Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts Guide for 2025

Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts is a travel booking program for select American Express cardholders that provides exclusive benefits at luxury resorts worldwide. You can book these properties through American Express Travel and enjoy perks from a variety of hotel brands.

Depending on where and when you book a hotel in the program, you can earn additional savings through resort-specific special offers. This may include free night stays, food and beverage credits and discounted nightly rates.

American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts is worth it because you’ll get high-end benefits valued at around $550 per stay without holding elite status. This is a huge savings when stacked on top of rewards like 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel with The Platinum Card^® from American Express. Properties in the Fine Hotels + Resorts program range from large luxury hotels like the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego and independent hotels like The Lodge at Sea Island in St. Simons Island.

The downside is you have to book your stay through the American Express travel portal, where you won’t always get the best rate. If you’re a loyalty program member, you’ll also have to skip loyalty program points, and you may have to forgo your elite status benefits.

That said, many hotels offer additional perks — like a free night — which can help bring down the total cost of your stay. Plus, you can combine other card benefits, like a hotel credit of up to $200 each year on select prepaid hotel bookings through American Express Travel.

American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts is available if you have The Platinum Card^® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, The American Express Corporate Platinum Card® or the Centurion® Card from American Express.

The American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts program has six main benefits that apply per room for up to three rooms per stay. According to American Express, these benefits are worth a total of around $550.

When you book an American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts hotel through the American Express portal, you likely won’t be able to use hotel loyalty benefits or search for the lowest price, but the $550 value of these benefits will make up for it.

Experience credit

The $100 experience credit is one of the most valuable benefits offered with Fine Hotels + Resorts. The hotel chooses the form of credit that you will receive, and you’ll be able to see what type of credit you’ll get upon booking. A general property credit or food and beverage credit are the two most popular credits you’ll find, but credits can be unique to each property.

The credit may include:

• Food and beverage: Complimentary meal for two or a credit toward a dining experience
• Spa: Complimentary massage for two or credit toward a spa treatment
• Golf: Complimentary round of golf for two
• Private transfer: Complimentary private transfer to the airport
• Property credit: Choose how you want to use your credit at the property

Check-in as early as noon when available

This is one of two benefits that’s not guaranteed at each stay. You’ll need to verify if the hotel has availability to give you an early check-in.

Room upgrade upon arrival, when available

Room upgrades depend on availability upon check-in. American Express also notes that certain room categories are not eligible for a room upgrade.

Daily complimentary breakfast during your trip for two people

While the $100 experience credit often applies to dining, adding on a complimentary daily breakfast can heavily reduce your food and beverage spending on your trip. Breakfast is valued at a minimum of $60 per room per day and varies by location.

Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout

With a guaranteed 4 p.m. checkout, you’ll get almost an entire extra day at the hotel of your choice without having to pay for an extra night. This can also be helpful if your flight is later in the day or you want to take advantage of additional amenities before you leave.

Complimentary Wi-Fi

Although many hotels now include complimentary Wi-Fi, some hotels charge a mandatory property fee that includes Wi-Fi. If this is the case, you’ll get a daily credit for the amount of Wi-Fi applied at checkout.

Although Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts can offer incredible benefits and experiences, it’s not necessarily the best option for every trip.

Difficult to find the best rates

Unless a participating resort is running a special offer for discounted nights, it’s hard to come by savings on nightly rates through the program. However, the program’s credits can help you save.

Can't use hotel elite status perks

When you book through Fine Hotels and Resorts, your hotel loyalty status won’t get you extra perks. For example, if you book a Marriott hotel via Fine Hotels + Resorts and you’re a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member, you won’t be able to earn 50% more points on your stay through the program.

Fine Hotels + Resorts includes over 2,600 properties worldwide. Here are a few examples of qualifying hotels’ popular destinations:

Hotel	Special offer	Dates
Waldorf Astoria Chicago	25% off the nightly room rate on select rooms	Book by 3/30/25 for travel by 3/31/25
Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas	15% off the nightly room rate on select rooms	Book by 3/30/25 for travel by 3/31/25
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park	Complimentary third night	Book by 4/18/25 for travel by 4/21/25
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome	15% off the nightly room rate on select rooms	Book by 5/15/25 for travel by 5/16/25
Mandarin Oriental, Miami	Complimentary fourth night	Book by 5/27/25 for travel by 5/31/25
The Peninsula New York	Complimentary third night	Book by 8/21/25 for travel by 8/24/25
Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills	Complimentary fourth night	Book by 12/27/25 for travel by 12/31/25

1. Visit the Fine Hotels + Resorts home page and start browsing destinations.

   

2. Once you input your destination and dates, you can browse and compare all hotels available. You can also see Tripadvisor reviews to help you make your decision.

   

3. By clicking “Select” next to the hotel of your choice, you’ll be able to browse room types. Before you can select your room, you’ll be prompted to log in to your American Express account.

   

4. When you’re ready, you must book your stay using an eligible American Express card in order to receive FHR benefits. But you can ultimately pay for your stay using any American Express card that’s in your name. Also know that FHR benefits can be applied to up to three rooms per stay booked using your eligible card.

   

Elite-like benefits at boutique or non-chain hotels

Boutique or non-chain hotels don’t typically offer the option to get elite status or additional benefits. You may not usually choose a boutique hotel for this reason, but the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts program is a good solution for this. For example, the Surfrider Malibu is a boutique hotel that offers Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits.

Elite benefits at large hotel brands without the status

Without the Fine Hotels + Resorts program, you’ll need to reach elite status with a specific hotel brand to get the same benefits. For example, you would need to stay 50+ nights and reach Platinum Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy to get a 4 p.m. late checkout benefit.

If you’re loyal to a hotel brand, elite status may give you more hotel-specific benefits. But if you don’t stay at a specific hotel chain enough to hit elite status each year, the Fine Hotels + Resorts program is a good choice. In some instances, you can even use your elite status and Fine Hotels + Resorts together, though many hotels require you to book through their channels to use your elite status.

Extra savings on short stays

The experience credit is one of the most valuable benefits you can get with the Fine Hotels + Resorts program. The experience credit is at least $100 no matter how long you stay, so you can maximize this credit on shorter trips. For example, if you’re looking for a relaxing weekend getaway to the Baccarat Hotel New York, FHR will cover $150 in spa services as your experience. This is a huge savings for a one- or two-night stay. Plus, if you find a hotel offering a third or fourth night free, you can extend your short trip at no additional cost.

The Platinum Card^® from American Express also offers up to $200 in statement credits for eligible prepaid hotels through American Express Travel. This is another big way to reduce the cost of a shorter stay once a year.

Similar to Fine Hotels + Resorts, The Hotel Collection offers exclusive hotel perks to eligible American Express cardholders. The main difference is that The Hotel Collection is available with the American Express^® Gold Card and the American Express^® Business Gold Card — in addition to The Platinum Card^® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express.

Additionally, with The Hotel Collection, cardholders must book a minimum of a two-night stay to receive the benefits. The program also offers fewer benefits than Fine Hotels + Resorts:

Hotel Collection benefits	Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits
Room upgrade upon arrival, when available $100 credit toward food, beverage, spa or other on-property charges 12 p.m. check-in, when available Late checkout, when available	Room upgrade upon arrival, when available $100 experience credit unique to each property 12 p.m. check-in, when available Complimentary breakfast for two people Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout Complimentary Wi-Fi

The Fine Hotels + Resort program also has more hotels to choose from. The Hotel Collection has more than 1,000 hotels globally, while Fine Hotels + Resorts offers more than 2,600.