American Express offers a number of travel benefits to cardholders, some of the best being their hotel discounts. Here’s an overview of what they offer:

Hotel Discounts For Business Cards
Business credit cards and charge cards offer hotel discounts through the American Express Open Savings program. Here is a list of participating hotels:

• Hyatt: 3% discount
• Marriot: 5% discount (at Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites)

These “Open Savings” are automatic. There is no need to enroll in order to receive. Simply pay using your business card with Open Savings and the rebate will be automatically reflected on your billing statement. Best of all, these AmEx hotel discounts are in addition to any promotions, coupons, or other discounts you used to book your room.

Hotel Discounts For Consumer Cards
There are a number of American Express rewards, perks, and discounts at hotels with some consumer cards.

• The no fee American Express Blue Sky gives cardmembers hotel perks, like guaranteeing every hotel reservation made with the card, free breakfast at JW Marriott and Renaissance Hotels during a weekend stay and a $100.00 credit good towards your next stay. You are also earning a nice 1.33% rebate on all spending that can be used to pay for hotel stays.

• The Platinum charge card offers the best hotel discounts and perks. Over 600 participating hotels offer Platinum cardholders perks like free room upgrades, 4:00 PM late check-outs, complimentary third night stays, free breakfasts, $100 restaurant/spa credits, etc. Participating hotels are upscale establishments, so if you typically stay at first-class hotels, then the $450 annual fee on the AmEx Platinum is certainly worth it.

• American Express hotel discounts are not available on the Starwood AmEx, but you do get generous rewards for spending at Starwood. The exact number of points per dollar you get depends on your Preferred Guest level.

American Express Travel Savings
At any given time there are a number of American Express vacation deals available when you book your trip through AmEx Travel Services. Of course the offers are constantly changing so there’s no use listing them here, but if you are planning a family vacation and plan on staying at a resort-type hotel, then you should give American Express Travel Services a call to see what offers they have available.

*Please note the above discount information was correct as of April 2011 but could change in the future.