FHR Pay on Departure – Amex needed?

[Tom279]

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere.

If I book a FHR hotel through Amex Plat and pay on departure, must I use my Amex Plat to pay or can I utilise another card to boost loyalty points etc?

Many thanks
Tom

[Rob]

The rule is ‘any Amex card in your name’.

There is a 50/50 chance that if you try to pay on another non-Amex card you will get away with it. It is more likely that the hotel insists on an Amex at check-in for extras but you may be able to swap this at check-out if the clerk doesn’t notice its FHR.

[Tom279]

Thanks Rob – much appreciated. I was also thinking it would save me the 2.99% forex fee when in the US later this year.

[QwertyKnowsBest]

Two out of two bookings this year insisted on Amex card at checkout. One even checked the card numbers matched the booking.

[Rob]

Hotel I am currently in would not accept my wife’s Amex for incidentals at check-in (room was prepaid to burn my £200 Bus Plat credit).

Interesting situation here. Was told at check-in that I couldn’t have 4pm check-out due to full house tonight but I could have 2pm and a free 2-course lunch x 4 people.

Now, they didn’t know that we need to be on the road by 3pm at the very latest so this was a win for us. It is against the Amex rules though and wasn’t offered to us as a choice.

[KevinC]

I’ve definitely had to use my Amex Plat on check-out for FHR bookings. I get the impression Amex keep quite a keen eye on FHR.