The new travel collection membership fee is waived with an amex gold or plat, personal and biz.
There is very very little information out there about these programs, so having done hours of training I thought I would offer to answer questions here about the program.
1. There are some very good deals on air - both international and domestic on United. Business class to tel Aviv is an exceptional deal in every inventory.
2. The deals are on Air, cruise and land tours. Often times combinable with other deals, so just extra perks on for example cruises. Where you get shipboard credits, and then TTC extra credits.
3. Sign up is easy via the phone number, or via a registered Travel leaders group travel agency.
4. Bookings through TTC or a TTC agency are eligible for amex Pay with points (depending on your standing with amex obviously).
(I am not yet 100% sure about the 35% bonus back though. I have a ticket redemption processed so will know within a month if it posts the bonus. So far it is exactly identical to regular amex redemptions though.)
5. The TTC is brand new and will likely get much better over the next few months.
Feel free to PM me with questions.