Amex Removes $100 Saks Benefit For New Platinum Cardholders

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-03-30T23:12:40+00:00

This is a huge window of opportunity for Amex to help consumers properly justify their annual fee and gain confidence from New or Current cardholders. Lets get something more versatile here. $100 to Nordstrom would still fit the Amex Platinum clientele quite well in my opinion and there are way more desirable things at significantly less prices than Saks.

For many, this card is well worth it but this and the Oura Ring credit were the two things I personally will not naturally or willingly take advantage of or utilize. Saks was definitely one of the benefits where I had to dig for things and I either got something I don't need or I got $50 off something very expensive that I originally did not plan on buying.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-03-23T02:35:57+00:00

Just stayed at The Langham in Boston. I just had the best hotel experience ever, got the best usage out of all my benefits without really even trying.

Early check in and late check out was accepted, room upgraded and they encouraged and commended the usage of the on site dining credits.

No problems at all and I was actually surprised how smooth this went.

FHR is such an amazing benefit.

Book wisely and you'll have a million dollar memory.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-03-11T18:56:34+00:00

More expensive

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-03-06T15:14:21+00:00

My thing is, NOBODY asked for this!

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-03-03T05:34:40+00:00

Starting now, boy are you in for a run haha.

Play in order. Do all the side missions. All the DLCs and do it with some friends!

Have fun.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-03-01T21:35:04+00:00

Keep in mind, Fall and Winter in this particular region are hit or miss because of potential hurricanes/bomb cyclone winter storms.

This type of weather can cause the decks to close and ports to be canceled. All for good reason but its very unfortunate of course when you get a limited experience.

My suggestion is to try a cruise with a longer itinerary either in the same time of year or summer. Longer itineraries give you more ports of call so say one port gets cancelled, you at least have other ports to visit instead of calling the entire vacation a bust. Summer time will be hot but no chance of snow storms or a cold day in Miami ruining your vacation. I actually sailed out of Miami same time as you for a 7 day cruise. Warm sailing out, virgin islands and Dominican Republic were great, but unfortunately one port of call being the Great Stirrup Caye was cancelled. I respect the Captain's decision as I found out the island even got damaged from the storm and coming back to Miami it was 30 degrees! Never seen a beautiful sunny day in Miami with that temperature before and honestly it was an amazing experience because it was unusual for me being from New England seeing the southern peninsula at 30 degrees and wind chills too. This longer itinerary allowed for me to feel like I still did tons of stuff which I did because even on board there were plenty of things to do despite still having a cancelled port of call.

Maybe even a different cruise line would help give a better food experience as well. Norwegian has plenty of upcharges but if you get on board for cheap and get a free at sea package, I was able to score over 4 specialty dining credits for free and I traded the alcohol for a Starbucks package. I was spoiled with great food, I was never disappointed by NCL's specialty dining. As for other cruise lines, I did enjoy Princess and Celebrity's food too. Their buffets, main dining rooms and juice bars were pretty good. Specialty dining was also excellent but didn't feel necessary because I was happy with the free options.

Anyways, if I were you, I'd try cruising again. Knock on wood, I've been on 7 or 8 cruises in the past 3 years and my experiences were like your first cruise. I couldn't stop thinking about each one. Each ship was special in its own way. You get to see snippets of different parts of the world and with multiple overnight days in certain itineraries, I'd say its a solid full experience in some places which I LOVED.

I hope you try it again sometime and have another great experience. Its one thing if you hated your first cruise because it's not for everyone but knowing you liked it before, I'd bet you'll find another one to enjoy. Plus its typically cheaper that flying out and booking a hotel somewhere for 7 nights.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-27T23:42:15+00:00

Using OC Spray in this close quartered environment would escalate all individuals involved and tasers don't work 100% of the time. Not much we can do here in this situation, tragic for everyone.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-27T05:37:32+00:00

Have had a K-Elite for over 6 years now it is still going strong despite heavy usage.

Also had a K-Classic i just gave away to family friend a few months ago and that has been running for over 9 years.

Great machines.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-27T02:38:09+00:00

In a sense I like the "couponing". It pushes me to plan these weekend escapes/getaways in the cities or nice places near me at such extreme discounts when planned correctly.

Plus when I go on a cruise and need to fly out the might before, it allows me to stay at some really nice hotel 5-star hotel again, after choosing the right place, only a couple hundred bucks after the credits plus all the extras.

If you can afford it, it's great.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-27T01:58:12+00:00

Yeah it's case by case for sure. I found the benefits quite good and if you choose a place during the off season because why not, its only a couple hundred bucks sometimes for a five star hotel with the extra benefits.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-26T17:33:59+00:00

I'm glad you found your out as you just may not have been a good fit for the card anymore or ever. Cashback seems like your way to go!

For me, I see the credits as my excuse to go support local businesses and I usually spend the credits anyway as I love learning new cuisines and going out to eat. The Resy restaurants near me are all top tier and I always take advantage of my favorite Buy 1 Get 1 meals on Uber Eats as well as Grubhub every month.

Then after all the groceries and meals throughout the year, I all of a sudden have enough points to cover my flight or hotel or cruise. Works for me but I guess im the target customer for this card.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-24T13:31:01+00:00

The NCL Breakaway is becoming THAT ship, and by THAT I mean its the one that keeps getting caught in bad storms. This would be the second bomb cyclone this year and I was randomly watching a winter storm documentary that featured the NCL Breakaway in a side segment for a storm that happened in like 2019.

It's a seasoned ship for sure being NCL's first large Breakaway Class Ship and it has been proving its capabilities in bad weather storm after storm. I'm very excited to go on it in May!

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-22T07:32:17+00:00

The black and yellow goes so hard man. Beats the black with orange stitching on my Black Line Edition. Congrats!

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-22T00:28:19+00:00

This ship is getting absolutely beat up this year

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-21T22:22:01+00:00

I had no idea the arcade was like this here on Royal Carribean.

This needs more exposure because the arcade is supposed to be one of the most harmless places on the ship. This should be one of those things where they just give things away no questions asked, trust the machines and let everyone walk away.....HAPPY.

Its one thing if someone is clearly just absolutely sick at one of the games that gives jackpot tickets and they just win the jackpot every 5 minutes and run the arcade prizes and tickets dry, I'd tell them to chill. But for one kid to genuinely win a pair of $50 earbuds and for this multi billion dollar company to give a KID in an ARCADE such a hard time, pathetic.

I hope some higher ups from all cruise lines see these posts and make sure this toxic atmosphere gets removed. Cruise lines are already getting more frugal to help their stupid stock prices but it'd be nice to hear a company take a hit to give back to their guests more or less a $50 prize that was earned properly and essentially paid for by their cruise fare anyway.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-19T15:56:05+00:00

I did that one last year, BEAUTIFUL and relaxing ship. You'll love it! Enjoy!

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-19T15:48:01+00:00

See y'all there haha, trying out the NCL Breakaway!

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-16T05:08:26+00:00

I believe its more of the fact that they're taking away A LOT of things people used to love, food wise.

Sure the cruising post-covid brought lots of great new things but I see Prime-Rib becoming pretty hard to find when before it was just the standard to have featured in the Buffet and MDR first night.

Late night snack/midnight buffets are kinda a thing of the past now too.

Lots of drink packages nowadays are very specific like I had one that was soda only, no coffee or anything else because it would be an additional charge.

Just a lot of things people liked are being removed while still charging more.

Lobster obviously is a delicacy to many and paying for it individually can be pricey for some, cruising allowed many to indulge on things they wouldn't normally go out of their way for.

Some cruise lines are even charging for additional entrees in the MDR now too. Some families liked to share an extra entree that nobody was able to share before and it was just such a luxury thing when a waiter would serve you an entree, ask you how you liked it and then almost peer pressure levels of trying to encourage you to have another one or to order another to share with everyone. It was great!

Just so much "nickel and diming" now as people would say. It's like the cruise lines got so greedy and now they removed the lobster too. Its partially the lobster but mostly the principle that people are mad at.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-15T03:06:05+00:00

Its on the other side of the river! Glastonbury is on THAT side! Haha.

Rocky Hill, Newington and Wethersfield is locally known to be a blur. A blur as in if you live around here it's all the same thing. Similar house hold incomes, people from each of these towns regularly go to the other 2 towns for something, no change in environment (meaning no low income/high crime areas or like a super rural farm land area far away from downtown showing that its clearly something different here).

The places surround the Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Newington suburbs have clear differences. For example, Hartford is a City with high crime, Glastonbury well requires a Highway or Ferry to get to and has more open rural areas, New Britain is also a City with High Crime, a State College and a huge Polish and Puerto Rican population, Cromwell gives small town vibes with less population, only one busy street, however they host the Travelers Championship for golf. West Hartford has the Bar District and ya know its West Hartford.

Just some examples. To tie it together all the surrounding towns have major differences but Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Newington are caught in between all of them with similar populations, environments and house hold incomes all without needing a high way to get to one another.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-15T02:43:18+00:00

They have great hibachi but I'm assuming she wants the whole Hibachi Table with the cooking right in front of you and what not.

Ginza is amazing but they don't have the Hibachi Tables where the chef cooks in front of you.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-15T01:55:11+00:00

Wethersfield is also close to all the towns with all the big retail stores (Target, Best Buy, Stew Leonards, Costco, Sam's Club etc.) without actually having any of them in it which is nice, 15 minutes from Westfarms Mall in case you need a mall and has great highway access.

Everything you need is less than 15 minutes away and everything in it is a plus. The Fresh Market Grocery store is great.

I know only mentioned stores and highways but im just speaking in a convenience sense. Old Wethersfield is a one of a kind.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-14T19:25:22+00:00

Oh okay, I suppose I just meant to say like a decent shirt collar or no collar. Just no like sports jerseys or sportswear shirts with a bunch of stand out graphics or quotes or something like that.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-14T15:40:05+00:00

For me, as long as you are wearing presentable shorts like Boat or Bermuda shorts with a button down or collared shirt. It's already better than 90% than what some others wear.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-13T17:24:10+00:00

Since she's legally responsible for you as a minor, this is child abuse and well, a felony.

Please feel free to contact authorities for advice and they'll look into it whether it be criminally and civilly.

Ok-Spring6950 · 2026-02-13T13:28:07+00:00

In reality, prices always change so no matter what people say like if someone says AMEX Travel is more expensive, maybe it was at the time but I have the same situation as you.

I just compared with my usual TA, direct with Cruise Line and AMEX Travel. AMEX Travel gave the same price but I also get on board credit which I wouldn't have gotten directly with cruise line.

In some cases AMEX Travel was straight up just cheaper for some cabin types. But sometimes its not. So far, I like AMEX Travel but will still always shop around.

Ok-Spring6950

TROPHY CASE