Word to the Reader: "Here's how I saved 1377 euros after discovering TFC"
Today we publish a new story from one of our readers, who shared with us, her first experience [...]
Today we publish a new story from one of our readers, who shared with us, her first experience in the world of reward travel.
I have been an American Express customer since 2019, which is when I requested the first Payback American Express in anticipation of the honeymoon trip to the United States and then theAmerican Express Gold in 2020 why once you discover customer service like AMEX's you never go back.
In this article:
An unsuspecting client I dare say, since. I only discovered the world of travel reward in August 2021 (when I think of the points and opportunities I missed I eat my hands) when I finally realized that I could use my payback points on the American Express travel website and save a mountain of money: I had so many points accumulated on payback that a 4-star hotel for 4 people (we are a family of two adults and 2 children) in the center of Paris cost me 129 euros for 4 nights. Inebriated by the savings, I began to document and I discovered your site: you have been an enlightenment. By now I check your articles every day to make sure I don't miss anything.
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Once the points are discovered, and having planned a new trip to the States in May 2022, I followed all your tips to optimize the vacation and maximize the savings: so I started to study every offer reported by you, and all the offers on the Amex site (before I hardly ever did that, in two years I don't want to think about how many points/opportunities I lost). In October I took advantage of theAmerican Express travel offer which for 250 euros of spending, offered you a cashback of 75 euros, and I bought airline tickets.
Having 4 american express cards (basic gold, additional gold, payback, plus an unused gold credit) I made multiple reservations with Emirates departing from Milan, directly from the American Express travel site, to which I added the gold card travel voucher for a total savings of 275€. On the fourth card, I instead purchased the night in a hotel in Malpensa (we live in Sardinia) with a final expense of 7 euros for 4 people (with breakfast)!
But then I made the first mistake, which only later did I read it should never be done: I booked a Hilton in downtown Manhattan through booking.com instead of the Hilton site. When I realized my mistake I tried to fix it but it was too late, the hotel cost had gone from $1750 in my booking to $2500 on the Hilton site (a few weeks after booking), so I kept the booking on booking, but still tried to contact Hilton to see if they could do anything: exceptionally and as a goodwill gesture, they still linked my booking booking booking to my Hilton Honors account, warning me that I would not be able to earn points from the booking, however. Only a few months later would I realize that this gesture by Hilton would give me exorbitant savings.
In March 2022, we were 3 months away from our return to our beloved NYC, when American Express offers us the upgrade of Gold to Platinum with a bonus of 80 thousand points if we had spent at least 5,000 in the first 3 months of using the card. We began to consider the transition, the monthly expense of maintaining the card seemed like so much and it was very scary for us, so as the control freak person that I am, and after reading all your articles on the subject, I prepared an Excel sheet to quantify the actual savings to the penny that the paper could have offered us. Initially I included only the costs of lounges for 4 people at all airports both outbound and inbound, and The cost of travel insurance in the States: 597 euros. Okay I'd say we're in it, let's do it.
And so we did. In April 2022, we became American Express Platinum customers. As soon as we received the basic paper, we immediately requested the supplementary so that we could have the Unlimited admissions with Priority Pass for all 4 family members. We moved all fixed expenses to the Platinum account, so as soon as possible to reach 5,000 euros in bonus spending, and activated all the benefits of the card, including what would later be the breakthrough in savings: Hilton honors gold level.
Meanwhile, I've started taking advantage of all the juicy offers I was ignorantly letting slip through my fingers before. For our stop-and-go in Milan, we booked a car for 24 hours, so we could do some sightseeing, and activated the 5000 bonus points offer, which allowed people to purchase a pack of attractions for NYC at a discounted price through tiquets, and earn additional points.
Upon arriving in NYC, upon checking in, here are our 20 vouchers for breakfasts thanks to Hilton Honors status, without even asking! Other than that, check out delayed to 4 p.m., free (another 100 euros saved)!
I thought this was enough: the platinum had already earned the altar of savings (I am not going to tell you about the concierge, who managed to find me a place at Keens steakhouse at the last minute when everything was already sold out.) At the end of the vacation, I check my receipt from Hilton and find the breakfast charges without the voucher reversal, so I immediately email customer service, who, to apologize for the mistake, completely discounted my breakfast charges and only charged me for the tips. Total refund: $650. Unfortunately, I won't get any points from this Hilton reservation having booked from a third-party site, but what can I say, despite the error I would say it's okay.
In one trip, thanks to your tips and American Express, I saved a whopping €1377.88, in one of the most expensive cities in the world (especially now post-pandemic prices for eating have gone up quite a bit).
What can I say, I owe you at the very least a coffee. Someday we will meet in some lounge, and I promise to offer it to you 😊
Would you like to tell us about your experience in reward travel? Write to us we will be glad to publish it.
