Romania will quickly grow to be the seventieth nation I’ve visited, and I need to make it memorable.
To take action, I mixed two helpful bank card perks to e-book a keep on the metropolis’s highest-rated resort. I used the as much as $300 biannual resort assertion credit score* from my American Specific Platinum Card® to e-book and prepay three nights by way of American Specific Superb Accommodations + Resorts; then, I added a fourth evening utilizing my annual free evening certificates from an IHG bank card.
I am making the journey to Bucharest this winter and can spend the 4 nights with an in depth good friend. We plan to see a $35 symphonic live performance, unwind on the large Therme spa complicated and revel in a refined resort keep with out spending a fortune.
By stacking these perks, I turned what may have been a easy weekend getaway into considered one of my best-value journeys but.
*Enrollment required
Reserving the InterContinental Bucharest by way of Superb Accommodations + Resorts
I booked a three-night keep on the InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest, a historic IHG property within the coronary heart of the town. It is at present ranked the highest resort in Bucharest out of almost 200 properties on TripAdvisor, making it a becoming selection for this milestone journey.
My whole for 3 nights got here to $441. That charge already included a third-night-free promotion, the most effective ongoing gives within the Superb Accommodations + Resorts program. These free-night offers are particularly frequent for offseason journey and might stretch your {dollars} a lot additional at luxurious properties.
After paying with my Platinum Card, I acquired the $300 pay as you go resort assertion credit score inside three days, dropping my precise out-of-pocket price to only $141.
Associated: Lodge reserving choices: When to pay with money, factors, miles, a free evening award or a bank card profit
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Advantages included with my keep
By means of FHR, I will take pleasure in:
- Midday check-in (when out there)
- Room improve (when out there)
- Assured 4 p.m. late checkout
- Each day breakfast for 2 (good for me and my good friend)
- A $100 meals and beverage credit score to make use of through the keep (which we’ll use this for dinner and drinks one evening)
These perks can simply add tons of of {dollars} in worth, elevating an ordinary reserving into a really premium expertise.
Incomes Amex factors
As a result of FHR bookings code as pay as you go resort purchases, my reserving earned 5 Membership Rewards factors per greenback spent on the $441 cost, for a complete of two,205 factors.
At TPG’s November 2025 valuation of Amex factors at 2 cents every, that is roughly $44 in rewards worth.
Including a free evening by way of IHG
To make it a four-night keep, I redeemed my annual free evening certificates from my IHG One Rewards Choose Credit score Card. The certificates covers stays as much as 40,000 factors, and since rooms throughout my dates had been priced at 36,000 factors per evening, it was a great use.
The knowledge for the IHG One Rewards Choose Credit score Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Whereas the IHG Choose Card is now not out there to new candidates, the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card (see charges and costs) and IHG One Rewards Premier Enterprise Credit score Card (see charges and costs) each provide comparable annual free evening certificates.
Associated: How my IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card pays for itself every year
Complete worth acquired
Between the Amex Platinum advantages, the FHR promotion and my IHG certificates, this four-night keep delivered distinctive worth for little or no out-of-pocket price.
| Profit | Worth |
|---|---|
| Free third evening (FHR promo) | $147 (roughly) |
| Free fourth evening (free evening certificates) | $147 (roughly) |
| Each day breakfast for 2 (three days) | $180 (roughly) |
| $100 eating credit score | $100 |
| Membership Rewards points-earning | $44 |
| Complete estimated worth | $618 |
This does not even account for a possible room improve or midday check-in, or the assured 4 p.m. late checkout.
My out-of-pocket price for this keep was simply $141; nonetheless, I pay an $895 annual charge for my Amex Platinum (see charges and costs; renewed at $695 in September) and $49 for the IHG Choose Card.
Even so, the worth I obtain from each playing cards far exceeds what I pay every year. The Platinum’s journey and life-style advantages, paired with IHG Choose’s annual free evening certificates, proceed to justify their annual charges — and this Bucharest keep alone coated a large chunk of that.
Associated: How I scored a $35 per evening Hilton keep in Portugal with two Amex playing cards
Backside line
For $141 out of pocket, I will spend 4 nights at Bucharest’s top-rated resort, full with day by day breakfast, a $100 eating credit score, and the prospect of a room improve — all whereas incomes helpful Amex Membership Rewards factors.
Even with annual charges, this journey reveals how a lot real-world worth journey rewards playing cards can ship when used strategically. By pairing Amex’s Superb Accommodations + Resorts program with an IHG free evening, I’ve turned customary card advantages right into a memorable, high-value expertise.
For me, this journey is the right instance of how the factors sport can remodel on a regular basis card perks right into a luxurious expertise shared with a liked one.
To study extra, learn our full assessment of the American Specific Platinum Card.
Associated: 10 inns the place your Amex Platinum resort credit score covers half (or extra) of your keep
For charges and costs of the Amex Platinum Card, click on right here.
