OpenTable, looking up the restaurant phone numbers, and calling the restaurants directly. After the call, I received the confirmation email with the details of my dinner reservation.
Even though my first restaurant choice was unavailable, I would definitely use the Concierge feature again. When the Concierge calls the restaurant, they may be able to convince the on duty restaurant manager to move some tables around or put you on a waitlist. If the restaurant does have a table available, they may be able to reserve a better table for you and make sure the restaurant knows that the reservation is for a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc.).
If you have any questions about the Concierge, please leave a comment below. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend everyone!
P.S. If anyone is interested in applying for the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card, please let me know and I can send you a referral link. Thank you!
I agree I used my Amex Platinum for flowers delivery, concert tickets and restaurant reservations. I even called them to look for Amex accepted crepe eatery around the area. Amazing service, it’s probably the best feature in the Platinum card.
That’s awesome, I’m glad you have gotten great value out of the Concierge team. Keep them busy!
Checking opentable for Ruth Chris would have taken way less than 10 mins. But I am glad to see you are going to your special occasion at somewhere other than a fast food joint, for a long time I’ve been pretty sure you only eat fast food. Enjoy!
True, but I was really hoping that the Concierge could get me a table at House of Prime Rib. I do appreciate good food too, not just fast food :P
Many restaurants don’t make prime times available on OpenTable. They fill their tables at peak times without paying OpenTable. So you can get those times if you call, not booking on the OpenTable site. Or having someone else (like Amex) call for you.
That is a good point, I will remember that next time I need a hot table. Thanks Gary!
I will often feed a big list to the concierge and have them work on it. Esp when outside US and Canada or when needed in a different time zone.
Have you had good luck with the Concierge team outside the US? Which countries did the Concierge help you with?
I have used the concierge to book tables at restaurants in Canada (Toronto/Vancouver), US (SF, NYC, LV) and oversea, especially when I am travelling. One time I called the concierge to get a table at a famous restaurant in downtown Vancouver, only 30 minutes before my desired time at 8pm on a Saturday night. The concierge called back within 5 mins and said the table was ready. The restaurant was jam-packed that night. I have no idea how the concierge did it.
The other time, the AMEX concierge made the reservation and reminded Cafe Boulud that I was entitled to a free dish because I’m an AMEX Platinum member and the restaurant is in the Fine Dining Program. I was like wow….
I think the concierge service is very valuable. One time I came back from the cruise in Alaska and realized I was short on souvenirs. I called up the concierge, told them exactly what I wanted and where to get it (Ketchikan). Within 5 days, a package arrived and got what I wanted.
Absolutely love the AMEX concierge service.
Wow, those are very impressive data points. I really appreciate how much they care about their Platinum cardholders and are willing to help them out in a pinch.
You ate a chain steak house in San Francisco?? Some of the best food on the planet and you chose Ruth’s Chris??? Your choice obviously but I’ve never had any luck with a truly hard to find table from AMEX.
I’ve used them for restaurant reservations in Valencia, Spain and Paris and the Concierge came through every time. In one instance, we wanted to go to Saturne in Paris but when I tried booking and calling, I could only get a 10pm reservation. I asked Concierge and they were able to get us a 7:30pm reservation. Sometimes they’re hit or miss when it comes to putting together suggestions for places.to go when traveling but for things like dinner reservations, they come through.
That’s great to hear, I plan on using them a lot when I travel internationally to make dinner reservations.
Apparently you do not know how to use Opentable. It is much quicker than a phone call. In adddtion to looking for a specific time, you can filter by cuisines, sort by price and ratings. Opentable would have found you a much better option for steak in San Francisco other than a chain like Ruth’s Chris – at least you didn’t go to Forrest Gump for seafood.
It’s one of the only few steakhouses that is walking distance from my apartment. I hope you have a great Memorial Day.
Uber is another great app
Uber is great, I love that app :)
Can you use the concierge to get football tickets and hotel reservations? I want to get some good seats if possible and have never tried the concierge option before.
I believe so. Just call the concierge and tell them what you want and they will do their best to make it happen.
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