Best Use of The $300 Amex Platinum Hotel Credit: Wynn Las Vegas (Part 1)
Previously, I have found the annual Amex Platinum hotel credit of $200 to be pretty insignificant especially when hotels through their Fine Hotels and Resorts Program or Hotel Collection can start around a couple hundred dollars just for one night. Well, if you haven’t heard, Amex has changed the benefit from a $200 credit once per year to $600 split between $300 for the first half of the year (Jan-June) and the other $300 during the second half (July-Dec). Now, this is a hotel deal that I can get on board with!
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Amex Platinum Referral Link
If you are thinking about getting the Amex Platinum and would like to help the blog, feel free to signup with my referral link! Currently, you can get up to 175,000 for signing up and get all the benefits of Amex’s hotel program that I’m going to talk about below.
Difference Between Amex’s Two Hotel Programs: Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection
Amex Platinum and Centurion cardholders can choose between two hotel programs when using their $300 hotel credit: Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection. In simple terms, The Hotel Collection includes mid to high end hotels, while Fine Hotels + Resorts focuses on more luxury and five-star properties. The key difference for the purposes of this blog is the minimum stay requirement. Fine Hotels + Resorts only requires a one night booking, whereas The Hotel Collection requires a two night stay. Since Wynn Las Vegas is part of the Fine Hotels + Resorts program, I was only required to stay one night.
Why Did I Choose Las Vegas to Use my Amex Platinum Hotel Credit?
Well, I totally procrastinated and waited until last minute to spend my $300 for this period. Since I live in Los Angeles, I was desperately trying to find a hotel that I can spend the credit on but, of course, all the hotels under the Fine Hotels + Resorts program started at $500/night.
So, I started looking at Las Vegas since I knew hotels are relatively cheap during the weekdays. Also, historically, Vegas hotel prices drops the closer it gets to the holidays. Lo and behold, I found an amazing deal at the Wynn Las Vegas for a mid-week stay. Yes, luckily I get to work remotely so I can fly to Vegas in the middle of the week, but I’m here to tell you that this deal is worth taking a vacation day for.
I also later realized that I could have potentially booked a stay for the following year, as long as I prepaid during the eligible credit period. For example, if my $300 credit applied to July through December 2025, I could have booked a stay in 2026 as long as the payment was made between July and December 2025. Since the charge posts to your Amex immediately, the credit would typically appear within a few days. I have not personally tried this yet, but I have heard of others doing this successfully.
Why Did I Choose the Wynn Las Vegas?
Wynn actually was not my first choice. I originally wanted to stay at the Fontainebleau since I’ve never stayed there before and it also received a Michelin Key this year. In the end, I decided to skip Fontainebleau because it is quite far from the main part of the Strip, and their primary breakfast restaurant was closed during the dates I was planning to visit. On top of that, one of the FHR benefits was a $100 food and beverage credit, and none of the hotel’s restaurants really appealed to me.
My favorite hotel on the Strip happens to be the Encore, which is Wynn’s sister property. If given the choice, I would always pick Encore between the two. Although, this time I decided to try the Wynn side since they did a renovation so I thought I would check out what’s new.
How Much Did it Cost To Stay at the Wynn Las Vegas?
I stayed at the Wynn Las Vegas on a Wednesday-Thursday and it cost me $194.74. When you are calculating how much your $300 Amex Platinum hotel credit will be used towards, you want to look at the points amount. The $171.76 number is before taxes, but the credit covers the taxes so you want to look at the points amount which is 19,474 points or $194.74 (1 cent per point). Now, keep in mind that the $62.36 is the resort fee ($55 resort fee + $7.36 resort fee tax) is NOT covered by the Amex credit. You will have to pay that directly at the the hotel.
Now, you might be thinking, “Hey May, you have money left over from your $300 credit!” Well, you’re absolutely right. I have $105.26 leftover to be exact and I’ll explain what I did with it on a later post so make sure you stay tuned!
How To Find Cheap Wynn Rates Under $300?
Some of you might be wondering how you can cheap Wynn rates that are less than $300. Usually, what I do is go to Wynn’s actual website, click on their most affordable offer, and then use their calendar feature. That way you get an idea of what dates have the lowest prices. Then I’ll take those dates and check them on Amex’s FHR website. Below is a screen shot of what I pulled up for January to February 2026. As you can see, there are quite a few dates that are below $300/night. Now, Amex’s website probably will show a slightly higher rate which is to be expected, but at least you get an idea of where to start looking.
The Fine Hotels + Resorts Benefits at the Wynn Las Vegas
With each Fine Hotels + Resorts booking, you get a slew of benefit. Below is what is advertised for the Wynn Las Vegas.
$150 Spa Credit
It can be used at the Wynn Spa or Encore Spa. All massages start at $200 during the weekdays (Mon-Thurs) and jumps to $220 on the weekends (Fri-Sun). I booked myself for a 50-minute custom massage at the Wynn Spa for Thursday early afternoon. That way it would give me time to use the facilities and have time leftover to go back to the room and chill.
Also, side note, most properties under the Fine Hotels + Resorts program usually give you a $100 food and beverage credit as their special perk. Wynn Las Vegas is one of the few hotels that I’ve seen to specifically limit it to the spa, but at least, they give you $150 instead of the typical $100.
Complimentary Room Upgrade
I didn’t receive a suite or anything like that. They told me that Amex FHR guests receives a complementary room upgrade to their panoramic rooms which just means that you are on floors 28 and above. I did request a strip view which they did grant me albeit I only got floor 29.
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Complimentary Noon Check-In
I did not use this so I can’t attest if they would have given it to me or not.
Complimentary Guaranteed 4:00pm Late Check-Out
I used this but only stayed until 3:00 pm.
Complimentary In-Room Wi-Fi
Since you have to pay a resort fee when you check-in, the hotel credits you back $5.00 for the Wi-Fi since technically it’s supposed to come with the Amex FHR benefits. So, the resort fee drops from $55 to $50. After tax, it ends up being $56.69 ($50 resort fee + $6.69 resort fee tax). Photo down below.
Daily Breakfast for 2 People
They give you $60 to use for breakfast. Although it says for 2 people, I used all $60 on myself! You can use the credit at any of the Wynn-owned restaurants or even on room service. Since I rarely order room service, I decided to treat myself to that. Also, I was slightly hungover and I didn’t feel like getting dressed and going downstairs to eat.
I decided to order the Far East breakfast ($45), upgraded my juice ($2), and a side of sourdough toast ($7). The Far East breakfast was PLENTY of food for one person. It also comes with a choice of morning beverage AND choice of juice. So I got a coffee and the Vibrant Vert as my juice.
If you are like me and are really trying to figure out what is included and not included in the $60 breakfast credit, you’re in luck because I documented everything for you! By the picture below, you can see that they only charged me for the In-Room Dining Gratuity ($9.72), In-Room Dining Other ($5.00), and In-Room Dining Tax ($5.44). We already know that tax and gratuity is not included in the $60 credit, but it looks like that the DELIVERY CHARGE is included.
If you see on the left side, my subtotal is $65.00 which includes my food and the delivery charge. After they apply the $60, I’m left owing them $5. That $5.00 “In-Room Dining Other” charge is what is leftover after my $60 has been applied. This is interesting since I specifically called the front desk to confirm and they told me that the delivery charge it’s not included in the $60. But by the looks of my folio, it totally is included. If I wasn’t given wrong information to begin with, I definitely wouldn’t have ordered that extra $7.00 side of toast. Oh well, my loss is your gain!
FHR Special Welcome Amenity ($25)
This was an unexpected surprise and I really love Wynn for it. On top of the advertise benefits, they give you an extra $25 to spend on the mini bar or for a drink at one of their bars as a welcome gift! I spent it on a glass of wine (Frank Family Chardonnay $24) at the Lobby Bar at the Encore.
My Strategy of Staying Mid-Week
There is a reason why I specifically picked a mid-week stay and even more specifically Wednesday to Thursday, First and foremost, it’s just plain cheaper on the weekday. If I were to book the Wynn on a weekend night, it would probably start around $450 which would blow my whole Amex Platinum hotel credit budget and then some. Second, I wanted to stay as close to the weekend as possible but I didn’t choose Thursday-Friday because I’m actually saving those dates for another hotel stay as you’ll soon find out. Lastly, as mentioned above, if I book the spa during Monday-Thursday, it only costs $200 for a massage vs. $220 from Friday-Sunday.
Price Breakdown
This is how much is cost me out-of-pocket to stay one-night at the Wynn Las Vegas using my Amex Platinum hotel credit benefit and booking through Amex’s Fine Hotels+ Resorts website.
| Cost | Covered By Amex | Remaining Costs | |
| Hotel | $194.74 | -$194.74 | $0 |
| Resort Fee | $62.36 ($55+$7.36 tax) | -$5 (wifi credit) | $56.69 ($50+$6.69 tax) |
| Room Service Breakfast | $80.16 | -$60 | +$20.16 |
| Spa | $200 + $40 (tip)= $240 | -$150 | +90 |
| Welcome Drink | $24 + $1.01 (tax) + $4.80 (tip) = $29.81 | -$24 (tax + tip not included) | +$5.81 |
| TOTAL | $607.07 | -$433.74 | $172.66 |
Conclusion
I’m not going to toot my own horn but I think I found one of the best ways to use your $300 Amex Platinum hotel credit. For a hotel stay that could have cost over $600, I only had to spend $173 out-of-pocket. Yes, I know I spent money on the flight getting to Las Vegas, but if you have points or miles stashed away, you can easily use those to save money. I loved my stay at the Wynn so much I’m thinking about doing it again next year. Make sure to stay tuned to see where I spend the rest of my Amex Platinum hotel credit!
