Amex renamed its hotel credit. Airbnb is in it, and the one-night stay is out.
On October 22, Amex opened the Platinum card's $600 hotel credit to Airbnb Luxe villas, and from January 1 a one-night stay at a Fine Hotels + Resorts property no longer earns it
On October 22, Amex opened the Platinum card's $600 hotel credit to Airbnb Luxe villas, and from January 1 a one-night stay at a Fine Hotels + Resorts property no longer earns it
by Markus Busch
Driving the news. On October 22, Airbnb became the exclusive vacation rental partner of American Express Travel, putting more than a million listings into a new Homes tab on AmexTravel.com and the Amex Travel app. The part that touches hotels came the same day, in the fine print of the Platinum card.
The card's hotel credit is now called a Lodging Credit. Amex's published terms list a new kind of stay it pays for: prepaid Airbnb Luxe bookings, made through Amex Travel.
How the credit works. Holders of the US Platinum and Business Platinum cards get up to $300 back in the first half of the year and up to $300 in the second. The stay has to be prepaid and booked through Amex Travel. Until October 22, it had to be one of two places: a hotel in Fine Hotels + Resorts, or one in The Hotel Collection.
The Hotel Collection already asked for two nights. Fine Hotels + Resorts asked for one. A single night at an FHR hotel was the shortest stay that used the credit.
What changes January 1. From that date, an FHR stay needs two consecutive nights to qualify, according to Amex's terms and The Points Guy, which reported the change on October 22. A one-night guest still gets the FHR perks: the breakfast, the late check-out, the upgrade when one is free. She just can't put the credit toward the room.
Who else is in the credit now. Airbnb Luxe is Airbnb's top tier of luxury homes and villas, and it carries the same two-night minimum. Amex gave it more than eligibility. Platinum holders earn five points per dollar on prepaid Airbnb stays booked through Amex Travel, Luxe or not. A prepaid Luxe booking also unlocks a separate credit of up to $250 a year for Airbnb Experiences, the tours and classes Airbnb sells.
So the $300 that used to have only hotels to choose from now has a villa beside them, and the villa comes with a second credit attached.
The catch. Airbnb Luxe is a small, expensive slice of Airbnb, not the million listings in the Homes tab. The credit sits on US cards only. And the terms don't spell out whether a one-night FHR stay booked in December for a night in February falls under the old rule or the new one.
What it means for hotels. If your hotel is in Fine Hotels + Resorts, pull your Amex Travel bookings for the last year and count the one-night stays. That number is the most the January rule can reach. For those guests, the credit now needs a second night. That second night is what you are selling them.
Read also: Your luxury guest's shortlist is curated by her card company
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