ASTA Takes On Amex Over Card Perks
Amex now pays Platinum cruise credits only on Amex Travel bookings, and ASTA has launched a petition. Advisors with cardholder clients need a workaround now.
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has launched a public petition asking American Express to reverse a change that keeps independent advisors from delivering Amex card benefits to their clients. For advisors who book Platinum and Centurion cardholders, the stakes are direct: a client who wants the perk must now book that part of the trip through Amex Travel, outside the advisor’s file.
What Amex changed
Effective 15 September 2026, American Express ended third-party travel advisor access to its Travel Privileges programmes through booking platforms such as RezSaver, Travel Market Report reported. Platinum and Centurion cardmembers now have to book directly through American Express Travel to receive qualifying benefits.
The change hit cruise first. The Platinum Card’s onboard credit of up to $300 under the Cruise Privileges Program now applies only to eligible cruises booked through Amex Travel. Sailings booked through independent advisors, online travel agencies and other third-party sites no longer qualify, according to TMR.
ASTA had already asked Amex for a meeting and a postponement before the policy took effect. It said the change “limits consumer choice, disrupts established advisor-client relationships and risks separating travelers from the professionals who know their needs.”
The petition
The petition, announced 2 October and hosted at asta.org, asks Amex to restore third-party access and create “a verified pathway that allows professional travel advisors to book eligible Privileges benefits on their clients’ behalf,” TravelPulse reported.
Read next · Market PulseAmerican Adds a Cash-and-Miles Slider2 min →“Travel advisors coordinate complex trips in which every connection matters. American Express is forcing travelers to pull part of that journey out of their advisor’s hands simply to receive their card benefits,” ASTA president Zane Kerby said, according to TravelPulse. “Cardmembers should not have to surrender the advisor relationship they value to use benefits for which they qualify.”
ASTA argues that the restriction fragments itineraries, puts booking ownership at risk, cuts into advisor compensation and complicates service when plans change. No signature count or Amex response has been published.
The business logic
Premium cards increasingly sell travel benefits that can only be used through the issuer’s own travel agency. That makes the issuer a direct competitor for the same high-spending clients. Advisors read it that way too. “It’s so sad. I have always applied the Amex benefits for my guests,” advisor Linda Carter told TMR, which reports that she sees Amex as set on reclaiming that business directly.
For advisors
- Audit your Platinum and Centurion clients now. Flag any 2026–27 sailing where the client expected the Amex onboard credit, and tell them before final payment, not at embarkation.
- Do the comparison. Set the up-to-$300 credit against what you add: consortium amenities, group rates, onboard credits from your host agency and service when things go wrong. Show the numbers in writing.
- Sign and share. The petition is open on asta.org. Clients who value their advisor can sign too.
- Watch hotels next. Ask your host or consortium how Amex’s hotel programmes are being handled, and whether the same restriction could follow.
Sources
Jeff Cameron is a chief operating officer who writes about the business of travel: operations, pricing, loyalty and the decisions behind the trips, seen through an executive lens.