Tag Archives: American Express

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How are you Feeling about American Express Centurion Lounges these Days?

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Anytime you bring up the topic of American Express’s Centurion Lounges, you will get lots of differing opinions, which will include the good, the bad, and the ugly. And with the seemingly never ending changes to the various versions of the American Express Platinum Charge Card, both personal and business, including higher annual fees and reductions in rebates on Membership Reward Point tickets, there are even more discussions than usual about whether or not the cards are worth keeping.

But I’ve decided to keep mine, and the American Express Centurion Lounges are a big part of that decision. I also use these card benefits:

  • $200 airline fee credit, for incidental charges such as baggage fees, on a single airline of the cardholder’s choosing.
  • Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Gold Status and Hilton Honors Gold Status.
  • Airport lounge access through an expansion of the Global Lounge Collection. This includes Delta SkyClubs, Priority Pass lounges, and American Express Centurion Lounges.

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American Express Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance Coverage Changes (Effective September 1, 2017)

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Good morning everyone, happy Sunday!  I was reviewing my recent American Express credit card statement and scrolled to the very end of my statement to see if there were any changes to my credit card terms or benefits.  American Express is making a few changes to their car rental loss and damage insurance benefits, most of them look like improvements to me, but some look like negative changes.  Full disclosure, I have never used the American Express car rental loss, damage insurance, purchase protection, or any of these card member benefits, so I am no expert here.  If you are familiar with those card member benefits, review the changes below to determine if these are improvements or not.  My comments will be in red text.  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.  Thank you.

Notice of Updates to the Additional Benefits of Your Card

  • We are making several updates to your card benefits on September 1, 2017. These benefits are provided to you as part of your Card Membership at no additional charge. Key updates are described in more detail below. If you would like more information about these updates or to receive a Description of Coverage, please visit www.americanexpress.com/benefitsguide to see benefits specific to your Card or call 1-800-854-9783 Monday-Friday 8 am to 8 pm and Saturday 9 am to 6 pm ET.

Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance* coverage

  • Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance coverage will now apply to vehicles rented in Ireland, Israel and Jamaica. Consistent with your current benefit, coverage will not apply to vehicles rented in Australia, Italy, and New Zealand.
  • In addition to the vehicle types currently covered, eligible rental vehicles will now include certain types of full sized sport utility vehicles, exotic/expensive cars, full sized vans, trucks, pick-ups and cargo vans.

It is nice to see that 3 new countries are included in car rental loss coverage and that more vehicles are now covered.  I hope Australia, Italy, and New Zealand coverage comes soon, I’m not sure why those 3 countries are excluded. Continue reading →

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Unboxing my American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card: Card Art & Welcome Letter

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Good morning everyone, happy Thursday!  Last week, I applied for the much talked about new American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card (my referral link).  The sign up bonus was decent (20,000 Membership Reward Points after spending $3,000 in 3 months), the 2x on all spend for the first $50,000 in purchases every year is great, and having no annual fee is the perfect reason to hold on to this credit card for years to come.  In this post, I will walk you through the approval process and “unbox” the new credit card and show you what the new credit card looks like.  (Disclaimer: there is no box, just a UPS Second Day Air flat envelope.)  Here is the front and back of the American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card.  I am kind of disappointed that this credit card looks just like my American Express Old Blue Cash Credit Card (OBC) and my American Express Blue Cash Everyday Credit Card (BCE).  I wish the card was more distinctive looking.  Oh well.

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Great First Experience Calling American Express Platinum Concierge for Restaurant Reservations

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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.

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ICYMI: Travel News Roundup for Friday, May 26, 2017

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Hi everyone! Sorry I missed an update last week – I was in New York City for the weekend and was a little swamped. Here’s all the news that caught my eye over the past two weeks:

Airlines + Miles

Aeromexico is starting new flights from Mexico City to Seattle and Portland, and adding new Mexican destinations from Atlanta and Los Angeles. [Travel Codex]

Alaska Airlines added Helsinki-based Finnair as a Mileage Plan partner. [Alaska Airlines]

I bought one of the first tickets on Alaska Airlines’ new service from San Francisco to Mexico City, scheduled to begin August 8. [Travel with Grant]

American Airlines now offers a full refund within 24 hours of purchase if a flight is booked at least 2 days before departure (previously it was 7 days). [Travel Codex]

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