What good is having benefits if you don’t know about them? Free hotel nights, free breakfast, room upgrades and a complimentary bottle of wine or maybe even dinner….with wine. Those are benefits worth learning about and they are very real. How much money have you thrown away by not looking into what your credit card offers to you? I never book a vacation without first considering booking through Visa Signature Hotels, Mastercard World, World Elite Luxury Hotels & Resorts or American Express Platinum Fine Hotels & Resorts.
I’ve had fantastic experiences using these programs to my advantage. In San Francisco, the most expensive hotel city in the world, we were able to get our third night free on a three night five star stay savings us over $300 alone on room rate. On top of that we were upgraded to a larger room, allowed to check in early, depart late, receive daily full breakfast for two and snagged a $100 food and beverage credit for some free drinks. So yes, we stayed at a five star hotel for three nights for about $600 and received over $200 in amenities. Call it $400? I would. With the money saved we were able to do more exploring, more dining out and the upgrade created a really happy vibe.
Mastercard World + World Elite
The Program: Luxury Hotels & Resorts Portfolio
The Perks: Room upgrade (if available), free daily breakfast for two, early check in, hotel amenity and or food and beverage credit from $50-100 per stay,
Free Night Offers? Yes
Mobile App: Yes including various offers at hotels and resorts worldwide.
Booking Site: Book Here.
American Express Gold & Platinum
The Program: Fine Hotels & Resorts (Platinum), The Hotel Collection (Gold)
The Perks:
Fine Hotels & Resorts: Noon check in, late check out, daily breakfast for two, hotel amenity including either a food and beverage credit, spa treatment or one way airport transfer and a room upgrade whenever available.
The Hotel Collection: Up to $75 food and beverage credit, room upgrade when available.
Free Night Offers? Yes
Mobile App: No. (Amex has a mobile app but the program does not).
Booking Site: Book Here.
Visa Signature
The Program: Visa Signature Luxury Hotels Collection
The Perks: Room upgrade when available, complimentary wifi, $25 food and beverage credit, daily breakfast for two, 3pm check out, VIP guest status (whatever that means).
Mobile App: Yes including specific offers and savings at various hotels and resorts.
Free Night Offers: Yes.
Booking Site: Book Here.
Save money, get upgrades, drink “free” drinks, what’s not to love? With any travel decision you should always comparison shop. Most rates offered through these programs are contracted and I’ve had experiences where the rate has been far cheaper than any public booking site and other instances where you would be a fool to book one of these rather than just take the savings from an online travel agency. If you happen to find that sweet spot where you couple savings with benefits have a drink for me. Elevate your travel.
As Always, Get in Touch: GodSaveThePoints@gmail.com
