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Travel is slowly 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 . There's one complimentary benefit that is not often mentioned — and it caught my attention recently.
That perk is a membership to a little-known program called the , 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 .
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:
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 for all or part of your booking. Also, you will still earn miles for flights, including 5x if you use .
What are the eligible cards that give access?
Complimentary membership to the $295-per-year Travel Collection program is available for the following cardholders:
Remember, the and already come with a host of travel perks, including access to , the , and much more.
The and cards also come with travel-related benefits such as access to , which include room upgrades and hotel credits for dining, spa and resort activities.
Related:
How to join
It's quite easy to join the Travel Collection program in a . There's a direct landing page where you can enter your eligible card details.
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.
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.
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.
Related:
Discounts differ a great deal but the Travel Collection says that your best bet may be scoring 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 between Newark and Los Angeles and a couple of roundtrip flights between , all for early 2021.
The result? Unfortunately, none of the flights — in any class of service — were discounted when compared to searches with .
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 , the Travel Collection and if you have access, the Platinum card's (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.
Related:
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 .
Related:
Bottom line
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 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 .
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card, click .
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click .
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Gold, click .
Featured photo by Summer Hull/The Points Guy
Travel is slowly 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 . There's one complimentary benefit that is not often mentioned — and it caught my attention recently.
That perk is a membership to a little-known program called the , 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 .
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
- Customize every element of your trip
- Use if you choose
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 for all or part of your booking. Also, you will still earn miles for flights, including 5x if you use .
What are the eligible cards that give access?
Complimentary membership to the $295-per-year Travel Collection program is available for the following cardholders:
- ($550 annual fee; see )
- ($595 annual fee; see )
- ($250 annual fee; see )
- ($295 annual fee; see )
Remember, the and already come with a host of travel perks, including access to , the , and much more.
The and cards also come with travel-related benefits such as access to , which include room upgrades and hotel credits for dining, spa and resort activities.
Related:
How to join
It's quite easy to join the Travel Collection program in a . There's a direct landing page where you can enter your eligible card details.
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.
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.
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.
Related:
Discounts differ a great deal but the Travel Collection says that your best bet may be scoring 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 between Newark and Los Angeles and a couple of roundtrip flights between , all for early 2021.
The result? Unfortunately, none of the flights — in any class of service — were discounted when compared to searches with .
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 , the Travel Collection and if you have access, the Platinum card's (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.
Related:
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 .
Related:
Bottom line
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 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 .
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card, click .
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click .
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Gold, click .
Featured photo by Summer Hull/The Points Guy