Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

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SeattleLaw
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Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by SeattleLaw »

Does anyone have experience with the International Airline Program offered with Amex's platinum card? From older posts, there are some good discounts to be had on premium economy/business class tickets. But, I'm skeptical given what has happened to premium seating prices post-covid (i.e. $5k for a RT business ticket to Europe and even $2k for premium economy).

Unless you have a platinum card, apparently you can't see these discounted fares on Amex's website? I don't want to sign up for a $700 a year card in the hopes of maybe getting a discount, so I'd like to hear if anyone else has had recent success with the IAP program, where you fly out of, and if the flights that are discounted were direct/convenient.

I don't find much value in the other perks of the platinum card, but if it saves me $300/ticket on premium tickets I'd already be buying, that's a hard deal to pass up :D
BuddyJet
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by BuddyJet »

I have tried searching the program a few times with no luck. It might be better for close to full fare tickets rather than the discount ones I usually buy.
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stan1
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by stan1 »

The British Airways Chase card gives 10% off on BA flights, so if you are likely to fly on BA it is worth getting.
THY4373
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by THY4373 »

stan1 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 9:10 am The British Airways Chase card gives 10% off on BA flights, so if you are likely to fly on BA it is worth getting.
Which stacks with the AARP discount: https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/of ... r-benefits . Not as good as it once was.
THY4373
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by THY4373 »

Here is the FT threat on this program with data ponts: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/america ... eloading=1
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Redbeard the Pirate
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by Redbeard the Pirate »

I usually fly internationally in business class a couple of times per year and have access to the International Airline Program through a Platinum Card, but I've never actually used it. It's generally been a better deal for me to transfer credit card points to a frequent flyer program, or occasionally even purchase the miles outright, and book an award flight. My travel is generally pretty flexible though, and I realize that this wouldn't be realistic for everyone.

My experience in looking at (though not actually using) the Amex IAP is that it can offer some really solid discounts, and the savings on just one or two round-trip international business class tickets could easily cover the annual fee for a Platinum Card, but keep in mind that the program doesn't work with all airlines, and it doesn't work with all flights for the airlines that it does work for. Due to airline partnerships though, it does work for some flights that you might not expect. For instance, Untied is not part of the IAP, but Lufthansa is, and you can find some solid deals on United-operated business-class flights between the US and Europe because of that.

The discount seems to be highly variable. I just did a couple of test searches and was able to find flights from ORD-LHR on United via Lufthansa for around $400 off list on a sample date. I found flights from ORD-HND on ANA for around $1,000 off on another sample date. However, those discounts were off round-trip tickets that would cost well over $5,000 and $6,000 respectively. If you are going to purchase multi-thousand-dollar tickets anyway, you might find some real savings here that would make the annual fee on the Platinum Card well worth it.

The one time that I did purchase business-class tickets outright many years ago, it was through British Airlines. The 10% discount that stan1 mentioned used to actually work with any Visa card, not just BA's, so between that, a $400 (at the time) AARP discount, and a double-miles promotion that BA was running, the math worked out.

If you have some specific date and destination pair that you are looking at and want to see what sort of discounts are available, feel free to DM me and I can take a look.
nyclon
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by nyclon »

We booked 4 tickets recently for round trips from the US to Europe. We paid about $5300 for economy flights that we’re selling for $6500 on google flights, through the Amex intl fare program. Essentially we received the fare class that includes standard economy vs the basic fare. A great deal.

Then, when the airline changed some of the itinerary details, Amex travel was very accommodating to help us change to flights that ended up being even better (and more expensive but we paid $0)
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SeattleLaw
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by SeattleLaw »

nyclon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:20 pm We booked 4 tickets recently for round trips from the US to Europe. We paid about $5300 for economy flights that we’re selling for $6500 on google flights, through the Amex intl fare program. Essentially we received the fare class that includes standard economy vs the basic fare. A great deal.

Then, when the airline changed some of the itinerary details, Amex travel was very accommodating to help us change to flights that ended up being even better (and more expensive but we paid $0)
Intersting! I was under the impression it was only for premium economy and up? Or does standard economy also count?
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SeattleLaw
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by SeattleLaw »

Redbeard the Pirate wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 11:53 am If you have some specific date and destination pair that you are looking at and want to see what sort of discounts are available, feel free to DM me and I can take a look.
Tried to PM you but it's disabled.

We will be flying out of Denver starting at the end of the summer. United has some directs, but Lufthansa flies to Frankfurt and Munich, Air France I think has a seasonly flight to Paris, and then BA flies through Heathrow. It stinks that you can't see what flights/discounts are available before you get the card.
nyclon
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by nyclon »

SeattleLaw wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:45 pm
nyclon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:20 pm We booked 4 tickets recently for round trips from the US to Europe. We paid about $5300 for economy flights that we’re selling for $6500 on google flights, through the Amex intl fare program. Essentially we received the fare class that includes standard economy vs the basic fare. A great deal.

Then, when the airline changed some of the itinerary details, Amex travel was very accommodating to help us change to flights that ended up being even better (and more expensive but we paid $0)
Intersting! I was under the impression it was only for premium economy and up? Or does standard economy also count?
I thought so as well - but it seems for larger quantity of tickets they offer for the lowest fare classes. Wasn’t expecting to see the discount show up for a family!
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ResearchMed
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by ResearchMed »

nyclon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 1:08 pm
SeattleLaw wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:45 pm
nyclon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:20 pm We booked 4 tickets recently for round trips from the US to Europe. We paid about $5300 for economy flights that we’re selling for $6500 on google flights, through the Amex intl fare program. Essentially we received the fare class that includes standard economy vs the basic fare. A great deal.

Then, when the airline changed some of the itinerary details, Amex travel was very accommodating to help us change to flights that ended up being even better (and more expensive but we paid $0)
Intersting! I was under the impression it was only for premium economy and up? Or does standard economy also count?
I thought so as well - but it seems for larger quantity of tickets they offer for the lowest fare classes. Wasn’t expecting to see the discount show up for a family!

Hmmmm. I haven't checked in ages.
Last time I did, that program was only for Business class, and only for "full fare". And it turned out that two lower-cost/advance purchase tickets were less.

Then we started using points.
But for shorter flights, if we are willing to fly coach (if not long haul), we'll at least check with Amex Plat again. We don't use points for those anyway.

RM
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nyclon
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by nyclon »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 1:19 pm
nyclon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 1:08 pm
SeattleLaw wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:45 pm
nyclon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:20 pm We booked 4 tickets recently for round trips from the US to Europe. We paid about $5300 for economy flights that we’re selling for $6500 on google flights, through the Amex intl fare program. Essentially we received the fare class that includes standard economy vs the basic fare. A great deal.

Then, when the airline changed some of the itinerary details, Amex travel was very accommodating to help us change to flights that ended up being even better (and more expensive but we paid $0)
Intersting! I was under the impression it was only for premium economy and up? Or does standard economy also count?
I thought so as well - but it seems for larger quantity of tickets they offer for the lowest fare classes. Wasn’t expecting to see the discount show up for a family!

Hmmmm. I haven't checked in ages.
Last time I did, that program was only for Business class, and only for "full fare". And it turned out that two lower-cost/advance purchase tickets were less.

Then we started using points.
But for shorter flights, if we are willing to fly coach (if not long haul), we'll at least check with Amex Plat again. We don't use points for those anyway.

RM
Deals show up with an international fare program banner for us but for economy you have to use the normal Amex flight search after logging in.
Inframan4712
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by Inframan4712 »

SeattleLaw wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:48 pm
Redbeard the Pirate wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 11:53 am If you have some specific date and destination pair that you are looking at and want to see what sort of discounts are available, feel free to DM me and I can take a look.
Tried to PM you but it's disabled.

We will be flying out of Denver starting at the end of the summer. United has some directs, but Lufthansa flies to Frankfurt and Munich, Air France I think has a seasonly flight to Paris, and then BA flies through Heathrow. It stinks that you can't see what flights/discounts are available before you get the card.
You are way, way too late to be finding any cash deals on international tickets a few months from now. Usually you should plan 9 months in advance.
And rewards/points travel? No way.
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Redbeard the Pirate
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by Redbeard the Pirate »

Tried to PM you but it's disabled.
Sorry about that, I've fixed that setting on my account.
We will be flying out of Denver starting at the end of the summer. United has some directs, but Lufthansa flies to Frankfurt and Munich, Air France I think has a seasonly flight to Paris, and then BA flies through Heathrow. It stinks that you can't see what flights/discounts are available before you get the card.
It sounds like your ultimate destination is Paris? I picked end-of-summer departure and return dates of September 9 and September 23 and ran a search through Amex just to get a feel for what is available. It doesn't look like there are any non-stop flights from Denver, but I'm seeing a number of one-stop options for flights with Delta (operated by Delta or Air France) and Virgin Atlantic (Operated by Delta) with US layovers for $4,882 (list price $5,407). There are also flights with KLM (operated by Delta, and/or Air France) for $4,940 (list price $5,475). There are some other options as well, including the Lufthansa flights that you mentioned, for around $500 more, but still nearly $400 below list price.

While those are meaningful discounts on those particular eligible flights, searching Google Flights shows a one-stop business-class flight with Air Canada for $4,586 on the same dates without the need of a $695 annual-fee credit card.

I picked the dates that I did because I like flying on Saturdays and generally go on two-week trips, but shifting around the dates by a few days to September 8 and September 26 brings the cost down quite a bit more. I chose those new days by using the date grid tool on Google Flights to find the cheapest close dates to fly and then plugged those same dates into Amex's search, where I can find the same flights that Google was showing me, but for less, at around $3,524 vs $3,811.
kxl19
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by kxl19 »

I've used this discount with great success on Qatar going to SE ASia in business. Cheaper than any other listed prices, and we had 4 pax, so easily made it worth it.
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SeattleLaw
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by SeattleLaw »

Is there a good strategy for finding IAP flights? I would definitely sign up for a Platinum card if we got some good discounts, but when I called Amex Travel they didn't have any IAP tickets for the Aero Mexico or Delta flights we were looking at for trips that are upcoming in the next 6 months. The rep said he has no way to see what routes may have IAP fares unless he searches each one. Are they like rewards seats where they have X number of seats on IAP fares per flight? Are they only on very busy, popular routes from major international hubs? Seems like this could be a valuable benefit, but hard to test it out ahead of time.
Dornhoefer
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Re: Amex's International Airline Program - experiences and luck with discounts?

Post by Dornhoefer »

I read this thread after buying 2 RT tickets in Air France business class for non-stops between Los Angeles and Paris next April/May. I searched google flights for options between LA and Paris, found these flights, thought the price was pretty good based on past experience, and bought the tickets directly from Air France. Turns out I could've saved $500 total using the Amex Plat feature you mention. Oh well, lesson learned for next time (check Amex before buying).
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