I've been looking to book a London Hotel for a couple of nights, but am consistently finding the AMEX Travel site is more expensive than other alternatives. This of course diminishes the benefit of the $400 travel credit - in some cases by ~$20 per night, in others up to ~$100 per night - and these are for moderate 4 - 4.5 star hotels - nothing fancy.. Previously I have found AMEX Travel to be competitive with alternatives, but at the moment it seems they are pricing higher - maybe I have not found the "sweet spots" yet, but it is frustrating that I probably won't get full value from my Explorer credit.