AmEx Fine Hotels and Resorts, Down Under.

Check out the pricing breakdown of our upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand!

I applied for the infamous American Express Platinum card early last year for just one reason: a 150K Membership Rewards Welcome Offer that was the highest I’d seen up to that point, although the minimum spend was intimidating. Not to mention the $695 annual fee before any authorized users.  I planned to ditch or downgrade the Platinum after a year because I was sure all the credits and benefits wouldn’t be worth that high AF, which is high AF. 

In my middle age, you’d think I was accustomed to being wrong, but you’d be wrong.

One of the first “benefits” I eschewed as worthless and unusable was the annual $200 Fine Hotels and Resorts credit. I initially misread the Terms and Conditions as requiring a minimum stay of 2 nights to claim that statement credit, but that’s only with The Hotel Collection, NOT Fine Hotels and Resorts. It pays to read twice and not be dumb like me. Pro Tip from a non-Pro: Ignore the Hotel Collection from American Express—it will leave you with nothing but confusion and regret.  

I wasn’t interested in this 2-night minimum stay (which, again, I was wrong about), so after a few searches to see what was out there and not finding anything less than $400 a night, I  cursed this benefit and mentally moved on to how best utilize the airline credit.

Fast forwarding to the end of the year, I needed a place for a two-night stop in Edinburgh and, not finding anything good via my regular routounes, decided to check FHR.  I found the Kimpton Charlotte Square for a total of $575.60 for two nights, which is normally WAY over what I’d consider paying outside of an emergency or special occasion (such as an emergency).  But I pulled the trigger, having never stayed at a pet-friendly Kimpton before, wanting to experience the FHR benefits, and having been bewitched by the allure of a new country for me.  Hey, it happens to the best of us.  The location was excellent, and near the Christmas Markets.  And I could live with a nightly rate of around $188 after the $200 credit.  And that’s enough run-on sentences with poor structure.

We almost spent our first Scottish night unhoused, but everything ended up okay, with a beautiful room and really good food and beverage options. A florist checked the orchids in our room. What she was checking for, I don't know, but it felt superfluous and fancy. The on-site restaurant BaBa was where we spent our credit. Our server, McKinley, corrected me on American geography. I was proud to spread American ignorance around the globe, but he was nice and courteous and, of course, told us we were ordering too much.  Wish I could have had a beer with him, but the feeling was probably not mutual.  

Not long after that trip, I snagged United Polaris seats to Brisbane on a typical seats.aero search one night, as one does, and found two more Polaris seats from Auckland, both departing and arriving SFO.  With shaky fingers, I booked those through Aeroplan ASAP (all on my iPhone - take that Gen Z or X or whoever is now younger than me). I figured I’d worry about hotels and positioning flights later, assuming the trip actually ticketed for that price and came together.  Oh, the price was 75,000 points each way per person, so 300,000 total roundtrip, for two in Polaris.   I used mostly AmEx Membership Rewards points, with some C1 points thrown in for balance (I’m saving Chase points for Hyatt). Player 2 seemed nonchalant with this unicorn, but she'll soon see...

I’m now focusing on my hotel options: one night in Brisbane, four nights in Sydney, and three nights in Auckland.  I can redeem three Marriott Free Night Certificates for up to 65K per night to play with, and I need to use them before November.

Brisbane is easy.  I have a few cheap, refundable Marriotts booked with cash in the city center.  I’ll decide which one we want a few days before we leave, but it’s only for one night.  I’m Lifetime Platinum with Marriott Bonvoy (thanks SPG and former corporate job!), and early check-in and late check-out will be clutch in this situation since time will be a flat circle for us at that point.  

Now, the funner part!  Marriotts are expensive in Sydney, and I’m using two of my Marriott certs for the Sheraton Grand Hyde Park.  I’ll leverage my status for early check-in, late check-out, club access, free breakfast, and a probable room upgrade.  I know everyone likes to crap all over Marriott Bonvoy, but I’ve had an overall positive experience with them, mostly on others’ dime.  

To my surprise, AmEx FHR was priced very competitively per night for high-end properties, even before considering any credits. For context, most Marriotts were similiarly priced. I’d go back and slap the 25-year-old me who would have stayed at the $330 W Sydney over the Four Seasons, which I’m ashamed to admit I would have done.  But I digress, check these prices out, converted to USD.

Intercontinental Sydney - $259.49

Four Seasons Sydney - $262.78

Cordis Auckland - $118.68(!)

Park Hyatt Auckland - $264.19

Sofitel Auckland Viaduct Harbor - $231.99

That’s a total of $1,137.13 for five nights at some fantastic properties, for an average of $227.43 per night.  I might consider ponying up the cash on a special trip like this, considering the steal we got to get there.  However, the math is on my side once we consider the credits and benefits of booking through Fine Hotels and Resorts.

First, the annual $200 statement credit reprices the total to $937.13, or $187.43 per night.  You can only use this credit once per calendar year.

Secondly, each booking comes with a $100 USD property credit. Although each property can have different usage requirements for this credit, it’s almost always safe to say you can use it on food and beverages (usually spa treatments, too, but I don’t like people touching me). So now we’re talking $87.43 a night.

But wait, there’s more!

Breakfast is also included as an added benefit with these rates. These breakfasts are supposedly no joke.  From some Googling, I found that the breakfast spreads are top-notch, which excites me, and I’m not a breakfast person. According to their websites, these are the USD rates for breakfast per person, adjusted to USD on a random day in May 2024.

Intercontinental Sydney - $33pp

Four Seasons Sydney - $40pp

Cordis Auckland - $29pp

Park Hyatt Auckland - $24pp

Sofitel Auckland Viaduct Harbor - $29pp

That’s a total of $310 in breakfast credits for two, which averages to a $62 discount per night, leaving us with a rate of $25.43 a night.

Not done yet.

Remember that initial $937.13?  I’m earning Membership Rewards points for that spend at a rate of 5X per dollar, which gives me a 4,686 point boost, worth about $93.72, if you value those at $.02 per point, which I do because that’s what The Points Guy says.

That averages out to a nightly discount of another $18.74, leaving us with a whopping $6.69 nightly rate for a Four Seasons.  And a Park Hyatt.  And OMG.

I can lower this number even more. Your mileage will vary, so I don’t want to count this officially, but most people can also get credit through their hotel loyalty programs, which is kind of rare in the portal world. When booking through the American Express Travel Portal, there’s a field to provide your loyalty number. I earned points and credit for my Kimpton nights in Edinburgh, and the Park Hyatt Auckland reservation popped up in my World of Hyatt app shortly after booking.  I also didn’t figure early check-in, late check-out, or a possible room upgrade into these calculations, which would further move the needle closer to, or past, zero.  I think I can wring even more out of this itinerary, so stay tuned.

YEAH, BUT…

So, is this a real-world scenario?  YES, I’m doing it next month!  However, there are some “quirks” that normal travelers might balk at.  

1. It’s off-peak in Oceania.  Don’t expect those rates when the cruise ships are in port.  Same for the airfare deal I got, although I think United had a cheaper firesale, or mistake fare, around the same time last year for 60,000 points.  I would not have done that because my Chase points are for Hyatt only now.  At one time, I wasn’t so wise.

2. You need to hotel hop for the best value.  The $100 property credit is per stay, not per night, so the longer you stay, the less value you get from this particular benefit.  These hotels are close to one another, and we’re not dealing with cobblestone-lined European village streets, so I think it’ll be fine, but there’s no complete unpacking when traveling in this manner.  I love it, but it can drive sane people crazy.  I’ve also been loading up on Uber gift cards from Staples through our AmEx Business Gold credits, so transfers shouldn’t be a problem this trip (looking at you, Europe).

3. The numbers assume you’re using exactly $100 of that credit, which is tough to do and annoying to track, especially with the currency conversions.  A perfect $100 won’t happen, so count on some breakage. 

4. You must prepay to earn 5X points on these bookings. I don’t mind this, as it spreads the cost out over a longer timeframe. Take note that while these are prepaid, most are still refundable until close to check-in. In fact, I’ve canceled and rebooked these properties a few times when prices dropped and switched the dates around to maximize value—again, something a Normie probably wouldn’t do.

5. This card has a $695 annual fee, and each authorized user will cost $195. That’s probably a non-starter for 95% of the population for good reason, no matter the SUB and credits, which is high AF, I’ll remind you.

I’m not a mather, so please, anyone, check my math and tell me what I’m missing. $6.69 can’t be right, right?

In any case, I can’t wait to try these new-to-me properties.  It’ll mark my first Four Seasons, Cordis, and Park Hyatt. 

Speaking of Park Hyatt, before you ask, I'm not a Globalist, so I couldn't justify burning Chase points for no real benefits. I'll get it next time I'm in the neighborhood, though.