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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Guides
Select Amex cardholders have access to this $295-per-year travel discount program
Chris was a reporter at The Points Guy, where he covered the intersection of credit card rewards and travel. At TPG, he wrote a broad array of stories ranging from in-depth features and reports to trending travel news as it related to loyalty, card benefits and consumer behavior.
September 29, 2020 • 7 min read
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Quick summary
The Travel Collection is a complimentary benefit for select premium cardholders, offering access to exclusive travel discounts and perks.
Members receive assistance from travel specialists for booking flights, hotels, cruises and rental cars, but all bookings must be made through an agent rather than online.
The program advertises savings on airfare, hotel perks like free breakfast and resort credits, and the ability to use points for bookings.
Actual discounts may vary, and in some cases, prices may not be lower than those found through public search engines.
What to consider
Eligible cardholders must register online to activate the benefit and will receive confirmation by email.
All bookings require interaction with a Travel Collection specialist, as there is no self-service online booking option.
Hotel bookings through the program do not provide access to hotel elite benefits, and pricing should be compared with other sources for best value.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed comparison of Travel Collection pricing versus public search engines and tips for maximizing available perks.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Travel is slowly beginning to rebound from its lows earlier in the spring. Whenever you plan on moving about again, it's important to remember to take advantage of all your travel card benefits. There's one complimentary Amex card benefit that is not often mentioned -- and it caught my attention recently.
That perk is a membership to a little-known program called the Travel Collection, and its accompanying $295-per-year set of benefits. Don't be confused by the name. This is, in fact, different than Amex's similarly branded Hotel Collection program.
The Travel Collection is designed to save you money on airfare, cruises, rental cars and gives you exclusive perks at some hotels -- while also connecting you with a travel expert. Let's take a look at which cards are eligible for a free membership, how to join and if the Travel Collection is worth your time.
What is The Travel Collection?
The Travel Collection is part of the Travel Leaders Group, one of the largest traditional travel agency companies. It partnered with Amex to provide a host of travel-related benefits which, according to its website, include ways to:
Elevate your journey through valuable discounts and benefits
The Travel Collection supposedly provides discounts on select United flights...but does it? (Photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy)
This includes using Travel Collection specialists to assist with any travel needs while creating a personalized experience. Essentially, these are concierge phone agents who will help you with your travel bookings. And yes, you'll have to interact with these specialists since there is no self-service tool -- and no way to book anything online.
One of the benefits is that you can choose to Pay with Points for all or part of your booking. Also, you will still earn points for flights, including 5x if you use The Platinum Card® from American Express. Starting Jan. 1, 2021, earn 5x points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
What are the eligible cards that give access?
Complimentary membership to the $295-per-year Travel Collection program is available for the following cardholders:
The Platinum Card® from American Express ($695 annual fee; see rates & fees)
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express ($595 annual fee; see rates & fees)
American Express® Gold Card ($250 annual fee; see rates & fees)
American Express® Business Gold Card ($295 annual fee; see rates & fees)
The Gold and Business Gold cards also come with travel-related benefits such as access to The Hotel Collection, which include room upgrades and hotel credits for dining, spa and resort activities.
It's quite easy to join the Travel Collection program in a few steps online. There's a direct landing page where you can enter your eligible card details.
(Screenshot courtesy of the Travel Collection)
Next, you'll receive an email confirmation outlining your account information and available benefits. Finally, you'll be able to log in to the Travel Collection's website. It took just a minute or two to register from start to finish.
(Screenshot courtesy of the Travel Collection)
Is it worth it?
Once you log in to your account, you'll see dozens of "Current Offers," including discounts on hotels, vacation packages, rental cars and flights.
(Screenshot courtesy of the Travel Collection)
While the program advertises a handful of benefits, the reality is that to access any of them, you'll have to call or chat a specialist. There are no self-service tools to book online. This makes it difficult to ascertain how good of a deal you're getting since it's a "your mileage may vary" situation.
Discounts differ a great deal but the Travel Collection says that your best bet may be scoring savings on premium cabin international long-haul flights. As of this writing, current Travel Collection airline partners include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Emirates, Qantas and United.
To get a sense of pricing, I live chatted with a Travel Collection specialist about four flights, including two domestic transcontinental flights between Newark and Los Angeles and a couple of roundtrip flights between New York and Dubai on Emirates, all for early 2021.
The result? Unfortunately, none of the flights -- in any class of service -- were discounted when compared to searches with Google Flights.
An Emirates A380 takes off in Amsterdam. (Photo by Alberto Riva/The Points Guy)
In fact, the Emirates flights were slightly more expensive than my Google Flights searches. However, it doesn't hurt to compare pricing for flights between Google Flights, the Travel Collection and if you have access, the Platinum card's International Airline Program (IAP).
The downside is that while Google Flights and IAP are tools you can use online, you'll have to manually feed your itinerary to an agent with the Travel Collection.
With hotels, there are more than 50 of them that participate with the Travel Collection offering free breakfast for two, a $50 resort credit and early check-in and check-out, based on availability.
For instance, in Seattle, the following hotels are available: Pan Pacific Seattle, Edgewater Seattle, Thompson Seattle, W Seattle, Alexis Hotel and Loews Hotel 1000. Just don't expect to use your hotel elite benefits since you aren't booking directly with the hotel.
The Travel Collection is an intriguing program that is worth at least a look before finalizing your travel plans. At the very least, it makes sense to register one of your eligible Amex cards since the service is free.
Its utility is compromised, however, due to lack of online booking and pricing that does not seem to be particularly groundbreaking. However, if you can find a discounted flight -- or take advantage of hotel perks -- the Travel Collection may very well be worth your time.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum card, click here. For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card, click here. For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click here. For rates and fees of the Amex Business Gold, click here.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
