Amex Travel Portal Search

Search the American Express travel portal for flights and hotels via Patchright. Returns cash prices, MR points pricing, International Airline Program (IAP) discounts, and Fine Hotels & Resorts / The Hotel Collection benefits.

Requires Patchright (undetected Playwright fork). Amex blocks standard Playwright and agent-browser.

Must run headed (headless=False). Amex detects headless browsers. On macOS, a Chrome window briefly appears. For background operation, use Docker.

Prerequisites

pip install patchright && patchright install chromium

Or use Docker (no local install needed):

docker pull ghcr.io/borski/amex-travel:latest
# or build locally:
docker build -t amex-travel skills/amex-travel/

When to Use

• Compare Amex portal MR pricing against cash and award prices
• Find IAP (International Airline Program) discounted fares on Platinum
• Find FHR and THC hotels with benefits ($100 credit, breakfast, upgrade)
• Compare portal redemption value against transfer-to-airline value

When NOT to Use

• Completing purchases. Find flights and hotels only. Do not book.
• Non-Platinum cards. IAP fares and FHR benefits require the Platinum Card.

Usage

Flight Search

# Local (opens a Chrome window briefly)
python3 scripts/search_flights.py --origin SFO --dest CDG --depart 2026-08-11

# Round-trip business
python3 scripts/search_flights.py --origin SFO --dest CDG --depart 2026-08-11 --return 2026-09-02 --cabin business

# JSON output
python3 scripts/search_flights.py --origin SFO --dest CDG --depart 2026-08-11 --json

# Docker
docker run --rm \
    -v ~/.amex-travel-profiles:/profiles \
    -e AMEX_USERNAME -e AMEX_PASSWORD \
    amex-travel script /app/search_flights.py \
    --origin SFO --dest CDG --depart 2026-08-11 --cabin business --json

Hotel Search

# Local
python3 scripts/search_flights.py --hotel --dest "Oslo" --checkin 2026-08-13 --checkout 2026-08-15

# Docker
docker run --rm \
    -v ~/.amex-travel-profiles:/profiles \
    -e AMEX_USERNAME -e AMEX_PASSWORD \
    amex-travel script /app/search_flights.py \
    --hotel --dest "Oslo" --checkin 2026-08-13 --checkout 2026-08-15 --json

Record Mode (API Discovery)

Capture network traffic during a manual search:

python3 scripts/search_flights.py --record

Offline Debug (Hotels)

Save and re-parse hotel results without re-running the browser:

# Save page HTML after hotel search
python3 scripts/search_flights.py --hotel --dest "Paris" --checkin 2026-08-11 --checkout 2026-08-15 --save-html /tmp/amex-hotels.json

# Re-parse locally (instant, no browser)
python3 scripts/search_flights.py --parse-html /tmp/amex-hotels.json

2FA Flow

Amex uses email OTP for 2FA. After first login with "Add This Device", subsequent runs skip 2FA from the same profile.

How it works: When 2FA is triggered, the script prints 2FA_CODE_NEEDED to stdout and 2FA REQUIRED to stderr, then polls for the code. It will wait up to 2 minutes.

For agents: When you see 2FA_CODE_NEEDED in the script output, ask the user for the verification code Amex just emailed them. Once they provide it, write it to the code file:

echo "123456" > /tmp/amex-2fa-code.txt

The script picks up the file automatically and continues login.

Command hook (optional, for full automation): Set AMEX_2FA_COMMAND to a command that blocks until it has the code, then prints it to stdout. The script runs this instead of polling the file.

After first login with "Add This Device", 2FA is skipped on repeat runs from the same profile.

Known Limitation: travel-portal login captcha (May 2026)

As of Amex's May 2026 overhaul, submitting a flight search redirects through a separate travel-portal login gate (/account/travel/login) — even when already signed in to americanexpress.com — protected by a risk-based captcha layer. The script fills and submits the gate automatically, and the outcome depends on how Amex scores the session that run:

• Sometimes it passes — the automated re-auth is accepted and results load end to end (verified live July 2026: full Docker run returned 50 parsed flights).
• Sometimes it's silently swallowed — fields hold the correct values after submit, the form's own #loginSubmit was clicked, no error renders, captcha markers sit in the DOM, and the page never advances. Also verified live, same day, same credentials, same container.

The travel session is also short-lived (next-auth token, ~1 hour), so warm sessions expire quickly and the gate re-appears often. On gate failure the script prints a Gate diag: line (field/button/alert state) so breakage is diagnosable from logs, then exits promptly instead of waiting out the results timeout. Hotel search may be affected similarly.

The wall only exists on fresh logins. With a warm saved session (valid cookies + trusted device), the gate passes automatically and searches work end to end. So the recovery is a one-time human step, not a dead end:

1. When the gate rejects the automated login (captcha or otherwise), the script prints AMEX_HUMAN_LOGIN_NEEDED to stdout (and writes HUMAN_LOGIN_NEEDED to /tmp/amex-2fa-status.txt). For agents: stop retrying and tell the user to run the refresh script. (A separate sentinel, AMEX_BAD_CREDENTIALS, means the credential env vars contained an unresolved secret-manager reference instead of real values — fix the credential injection, not the login.)

2. The user runs, locally, not in Docker:

   python3 scripts/refresh_login.py
   

   A real Chrome window opens on the travel portal. They log in themselves (password, captcha, email code, "Add This Device"), and the script saves the refreshed cookies/profile automatically, printing AMEX_SESSION_REFRESHED when done.

3. Subsequent runs — including Docker runs mounting ~/.amex-travel-profiles — reuse the warm session and skip the gate.

To keep the session from going stale, run any cheap search (or refresh_login.py, which exits as soon as it sees a logged-in page) every week or two. Prefer a residential IP; datacenter and hotel IPs draw extra Akamai scrutiny.

How It Works

Flight Search Architecture

1. Auth: Cookie injection from saved profile. Falls back to fresh login with email 2FA.
2. Form filling: DOM-based search form automation (airport autocomplete, calendar picker, cabin selector)
3. Login gate: After form submission, Amex redirects through a login interstitial. Script handles re-authentication automatically (risk-based; see Known Limitation).
4. Data extraction (new UI, May 2026+): Results land on travel.americanexpress.com/en-us/book/flights/search-results, a Next.js app with no usable window.appData (__NEXT_DATA__ is config only). The script parses the DOM's [data-testid="offer-card-wrapper"] cards — airline, times, airports, duration, stops, cash, points, was/now discounts all carry dedicated data-testids.
5. Data extraction (legacy fallback): If no offer cards appear, the script falls back to the old window.appData Redux-store extraction (627KB JSON blob).
6. IAP detection: Cards carrying the private-fare-banner-PEP* banner with a "was $X now it's $Y" cash discount are IAP (Platinum Member Airfares), typically 10-15% off front-of-cabin international. Alaska "Insider Fares" (points-only discounts) are flagged separately via insider_fare/points_discount.

Hotel Search Architecture

1. Form filling: Same DOM-based approach as flights
2. Login gate: Handled automatically
3. Data extraction: Hotels render as a Next.js app with NO window.appData. Script parses the DOM using data-testid="hotel-offer-card" elements.
4. FHR/THC detection: Identified via data-testid="offer-banner" text ("Fine Hotels and Resorts" or "The Hotel Collection")
5. Benefits extraction: FHR/THC cards show benefits (breakfast, credit, upgrade) as data-testid="offer-amenities-item" elements

Data Structure

Flight results (from window.appData.flightSearch.itineraries[]):

• pricing_information[] with fare_type = PEP (IAP) or PUB (public)
• total_price.cents (cash), total_price_in_points (MR points = 1 cent per point)
• segment.legs[] with carrier, times, duration, cabin, equipment, amenities
• segment.seats_left, is_refundable, cancellation_policy

Hotel results (from DOM parsing):

• Hotel name, stars, city, distance
• TripAdvisor rating and review count
• Per-night price and total price
• MR points cost
• FHR/THC membership with specific benefits
• Standard amenities (wifi, breakfast, parking)

International Airline Program (IAP)

Platinum Card benefit. Lower fares on premium cabin seats for international flights on select airlines. Shows as a separate PEP fare type alongside PUB (public fare).

• Typically 10-15% savings on business/first class
• Not available on all routes or airlines
• Only visible when logged in with a Platinum Card

Output Format

Always use markdown tables.

Flights

Hotels

After Tables

• Flag IAP savings (show % discount)
• Note FHR/THC benefits and how they offset the rate
• Calculate effective CPP for MR redemptions (1 point = 1 cent at Amex portal)
• Compare against transfer-to-airline value
• Mention the $600/yr Platinum hotel credit ($300 per half-year, shared between FHR and THC)

Cabin Codes

Environment Variables

Troubleshooting

• Login gate after search: Normal. Amex always redirects through a login interstitial after form submission. The script handles this automatically.
• No appData found (flights): The page may not have fully loaded. Script waits for the Redux store to populate. Check if login succeeded.
• Empty hotel results: Hotels use DOM parsing, not appData. If the DOM structure changed, the data-testid selectors may need updating.
• Calendar picker fails: Amex uses div[role="button"] for calendar days (not <button>). The script uses class patterns automation-date-picker-month-{year}-{month} to find the right month container.
• 2FA code rejected: Amex codes expire quickly. Make sure the code is fresh (not an old one from a previous login).

Limitations

• Headed mode required. Amex detects headless. Docker+xvfb is the workaround.
• ~45 seconds per search. Login + form fill + login gate + results load.
• Hotel results via DOM only. No API interception available for hotels (Next.js app with empty __NEXT_DATA__). Parser depends on data-testid attributes.
• Device trust helps. After "Add This Device" on first login, 2FA is skipped for that profile. Keep profiles persistent via Docker volume mounts.