Planning a trip? If you book a trip with your American Express card, you’ll be entitled to additional travel rewards points, as well as savings on travel packages. If you are trading in your travel rewards to book a vacation you have to do so through the American Express travel services center.

Fortunately, American Express provides several easy ways to plan your vacation and book your travel. You can search for and book special offers, flights, cruises, hotel rooms, rental cars and more:

• Online, at AmericanExpress.com
• By phone, through a travel specialist
• In person, at one of the conveniently located American Express travel offices

If you’re familiar with using online travel sites like Expedia to book trips, you’ll have no problem navigating the American Express travel center.

Before you search for flights, hotel rooms and more, though, make sure to browse the special offers, which fall into three categories:

• Last minute deals
• Last minute offers
• Unforgettable journeys

The travel home page showcases even more special offers, such as a savings of $300 when you book your flight and hotel together, and last-minute cruise deals. You can explore travel deals by interest (such as “City Escapes” or “Sun and Sand”) or by destination. An entire column of cruise offers from various carriers leads me to believe the American Express card is the card to have if you like cruises.

If you are paying for all or part of your vacation with Reward Points, you can do so at checkout. When you book with your American Express card, you get 2X membership points.

There’s no doubt the best way to get the lowest prices on your travel itinerary with your American Express card is to book the trip online. If you opt to speak with a travel specialist at one of the American Express Travel Offices, you may be subject to a $150 planning deposit, refundable upon final booking.  Additional service fees may apply to individual airline, car, or hotel reservations. You’ll probably need to go online to find the phone number for a travel specialist in your area — so why not book your trip while you’re there?

For Platinum card members planning a complex itinerary, you can use the Platinum Card Concierge service to plan your trip at no charge and then go online to book your flights, hotels, etc. with your American Express card, earning double rewards points when you do.

Sometimes, it’s nice to meet with a travel agent face-to-face, especially if you’re planning an important trip like a honeymoon and aren’t quite sure where you’d like to go or what you’d like to do. The American Express travel center provides this option at one of their 22,000 worldwide Travel Offices. Maybe you’re already traveling and want to extend your itinerary; you may want to meet with someone, locally, in person.

Again, you may be charged a $150 (refundable) deposit for your itinerary and additional service fees for booking flights, hotels and rental cars.

Even so, many people like planning their travel through a travel agent with real-life experience and education in their specialty area. According to the American Express website, the company’s Travel Specialists are trained accredited in their specialty area.

If you intend to book a trip using your American Express card in person or on phone through the Travel Center, it might make sense to apply for an American Express Platinum card, where these services are offered at no charge through the platinum card’s concierge service.

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