One of the easiest ways to get value out of the hefty annual_fees annual fee (see rates & fees) on the American Express Platinum Card® might be living on borrowed time.
Right now, the card comes with up to $600 a year in hotel credits: $300 from January through June and another $300 from July through December. Those credits apply to prepaid stays booked through Amex’s Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) program or its cheaper sibling, The Hotel Collection. Book through American Express Travel®, pay with your Platinum Card, and the credit typically posts within a few days.
But that may not last much longer: According to language spotted on Amex’s internal test website, first reported by US Credit Card Guide, FHR stays would require a two-night minimum stay to trigger the credit starting Jan. 1, 2027. The rumored change would match the policy already in place for Amex’s The Hotel Collection, which has always required two nights.
Take the Nobu London Portman Square at $478 a night, for example. Book a one-night stay here, and the credit knocks it down to $178 out of pocket – simple, real value. You still get the usual FHR perks like daily breakfast for two, a $100 property credit, a room upgrade when available, and a guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout.
But with a two-night minimum stay requirement, that same $478 hotel now becomes a $956 commitment … and the credit covers less than a third of it. Your out-of-pocket cost nearly quadruples, from $178 to $656, and it starts to feel less like a perk and more like an added expense.
If it comes to fruition, using the credit at one of those generally cheaper The Hotel Collection properties will likely mean a lower out-of-pocket cost and become the most affordable path forward. You’d just give up the free breakfast that comes with FHR bookings. The beauty of FHR is that, while these properties skew toward the higher end, even a single night is enough to trigger the credit.
In some ways, it’s not surprising to see Amex do this. Chase requires a two-night minimum stay to trigger The Edit credit on its top-tier *chase sapphire reserve*. But on the flip side, not having a minimum stay requirement was a big differentiator for the Amex Platinum – and a big reason why we ranked FHR higher than The Edit in our head-to-head comparison.
The fact that Amex might be pivoting on this benefit just a year and change after announcing a big card refresh is also pretty telling. That September 2025 overhaul doubled the hotel credit to $600 and pushed the annual fee to a whopping annual_fees. A (potential) change like this suggests the one-night credit was more valuable to cardholders – and more costly for Amex – than the bank anticipated.
If you’re looking for a sliver of good news, the leak hints at a modest consolation prize. The hotel credit would be rebranded as a “Lodging Credit” and expanded to cover Airbnb Luxe, Airbnb’s high-end rental collection. There would also be a new $250 Airbnb Experiences credit, unlocked by booking a Luxe stay first. The catch? Luxe homes generally start around $1,000 a night, so for most cardholders, there’s not a lot of solace in this piece of news.
To be perfectly clear: None of this is official yet … but changes that appear on this Amex test site have a track record of being pretty bulletproof.
If you’ve got a Platinum Card, be sure to burn your current credit on a one-night FHR stay before Dec. 31. Since the credit is tied to when you book and pay, not when you stay, you can lock in a one-night stay now for dates well into 2027.
It may be the last easy $300 hotel credit this card hands you.
Bottom Line
Amex appears set to require a two-night minimum for Fine Hotels + Resorts stays to trigger the Platinum Card’s up to $300 semiannual hotel credit starting in 2027. That would erase one of the card’s biggest edges over Chase’s The Edit and make Hotel Collection properties the cheaper way to use it.
Book a one-night FHR stay before Dec. 31, 2026, while you still can.
