They do charge a ticket booking fee, I think that s been brought up here before, and it s about $6.0

Yesterday I posted about British Airways 3-day business class fare sale and I got a bunch of Tweets and emails about whether the fare would qualify for the American Express Platinum Companion Ticket benefit. Unfortunately, the answer is no, but it made me want to dig deeper into this benefit since I am a Platinum cardholder and have never taken advantage of this feature.
There is no limit to the number of Companion Tickets cardholders are eligible for through the program, and there are no blackout dates —if you can buy a ticket on an eligible flight and there is space, you can get a Companion Ticket. The big caveat is that only refundable tickets are eligible for Companion Tickets . Generally refundable tickets are the most expensive out there, but this could still be an okay deal in certain situations depending on the ticket you purchase. International Business and First class tickets are among the most expensive out there, so getting a second ticket for free—even with taxes and fuel surcharges—can equate to a lot of value. Still, after pricing out a few options, this perk isn t for the light of wallet.
In order to score a Companion Ticket, comfort inns and suites you must book through Amex’s Platinum Travel Service by calling 1-800-443-7672 or 1-800-525-3355 . You cannot earn a companion ticket by booking anywhere else and remember they can only quote you refundable ticket prices if you are going for the Companion Ticket.
In addition, the companion must be flying on the exact same itinerary as the cardholder. If your travel plans change—either comfort inns and suites the cardholder or the companion—the ticket must be canceled, refunded and rebooked.
Not all routes and tickets qualify, and the only way to find out whether your prospective comfort inns and suites trip does is to call the PTS line and run it past them, or to parse out this route map . All flights must originate either in the US or from one of seven Canadian gateways (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax).
So for instance, when I clicked on Auckland, New Zealand, I found out that I could fly from Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco comfort inns and suites or Vancouver on Air New Zealand Business Class; from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu or Vancouver on China Airlines in First or Business; or Emirates from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, or Dallas in First or Business Class.
comfort inns and suites Just taking that example, a roundtrip business class itinerary on Air New Zealand from San Francisco in May is going for around $5,548 plus $89 in taxes on the Air New Zealand site for a refundable ticket (minus a $500 cancellation fee). So for two people to fly this itinerary would be $11,274. When I called the PTS line, they found a refundable fare of $9,265 plus $788 in taxes for a total of $10,053. If I were to add on a companion, I d just have to pay the taxes of $788, and my new total would be $10,841. So it would be cheaper, but only by about $430.
To test out another example, I priced out a business class ticket from JFK-London Heathrow on British Airways at $3,877 plus $1,096 in taxes on BA.com. PTS quoted me the same in taxes and $8,318 for a refundable fare. So in this case, two travelers booking on BA.com would pay $9,946 while an Amex Platinum cardholder would get their business class ticket and a companion fare for $10,510. More than booking two separate tickets! That s because comfort inns and suites the Amex tickets are refundable, but still hardly a bargain. Where this might make sense is getting a first class ticket for $10,331 comfort inns and suites plus $1,096 in taxes plus a second first class ticket for just the $1,096, bringing your total to $12,523. The best price I could find on BA.com was actually the same, so if you were able to pay the full price for a first class ticket, you d just be paying the $1,096 in taxes and essentially saving over $10,000.
For a third and final example, Emirates flies direct from DFW-Dubai, so I thought I d price out that flight since I d like to try out the airline myself. On the Emirates website, I found a business class ticket for $8,390 plus $80 in taxes so two tickets would be $16,940. A first class ticket for $14,944 plus $80 in taxes, so two would be $30,048. Amex priced out a business class ticket for $13,909 plus $1,109 in taxes for a total of $15,018 almost $2,00 in savings. The first class ticket according to Amex would be $20,782 plus $1,109 in taxes for a total of $21,891. With a companion comfort inns and suites ticket (so just taxes) that total would $23,000 over $7,000 in savings.
Obviously this kind of spending and these amounts of money aren’t for everyone, but if you do have a splurge coming up or your work is sending you somewhere on a full-fare refundable ticket, this is a great way to cut your expenses down by a fair amount. And it seems like the higher the ticket price, the more the savings. comfort inns and suites So fingers crossed for Emirates first class!
Just remember, the “free” companion tickets are also subject to taxes and fees ranging from $50-$500, a September 11 security fee of up to $10, as well as airline fuel surcharges . So you could be looking at $1,300 in fees if you pick the most tax and surcharge-heavy ticket out there like BA flights through London.
Also as a reminder, here is a list of the 23 participating airline partners: Aer Lingus, AeroMexico, Air Canada, Air France, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, Asiana Airlines, comfort inns and suites Austrian, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Jet Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, LAN, Lufthansa, comfort inns and suites Scandinavian Airlines, South African Airways, comfort inns and suites Swiss International Air Lines, comfort inns and suites Virgin Atlantic.
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The only time it made sense for me was when I went from Newark to Montego Bay, Jamaica on United (when they were part of MR). I think shorter haul international like the Caribbean is where it could make sense.
comfort inns and suites Used to use this benefit back in the day when there really were not discounted business or first class fares. My question is that Amex is supposedly offering the free companion ticket comfort inns and suites on lower fares (fares other than the pricey refundable fares). See below text and link. Know anything comfort inns and suites about this?
Hey points guy, does AMEX travel charge to book online? I couldn t get a straight answer from them recently. I booked 3 awards tickets on Continental (I still love them), and bought 2 tickets via AMEX travel using Membership Awards.
It is expensive but useful when traveling for work where I can take my wife along with me. It would still technically be my ticket, which my company is paying for, but it would be for two not one. The other way it is useful, I presume, is when u have your own business and you can take a tax break on the ticket if your wife isn t covered.
a bit off the subject: I got 7 United Gift Certificates thru 2@$200 credit on Amex Platinum airline incidentals. anybody can share the experience if the tax and fees on award tickets can be paid with GC s
They do charge a ticket booking fee, I think that s been brought comfort inns and suites up here before, and it s about $6.00 this means you re buying the extra 1X points for $6.00 As such you shouldn t book through Amex Travel unless your tickets cost more than say ~$600 a piece (meaning you re buying Amex MR for $0.01/ea).
I have not used it yet but the best options currently exist on NZ and AC! For example I was pricing LAX to Cook Islands (Raratonga) N/S on NZ, First Class running comfort inns and suites ~$2000/ticket which makes it only $1000pp. comfort inns and suites Now, the key reason NZ and AC have better options is that they have fewer first class fare buckets
Come on! are you SERIOUS point guy! Please Please come up with a more a more clever or useful way of getting your ( deserved) platinum card referral bonus from Amex.. Are you really comfort inns and suites peddling the platinum card s companion ticket feature to your readers on fares north of 10K. Really? What percent of your readership do you think have ever purchased a ticket for 10K in their lifetime or is planning on doing so even if they have the resources to do this. Let s see The same readership that is concerned about the booking fee of $6 that amex charges for phone bookings and how this cost diminish their points accrual is actually going to pay 10K and more for plane fares? I don t think so. I am generally a fan of yours, but the premise of this article is ludicrous for 99% of your readership and it generates concerns and questions about your true intent .
+15 other comments in 1 day obviously some of us appreciate the post. I for one have AMX Platinum and like questions answered here that I d have to otherwise research the fine print. All blogs make their living based on ads and commissions I for one am happy to support those I follow. Next time, just skip it if doesn t apply to you.
I ve seen similar benefits on other cards, but usually when parsing the T C I read something like you must pay the J price for one fully refundable business class ticket and both passengers will be booked in to the Z fare bucket for discount business. This seems to remove some of the benefit of paying for a full-fare ticket since presumably they re no longer refundable. comfort inns and suites However, it also means that both passengers will earn miles for the flights because it s not an award bucket. Can you clarify if this is how the AmEx Plat benefit works?
You kind of missed the point- it wasn t saying this perk was great for everyone. In fact, the title says Is it worth it and if you read through, you ll realize its only good if you spend a huge amount on tickets.
I ve had a platinum card for years and tried this a few times. I don t have an employer paying the fare. It has NEVER seemed practical. Sure, if you were going to pay full fare for both, this might be a savings in some circumstances,