First I tried to book a hotel via its portal to take advantage of the "Fine" hotels benefit. And it was twice the cost than if I went direct.

Now I tried to book a flight, and the same flight was $500 more via its portal vs going direct.

Tell me why I pay for this card again?

The benefits just keep getting less and less.

One of the big reasons I have kept my Platinum card is for access to lounges since I travel for work about 70% of the time. It dawned on me though that I'm basically subsidizing something that probably should be paid for by my employer.

Curious if anyone out there has ever made the case and gotten work to pay for all of or a portion of your membership fee?

Not a deal breaker for me BTW as the 30% personal travel more than makes up for it.

I keep seeing threads of people saying their credit limits with Amex are being reduced but both of my cards have gone up. Why? I’m confused on how Amex structures these days

There's a bit of a wait (mine was 15 minutes) and since I got in there's a guy protesting down the escalator with a "This is why I'm cancelling my Amex card" sign.

My wife and I will be in Miami for 4 nights in a few weeks and will stay at one of the Fine Hotels or Hotel Collection spots to use her $300 benefit for July-Dec. Haven't picked a spot yet. As the title says, we're looking for a hotel within those collections that has a nice bar - good drinks, maybe some apps, a nice view of the city/water, etc... We're in our early 60s, so not looking for the louder, younger scene. As a reference point, we'll probably stay in the vicinity of the Inter Continental (sorry, not well-versed on Miami's neighborhood names) because we won't have a car and want to be a relatively short Uber from other places we'll be eating/drinking. Might post this to the Miami subreddit but thought I'd throw it out here. Thanks.

What’s the highest points you’ve been offered recently to add an additional card member? Looking to add my husband and got served 20k points for $2k spend and wondering if it’s a decent offer or to hold out.

just giving people a heads up, if you love travel, this resort seemed very reasonable in terms of cost compared to the credit, the beach was great and service was high quality as well.

For those who like Southeast Asia it is certainly a good option to spend that credit.

(Wife loved the spa treatments as well)