During the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry was undoubtedly the hardest hit. The fear of traveling and the closing of borders in different countries paralyzed the world during the first six months of the pandemic, causing the most visited places in the world to become the most evaded.

One year after the start of the pandemic, AMEX had a very clear objective: Return to travel to improve overall engagement and increase awareness of travel benefits for Platinum Cardmembers to increase its use while travel suffers the most complicated moment in recent history.

We identified unique destinations for Platinum Cardmembers, on their own American Express Cards. We created Platinum Coordinates, the first travel platform in the world that converts card numbers into destinations.

In partnership with Google Technology, we transformed platinum card numbers into coordinates. We worked with partners to curate secluded experiences based on Cardmember coordinates, creating a new way of traveling for them.

After several months, even though borders began to open up in different parts of the world, the popular and most recognized tourist destinations continued to be avoided, especially by our cardmembers, as validated by American Express Travel Services.

Through extensive research on cardmember and segment behavior, search trends, Cardmember behavior, and syndicated research studies, we discovered that the luxury segment began to focus on a new trend: secluded luxury. Remote destinations, isolated villas, warm climates, and outdoor experiences now being key to our travelers.

With all this in mind, we reached our breakthrough moment. We had to completely reinvent the way our travel offering for our cardmembers, discarding the places that we had been offering for years. We curated unique and exclusive destinations for our cardmembers, personalized experiences, that could turn them from tourists to pioneers.

Our call to action: Discover how far your Platinum Card can take you.

To implement this unique experience, we used something no one else has, card numbers on our Cardmembers American Express Platinum Cards. These numbers were converted into coordinates that allowed us to tap into a pool of unique, bespoke, experiences to offer our cardmembers. All of them responding to the need for "secluded luxury".

Starting in April, with EMM and various internal communications to familiarize the American Express teams with the campaign, all Platinum Cardmembers were invited in a personalized way to discover their specific coordinates on a website and with that the unique experience that coordinate corresponded to.

We allow them to discover, browse and eventually connect with the booking team at TLS to make this unique experience come to life with American Express travel team.

We created the first travel platform in the world that converts card numbers into destinations; but more importantly, we created a new and safer way to travel exclusively for our cardmembers, where our card and its benefits are now more relevant than ever.

In the first week, over 600 experiences were crafted for Cardmembers.

The click-through rate of the first EMM that invited our cardmembers to discover their coordinates and bespoke experiences, was 48% of Platinum/Centurion Cardmembers.

Cardmember behavior has changed remarkedly thanks to Platinum Coordinates, with a renewed appetite to travel and have their platinum card at the center of the experience.

American Express had hope do generate 230 travel experiences for cardmembers based on this platform. We have surpassed that already. Other markets are looking to adopt and implement in their markets.