(EXPIRED) $50 back on $200 at Loews Hotels w/ new Amex Offer

A new Amex Offer came out this week that’s good for $50 back when you spend $200 or more at Loews Hotels through the end of March. This one caught my eye because Loews properties are often listed on Fine Hotels & Resorts and some of them can be quite reasonable, so this may make for a good opportunity to stack for savings + great benefits on your stay.

The Deal

• A new Amex Offer is out that’s good for $50 back when you spend $200 or more at Loews Hotels

Key Terms

• Expires 3/31/21
• Valid at properties in the US and Canada
• Not valid for Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando resort
• Terms indicate that you need to book direct, though as noted below I’ve had luckw tiih Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings

Quick Thoughts

While I wouldn’t anticipate using this offer in the very near-term, I’m hopeful that it could be a useful offer before the end of the validity period. Given that I typically book flexible hotel rates, I’d certainly be open to booking something if I anticipated possibly being able to use this one.

As noted at the top, this offer caught my eye because I’ve found some reasonable Loews properties listed in Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. For example, I’ve booked the Loews Chicago before. The property is pretty nice and if the restaurant is open it has a good view from breakfast.

I looked up a random Saturday night in March and sure enough, rooms are available from $139. And that is of course including breakfast for two people, guaranteed 4pm late checkout, and a $100 food and beverage credit (among other benefits).

While the offer terms state that you must book directly with Loews, my experience is that FHR bookings typically trigger these credits if you choose to pay at the hotel. That is an important distinction as I believe that if you “pay now”, you will not trigger the offer as you’ll be charged by Amex Travel rather than by the hotel.

If you instead choose the option to pay at the hotel directly, I imagine that the charge will run the same as any other at the hotel and it will trigger the credit if you spend $200 or more (indeed I’ve trigger many Amex Offers in the past via FHR bookings).

In that specific example, the room only comes to around $160 with tax, so you’ll need to either spend more on incidentals or choose a higher-category room if you want to hit the $200 threshold on a one-night stay. If you do manage to spend exactly $200, getting the room, a $100 dining credit, breakfast for two, and 4pm checkout for a net $150 after this offer would be a pretty strong deal.

Obviously at the moment many of us aren’t in a hurry to plan a speculative trip to the downtown area of a city (myself included), but on the flip side I wouldn’t be too hesitant to make a flexible March booking that can be canceled months from now if things haven’t improved.

I also find it interesting that while the offer contains the standard language about only stuff like room rate qualifying, they make the distinction that it isn’t valid for gift card purchases made online. That almost seems to imply an admission that gift card purchases made at the front desk would count (which we know if often the case despite what terms say). That might be a good way to lock in the value if you live near or pass by a Loews property and want to be able to make use of the discount down the road instead.

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