Super 8 Hotel Review in Mt. Carmel: A Business Traveler’s Perspective

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It doesn’t look like much from the street, and I’m not a big fan of Super 8 for various reasons, but I thought I would add a recent review of my hotel stay in Mt. Carmel, Illinois.

I had an overnight business trip in this area, and it’s common knowledge that there aren’t many decent hotels in rural East Central Illinois. Most business travelers in this area go across the state line and stay in nearby Princeton, Indiana, which has a Hampton Inn and a Holiday Inn Express. My plans had been a bit up in the area before this stay, and I put off making reservations. In addition, the hotels on this night, in this area, seemed to be much higher than usual. I assume there was some local event driving prices up.

I started to make a reservation at the Holiday Inn Express as I needed some IHG nights and had a decent promo for extra points, but the reviews seemed really bad for that location.

The Hampton seemed much better, although the current Hilton promo is bad, and I don’t value Hilton points as much. For the night I needed the price was nearly $200 a night! Very high for this area, so I put it off. Big mistake. When I was ready to book the day before my trip, the Hampton was sold out, leaving a bad HIX or….A Super 8, the horror… I’ve stayed in a few Super 8’s over many years, and none were good. Usually built like cracker jack boxes, noisy, trucks idling all night outside the window, full of drunk construction workers, etc., etc. Many also came off as dirty, bugs, mold, smelling of pot, you name it.

So in desperation, I looked again at the Super 8 in Mt. Carmel, and the reviews on Google showed 4.0, not bad, but sometimes reviews are relevant to the client base. It’s one thing for a person who stays at a lot of Super 8 hotels to give it a good review over someone who is used to staying at nicer level hotels, for example. I’m not a fancy person, but the other reason I don’t stay at Wyndham hotels is that I don’t collect or value their points. So I checked out TripAdvisor and again good reviews and good photos. I then went to American Airlines Hotels and booked it so I could earn 1,600 AA miles.

I knew I would arrive about 5pm and would leave early the next day, so it wasn’t like I needed a pool or spa experience, just a clean place to sleep. Arrival was underwhelming, but I “toughed it out” 🙂

I should have captured more pictures of the many rules and signs. Warning about not driving trucks under the front canopy or how to clean your shoes before entering. All a result of some past experience. One sign suggested a “$1,500 fine for hitting canopy”.

The hotel was quiet with only a few cars when I arrived on a random Wednesday night. A good sign that it might be quiet. My stay was quiet, but I wouldn’t guarantee that for every experience, of course.

I started to pick up the “Pink Phone,” but soon a desk clerk came out of the private “office” area / Living quarters to check me in. He was very nice and asked about my trip. I was exhausted after a VERY long day and was thankful to have my keys so I could head to my room. I’m always disappointed when a hotel starts breakfast at 7am, as he informed me, but he said coffee would be available 24/7, so I would survive, as I had to get up at 4am the next morning.

When you enter the room, it has a vanity, refrigerator, and microwave to greet you. Not a fan of having carpet near a vanity, so laminate flooring would be a better choice for this hotel, but the carpet looked new and was spotless.

Bar soap is provided, which is my main request of hotels. It’s a personal preference, but I don’t use body wash and washcloths. I need bar soap, so I appreciated this minor feature that most hotels have gotten rid of in the name of saving the planet from soap waste or something dumb.

You could tell this was an older building by the setup of the bathroom and the small toilet set low to the ground, but it was spotless. I was impressed. I like to complain, so I don’t say this lightly. The shower turned out to be fine. The shower head was decent, however, I would have moved to shampoo and bodywash dispenser to the far wall as it was right next to your arms when you try to shower. By the way, is there a major difference between “Body Wash” and “Shampoo”? I’m sure there is, but if they want to save money and the planet, why not just combine it all into one gross dispenser 🙂

A small work table and a decent-sized TV with a good selection of cable TV channels were available. I didn’t take a photo of them, but each wall light also had USB and USB-C plugs AND electrical outlets. Very nice indeed.

The beds were clean, the pillows good, and the mattresses seemed new and nice. Everything was fresh. It was a pleasant surprise. 5 Stars! I really didn’t love the metal bedframes, and they sat a bit too far from the wall without a headboard to sit against while watching TV or working on my laptop, but a minor complaint. I had a decent night’s sleep and got up early to enjoy several cups of coffee before my early morning meeting was moved later, so I would have a chance to grab the 7am breakfast after all.

The breakfast was much better than I’ve had at Super 8’s in the past. It offered oatmeal, apples, cold cereal, a few Danish items, toast, and even a waffle machine. No sausage, bacon, or eggs like you might get at the “Fancy” HIX, Fairfield, or Hampton level hotel, but it was fine. I didn’t find any juice or bananas that would make it a bit better for me.

Overall, I would rate this Super 8 a 4+ stars for a quick business overnight. There is no pool, fitness room, or other such frills, but I don’t usually use those anyway.

Pros: Clean, location that was convenient for my needs, friendly staff, and 24-hour free low-quality coffee. Good TV.

Cons: A little lacking on breakfast items, and the price I paid was $133, which is about $40 more than I would expect to pay at any Super 8 in the Midwest for a rural location. Then again, it’s the only hotel in town that most people would stay at. That night, the hotels in nearby Princeton, Indiana, were nearly $200, and I couldn’t even find an available Airbnb.

The other Con is that it’s a Wyndham hotel, which I don’t really participate with, but many wouldn’t mind that. I did end up with 1,600 American Airlines miles out of it, so I’d value that much as I would 3,000 or more IHG or Hilton points.

Essential Strategies for Managing Travel Disruptions (USA Edition)

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There is a lot of attention being paid to flight delays and cancellations right now due to the current 2025 government shutdown. This has impacted TSA, Air Traffic Controllers, and other staffing, which is causing many of the issues, but delays and cancellations can happen at any time. It’s not like flight work perfectly even when the weather or government is running smoothly. So what can you do if your flight is impacted?

I’ve been a fan of Samantha Brown, the travel expert, for years. On her Instagram feed, she posted some tips for this.

What you want to do is make sure you have the airline’s app on your device and also check out the US Department of Transportation Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard, or the similar Customer Service Dashboard, which seems to offer much of the same information.

This will give you information on what each major airline offers when there is a delay beyond their control or within their control.

This website also provides other information, such as the family seating policy and some other good information. I was surprised at how well this is presented. You might still run into issues with airline staff on the ground when they are under stress, inexperienced, or power tripping, but at least you have the rules in front of you and can choose your options.

The other thing that Samantha Brown points out is that some airlines also have meal vouchers on their apps that automatically load into your account when there are IROPS. United, Southwest, American, and Delta can do this as far as I can tell, but United seems to be the best at it to date.

Some of these vouchers are issued in the form of a Mastercard or Discover card and can also be loaded into your restaurant apps. Some airlines like ANA, United, Alaska, Delta, and I’m sure others issue these via a Mastercard or Discover Giftcard, usually. These can be loaded into apps for various restaurants.

If you choose to load these into a restaurant app it may ask for your name and the billing address. The billing address is usually: use 1475 E Woodfield Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173 as the issuer of the cards or voucher, “most” of the time, but YMMV.

List of apps to load airline meal vouchers to or buy gift cards from:

  • Starbucks ->(use 1475 E Woodfield Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173 as billing address as a workaround)
  • Chick Fil-A
  • McDonalds
  • Panera
  • Peets Coffee
  • Molly Moon
  • Crumbl
  • Dunkin’ Donuts (and I assume Baskin-Robbins)

Does not work:

  • Chipotle
  • Burger King

I assume there are other restaurant apps these work on. It’s reported that you can use these to buy gift cards as well. You should be able to buy Jason’s Deli gift cards through their site. They ask for billing info, so use first/last names on your voucher and the 1475 East Woodfield Road address above. It only seems to work for e-cards, but not for physical (mailed) gift cards.

When it comes to trip delay insurance coverage through purchased policies or through cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you will need proof of this delay, or they can deny the claim. The best way to get that is to ask for documentation from the gate agent or other staff for a “Military Excuse” form or another document explaining the reason for the delay. If it is a weather-related delay, I would try to gather screenshots from your phone or from other sources on the weather event, as it can be impossible to get that after the fact. ask me how I know this… I would even suggest taking photos of the departure boards or anything you can think of to document the delay or cancellation to help your insurance claim.

Hopefully, you don’t need any of this information, but a few tips can help you avoid standing in long lines after a delay or cancellation. Godspeed and Safe Travels.

Fun Hilton Honors Points Explorer Tool

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I’ve been in the points and miles game since the early 1990’s back when hotels would issue paper certificates, so things have changed a lot since then. Most tools and websites that are useful, I already use or at least know about, but somehow I missed the Hilton Honors Points Explorer Tool.

The tool is simple and allows for good sorting and mapping by location and type of stay.

You can enter a location without dates or without “Looking for something specific” and it will show all options within the points range slider limits you chose.

It then allows you to sort by date, distance, and amenities like most hotel sites.

This isn’t rocket science, but many other hotel brands don’t have an “easy” to use feature like this, or their website is very slow. To Hilton’s credit, this site seems to be fast and accurate. You can enter locations by city or country, but it doesn’t seem to allow a broad search like “Asia” or “Europe”.

For my quick United Kingdom search, I found out that the London DoubleTree Kensington was the most expensive by points. 56,000 to 496,000 per night is too expensive for my points wallet! Wow!

The downside to the tool that I have found is that some locations don’t seem to show up without being logged in and dates entered. For example, in my search for “Israel”, it wouldn’t show any locations in the whole country, yet there are at least 2 properties there. The error seems to be linked to hotels that are available or unavailable on points stays without specific dates, is my guess.

Hopefully, this tool can be useful to you as a quick search to see how far your Hilton points can take you.

Troy, IL Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express Experience

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I had a quick overnight at the Holiday Inn Express in Troy, Illinois, recently, so I wanted to do a short photo review of the stay.

The hotel is located just South of the I-70 interchange on I-55 in Illinois. This is the far Northeast corner of the St. Louis metro area. It is well located along the interstate and appears to attract many road trippers just coming through. Certainly not a destination property, I assume.

It’s next to several other lesser-quality chain hotels and several restaurants within walking distance. There is a Cracker Barrel, a Taco Bell, and a local BBQ restaurant almost in the parking lot. Many other chain restaurants are within less than a mile as well.

Troy is a fairly safe suburban area, so crime shouldn’t be a major problem, although several lower-scale hotels and truck stops nearby could attract some crime I would guess.

There is also a small indoor pool, but I couldn’t get a photo of it due to fellow travelers using it at the time.

No Bar soap, so that was a fail. One of my biggest pet peeves with hotels trying to be cheap under the thin veil of trying to be green. Speaking of ‘green,’ they include door hangers you can put out each night for 500 points instead of housekeeping, but I’m still fighting for my 500 welcome amenity points for being Platinum with IHG *sigh*…

The room was clean for the most part, but the shower could use a deeper clean. It has some black and pink spots around the edges that shouldn’t be there, considering the condition of the rest of the property.

The hotel also features a non-Tesla brand bank of EV chargers, so that is a nice feature for some travelers. The nearest Tesla superchargers are in Collinsville, about 10 minutes away.

Pros: Great water pressure in the shower! Friendly staff, good breakfast starting at 6am, like it should, not 6:30am, etc.

Cons: The shower could have been cleaner, the TV was a bit small for the room size, and check-in and check-out weren’t great. I’m still fighting for my stupid 500 points, which I’m working WAY too hard for at this point.

I would stay here again if I have work in the area due to the location, but there are some nicer hotels in nearby Edwardsville; however, they aren’t on the interstate.

Did Southwest let Chase declare their points are worth less than 1 cent each?

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My wife has the Southwest Priority Card until the annual fee goes up next year. She just got a spend promo from Chase. These are pretty typical and usually provide 5x points for spend in certain categories. We always sign up for them, but usually can’t max them out unless it’s something good like Amazon spending. I guess you could say I am pretty well-versed on these and the fine print.

We currently have several cards with gas, grocery, and restaurant deals from 3x to 5x, but this new Southwest one caught my eye.

As you can see, it is 4% up to $40 through September. I thought, well, that is pretty good and easy to max out, even if we buy most of our groceries at Walmart, which doesn’t count. But then I read the fine print.

OK, still 4% back up to $40, so doing my public school math, that is $1,000 to get $40, I’m in, or at least I’ll register. But then it dawned on me…why? Why cashback, why not points or miles? Now I know Freedom does this as cash back, but it really ends up being points.

Maybe I’m dumb, but since we prefer airline credit cards, wouldn’t you think Chase would assume we want miles or points instead of cash? If I just wanted a cash rewards card, I’d just do that. I’m sure I’m reading too much into all this, but it will be interesting to see how we earn this bonus. Of course, it takes 6 to 8 weeks because, well, it’s 2025.

My conclusion on this is if they want to pay us 4% cash back instead of the typical 5x points, does that mean Southwest points are worth less than 1 cent each? My reasoning is that if this were 5x points, I’d earn 5,000 points, not $40 for the same $1,000 spend on this card.

If my math is correct, 5,000 points at $40 is about .008 per point.

Next time, Chase, just give me points, it’s a game, not real life, to me in this space. I’m trying to earn a vacation here, not $40.

I’d even add that if I had $40 in Southwest points, which we now know is 5,000 points, I’d be spending them only on Southwest, so the cost for them to provide that 5,000 worth of service would likely be worth less and give them more profit. I suppose Chase doesn’t see it that way.

Are the Changes to Citi AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard a game changer?

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I have a couple of small businesses and like all good churners I have a few business credit cards for those purposes. This includes the Citibank American Airlines Work Elite Mastercard. It’s always been an OK card with decent earn rates towards American Airlines AAdvantage miles and the sign-up bonus was good. It’s good for small businesses where you can add and manage additional cardholders. To me, it was about like their other personal platinum-flavored cards. It usually offers a SUB of around 70,000’ish miles and a low annual fee. Earns 2x on some things like telecommunications and 2x on gas as long as you only want 1x loyalty points for that with the other 1x being “bonus” miles only. Yawn.

This card is not to be confused with the Barclay Aviator Business card but yet it’s about the same.

So why are we talking about this card now and how could it be a game changer for a few select people chasing status or benefits?

They are changing this card and how it’s going to reward you.

Citibank just released changes to this card as follows:

Enjoy your new, exclusive AAdvantage Business™ membership benefits as a Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ cardmember, now available to you and your Authorized Users.

 
 What’s new 
 
 • We’ve updated our name to Citi®/ AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® to better reflect the new value of your added benefits with the AAdvantage Business™ program. You will not be immediately reissued a new card with this change. 
 
 • With your AAdvantage Business™ membership, miles your company earns from eligible purchases made with the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ card will now accrue to your AAdvantage Business™ account. They can be distributed to any registered employee at no cost, for use on flights, upgrades, car rentals and more. 
 
 • Each registered cardmember, the Primary and any Authorized Users, earns Loyalty Points toward status from eligible purchases made with the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ card in their name. 
 
 
 • As a Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ cardmember, your company enjoys waived program requirements. Your miles are always available for you to use, no need to meet the $5,000 spend and 5 traveler minimums. 
 
 Same great benefits 
 
 • Continue to earn 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, 2X miles at telecommunications merchants and cable and satellite providers, and 2X miles on car rental merchants and at gas stations 
 
 • Earn 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases made with your Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ card. 
 
 • As the Primary Cardmember, you’ll continue to enjoy your first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries, plus preferred boarding on American Airlines flights. 
 
 If you haven’t already, invite your Authorized Users and employees to register with your AAdvantage Business™ account and start earning miles for your business right away. Authorized Users must register to participate in the AAdvantage Business™ program, or their card account may be closed. Visit the travel management portal to get started.

So what? Well, look at the fine print. “In Theory” it seems that your employees (or other additional cardholders in 2-player mode) will earn 1x loyalty points on purchases but as the “business owner,” you will also earn 1x loyalty points on those purchases. While higher-level cards may earn high-level spending bonuses this is pretty sweet but not unusual.

But…Imagine if you will, you have a small business and you have your wife, your college student child, and your deadbeat cousin, and some actual, good employees all spending on this card. It “seems” like “In Theory” that all that cash flow going through those employee cards you would earn extra loyalty points plus business points for what they are doing daily like buying gas. Imagine you have a thriving small business where you have 10 or 20 employees doing this. Citi includes a graphic on this as well to prove my point.

Here it is again from their FAQ:

“Miles earned from the Primary Cardmember and Authorized Users post to the company’s AAdvantage Business™ account. Each card member (Primary and employee) earns Loyalty Points on their card purchases. Loyalty Points earned by the Primary Cardmember post to the Primary’s AAdvantage® account. Loyalty Points earned by the employee post to the employee’s AAdvantage® account.”

Now, maybe it’s not the big of a deal as a standard additional cardholder on your personal account would also contribute to your loyalty points but this allows you to have many employees contribute from the way I read this.

If you are looking to sign up and get the best sign-up bonus for such a card I’d suggest checking out the Frequent Miler blog’s “Best Offers” page as a good place to start your research.

Amazon Locker Mapper

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It’s Christmas Day 2023. Merry Christmas and I hope you find peace while celebrating the birth of Jesus. I was up early browsing the internet and thinking about a couple items I may need soon from Amazon. I live in a rural area so Amazon Lockers aren’t very common but I found out recently that there is one at a Circle K just 7 miles from my home. But it’s the only location showing because Amazon only lists locations within a few miles or the nearest 20 or so in a big city. I stumbled upon a Redditor who made a mapper of all their locations. Not sure it stays up to date but for now it’s not bad. Enjoy https://lockermap.com/

Airline Phone Number Quick Reference Chart

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Here is a handy chart of many of the airline phone numbers. Some may be inaccurate as they change from time to time but could be a handy list to keep in your IROPS file.

Aer Lingus 800-223-6537
Aero California 800-237-6225
Aeroflot 888-340-6400
Aerolineas Argentinas 800-333-0276
Aeromexico 800-237-6639
Aeropostal 888-912-8466
Air Aruba 800-882-7822
Air Aurora 800-443-0478
Air Botswana 800-518-7781
Air Calin 800-677-4277
Air Canada 888-247-2262
Air China 800-982-8802
Air Europa 888-238-7672
Air Fiji 877-air-fiji
Air France 800-237-2747
Air India 800-223-7776
Air Jamaica 800-523-5585
Air Madagascar 800-821-3388
Air Malta 800-756-2582
Air Mauritius 800-537-1182
Air Namibia 800-626-4242
Air New Zealand 800-262-1234
Air North Airlines 800-764-0407
Air Pacific 800-227-4446
Air Portugal 800-221-7370
Air Sunshine 800-327-8900
Air Tahiti Nui 877-824-4846
Air Transat 800-388-5836
Air Vanuatu 800-677-4277
Air Vegas 800-255-7474
Air Zimbabwe 800-742-3006
Alaska Airlines 800-426-0333
Alitalia 800-223-5730
All Nippon Airways 800-235-9262
Allegiant Air 888-594-6937
Aloha Air 800-367-5250
Ambassadair 800-225-9919
American Airlines 800-433-7300
American Trans Air 800-225-2995
Amerijet International Inc. 800-927-6059
Asiana Airlines 800-227-4262
Atkin Air 800-924-2471
Atlantic Airlines 800-879-0000
Atlas Air 800-462-2012
Austrian Airlines 800-843-0002
AviaCSA 888-528-4227
Avianca 800-284-2622
Avioimpex – Interimpex 800-713-2622
Bahamas Air 800-222-4262
Balair/CTA 800-322-5247
Baltic Intl Airlines 800-548-8181
Bangkok Airways 866-226-4565
Bemidji Airlines 800-332-7133
Big Sky Airlines 800-237-7788
Bouraq Indonesia Airlines
British Airways 800-247-9297
British Midland 800-788-0555
BWIA International 800-538-2942
CanJet Airlines 800-809-7777
Cape Air 800-352-0714
Caribbean Star Airlines 866-864-6272
Cathay Pacific Airways 800-233-2742
Cayman Airways 800-441-3003
Century Airlines 800-541-0410
Chalk’s Ocean Airways 800-4-CHALKS
China Airlines 800-227-5118
China Eastern Airlines 800-200-5118
China Southern 888-338-8988
Colgan Air 800-428-4322
Comair 800-354-9822
Condor 800-524-6975
Continental Airlines 800-525-0280
Copa Airlines 800-359-2672
Corporate Express Airlines 800-661-8151
Corsair 800-677-0720
Croatia Airlines 888-462-7628
Czech Airlines (east coast) 800-223-2365
Czech Airlines (west,mw) 800-628-6107
Delta Air Lines 800-221-1212
DHL WorldWide Express 800-225-5345
Dragon Air 800-842-9911
Dutch Caribbean Airlines 800-327-7230
East Coast Flight Services 800-554-0550
Egyptair 800-334-6787
El Al Israel Airlines 800-223-6700
Emery Worldwide 800-367-3592
Emirates Air 800-777-3999
Ethiopian Airlines 800-445-2733
Estonian Air 800-397-1354
EVA Airways 800-695-1188
Evergreen International 800-345-5556
Fine Airlines 800-923-9222
Finnair 800-950-5000
First Air 800-267-1247
Florida Coastal Airlines 888-435-9322
Frontier Airlines 800-432-1359
Garuda Indonesia 800-342-7832
Ghana Airways 800-404-4262
Grand Aire Express 800-70-GRAND
Great Lakes Airlines 800-554-5111
Great Plains Airlines 866-929-8646
Gulf Air 888-359-4853
Gulfstream Intl Airlines 800-992-8532
Hapag-Lloyd Express
Hawaiian Airlines 800-367-5320
Hooters Air 888-359-4668
Horizon Air 800-547-9308
Iberia 800-772-4642
Icelandair 800-223-5500
Independence Air 800-359-3594
Interstate Jet 877-359-4538
Island Air 800-323-3345
Japan Airlines 800-525-3663
Jet Airways (India) 866-835-9538
JetBlue Airways 800-538-2583
Jet Express 800-806-8833
JetsGo Airlines 866-440-0441
Kenmore Air 800-543-9595
Kenya Airways 866-536-9224
KLM 800-374-7747
Korean Air 800-438-5000
Kuwait Airways 800-458-9248
Lacsa Costa Rica 800-225-2272
LanChile Airlines 800-735-5526
Lauda Airlines 800-588-8399
Leading Edge Air Logistics 800-552-5323
Lithuanian Airlines 877-454-8482
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano 800-327-3098
LOT Polish Airlines 212-789-0970
LTU International 866-266-5588
Lufthansa 800-645-3880
Lynx Air International 888-LYNX-AIR
Malaysia Airlines 800-552-9264
Malev Hungarian 800-223-6884
Martinair Holland 800-627-8462
Mesa Airlines 800-637-2247
Mesaba Airlines 800-225-2525
Mexicana 800-531-7921
Midway Airlines 800-446-4392
Midwest Airlines 800-452-2022
Miles Above 800-469-6453
Mongolian Airlines 800-642-8768
Nantucket Airlines 800-635-8787
Nature Air 800-235-9272
New England Airlines 800-243-2460
North Vancouver Air 800-228-6608
Olympic Airways 800-223-1226
Pacific Coastal Airlines 800-663-2872
Pakistan Intl Airline 800-221-2552
Pan Am 800-359-7262
Pelita Air Service
Penair 800-448-4226
Philippine Airlines 800-435-9725
Polynesian Airlines 800-644-7659
Qantas Airways 800-227-4500
Rover Airways Intl 800-828-4668
Royal Air Maroc 800-344-6726
Royal Jordanian Airlines 800-223-0470
Royal Nepal 800-266-3725
Royal Tongan Airlines 800-486-6426
Ryanair.com +3 531 582 5932
Ryan International Airlines 800-727-0457
SAS Scandinavian Airlines 800-221-2350
Saudia Arabian Airlines 800-472-8342
Scenic Airlines 800-634-6801
Shuttle America 888-999-3273
Singapore Airlines 800-742-3333
SN Brussels Airlines
Sol Air 866-476-5247
Solomon Airlines 800-677-4277
Song Delta Air 800-359-7664
South African 800-722-9675
Southeast Airlines 800-359-7325
Southwest Airlines 800-435-9792
Spanair 888-545-5757
Spirit Airline 800-772-7117
SriLankan 877-915-2652
Sun Country Airlines 800-752-1218
Sunflower Airlines, Fiji 800-707-3454
Suriname Airways 800-327-6864
SWISS 877-359-7947
TACA Airlines 800-535-8780
TAM – Brazilian Airlines 888-235-9826
TAP Air Portugal 800-221-7370
Ted Airlines 800-225-5833
Thai Air 800-426-5204
Transbrasil 800-872-3153
TransMeridian Airlines 866-435-9862
Trans International Express 888-244-8922
Tropic Air 800-422-3435
Turkish Airlines 800-874-8875
Ukraine Intl Airlines 800-876-0114
United Airlines 800-241-6522
USAir Shuttle 800-428-4322
USA 3000 Airlines 877-872-3000
Varig 800-468-2744
Vasp Brazilian Airlines 866-776-3869
Virgin Atlantic 800-862-8621
WestJet Airlines 800-538-5696
World Airways 800-967-5350
Yemen Airways 800-936-8300

Enter to Win a $10,000Vacation Giveaway

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Enter to Win a $10,000
Vacation Giveaway

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Click here to enter-> Dream Vacation Contest.

We are affiliated with the company giving away this contest but may not receive any profit from this directly. This is one of our preferred vendors.

Why Amex Platinum Fine Hotels and Resorts Benefit is worthless to me.

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So I found myself at 7pm on 12-31-22, once again trying to figure out a way to use the American Express Personal Platinum card Fine Hotel and Resorts $200 annual credit. For those living under a rock, this benefit is supposed to be a way to claw back some of the overpriced annual fee. It is basically as useful as most hotel discount rates. I’d compare it to the IHG Ambassador free weekend night benefit but less useful due to the limited locations for the average person.

So I sound really negative but here is why. If you look at the entire list of FHR or Hotel Collection locations there are entire states and major cities without a single location. The Proud Money blog has a nice list for example. Sure California, New York, and Florida all do pretty well but 1 location in Indiana and none in Kansas are just a few examples of holes in this program. This doesn’t even mention locations all over the world that either lack any locations or only have a few (which are all super expensive of course).

Ok so I’m mad I couldn’t figure out how to use this again for the 2nd year in a row and 2023 isn’t looking promising. Maybe I’m just bitter so I’ll give you an example of why this program isn’t worth anything to me.

This is a summary from the Amex website that makes this sound awesome. I’ll overlook the fact that it’s now 2023 and Wi-Fi, like Color TV, should be included at all hotels for free anyway. In some odd way, Amex is promising “strong coffee” but I assume that comes at a price.

Amex promises extra benefits on FHR 1-night prepaid stays or Hotel Collection 2-night stays in addition to the $200 rebate. You can book it far in advance and get the benefit once per calendar year so you could book your 2022 benefit into 2023 and then use the 2023 credit as well. This all sounds good but unless you are already planning to pay for a stay at one of these higher-end properties it might not be your best rate, by far.

So one potential location that would have worked for me is an upcoming trip to Israel that I’m considering so I checked Israel. I was in luck as there are several properties there that could work. Let’s compare the rate for one.

A web search finds the IHG Intercontinental Tel Aviv for $314 per night on Google Maps. Now, this isn’t 100% fair since the $314 is a prepaid 3rd party OTA site and doesn’t include taxes most likely but even the IHG website has it for less than about $350 a night for most nights. But let’s look at the Amex website. Keep in mind that as an IHG member with just about any status at all you will earn bonus IHG points., late check-out, etc. so this offsets any Amex 5x benefits except for the food credit which is usually around $100 if you want to eat at the hotel while in Tel Aviv.

$415 seems high compared to the $314 on Google? Weird that this is around a $100 difference, huh… Now I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that not all FHR properties are like this. I have found a few that are about the same but at the end of the day, you still aren’t getting the best rate. No such thing as a free lunch as they say.

For this hotel, I could also use around 60,000 IHG points for a free night which I could likely buy at around .5 cents per point or less so about $300. Since I’m an IHG Ambassador status person I’ll likely skip the Amex benefit but this is just one example of many that I’ve found.

I’ve been able to use the $200 airline credit at less than $200 in value for misc junk like miles and such. I’ve also made good use of the Saks $50 credit but I bought stuff I really didn’t need at a store I don’t love, at prices that are much too high so I don’t value that at $100 per year. I think I’m going to have to downgrade my Platinum card for 2023 back to Gold so I at least get 4x at restaurants.

Bottom line: Are there some deals and value to be found with this benefit? Sure, but not for most people, and certainly not for me. When combined with the higher fees and the new 2023 limits on Centurion Lounge access the Amex Platinum card is no longer worth it to me.