Amex Travel Credit - covid implication

[zig]

Just tried a dummy booking, the web site seems OK with me booking refundable rooms with my travel credit ......

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I selected the first option $190.32

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Maybe it’s just in areas I’m searching. I will have another look this evening and see if there has been any changes.

 

[Chicken]

But if you cancel a refundable booking, you won't get the travel credit back.

Makes it risky to book anything more than a few days in the future.

I am happy with the hotel changing my booking, if this is what needs to be done. I personally just don't want to pay for something and not get anything.

 

[Daver6]

I wish Amex would just allow travel credits under ascent (and ascent premium) to be used for shopping at say the Qantas store or David Jones. I also have extended travel credits expiring in March but still have no good way of using it for travel.

Or at the very least combinable so you can use multiple credits for a single transaction.

 

[Atom]

Or at the very least combinable so you can use multiple credits for a single transaction.

That’s a good point too. I have got 4 separate travel credits on my account right now.

 

[Atom]

Book a hotel in a large regional town?

Yeah, personal preference I guess. I do have 2 x Accor nights yo redeem as well. They’re piling up. I may have to book in some regional travel. But once I do that, I’ll have another two lots of new travel credits added to my account soon!

 

[Chicken]

I have got 4 separate travel credits on my account right now.

I have 4, you can see from my screen shots.

I have to use them too. It is the product I bought, so that's the way it is.

Also, I don't book somewhere I don't want to go, I only book somewhere I want to go, so I'm happy as long as could change my booking, because I would want to go to that location in the first place anyway.

 

[MathNerd]

Whilst on the topic of Amex travel credits - have any of you experienced a cancellation of a booking from the property's side, rather than the customer?

Last week, I made a booking for a cottage room in regional VIC for a night ($399), used my $400 Explorer TC. This booking was made late at night when everyone concerned would be fast asleep.
Woke up the next morning to a call from the property saying that they don't actually have availability and they had to cancel my booking. They then had a bit of a rant about Expedia and how they're a b*tch to deal with and they're fining the property for not updating their status on their site (Apparently the room was booked by another couple ~5 mins prior to my booking, hence Amex Travel hadn't had that availability update and thus my booking went through).

To the property's credit - they did keep me updated frequently with their contact with Expedia (great on them for doing that). It just sounds like Expedia doesn't give a cough about these local places and can stuff them around as much as they can get away with.

However, no update at all from Amex so the booking still looks confirmed on my end.
Just got off a long lengthy chat to some MNL agent and they agreed to reinstate the travel credit in... guess how long... 14 weeks! Not too bad I guess given the lack of travel available to use a TC on but still, that sounds like too long to me.

Anyone else had something similar happen to them? It seems that Amex send off a booking to Expedia who then send the booking to the property and all these middlemen just make the system complicated. Either that or my understanding of accommodation booking systems needs a bit of a scrub up?

 

[Chicken]

Just got off a long lengthy chat to some MNL agent and they agreed to reinstate the travel credit in... guess how long... 14 weeks!

AmEx probably want to make sure everything is finalised with Expedia, before they refund your travel credit. AmEx get their inventories from Expedia.

Anyone else had something similar happen to them? It seems that Amex send off a booking to Expedia who then send the booking to the property and all these middlemen just make the system complicated. Either that or my understanding of accommodation booking systems needs a bit of a scrub up?

It is.

I booked a stay with Trip.com / cTrip back in Nov. Got to the motel in the middle of the night. No staff, could not check in, could not get into the room, no answer when I called phone number outside reception.

I eventually talked to a staff of the motel the next day, who told me that, they e-mail me the door code, to an e-mail something like [email protected] , which is a very self explanatory e-mail address. Then the staff told me that they also got a phone number in China from Expedia, which clearly is a phone number for cTrip office (Trip.com / cTrip is a Chinese company with English customer service done from Shanghai).

I had a discussion with multiple cTrip staff members over the phone, I asked them if they thought that it was a bit stupid to give their office phone number in China and their e-mail as the contact details for the guest? They said they are doing this for privacy reasons, because guests may not want their details passed onto the property. This is oxymoron when you consider that people just take a photo of your passport with their mobile phones when you check in at hotels or buy SIM cards in China, and God knows where those photos go.

So yes, it has created a large supply chain in the accommodation industry, and the data quality is clearly falling short.

 

[MathNerd]

AmEx probably want to make sure everything is finalised with Expedia, before they refund your travel credit. AmEx get their inventories from Expedia.

Ah, makes perfect sense, thanks @Chicken.
I did notice the Travelscape/Vacationspot mentions in the Booking details but didn't dive in any further - just assumed they were some contracted party that handles AmEx's travel department.

I booked a stay with Trip.com / cTrip back in Nov. Got to the motel in the middle of the night. No staff, could not check in, could not get into the room, no answer when I called phone number outside reception.

Damn, sorry to hear that. That's a bad experience on all fronts. Was this domestically or internationally? Where did you end up crashing for the night?

I eventually talked to a staff of the motel the next day, who told me that, they e-mail me the door code, to an e-mail something like [email protected] , which is a very self explanatory e-mail address. Then the staff told me that they also got a phone number in China from Expedia, which clearly is a phone number for cTrip office (Trip.com / cTrip is a Chinese company with English customer service done from Shanghai).

I had a discussion with multiple cTrip staff members over the phone, I asked them if they thought that it was a bit stupid to give their office phone number in China and their e-mail as the contact details for the guest? They said they are doing this for privacy reasons, because guests may not want their details passed onto the property. This is oxymoron when you consider that people just take a photo of your passport with their mobile phones when you check in at hotels or buy SIM cards in China, and God knows where those photos go.

Reading all this just sounds like another case of bureaucracy gone mad with no thought to any process. Probably made worse by (I assume) the motel advertising 24h check-in and to be left stranded at the front door is appalling.

So yes, it has created a large supply chain in the accommodation industry, and the data quality is clearly falling short.

It's a lose-lose situation as I understand it - if these properties don't list themselves on the big travel providers (Expedia & Booking) which flow into the smaller subsidiaries such as hotels.com, Trivago etc, then they don't get found. If they do list themselves then they get a big commission cut from their earnings.
I guess I understand now why (especially smaller properties) always plead "please book direct with us next time" when you're checking out.
But then this usually means no AmEx, no cashback, no AmEx travel insurance benefits etc - which are of course a big draw card for the big booking sites. Good for the customer, not so good for the business.

Very interesting discussion indeed!

 

[SOPOOR]

have you guys had any experience cancelling travel bookings with amex credit

im on hold for 1.5 hours so far, and theyre close on weekends

Im assuming if I were to get a cash/travel credit refund I would need to do it via a call centre and not online DIY

Edit: finally got through the second I posted,
theyre going to refund the travel credit which may take 2-6 months, with a 12 month extension of the travel credit from the date of refund

Would have preferred cash, but very happy with the outcome!

 

[VPS]

I just rang Amex because my credit expires on the 14th January. He said that even though it expires next week they haven't made a decision about extending it. I then got cut off so instead of ringing back I will try again next week.

Does anyone know what the cost to change something is otherwise I'll just book a nice hotel break in my own state

 

[Chicken]

Damn, sorry to hear that. That's a bad experience on all fronts. Was this domestically or internationally? Where did you end up crashing for the night?

It was the south coast of NSW called Sussex Inlet. I called cTrip, the staffs there were really good, they helped me to call a few other properties, and also looked up Google and asked me to call a few other properties (yes, they are in Shanghai and they use Google OMG!). They even had proper hand over during shift change, so I called non stop for the next 24 hours to make sure I was OK, and I was stressed many times to keep receipts of any accommodation booking, so they could look into goodwill compensation.

I eventually found a room that night with another property.

Reading all this just sounds like another case of bureaucracy gone mad with no thought to any process. Probably made worse by (I assume) the motel advertising 24h check-in and to be left stranded at the front door is appalling.

There were multi points of failure.

1: Why did, and still do, cTrip think it was better to use their phone and e-mail in China as contact details for their guests? I would have received the door code to my room if they didn't do this.

2: The property itself was bad. I think that, if you run a hotel, you need to leave the keys out, or have 24 hours check in, or in this case where it is just codes on doors, you need to have a 24 hour phone line.

I guess I understand now why (especially smaller properties) always plead "please book direct with us next time" when you're checking out.

This is what I am so p*ssed with so many Australian small businesses. I used to contact accommodations and activities (kayak SUP etc what not) so I could book direct, but my e-mail always go unanswered, I would call them, then they would be like 'yeah sorry been busy, I will check my e-mail in a few hours / I will call you back later', then they would never answer their e-mail / call me again. I would call them again, then they would be like 'yeah too busy'. And I don't mean I expect an answer in 2 hours. I often hear nothing for 2 or 3 days, call them, they would be like 'yeah sorry I think it should be fine'. What do you mean it SHOULD BE fine? Are you taking my booking or not taking my booking?

So now, I only ask once, if I don't hear back, I book with one of these AmEx / Hotels.com or what not. Australian small businesses often deserve what they get.

Does anyone know what the cost to change something is otherwise I'll just book a nice hotel break in my own state

Are you just changing the date? If so, it maybe easier to contact the property direct?

 

[bits]

After advice for best course of action for my situation please.

- my travel credit expires in a week's time 18 Jan 21, and as others have stated, Amex hasn't decided to extend further at this point
- amex online chat said to me i can book up to 10 months in advance.

Option 1: do nothing, let it expire, and hope amex extend in due course. Risk is they don't, and credit is lost.

Option 2: book suitable accommodation for future date (for me, looking at October long weekend, only cause I have no need for anything sooner).
- In terms of room rate if I book refundable rate, what happens to my travel credit if I do cancel, since technically the credit had expiry date of 18 Jan - does amex reinstate the credit with a new expiry date, or is the credit lost?
- if amex doesn't reinstate my credit, shouldn't I just book a cheaper non-refundable rate to make the most of the credit, and hope the covid situation doesnt prevent my stay at that time?

Proposed booking is for a hotel in my home town, so just a staycay and no travelling actually required.

Thanks

 

[aikman]

After advice for best course of action for my situation please.

- my travel credit expires in a week's time 18 Jan 21, and as others have stated, Amex hasn't decided to extend further at this point
- amex online chat said to me i can book up to 10 months in advance.

Option 1: do nothing, let it expire, and hope amex extend in due course. Risk is they don't, and credit is lost.

Option 2: book suitable accommodation for future date (for me, looking at October long weekend, only cause I have no need for anything sooner).
- In terms of room rate if I book refundable rate, what happens to my travel credit if I do cancel, since technically the credit had expiry date of 18 Jan - does amex reinstate the credit with a new expiry date, or is the credit lost?
- if amex doesn't reinstate my credit, shouldn't I just book a cheaper non-refundable rate to make the most of the credit, and hope the covid situation doesnt prevent my stay at that time?

Proposed booking is for a hotel in my home town, so just a staycay and no travelling actually required.

Thanks

The travel credit is single use only. It is not relevant whether the room rate is refundable or if the travel credit would have otherwise expired. You won't get the travel credit back after you use it.

The exception seems to be if you use it for an airfare and the airline subsequently cancels it then you get a cash refund of the travel credit but how you are supposed to work out with a high level of certainty which flight will get cancelled I do not know.

 

[Chicken]

- In terms of room rate if I book refundable rate, what happens to my travel credit if I do cancel, since technically the credit had expiry date of 18 Jan - does amex reinstate the credit with a new expiry date, or is the credit lost?

I would like to cancel a booking made on American Express Travel. Will the Travel Credit I used for this booking be refunded?
Your Travel Credit is available for single redemption only and will not be refunded in cash or credit if your booking is cancelled.

- if amex doesn't reinstate my credit, shouldn't I just book a cheaper non-refundable rate to make the most of the credit, and hope the covid situation doesnt prevent my stay at that time?

This is what I do. I don't even see a reason to book a refundable accommodation, I just book the cheapest. If I am going, I am going. If there is a lock down, I just contact the property directly and ask them to change my booking to some time in the future. That's it.

 

[sietes]

Has anyone had any luck getting the AMEX Qantas travel credit extended again? Otherwise any tips on redeeming for a flight that is certain to be cancelled?

 

[Ktan89]

Did amex extend travel credit expiry before, during the the first wave (march/april 20)?

 

[Chicken]

any tips on redeeming for a flight that is certain to be cancelled?

Book Qantas international flight in July. There is no way the doctors would let the Australian government let anyone out in July.

 

[Poojou]

Just dropped my two larger credits on hotels here in Singapore - didn't have much places to go and all 3 of my credits were queuing up to expire come March.

Hopefully it's all good!

(PS. I've found that it you speak to them sometimes they'll just extend the expiry... My experience anyway)

 

[VPS]

I just rang Amex as my credit runs out on 14/1 - they said they are extending it to 31/3 but it may not show up online and if I want to redeem it then I have to call and book as I won't be able to do it online