Amex $200 Fine Hotels and Resorts Credit: What to do if you can’t prepay (hint: don’t leave a deposit)

One of my favorite benefits of the American Express Platinum card is the yearly $200 credit for prepaid bookings when using either Amex’s Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) or Hotel Collection programs. FHR can be a great experience, as it provides many elite-like benefits (to go with a higher price than what you can get booking direct): free breakfast for 2, $100+ in on-property credit to use during your stay, room upgrades, early check-in / late checkout and more.

FHR often allows you to book a hotel in three different ways: prepay, pay with points or book with a deposit and pay at the hotel. Often, all three options are available when booking in a menu that looks something like this:

You might think that either “Pay Now” or “Reserve with Deposit” would trigger the $200 credit, since both will theoretically charge your card at the time of booking.

However, assuming that will make a “ming” out of “as” and “su.”

The reason why is that, when you choose Pay at Hotel, the hotel charges you ahead of time (or doesn’t), not Amex. When you choose “Pay Now,” Amex charges you and it’s that charge that triggers the $200 credit – and that’s also why the terms specify “prepaid” with no mention of advance deposit being part of the deal.

Some hotels don’t offer the “Pay Now” option

Why does this matter?

Well, first off, it’s important to choose the right option when booking to make sure that the credit can be applied. More importantly, there’s an increasing number of properties (primarily Hiltons) that don’t give you the “Pay Now” option at booking…only book with points or book with deposit.

This ended up burning a lot of people who were trying to use their credit at the end of 2024 for a booking in 2025. They saw the options at checkout and assumed that the one asking them to pay a deposit would trigger the $200 credit. It was only later, after the credit didn’t trigger, that they realized the mistake… and, unfortunately, the ball had dropped on 2025 and their 2024 credit was off somewhere singing Auld Lang Syne.

How to prepay for an FHR property when you can’t do it online

So what do you do when you go to book a property online and don’t have the option to prepay? Call Amex Travel.

Reader Timo sent us a note to say that they had found themselves in exactly that situation, wanting to book a hotel that they couldn’t prepay for on the Amex Travel site. They called Amex and the rep knew exactly what to do and was able to book a prepaid reservation despite it not having the option to prepay online.

Although calling and talking to a physical Amex rep is very few people’s idea of a good time, it’s good to know that, regardless of what the website tells you, you can still prepay for the FHR hotel that you actually want.

The post Amex $200 Fine Hotels and Resorts Credit: What to do if you can’t prepay (hint: don’t leave a deposit) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.