Amex Platinum Charge Card Air Fare Benefits?

[Mondo]

Was wondering if anyone has had any worth while fare savings &/or benefits by going through the Amex travel concierge to book their domestic or international flights? Is it any better than booking direct via the airline websites? Thanks in advance.

 

[Demonoid]

I have checked economy prices with them and they are always more expensive. I believe they come in to their own when you fly business. From their Plat Charge Page:

• Save on your flight. Our airline partner program opens the doors to substantial savings on international First and Business class flights8 when you travel with one of our many partner airlines.
• Introducing the NEW Platinum Fare Guarantee Enjoy travelling even more knowing you paid the best available fare in First and Business Class to international destinations. With our Platinum Fare Guarantee+ if you find the same fare for less elsewhere, we'll match it.
• Choose to save with Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Delta Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, LAN Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and V Australia.

My partner also has the Velocity Platinum card and you get a very good deal if you BOTH decide to fly Business Class with Virgin Australia...

 

[mitwg]

Basically what Demonoid said.

Economy fares are not even worth exploring on AMEX Plat/Cent because they simply do not have the really cheap sale deals that airlines do. Note that you should get a complementary CX Gold membership with a plat charge card which should have a guaranteed economy ticket benefit (and you can specify cheap fare classes such as V), at least when you are flying on CX. I think you do need to give them some minimum notice to use this benefit. As a diamond myself, I think the guarantee is up to 24 hours before departure so I'd imagine gold has a slightly longer notice period.

However business and first class fares can be fairly competitive with AMEX travel. Since I have to call AMEX to book the hotels anyway (FHR), I ask my executive if he can see any special airfare deals to my destination and generally, I find the fares fairly competitive.