Fine Hotels & Resorts | worth $695 a year?

if you want more than a FHR continental breakfast...

There may be good reasons to spend $695 a year for an American Express Platinum Card. In fact, I have one myself. It gets me into Centurion and Delta airport lounges, provides a monthly Uber credit (that I use for Uber Eats), and pays my Sirius XM and CLEAR membership fees.

But what about booking hotels through FHR? You definitely have better choices than American Express when you want to book a luxury hotel. Here's why...

Looking for hotel advice? Don't look to the American Express call center for expertise. They're not set up to know you personally, understand your preferences, or steer you to the perfect hotel for you. Say you're going to Paris. Do you want to stay on the Left Bank, the Right Bank, or don't know the difference? Do you want a traditional Parisian palace hotel or an elegant contemporary hotel? Do you prefer a large hotel with dining choices? Or a cute boutique hotel? I've been to Paris dozens of times. I've visited the hotels, seen their locations, experienced their lobbies and viewed their rooms. I've shared that knowledge with my Team. We can listen to your Parisian dreams and make recommendations for your perfect stay in Paris. The random AMEX agent isn't set up to do any of that!

Want to get upgraded? American Express can offer upgrades upon arrival subject to availability. Because of Virtuoso and our exclusive relationships with luxury hotel partners, we can get you upgraded at booking at eight different Parisian hotels! Because we are Four Seasons Preferred Partner, your booking is at the top of the upgrade list at the George V (or any Four Seasons in the world), ahead of FHR and Virtuoso bookings.

Want more than a continental breakfast? American Express has a standard continental breakfast amenity ... but what if you want more than a croissant and a coffee? Would you like to order anything on the menu or enjoy the indulgent luxury of in-room dining? Many Virtuoso hotels offer daily complimentary Full Breakfasts. In fact, one of our hotel partners invites you to order anything you want on the menu (except alcohol and caviar), enjoy your breakfast in any venue (restaurant or in-room dining), and they even cover the tax and gratuity.

Want to be welcomed like a VIP? Once an American Express agent makes your booking, her job is done. But we've only begun to work our magic. We have invested many years getting to know hotel reps all around the world, and we personally reach out to our representatives every time we make a booking for you. We let them know you're coming, who's traveling with you, your special preferences, and your arrival time (if you've shared that information with us), and we personally ask for an upgrade.

Need a 4 p.m. late check-out? While this is FHR's contracted amenity with each of their hotels, if you really need that late check-out, we will reach out to our representative and ask if they would extend it to a Virtuoso or Preferred Partner booking. If they can not, we can still make your FHR booking for you through Amex ... and follow through to personally VIP your stay.

copyright (c) 2023 by Ourisman Travel LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member.

Ritz Rewards is launched

Ritz-Carlton has published the details of its Ritz Rewards program. Essentially modeled after Marriott Rewards, members receive ten points for every dollar spent at a Ritz-Carlton hotel or any Marriott property. Points can be used toward free nights at Ritz-Carlton properties or other partners such as luxury tour company Abercrombie & Kent or the Nieman Marcus department store. Free nights cost from 30,000 - 70,000 points, depending a hotel's "tier". Here's a sampling:

• Tier One (30K points) includes Atlanta and Dallas
• Tier Two (40K points) includes Amelia Island and Dove Mountain
• Tier Three (50K points) includes Georgetown and San Francisco
• Tier Four (60K points) includes Hotel Arts Barcelona
• Tier Five (70K points) includes Ritz-Carlton Central Park

Guests can also use 5,000 points towards a room upgrade.

Elite Level guests receive worthwhile value-added perks:


It's easy to sign up for Ritz Rewards - or simply convert your Marriott Rewards account and your points to the Ritz Rewards program (which is what I did). You can do it online.

Double up on perks by booking Ritz-Carlton through a Virtuoso and STARS travel consultant; you'll receive a complimentary breakfast for two daily, a complimentary room upgrade if available, late check-out, and other amenities that can include free internet or other valuable extras at any Ritz-Carlton in the world.


Ritz Rewards (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2010 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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travel agent = added value?

Why would anyone use a travel agent? It's certainly easy enough to book travel yourself. Airlines, hotels, cruise lines, Amtrak, and virtually every other travel provider in the world has a web site. You can look at pictures, read descriptions, check availability, and scout out the lowest possible price.

If your first priority is finding the least expensive way to visit a given destination, then I encourage you to research and book on the web. It is well suited for comparison shopping. That's what the internet is best at!

If, however, you have other priorities, engaging a travel consultant may be well worth the investment. When might you want to work through a travel agent?

(1) You want to explore a destination you've never been to before. Travel consultants are travelers like everyone else, and -- like everyone else -- there are areas of the world to which each of us feels a certain connection, places to which we return time and again. For instance, my areas of special expertise are Paris and Bora Bora.

Find a travel consultant who specializes in the destination you want to visit. She or he will know the hotels, know the attractions, and have dozens of tips to offer. You'll get the trip you dreamed about at the price you want to pay, a well-designed itinerary, and you'll avoid the hassle, time, and potential missteps of trying to do it all on your computer.

(2) You have special requests such as early check-ins, late check-outs, upgrades, and rooms with a great view. A good travel agent has developed contacts with the hotels you want to visit, and those contacts can often accommodate your special requests (often, but not always). Here are some examples of requests I have recently helped my clients obtain:

• a 9 p.m. late checkout from a hotel in Singapore
  
• a suite at a Paris hotel with a direct view of the Eiffel Tower
  
• upgrading a client at the time of booking from a regular room into a Villa
  
• complimentary reservations in a pool cabana
  
• a corner suite at a Hong Kong hotel with a confirmed view of the harbour

(3) You want luxury accommodations, but you want the best value for your dollar, pound, yen, or euro. Would you like to be able to enjoy breakfast via room service every morning at no extra cost? Would you like to be upgraded to the next room category, if there is a better room available when you check in? There are all sorts of complimentary amenities that hotels can offer including lunches and dinners, airport transfers, and spa treatments. These differ by property, but as the guest of a Virtuoso agent, you automatically receive those free perks.

Why would anyone use a travel agent? Because sometimes it helps to have someone with experience and connections on your side. And because, especially with luxury travel, the best values usually are not found on the internet.

If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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