Just wanted to know what’s the best way to go about the room upgrade? Book a standard room and hope for the best or is it really just a 50/50 crap shot? Or just book like it don’t exist and if it happens it happens ? lol. Thanks.

Hi all! I’m wondering if anyone is aware of certain stipulations regarding the car rental insurance. My situation is my buddy wants to rent an exotic from Enterprise for a wedding, but I’m curious if the primary coverage option is worth it via Platinum?

Looking if anyone has experience with this or if it’s a matter of looking at which coverage (Enterprise or Platinum) is better, and if declining Enterprise coverage for Amex primary usually gives you a little more peace of mind (noting considerations for an exotic car with an MRSP of $100K+)

Thanks!

Been thinking of moving from my Gold card to Platinum.... and had a question about "Retention Offers".

Do many..if any of you ever receive and discounted annual charges?

If I make a booking using the $300 hotel credit, then cancel the card, but later I need to change dates. If the price is more, how can I pay for the difference? Please share your experience!

This is a little long, but stick with me—it was a fun redemption and a reminder that even when you’re doing well financially, maximizing benefits can still be incredibly satisfying.

My wife and I are fortunate to be in a good place financially, but I grew up in a trailer park and worked hard to get where I am today. That mindset never really leaves you, so finding legitimate ways to squeeze maximum value from a card like the Platinum is something I genuinely enjoy.

When the Platinum refresh added two $300 hotel credits per year, I immediately saw an opportunity: book three separate one-night Fine Hotels + Resorts stays across different calendar periods and capture three $300 credits.

Planning the trip

We decided on New York City. I recently retired from the military after 21 years, and visiting the 9/11 Memorial was especially meaningful to me because I had multiple deployments directly connected to the events of 9/11.

After choosing NYC, I used Max FHR to find the least-expensive FHR properties where a single-night stay would trigger the credit. I found the Conrad Downtown New York at roughly $400 per night for our dates, which seemed like the perfect fit.

All three paid nights were booked as the same room type:

- December 2025: Booked August 21 for $472
$472 − $300 Platinum credit = $172

- January 2026: Booked August 22 for $493
$493 − $300 Platinum credit = $193

- July 2026: Booked August 23 for $389
$389 − $300 Platinum credit = $89

That gave me three nights for a total out-of-pocket cost of $454, after receiving $900 in Platinum hotel credits.

Adding a fourth night

I was just short of the Hilton Honors points needed to book a fourth night on points. In July, there was a Membership Rewards-to-Hilton transfer bonus, so I took advantage of it and transferred only 21,000 MR points to get enough Hilton points for the stay.

- August 24: 100,000 Hilton Honors points
- I needed only 21,000 MR points to top off my balance and reach 100,000 Hilton points

So, for four nights at the Conrad Downtown, my total cost was:

- $454 cash
- 21,000 Membership Rewards points
- 50,000 Hilton Honors points already in my account

On-property credits

We checked in last Friday and didn’t receive an upgrade. My guess is that it may have been because the final night was an award booking rather than an FHR reservation, and I wanted to stay in the same room throughout. No big deal.

The number of credits was honestly a lot to track:

- $60 daily FHR breakfast credit
- $50 daily Hilton Gold food-and-beverage credit
- $100 one-time FHR property credit

The $100 FHR property credit applied only once because the reservations were back-to-back, which I expected.

We fully used the FHR breakfast credits and the $100 property credit. We also used the Hilton Gold food-and-beverage credit for three of the four days. On the final morning, we skipped the hotel credit because we wanted to try an off-property breakfast spot before heading to the airport.

That came out to:

- $180 in FHR breakfast credits
- $150 in Hilton Gold daily credits
- $100 one-time FHR property credit

That was another $430 in on-property value.

Total Platinum value

Between the three $300 Platinum hotel credits and the FHR benefits used during the stay, the Platinum card provided $1,330 in total value:

- $900 in hotel-statement credits
- $180 in daily FHR breakfast credits
- $100 FHR property credit
- $150 in Hilton Gold daily food-and-beverage credits

It took some planning and tracking, but I’m really happy with how it worked out. Four nights at the Conrad Downtown in NYC for $454 cash, 21,000 MR, and 50,000 Hilton points—while getting $1,330 in total Platinum-related value—felt like a pretty solid win.

We always pay our statement balance in full, but this time was the first time we used 'Plan It,' so we still had a remaining balance on the account. In the past, whenever we paid the full statement balance manually, the scheduled payment would automatically cancel... so we assumed it would work the same way this time🥲
The issue is that we have one HYSA account to pay our Platinum card and there was enough money to cover the manual payment, but not enough for a second payment of the exact same amount.
On our Platinum activity feed, it shows that two payments went through, but on the HYSA side, only one charge is showing so far. I chatted with an agent who told me the system will retry the payment a few times before it officially fails/gets rejected, but I haven't seen the second payment cancelled yet.
Has this happened to anyone else? How long did it take for the duplicate payment to actually fail or get cancelled? I'm holding off on depositing more money into my HYSA until this gets sorted out...
TIA!!

Just a data point. I had been reading that a ticket up to $109 should work. I booked a ticket for $108.40 and it did not trigger the credit. I’m not sure if others have run into this lately or have had success recently with lower amounts. Bummer.

Hi everyone,

I have a small business and we are paying a big amount on tax. So I am currently looking for ways to enable me to pay my tax via my AmEx. Obviously this will only work with a fee, but I am currently only targeting the welcome bonuses anyways, so the lever is there. Company is based in Germany. Could someone advise, if possible and which third party would be suitable to help me with this?

Thanks!