American Express Platinum cards offer up to $200 per year in airline fee reimbursements. These reimbursements can go a long way towards easing the sting of the high annual fees charged by personal Amex Platinum and Business Platinum cards and the Hilton Aspire offers up to $250 per year in airline fee reimbursements. Readers often wonder which types of charges will trigger these credits and/or which methods still work. In many cases in this post, we have cleaned up by removing older data points and replacing with some newer ones. If something is listed as working, it very likely still works; we’ll be sure to change it as soon as we have verified negative datapoints. On that note, reader input is always appreciated. Share your data points in the comments.
Amex airline fee credits are offered by calendar year. For example, Platinum cardholders can get up to $200 in fee credits for charges made up until December of this year, and $200 more for charges made next calendar year.
Step 1 is to make sure that you’ve selected a preferred airline here. Officially, you can change this selection once per year in January (if you don’t change it, your previous selection remains in place). Anecdotally, chat agents are usually willing to help you change your selected airline if you need to do so during the year.
Step 2 is to make qualifying purchases with your airline of choice in order to get reimbursed.
Things you need to know about Amex airline fee credits
A few helpful notes for airline incidental credits:
- Be sure to select your chosen airline at least one calendar day before attempting to use the credit. We sometimes see a lag before eligible charges are credited. Waiting for the email confirming that you’ve selected an airline is not always enough.
- Wait at least 2 weeks before assuming failure. While credits often post within a few days and/or the benefit counter typically moves before the credits post, there are frequently periods where things post more slowly than usual. Wait at least two weeks before attempting a different charge, contacting Amex, or reporting a negative data point.
- Charges are reimbursed based on the date of charge and count toward the allotment for the year in which the charge is dated. For example, a charge that posts to your statement dated December 29, 2022 will count against your 2022 airline incidental credit even if the charge itself doesn’t reimburse until early 2023. However, don’t wait until the very last minute — I once charged United club passes late at night on 12/31 and the charge posted with a 1/1 date and I missed using the airline incidental credits.
- While Amex officially says that you can change your airline once each year in January, chat agents are often willing to change it for you if you ask nicely, even mid-year (and sometimes even if you’ve used part of the credit already).
What purchases count… officially?
Eligible incidental fees include:
- Checked baggage fees (including overweight/oversize)
- Itinerary change fees
- Phone reservation fees
- Pet flight fees
- Seat assignment fees
- In-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, headphones)
- In-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet because it’s not charged by the airline)
- Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
And, officially, the following purchases are not deemed to be incidental fees:
- Airline tickets
- Upgrades
- Mileage points purchases
- Mileage points transfer fees
- Gift cards
- Duty free purchases
- Award tickets
What purchases count… unofficially?
Sometimes purchases of gift cards (update: As of July 2019, gift cards appear to be mostly dead with an occasional exception when the purchase does not code as a gift card), award fees, or even low-cost airfare are reimbursed even though they shouldn’t be. In some cases there seem to be maximum dollar limits. The things that work or don’t work vary by airline and over time. Something that worked in the past won’t necessarily work today.
The following table shows the unofficial stuff that works or doesn’t work with each airline that can be chosen as your preferred airline:
Alaska Airlines
**Note** In 2022, there were many reports of Alaska charges not being reimbursed automatically. It seems that many have had success getting charges for premium seat selection and things that ordinarily should be included (like lounge access, onboard purchases, etc) manually credited via the chat function, but only after 2 weeks has passed since the transaction date. Historical Alaska data included below, but beware that you may need to chat and hope for a friendly agent. See more data in this Flyertalk thread.
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Alaska Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Award redeposit fee | $125 (x 2 passengers) 6/19. Had to call as it did not post automatically (via Flyertalk) |
| Fare difference | Price increase if $9 and $50. 12/20 (ykz1991) |
| Seat selection | • $65 PC seat selection (automatic) 12/20 (safari ari) • $45 & $49 seat upgrade 12/20 (Grant) • $149 PC seat selection (via chat). 12/20 (bbmatt) • $99 PC seat selection (via chat) 12/20 (EddyRoad) |
| Club Membership | 7/19. Had to call to get it to post (Randy) |
| Split Airfare Purchase | 9/6/22: $250 airfare paid with $101 in wallet funds and $149 charged to Aspire card (Summit) $149 ticket paid with $50 gift card and $99 charged to card (Camilla) |
| Airfare purchase | $58.10 & $78.10 saver fares (note previous failure reports below; YMMV) 12/20 (Grant) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $100 |
Via BK250: • 8/3/19: $63.30, reimbursed 8/7 • 8/9/19: $54.30, not reimbursed • 8/19/19: $63.30, not reimbursed • 9/12/19: $68.80, not reimbursed • 6/22/20: $49, not reimbursed (PeterSFO) |
| E-gift card | • Gift card purchases stopped working summer 2017 • $50 10/28/17 • $25 8/6/17 |
| Split Airfare | • $138 two tickets for $69 each on card + $25 Alasksa gift card not reimbursed 1/22 (Lrdx) • 1/22 (Victor) |
| In-flight snacks | 1/22 (Victor) |
American
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on American Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Split airfare purchase | $107.60 ticket purchased with $60 flight credit + $47.60 on Platinum card 7/22 (redtop43 on flyertalk) but see negative data point in “What fails” section below also |
| In-flight food & beverage | $18 in drinks 8/22 (FallenPlat on flyertalk) |
| Seat selection | • Main Cabin Extra purchased online ($138). 8/22 (Nick) • Main Cabin Extra purchased at kiosk. 12/20 (durial) • First Class upgrade purchased at kiosk 12/20 (durial) |
| Admirals Club | • Day pass 12/20 (durial) • Food / bar tab 12/20 (durial) |
| Physical Gift card $50 or less | 12/9/17: Note that we are doubtful this still works, but did not uncover a direct data point. |
| 5 Star Service | $325 3/21/17 |
| Mileage Multiplier | 7/4/19 |
| Unaccompanied minor fee | 8/2022 (John) |
| Award taxes** | **Note that award taxes and fees are not consistently reimbursed. See “What fails” for negative data points. 9/2022: $11.20 x 2 (Robert) |
| Upgrade sticker | $0 500 mile sticker 12/20 (Travelfitforaking) $40 500 mile stickers. 12/20 (festriaqua) $40.00 500 mile upgrade purchased online 7/26/19 (Will). Also reported by cliburn. |
| Status Buyback | Buyback for Gold status triggered credit (reader report on Youtube) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Split airfare | $200 ticket using $140 trip credit and $60 on Platinum card 9/22 (lowkeyflyer on flyertalk) |
| E-gift card | Gift card purchases stopped working for many around February / March 2019. It just depends on how AA codes the purchase (coded as a gift certificate will not trigger the credit) and we have not been able to determine a way to predict how it will code. We had some positive reports in February, but most data points from mid-February onward have been negative. |
| $75 close-in fee | 7/15/19 (Dan P) |
| Award taxes | Reports here are inconsistent. Most fail, but there are some reports of fees being reimbursed (see this 5/22 report from merlin90 on flyertalk) 8/2022: $64 did not credit (Nick) 6/2022: $5.60 did not credit (Mark) |
Delta
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Delta Air Lines?
| What Works? | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Award fees under $200 | 11/2022 $185 (Bikeguy) 8/22/22: $124.70 (omxfl on flyertalk) 12/2020: $167 12/20 (JDK) 12/9/17: $54.76 |
| Lounge guest pass | 5/2022: $39 (Jeff) |
| Companion Ticket Taxes | 8/9/20: $20.20 (Greg) |
| Mileage Booster | 10/2019: $59 (Patrick) |
| Change Fee | • 12/9/22: Changed ticket to a more expensive one (Greg) |
| Split Airfare Purchase | • 2/2022: $733 ticket split between $500 gift card + $233 on Platinum card (Satellite) • 12/28/21 $248.40 ticket using 5,000 miles for a $50 discount + $198.40 charged to Platinum card (danfl44 at flyertlak) • 8/3/22: $297.20 ticket split between $50 gift card and $247.20 on Platinum card triggered $200 incidental credit (SoloDolo on flyertalk) • 8/3/22: $357 ticket split between 15K miles ($150) and $207 charged to Business Platinum triggered $200 credit (woodcmfr on flyertalk) • 11/28/21: $91.84 charged to card combined with previous flight credit (Anon) • 7/12/21: $198 ticket split between $50 gift card + $148 on Platinum card (Bethany) • 7/12/21: $162 ticket split between $50 gift card + $112 on Platinum card triggered remaining $52 of airline fee credit (Bethany) • 12/2020 $260 ticket split between $50 gift card + $210 on Aspire + $25 seat selection (Veteran Traveler) • 12/2020: $230 ticket split between $50 gift card + $180 on Platinum (Veteran Traveler) • 12/2020: $240 ticket split between miles + $190 on card. 12/20 (Dynastar) • 11/2020: 5K miles + $98.10 using card. 11/20 (Kelly) |
| In-flight WiFi** | 8/2022: Viasat charge triggered the credit (fold on flyertalk), but reports are that GoGo Internet charges will not trigger credit |
| Airfare | 1/20/22: $120 (Mel), but note that Greg has what appears to be a negative data point in 12/2022 |
| Upgrade to Comfort Plus (YMMV) | $200 Used the “change flight” function to switch to Comfort Plus 8/22 (hereitgoes) $169 (Patrick) YMMV: Not automatic, reimbursed via chat 1/21 |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Cheap airfare | 12/6/22: $78.60. Note that the cost to change to a more expensive ticket type did get reimbursed. (Greg) |
| Gift cards over $50 | |
| Award fees over $200 | |
| eGift cards | As per many reports at Flyertalk, this likely died around 6/22/19 |
| Economy Plus Upgrade |
7/12/19 (Arlington Traveler) |
Frontier
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Frontier Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Discount Den membership | 3/20 (Hsn) |
| Airfare | • 1/2020: $38.98 1/20 (pragmaticpoints) • 8/10/2019: $18.31 on 8/10/19 (Rex) |
| Split Airfare | • 10/20/21: $108.17 combined with $59 Frontier credit 10/20/21 (Holly) • 6/2020: $119 paid as a mix of vouchers and money 6/20 (wed100105) |
| Seat selection | $17 1/20 (pragmaticpoints) |
| Fee for kids free with vouchers | Total under $30 (Usernamechuck) |
What fails?
We don’t yet have failure reports for Frontier charges.
Hawaiian
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Hawaiian Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $50 | • 1/31/22: $39.10 x 4 (swdcflyer on flyertalk) • 1/21/2021: Fare under $50 (Michael) • 11/21/2017: $29.83 (via Flyertalk). Used gift card to reduce airfare |
| Extra comfort upgrade | • 12/31/21: $99 x 2 (sullim4 on flyertalk) • 6/2019: $89 (benjinito) • 6/2020: $180 (Guest) |
| Food & beverage on board | Success reported 10/18 (via Flyertalk) |
| Seat upgrade | $10 (Michael) 1/21 |
| Split payment for airfare w/ less than $50 charged to the card | $29.80 & $44 11/18 (via Flyertalk) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Gift cards | $50 7/19/17 (via Flyertalk) |
| Airfare over $50 | $53 10/17 (via Flyertalk) |
JetBlue
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on JetBlue?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $150? | • $97 9/22 (Michael Spellman on flyertalk) • $116.60 & $83.40 4/22 (LAST EXIT on flyertalk) • $145.60 1/22 (Jason) • $140 11/20 (Bill) • $100 11/20 (christvs) • $108.10 11/20 (earthisdoomed) |
| Award taxes / fees | • $5.60-$85 7/19 (via Flyertalk) • $130 (1/19) (via Flyertalk) |
| Cancellation fees | $75 7/19 (via Flyertalk) |
| Seat selection | $5 11/20 (financialhippie) |
| Upgrade from Mint to Mint Studio | $199 6/22 (fishccy on flyertalk) |
| Even More Space upgrade | $35, $50 1/19 (via Flyertalk) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare over $150 | • $151.10 9/20 (Earthgoeshard) • $250 1/11/17 (via Flyertalk) |
| Gift cards | They don’t sell them |
Spirit
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Spirit Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| $9 Fare Club Membership | • $59.92 (1/20) (optimilez2016) • $69 11/18 (Joe) |
| Big Front Seat | • 5/11/22: Confirmed Big Front Seat package works (Vincent) • 1/2020: $41 x2 (optimilez2016) |
| Partial Airfare | $6 (Rest using airline credit) 12/20 (Joe Y) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Ticket purchase | $52.80 1/20 (optimilez2016) |
| Bags bundled with ticket purchase | 1/20 (and a couple previous DPs) (s.k.d) |
Southwest
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Southwest Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $100 | • 12/17/22: $83.98 x 3 (Lrdx) • 11/30/22: $89.98 (Cathy) • 4/1/22: $98 (Harsh B) • 1/2021: $94 (Scott) • 1/2021: $71.99 & $48.99 (KKM) • 12/2020: $49.98 (John) • 5/2020: $99 (Mark and Greg) • 1/2020: $54 (Chia) – I don’t recommend doing this |
| Airfare over $100 | • 12/2020: $104.98 (Jed) • 12/20/19: $100.50 ($200 rebated out of $201 in charges, so we now know that $100 isn’t the exact limit) (David G) |
| Early bird check-in | • 1/2022: $20 (Chris) • 5/14/20: $20 (Greg) • 9/11/19: $50 (Norm) |
| Award Fees | • 1/2022: $97.76 (Dee) • 12/2020: $11.20 (Beth) • 11/2020 $70.34 (Greg) • 2/2020: $5.60 (Matthew) |
| A1-A15 boarding | 12/2019: $40 (Sdin123) |
| Split payment for airfare w/ under $100 charged to card | 10/2019: $96 Used a gift card to pay part of the airfare ($42) and paid $96 remainder on Amex Gold. Got $96 credit. (Marshall Davis) Jason reported success too. |
| In-flight beverage | 11/19 (veeRobb) |
| Itinerary change | 5/13/22: $5 & $3.02 (Nick) 5/17/20: $66.50 (Greg) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| On-board Wi-Fi | $8 charge posted, but was not credited (2/18) |
| $185 e-Gift card | Charge posted 6/22/18, no reimbursement as of 7/9/18 (Katie) |
| All e-Gift cards | Stopped working in June 2019 (via Flyertalk) |
| Split payment for airfare w/ $100 or more charged to card | $155 (7/19) via Flyertalk |
United
**Note that you may need to wait until the next business day after selecting United as your qualifying airline. Since TravelBank works as of 12/22, most of the other uses are less interesting.
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on United Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Standard stuff | Economy Plus, United Club, Pet Fee, Same Day Flight Change (Note: A charge for United Club one-time passes on December 31st posted with a date of January 1st and missed using the annual credit – Nick) |
| Seat upgrade | Made through kiosk 11/18 (Ambrosio) |
| Economy+ seat | $132 12/23/21 (Elizabeth) 6/22/19 from Flyertalk and also $175 for transatlantic Economy+ seat in 2/19 (SKJL).$84 each (x 2) 2/20 (Matthew) |
| United TravelBank | Note that TravelBank has stopped working and started working again several times over the past few years, so it’s always worth checking back for any new DPs here before making a purchase. 12/17/22: $50 and $100 loads (Joe Y) 11/2022: $100 x 2 (MalMel) 5/15/22: TravelBank is working. |
| In-flight WiFi | 12/19/22: $8 in-flight WiFi (Nick) 11/2020 (atat) |
| In-flight F&B | 12/18/22: $10.99 snack box (Nick) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Upgrade from economy to first class |
$175 charge on 12/27/2018 may have been too large to look like a fee |
| Split payment with GC and airfare under $100 | $50.19 partial ticket payment did not trigger credit 3/26/22 (Captain Greg) |
| MileagePlus X App Purchases | |
| United Gift Registry | This doesn’t really fail — it’s just no longer available |
| Award Fees | This appears to have stopped working according to a DP from JB in San Diego from October 2019. |
| Gift Card | |
| $99 Upgrade Fee | 2016 |
Please report your results!
If you try any unofficial options, please let us know via the comments whether it worked. Tell us the date of purchase, what you purchased, the dollar amount, and whether or not you were reimbursed. Please do not report purchases that are officially reimbursed unless you do not get the credit.
What to do if you’re not reimbursed?
First, double check that you picked the airline in question as your preferred airline. If you did not, then Amex won’t reimburse you (but they have been known to make an exception if you call and say that you forgot to set your preferred airline).
If you do not get reimbursed for things that are officially allowed (checked bags, change fees, lounge fees, etc.), then contact Amex for help. If you do not get reimbursed for things that are not officially allowed (gift cards, award fees, airfare, etc.) do not contact Amex. You weren’t really supposed to get reimbursed for those anyway.
Other cards that offer fee reimbursements
Quite a few other cards offer airline fee reimbursements. We’d like to setup pages like this for each of them. For example, see: Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa airline fee credits: What works?
If you have experience earning or not earning airline fee credits with other cards, we’d like to hear that too! Please comment below with your experience, but please make sure to include the card name and airline in your comment. Here are some that have been reported:
CNB Crystal Visa Infinite 7/30/17 $54.86 Delta award fee reimbursed 8/3/17 (Greg)
CNB Crystal Visa Infinite 6/1/18 $56.02 Southwest fee to change from anytime to Business Select (Justice Jen)
CNB Crystal Visa Infinite 2019-Feb-14 $50 AA eGC — reimbursed 2019-Feb-20 (Jeph36)
CNB Crystal Visa Infinite 2019-Feb-20 $200 AA eGC — reimbursed 2019-Feb-27 (Jeph36)
CNB Crystal Visa Infinite (P2) 2019-Mar-03 $250 AA eGC — reimbursed 2019-Mar-13 (Jeph36)
PenFed Pathfinder 2019-Mar-04 $100 AA eGC — reimbursed 2019-Jun-06 (Jeph36)
Previous Post Updates
Update 1/18/21: Reports indicate that United Travel Bank purchases are once again dead. Click to skip to the rest of the “Amex Airline Fee Reimbursements” post.
Update 12/15/20: Recent data points added for most airlines. As a general piece of advice, don’t panic if a few days pass and you aren’t yet reimbursed. If there are positive data points in the chart, there is a good chance that it still works. Sometimes reimbursement happens in 2 or 3 days, sometimes 2 or 3 weeks. Report your data points in the comments. Thanks!
Update 7/22/19: Added many data points. eGift cards no longer consistently work with any airline, though a number of other options remain or have since been found. Added a table of contents below for convenience so you can find your chosen airline. Please add your data points in the comments (but wait a few weeks to be sure your credit posts or doesn’t post before reporting it as alive/dead).
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Data point on Personal Platinum: Selected Spirit Airlines on 2/24/2023 and charged Club Spirit at $69.95 on he same day. Credit for $69.95 posted on 3/1/2023
DP: 4x $50 UA Travel Bank Purchases on 2/20/23. Credited on 2/25/23, but only after contacting AMEX to get my $200 FHR credit posted (could be a coincidence, but both were posted within the same hour).
[…] airline tickets are officially not recognized, there are reports which indicate Southwest, Delta and JetBlue flights under $99 will be reimbursed. However, this is […]
Southwest: $78.98 ticket purchased on 02/16. Credit applied on 02/21.
Delta data points:
1) Airfare purchase using $20 ecredit and $160 gift card ($156.70 USD charged to Platinum; airfare price charged in CAD) – Successful
2) $46.30 award fee taxes (charged to Platinum as CAD) – Successful
Southwest tickets purchased on 2/7/23: $93.98 and $95.98
Credit applied for both tickets: 2/11/23
Just used three different Platinum cards to make $50 & $100 purchases on United Travel Bank through the same United Account for a total of $600. All refunded within a week. All Purchases were on 2/2 refunded 2/7.
Jetblue datapoints:
$88.90 airfare (successful)
$12 seat assignment (successful)
$5.60 award taxes (successful)
$30 checked bag fee (successful)
Have you tried buying a Delta gift card (which I know won’t trigger the credit), but then using it to offset fees on a higher priced ticket for around $200? Do you think that might work?
I haven’t done that but yes I’m sure that would work.
Delta credit of $188 on $238 ticket; used 5,000 points to bring down the actual $ cost. Booked 12/23/22; credited a few days later. Personal Platinum card.
DP: AA mileage mulitplier, $161 charged 1/16, credit 1/21
1/12/23 Delta $63.84 x 2 award taxes & fees worked on Amex Personal Platinum
11/24/22. Paid 2 x $117 in award ticket taxes, full $200 reimbursed on Business Platinum.
Bus Plat $50 and $100 purchased UA travelbank on 1/10/23 and credited on 1/15/23.
Anyone have Alaska selected as their airline? Things have been getting worse and worse. I’ve always had to contact a rep to get seat selection adjusted but now I’m getting pushback on reversing any charge.
Aspire $250 towards Alaska lounge membership purchase (Told me the charge was ineligible).
MS Platinum $200 over several tickets for seat selection (Saying it was coded as passenger ticket).
I don’t see why Alaska would care or start changing their codes so I feel like it’s on Amex’s side. I fly United infrequently enough that I’m thinking about switching my airline to United and being done with it.
January 8 2023
Southwest two split fares with fare credits $74 and $69, both credited 6 days later
Delta split fare $9 credit and $209 on platinum, reimbursed $200 six days later
Southwest ticket purchase of $96.80 and $103.20 successfully credited to Amex Biz Plat on 14 Jan ’23 after waiting 5 days.
Southwest Airlines two one way flights $98.98 each, both reimbursed January 2023.
American lounge passes and United lounge passes both worked 12.2022
How long did it take for you to get reimbursed on the United passes? I did mike end of Dec and still waiting. :/
within a week
Bus Plat $50 purchased UA travelbank on 1/4/23 and credited on 1/9/23.
does the delta credit still works if the ticket price is in Canadian Dollars?
Yes! I just did this a few days ago. See my Delta data points from February 16, 2023.
DP for Delta using a Plat Biz:
$292 on the card, $124 travel credit -> NO credit ($292 is over the $250 limit)
$210 on the card, $50 travel credit -> CREDITED in 4 days
$216 on the card, $950 travel credit -> CREDITED in 4 days
UA travel bank:
Plat (Schwab) : $100 on 1/3/23. Credited on 1/8/23
Plat (vanilla) : $100 on 1/3/23. Credited on 1/8/23
United Award booking fee:
Plat (Schwab) : $46.90 on 1/1/23. Credited on 1/6/23
This one surprised me to be honest.
UA travel bank:
Plat (vanilla) : $100 x2 on 1/2/23. Credited on 1/7/23
Plat (MorgStan) : $100 x2 on 1/2/23. Credited on 1/7/23
Aspire : $100 x2, $50 on 1/2/23. Credited on 1/7/23
DP: UA $100 travel bank purchased on 1/2/23. Credited on 1/7/23.
DP. UA 5x $100 travel bank purchased on 1/1. Credited on 1/6.
I switched my Aspire to SW the morning of 1/1/2023 and booked an award ticket that evening. $5.60 reimbursed on 1/6/2023
Worked (12/29/22): Delta – Award Taxes for JFK-LHR Flight ($195.15 total). Reimbursed 4 days later
Southwest ticket purchased: $98.98 (x2) 12/25
Credit applied: 12/30
I used $50 Delta gift card and remaining $193 on Platinum card; so far, no credit has been issued(its been 5 days….fingers crossed)
Too soon. Reimbursements have been consistently taking a week for the past month or two.
United Travel Bank $50 deposits on 12/21 & 23/2022, were credited on Platinum Business card within 6 days.
Nick, one important piece of information that is missing for the Delta gift card trick is that the remaining charge that goes on a card has to be $250 or less. I tried with ~$294 on the card and this didn’t trigger the credit after 10 days. I made another transaction where only $210 went on the card and this triggered the full $200 credit after 4 days.
United Travel Bank purchases worked for me on my consumer Platinum card. Made 2 $100 purchases on 12/27/2022. Credits posted on 01/01/2023. Credit applied for the 2022 year benefit
I booked a miles ticket on American on 12/25 for travel 12/27, and it offered 5k miles for around $165 as part of the check out process, and sure enough the $165 charge got credited back on 12/31. Woooooot!
I see some people were successful with the United Travel Bank but I tried it in Nov ’22 and it didn’t credit me for the $100. Whomp! Guess it is off and on.
12/29/2022: AMEX declined Credit for Split Airfare between GC and Ticket fare. Two transactions one with $50 GC and another with $150 GC that were of $148.60 and $177.60. Chatted with Amex representative for over an hour. The Amex chat rep also offered to connect me to a “Card Consultant” in case I was not sure about Amex offering all benefits. In other words they would help you cancel the card as well but would NOT give $200 Airline credit.
Why are you chatting with a rep and asking for reimbursement on something that doesn’t fit the published list of qualifying purchase types? Of course a rep will deny that.
How long had it been? We have plenty of positive DPs on this working. Unless it has been at least in excess of a month since purchase, I wouldn’t be sweating this at all.
About a week.
Not sure how this works, but I was under the impression that both the spending as well as credit must complete by 12/31.
I’m glad you found this resource post. In the future, before spending an hour chatting with customer service, you may find it useful to read a resource like this one in its entirety as it can save you time, frustration, and anxiety. Several parts of the post would have helped you.
Under the section titled, “Things you need to know about Amex airline fee credits”, you would find the following text:
Under the section “What purchases count… unofficially?”, you’ll see a list of things that are “reimbursed even though they shouldn’t be”. A customer service rep likely isn’t going to help reimburse something that shouldn’t be reimbursed and one week is not enough time to assume failure.
If you chose an airline where this technique works according to data points in the chart, and you followed other tips in the post like selecting your chosen airline at least a day before making a qualifying charge, I am highly confident it will work.
We do always appreciate reader data points because you never know when things will change, but in your case I think you likely just need to wait a bit longer.
How long ago was this?
Alaska, 2 seats purchased ($209) 12/13/22
Online chat with Amex rep 12/28/22
Will be credited within 5 business days.
I noted on the Amex account that the seat purchase was entered as a “ticket” purchase by Alaska (not sure if this is the reason for the delay – did not ask the rep).
Credited $200 on 12/29/22.
hi inagj, thanks for sharing. I’m new to Alaska. Wondering why pure ticket can persuade amex rep to credit, would you say anything? As T&C, ticket fare won’t be triggered.
Anyone else seeing credit for Delta gift card+platinum charge trick not posting for 7+ days? Wonder if I should do another attempt before the year end.
I just posted my experience on 12/29
[…] they are one of two airlines that allows me to use my AMEX airline incident credits the easiest (Frequent Miler). Lastly, a bonus of Southwest for backpacking is their included 2 checked bags all their fares. […]
Southwest DP: Two $68.97 tickets purchased separately on 12/20/22. Credits posted 12/26/22.
Southwest – worked for airfare $98.98
I still have $200 American Airline credit, can I purchase lounge pass online to trigger the credit? Or I have to do it at an airport? Trying to find meaningful ways to spend it. Any suggestions?
JetBlue tickets <$100 credited 12/22
AA $189 upgrade to first 11/22 did not work
SWA 12/17/2022 $78.98. Reimbursed 12/23/2022
Bought and posted 12/17. No reimbursement since then. Its 12/24 11pm.
There are often periods throughout the year where credits take a couple of weeks. What did you buy?
i just got the travlebank credit.i bought it 12.16.got it today. it works~~~ yeah.
I wish you wouldn’t do this.
A popular Credit Card YouTuber claims he was contacted by Amex Financial review team about United TB and suggested against using United for travel credit. Wasn’t specific on what was said. Fears clawbacks coming? Any thoughts on this?
I have no idea who that was, but I would find it easier to believe that Tom Hanks is from Mars than that anyone that any of us is going to speak with at Amex is going to proactively issue a warning about coming clawbacks. Of course it could happen at any time, but I’m personally not losing sleep over it.
Any suggestions for the IHG $50 credit?
So United Travel bank is probably the best way to go if you fly United at all… I never get wifi, check bags, or anything like that. With a Platinum and an Aspire $450 worth of flights is pretty nice.
United Travel Bank worked for me for separate $50 and $100 purchases over two consecutive days in earlier December ’22 (to use up the rest of my benefit) on my Hilton Aspire card. Also, I was reimbursed $100 for a United TB purchase on my BOA Premium Rewards card (I am a Preferred Rewards Member with BOA, but don’t know if that made a difference).
UA Travel bank worked for both Amex Biz Plat and Hilton Aspire last week. Credits posted 6 days after purchase. Now for round two in January.
Nick, has the United travel bank worked with your Ritz card in the past?
Yes. United Travel Bank has been reimbursed for me this month for the Chase Ritz-Carlton card. Requests made via secure message.
I haven’t run into much of anything that won’t work with the Ritz card. Literally almost any travel charge under the sun could be reimbursed depending on the rep.
Milenomics and DOC on triple dipping BOA Premium Elite card. YOu should do same IMHO.
Bought Alaska yearly lounge access on Hilton Aspire. Had to use the Amex chat function to get the $250 credit. Interestingly, the agent told me the charge was ineligible and had to argue to get a one time exception. Not sure if it was just the agent or what. I looked at the terms for the Aspire and it doesn’t list lounge access as an eligible charge while the Plat and Bus Plat does.
Do the credits need to be credited before 1/1/23 or just the charges be made before the new year and the credit will apply automatically? For some reason I need to manually text Amex to get the credits for any of my cards regardless of amount.
Just charges made. Only Alaska is requiring manual intervention.
Last month had put a $5.60 United award (TSA) fee on my Aspire. It did not automatically credit. Reached them by chat today and played dumb, tried to sound disappointed. They gave me a one-time credit.
What Worked with Bus Plat:
9/23/2022 AA $40 & $30 check-in luggage
1/9/2022 Southwest $82.97 regular ticket
1/9/2022 Southwest $107.97 regular ticket
12/8/2021 Delta $30 check-in luggage
12/5/2021 Delta $30 check-in luggage
10/7/2021 Delta $166.80 regular ticket (used gift card to lower price < $200)
What Failed with Bus Plat:
8/27/2022 AA $193.59 regular ticket (used gift cards to lower price < $200)
What Worked w/BofA Premium Rewards Visa:
11/3/2022 Alaska Air $40 regular ticket (total ticket amount $139.00 and credit for $40)
10/31/2022 Alaska Air $30 check-in luggage
10/20/2022 Alaska Air $30 check-in luggage
I purchased 3 oneway tickets from Alaska Air, but was charged for each individual ticket @ $139.00. One of these triggered the credit of $40 (amount left in $100 credit available).
United Travel Bank for the win on 2 plats, a c note each time twice
WN airfare 98.98 x 2. Paid 12/5, credited 12/11.
Did you really just copy the flyertalk wiki and post as an article??? When I didn’t think you bloggers could get any lazier to get people to click ur CC referrals…
You clearly haven’t spent much time here if you hold that opinion. They promote offers that give them nothing all the time if it’s the best offer; the 150k + 15x Resy offer being at the top of the list, when other major blogs had a vastly inferior referral offer showing.
The AA Mileage Multiplier still works. Did it multiple times throughout 2022 on three different Platinum and Business Platinum cards.
Delta Air Lines:
Bought $303.30 ticket from MIA-AUA, redeemed 10k SkyMiles using Pay w/Miles and paid net $203.30 on Amex Platinum on 5/24/22 (Chase 5/24…lol) . Full $200 airline fee credit reimbursed on 27 May.
South west – ticket $103.58 purchased 9/7/22 reimbursed 9/10/22
WN credits took a week, making me a little nervous, but it worked as it should. Max amount that will work seems to be around $108 per FlyerTalk, so I bought two OW tix at ~$105 and ~$95. Waited for the needle/meter on my card’s benefit page to update (“congrats, you’ve used your benefit”) and then canceled the flights, leaving me with travel funds for future use. The amount for each canceled ticket has its own confirmation number and has to be looked up separately, which is a little annoying. Would be nice if they’d pool them (unless they can and I’m not seeing how), but we can’t have everything.
Bought a Delta flight on 12/12/22 for 5k Delta miles + $178.60. Credit reimbursement for $178.60 posted on 12/17.
Can you then refund the money for an ecredit + miles to your account?
Supposedly, yes. I actually needed to book this flight.
United Travel Bank purchases worked for me on my consumer Plat, Biz Plat, and Aspire. Made several $50 and $100 purchases on 12/11. Credits posted on 12/17.
Bought Southwest tickets $83.98 x3 on my Hilton Aspire on 12/11, still no credit on 12/16; not even the progress bar on the benefits page changed.
Any update on this? Every once in a while the credits seem to get backed up and take a week or two.
Nice timing, I’ve checked if I need to “change the flight”, around the same time you asked.. I got the credits yesterday (11/17), so it still works.
For all previous credits the tracker moved a few days before the credit appeared on the account, odd that it did not do that now.
Good to hear!
Almost exactly same amounts for SW flights, took about a week for the credits to post 12/17
Have we considered that because SW has waaaay less add-on fees than most airlines they may be well aware and unconcerned about this use? If it didn’t work who would choose SW as their airline? I’d say very very few people.
Still works; I did $62.98 x4 Southwest tickets last week, credits posted (with $1.92 balance remaining) within 6 days.
I also got an extra 1000 Hilton points for this offer: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-hilton-spend-500-get-1000-bonus-points-limit-10/
12/6 Delta airfare for $78.60 (no credit yet)
12/9 Delta change fee to change above ticket to a more expensive one (credit posted 12/14)
I’m not ready to declare the first one a failure yet, but it’s possible that simply buying a low cost ticket doesn’t do the trick anymore unless you combine it with partially paying with a gift card or flight credits.
Buying American airline miles codes as an American purchase. Any data points on whether that codes for the airline fee or not?
Tested outright AA purchase of miles for the minimum amount and did not work on biz platinum. However, purchase of miles on a ticket mileage booster has worked on biz platinum, personal platinum and aspire. Hate buying miles for over 3 cents with anybody’s money, but is what it is.
UA Travel bank worked twice (2 Plat cards) 100 ea. Posted in 7 days flat. Gonna repeat the charge now, fingers crossed it works a 2nd time.
Super great data point for Ritz (best card out there hands down).
Purchased a flight with Delta from LGA to YYZ, Flight cost $99 but then paid for a seat upgrade to Premium (additional $215). Total cost was $314, but the only credit that should be applied was the $215, that is what I was expecting..
Submit screenshots in secure message, asking them to apply the $300 towards the upgrade. THEY APPLIED THE FULL $300 TOWARDS THE CREDIT.
Sometimes, you just get lucky (I would’ve bought another flight and then cancelled with airline to cover the other $85)…
And I’ve got a year ish to use up the credits directly with the airlines.
Also just got an award flight using AA miles and $51.56 x 2 (2 tickets but on same reservation). Charge still pending on Amex Plat but hoping they get reimbursed.. Will update here.
FYI, almost anything can work with Ritz, agent dependent.
Highly doubtful that the award taxes will trigger AA reimbursement on Amex Plat. Didn’t work for me this fall. Any update?
Just realized I completely forgot to even select AA as my airline with Amex… What a fail. So can’t offer any feedback. Completely slipped my mind 🙁
UA Plat travel bank 100×2, posted on 11/29, still no credit on 12/9
worked: southwest Airfare 11/30 $48.98, got credits on 12/6
Platinum worked on UA Travel Bank. $100 +$100, 2 purchases.
I assume this is based on travel date not purchase date? Could not find it anywhere
Reimbursements are based on purchase date.
Southwest didn’t work for airfare purchased on 11/29/22. It got coded as airfare and listed ticket numbers for purchases of:
$73.66$73.66
Wow! I was about to buy a couple of tix.
It’s worked for a bunch of other folks, see newer responses.
Can you update on this @Jake? There’s a DP of airfare under $50 getting credited on 12/6. Wondering if you eventually got your credit.
[…] I should have thought it through a little more because it can be difficult to “cash out” the credits with Delta without doing a little sleight of hand when buying a ticket. There are several lists, including one from Frequent Miler, which shows what counts for reimbursement and what doesn’t. […]
$185 reimbursed for taxes on Delta award ticket.
Hi, what were your destinations for this flight? Thanks
Worked: Airfare $78.98 *2 Southwest Oct 7, Got credit Oct 12.
Worked: $105 Delta airfare paid with $10 e-credit and $95 on Platinum card. Credit took 1 week to post.
[…] there have been several reports of purchasing Southwest airfare at or below $100 triggering the credit (remember that the annual […]
Alaska inflight food not reimbursed august 2022. Considering cancelling my Amex if the credit doesn’t work on things it should.
I’m an idiot, I bought the $100 United Travel Bank prior to enrolling.
Within 60 seconds I went in and selected United Airlines.
We’ll see if the transaction credits back the $100.
what happened? did it still trigger the credit?
United Wi-Fi did not work for me on 3 international flights in June and July 2022
Oops, I mean June and August 2022
Wait, please delete my thread. I didn’t realize that I had already bought $200 in Travel Bank in January
Personal Platinum AMEX: Have AA as my preferred Airline. Purchased 2 Advantage Award Tickets to Aspen and the $ 11.20 fee for each ticket was reimbursed within 3 days. Didn’t expect it but I’ll take it.
AmEx Aspire and AmEx Platinum Consumer cards
JetBlue for both of them
2021 Late Fall Used for Seat Upgrades after I booked the flight $50 each flight, reimbursed a few days after the charge
2022 summer, booked $70 flights, reimbursed a few days after the charge
I offer three results:
1) On September 6, I bought a one-way Business Class fare MCO-JFK-FRA on Singapore Air under the carrier’s ticketing agreement with jetBlue. The Singapore Air Business Class fare is flagged as Mint on jetBlue but the MCO-JFK route in question operates on an E190. I knew this in advance and hoped in vain that it would include Even More Space. In turn, I relished the opportunity to purchase Even More Space for $39. AmEx Business Platinum with jetBlue chosen credited this automatically and without issue.
2) On July 31, I upgraded one segment of my Delta BGR-LGA-MCO Comfort+ itinerary to First Class for $84.93. My other AmEx Business Platinum, which has Delta as the carrier, did not refund this. Based on your report, this should not surprise me but, given that the upgrade was under $100.00, I had high hopes. Dashed!
3) For those who still carry the Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Ultimate, the $300 incidental airline reimbursement is quite flexible. jetBlue Even More Space Seat purchases qualify as seat assignment fees. Checked baggage fees are easy, too. I had an Even More Space upgrade from Blue Basic, which was $65 rather than the typical $39. I submitted it as baggage fee and met with success. My favorite, though, was a United reward ticket Business Class FRA-IAD-MCO for 107,000 miles with a whisker over $100 in taxes. I submitted it as a seat assignment fee and it was reimbursed without argument. Score! Combine that with my annual free night certificate and this card easily pays for itself. It only will be taken from my cold, dead hand!
I have another data point on jetBlue: AmEx Biz Plat with B6 as the chosen airline, upgrade Basic Fare to Blue/Core by purchasing an Even More Space seat. The fee equals the standard Even More Space upgrade for that route along with the difference between the Basic and Core seat on the same flight. The transaction posts as “Additional Collection” on my AmEx statement under the larger category of flight add-ons. The refund of $84.00 posted automatically after the statement cycle closed (about a week in this case). If I succeed with adding the remainder of my 2022 annual $200 with the B6 Travel Bank, I’ll report again.
Post like this make you guys #1. bookmarked and saved
A keeper post for January 1
For Hilton honors Aspire card, I chose Alaska airlines.
The following was reimbursed:
Split fare
1) Booked a domestic flight for $150
Used $49 wallet credits + $101 on Aspire card
Date of transaction: 08/06/22
Date of Reimbursement: 09/04/22
2) Booked a domestic flight for $250
Used $101 wallet credits + $149 on Aspire card
Date of transaction: 08/09/22
Date of Reimbursement: 09/06/22
AA (Aug 2022) Amex Plat
Unaccompanied Minor Fee – reimbursed
Award taxes on associated ticket – reimbursed
Data Point: Southwest, flight costing $90.09 triggered credit 3 days later.
Flyer talk is place to go for complete details!!! I love FM but Flyer Talk has lots of data.
United travel bank $100 purchased sept. 3rd credited back sept. 6th :):) thanks for all you do frequent miler team!
THIS!! I was hoping to find something more recent about travel bank other than the may info in article! TY
How long after you chose United as your specific airlines did you purchase the travel bank? I just chose United and not sure if I have to wait few days before buying TB credits with united?
I did it same day
Did you get it reimbursed?
Yes about 7-10 days later it showed up
Did you do the $200 or $100 x2?
Nevermind, I just saw that it only allows to do $50, $100 or $250. Thank you for helping!
I will add that I have 2 Biz Plat cards. On the first, I received a proactive call from AmEx encouraging me to choose my airline. I told the AmEx adviser that I had waited since opening the card because my post-pandemic travel only began to include airlines besides DL (where I hold the Reserve Card and Platinum Medallion Status) but agreed that the time was ripe. She assigned jetBlue per my instruction and I was able to use it immediately, moments later. She confirmed it verbally. As soon as I ended the call, I checked my profile and jetBlue appeared.
On the second card, I chose Delta to see if a Comfort+-to first-class domestic upgrade of under $100 would qualify. It did after a manual request through AmEx chat. In that case, I purchased the upgrade roughly 10 minutes after assigning the airline through my online profile but did have to try chat more than once because the internal guideline is that all such requests for a manual refund wait 6 weeks from date of transaction.
The article mentioned :
Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
what airlines sell these ? and do you need to fly that airline to use the lounge pass ?
Generally you have to be flying that airline or a partner. Delta and United both sell day passes at $59.
New Viasat wifi on delta planes does trigger credit. I flew on a 737-900 and paid $5. Since Delta is the merchant in the transaction I received a credit a few days later.
United. Spent $50.19 for a partial payment on a ticket on 3/26/22. Did not trigger credit.
Whoops, looks like I already reported this below!
Spirit airlines
Purchase ticket only on 5/10
Within the 24 hours , log into your spirit airline flight , and a option should appear for a bundle package offer for baggage/flight flex .
Purchase packaged with big seat option on 5/11
Triggered Amex auto credit 5/21
On American Airlines purchases (5/10):
$5.60 Award Fee did not credit
$58 seat selection Main Cabin Extra did
My $5.60 on AA is fairly reliable, although sometimes it takes weeks to credit.
Bought $50 Delta Gift Card to use towards flight. Cost was $128.60 which was fully reimbursed 1 week later on 5.20.22
Now I’m trying to purchase another Delta ticket for $99.60 to use the remaining balance on my Amex Platinum card. Hopefully it will also be reimbursed.
I wish you had some more current data points on what works with AA. Specifically I’m curious about the mileage multiplier
I’ve done 2 mileage multipliers on AA this year. Both triggered the refund. Both in excess of $100 (two different cards).
Buying miles does not on AA w/biz platinum. About a month ago.
I just had a $40 AA 500 mile upgrade purchase get reimbursed, three days after purchase.
Delta Lounge Guest pass works
$39
Delta Comfort + upgrades did not work
$58.05
4/1/2022 – Purchased a $98 flight
4/5/2022 – Received $98 credit from Amex
Who with?
Ahh! Forgot to include that crucial detail.
With Southwest.
Paid partial ticket on United ($50.19). Did not credit.
Feb 18, 2022: Southwest ticket of $105.95 fully credited on Amex Platinum
Has anyone had luck with AA flights under $50?
Data point: $733 Delta ticket paid using a $500 gift card and $233 charged to Platinum Business. Airline credit shows as fully used.
[…] airline tickets are officially not recognized, there are reports which indicate Southwest, Delta and JetBlue flights under $99 will be reimbursed. However, this is […]
Bought jet blue ($250) and United ($85)
Both did not work.
data point: $302.20 airfare purchase 1/15/22 split 2 x $50 delta gift cards and $200.20 Amex Morgan Stanley Plat. Fee credit $200 1/17/22. Also note – I used this purchase to create an E-credit then used that e-credit in combination with delta business platinum companion certificate to purchase 2 tix. This is not possible to do online. However with politeness and patience, it can be done over the phone. Took approx 2 hours on and off hold with the agent though.
Does anyone know if the AMEX credit works when buying up on AA status. I received an offer to buy up for $495 and it would be awesome if I can apply my $200 airline credit towards that.
Did you try this? Thinking of switching my choice to AA for next year for the scenario.
United Travelbank appears to be working for someone again, colleague did it on 1/11/22
Had similar success getting reimbursed for 2x one-way Southwest tickets, both under $100. Also reimbursed for the early-bird check-in of $20.
Jan 11 and 13
Alaska award tickets booked on 12/29. Fees and charges total 184 over 4 separate transactions. Automatic refund not issued. Chatted with a rep. They have issued a manual refund. Will report back when the credit is confirmed
Thanks for the info. What did you request the rep to do? Did you just ask for them to code the flight as an incidental fee?
Yeah I told them the charge was for a change fee. Agent was quite nice. Took care of it right away
Booked two one way flights on Southwest:
1) $67 on AmEx Hilton on 1/5/22, fully credited on 1/9/22
2) $113.98 on AmEx Plat on 1/5/22, NOT credited
I booked two one way flights on Southwest for $88.98 and $97.98 on our Amex Platinum card on January 2, 2022. They were credited in full on January 5, 2022.
I booked on Jan 3rd for $97.98 has not been credited
Not cause for concern yet. Give it a few more days.
thanks! Not a huge deal either way. Will keep you posted!
all of them got reimbursed over the weekend!
New Year, New Data Point: Purchasing (1/1/22) a jetBlue ticket for $145.60 looks like it’ll be reimbursed. I don’t have the credit yet, but my Aspire’s airline fee tracker on the Benefits page of AmEx website shows that I’ve used $145.60 of $250. I’m guessing this means AmEx’s unofficial airfare reimbursement limit with jetBlue is anything under $150.
Confirmed: the credit posted
Southwest Award taxes and fees
Hilton Aspire
Booked 1/1/22. Reimbursement posted 1/4/22
$97.76 x 2 Montego Bay, Jamaica to continental U.S.
$49.60 Continental U.S. to Montego Bay, Jamaica
To be honest I don’t see the $200 fee credit as being worth much at all without the Travel Bank. I have the MileagePlus Explorer card so any fees I personally would ever be likely to pay that are covered by the $200 credit are going to be covered anyway. It is of course in their interest to market something as worth $200, but avoid paying it out by limiting it to stuff a lot of people don’t want or need. I did get a $400 statement credit offer for $3,000 spend as a retention offer without any fuss the other day, so it effectively reduces the annual fee to something manageable. Without that, I would have canceled.
United Travel Bank is no longer available as of just now …
Alaska split charge doesn’t seem to work any more: Bought tickets for 2 for $163 (with the recent STARBUCKS promo code), using $25 gift card + rest on Hilton Aspire (appeared as 2x $69 charges on card). The credit indicator didn’t move for a week.
I did few Alaska charges on Aspire card for inflight snacks and seat selection, and none posted automatically. Had to chat with agent and they reimbursed these fee. Also a split charge giftcard+Aspire, and chat agent reimbursed split charge.
It looks like split Alaska charges dont work automatically at least for Aspire card.
United Economy Plus seat selection – $132 purchased 12/20, credit posted 12/23
United travel bank – $50 posted 12/9/21, remibursed 12/12/21 Amex Morgan Platinum
Just made a purchase for $40 on Southwest for a gift card, hoping this will trigger as a flight upgrade. I will update if credit reflects!
11/28/21 –purchased Delta flight for 91.84 (used a flight credit from a previously canceled trip; this is the fare difference). Was reimbursed two days later.
[deleted comment]
11/18/21 purchased Southwest flight for $103.98 on Amex Gold. $100 credit showed up 4 days later.
11/2021 Southwest airfare just under $90
Data point on Southwest: Regular airfare for $48.95 ticket worked (vanilla Platinum)
10/25/21 United Travel Bank $100, on Platinum, reimbursed 2 days later.
10/20/21 Purchased a $167 Frontier flight with Biz Platinum Card and a $59 Frontier Credit . Reimbursed $108.17.
just bought $108 JetBlue ticket with AMEX GOLD.
this is the last year the AMEX GOLD has a airline credit. Will post when/if credit is triggered.
Charge posted today WITH flight information. No Credit reimbursement from AMEX….yet
I wouldn’t expect the credit to post the same day that the charge posted. It takes anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.
just got reimbursed today. Canceled flight and banked the funds in my TravelBank account!
Just to add another data point.
I have $150 remaining credit to use up for 2021 on my AMEX Platinum. I booked two tickets LGA to DEN on Delta totaling $553.60 on 9/21/2021. I paid with four $100 e-gift cards and the remaining $153.60 on the card. I received the $150 airline fee reimbursement credit on 9/24.
On 8-29-21 booked two tickets to JFK from CVG Comfort Plus total cost $336.80, used three $50 e gift cards. Used my AMEX Plat and got $18.40 fee reimbursed but not the $168.40 difference. Same day booked two tickets from LGA to CVG Comfort Plus total cost $366.80. Used three $50 e gift cards. Used my Amex Aspire and got $33.40 fee reimbursed, but not the $183.40 difference. I intentionally kept the difference of the fare and the e gift cards under $200 and $250 for the Aspire. No dice. Don’t get me wrong. To get $51.80 back on a total round trip cost of $703.60 is welcome, but not stupendous.
Disclaimer: This worked with Delta, not sure about other airlines.
Just successfully used both my remaining $139 of the $200 credit for the Platinum and $250 credit for the Hilton Honors Aspire through Delta. I successfully used the first $61 of the $200 Platinum credit testing this process on an actual flight I was taking earlier in the month. What I did for the rest of the credits was found a super cheap route (I used ATL to MIA one way and a month out) and booked and paid normally. To make the deal even better, Amex currently has an offer to add to select cards in which if you spend $200 or more total before the end of the promotion directly through Delta, you get $75 back. I added that to my Blue Cash Preferred card. Right now through the end of the year Delta allows free changes for Basic fares as well as their other fares so I booked Basic. That flight was $39.40 and so I booked 4 of those flights and then found the same route that was $45.40 for Basic and booked that for a total of 5 flights which cost $203 and triggered the $75 cash back on the Blue Cash card. Got that refund the next day. I then modified all 5 of those flights to routes that were more expensive and used both my Platinum and Aspire to pay for the difference in fare. I kept all the differences under $100, although that probably doesn’t matter but for me I had $389 of credits to divide between 5 flights. The beauty is that you can either change it to a route and date you actually want to fly or do it like I did and find a route that has a difference in fare you are targeting. I was planning on just cancelling to get the ecredit after so I just did the latter. I targeted tickets that were $60-90 more expensive than the original ticket utilizing either Main or Comfort+ tickets to hit my target price increase. For my last ticket I tried looking for a fare increase that was exactly what I had left on my Aspire credit but after 10 min decided it wasn’t worth the effort and booked one that was $2 over. I then waited and about 2 days later the credits hit for both cards without issue. I then cancelled those 5 flights and got ecredits that auto-added to my Delta wallet which I’ll use when I actually want to fly (just need to use before the end of 2022). Looks like you can use up to 5 ecredits now on a single purchase when booking with Delta! So including the flight I was actually taking that I used as a test, I spent around $180 total after the $75 Blue Cash refund and have about $650 in ecredits to use. Of note, you can do this by only purchasing one ticket and just keep changing the flight to something more expensive until you’ve spent all your credits (or, even better, after you get to $200-300 cost for a flight, change it to a flight under $100 and you’ll get an ecredit for the difference then keep rinsing and repeating as need) and then cancel the final flight after credits all redeemed. So you could potentially redeem all $450 in credits between the two cards only spending $39.40 on the Basic fare. I only did the multiple tickets to claim the $75 refund and keep the ticket differences below $100 on each one. This also looks like it will work for future years (just maybe not Basic fares) as it looks like Delta has gotten rid of change fees at least for now. We shall see!
Delta Air Lines – seat assignment change from Coach to Comfort Plus (JFK-LAX and LAX-JFK) on 7/11/21 and 7/18/21 for $149.43 each way. Waited two weeks and used chat to request status of fee credit on personal AMEX Platinum. Advised AMEX agent that it was a seat assignment change in Coach for more legroom/closer to the front – do not say it was an “upgrade” to Comfort Plus. Credit received three days later for $200.
Ticket was booked on delta.com using mileage for the “Coach” booking and then paid the additional fee to move up into Comfort Plus.
Curious how you had $369 worth of fees refunded in 1 calendar year ($169 from your Jan flight). Do you have multiple Amex cards? Hoping to try this for my flight next week! Wish me luck!
07/12/2021: bought 2 tickets on delta.com:
07/13/2021: transactions posted
07/14/2021: AMEX Airline Fee Reimbursement for $148 & $52 = $200 total
Nice! So did you first apply the gift card and then use your platinum for the remaining balance?
6/27/21: $48.98 x2 southwest
6/29/21: $48.98 x2 reimbursement (amex plat)
7/8/21: $98.98 southwest
7/10/21: $98.98 reimbursement (amex plat)
I purchased two one-way refundable tickets on Southwest for $96.98 each on July 9, 2021 and received both Amex credits on my account the next day.
06/30/2021 Southwest award taxes and fees $49.60 and $96.99
Used my upgraded Aspire card
Just wanted to drop a DP – used Amex gold to purchase a $75 southwest flight on 6/4/21, then changed the flight and paid $16 fare difference on the same day.
Both ($75 and $16) flight charges were credited using the $100 Amex gold credit 5 days later.
05/25/2021 I did not get reimbursed. I purchased $55 Delta GC to buy a $304 airplane ticket ($249 difference). It was not credited in my Amex as “Additional Collection.”
Guys United Travel Bank works again but how about AMEX clawing back these fees(!?) anybody any idea of chances for it? they have two years of time to do it!
4/28/21 purchased 2 $94 tickets on Southwest using an Aspire card. As of 5/3 no statement credit.
Nevermind just posted. Hooray!
Nick,
Thanks very much for this post.
I wanted to share that for Southwest the following still works as of 3/21/21:
Here are my data points, using an AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card:
Southwest reimbursement for $107.98 on 3/20/21. (The price went up $10 after I bought a gift card to bring the fare under $100).
[…] airline tickets are officially not recognized, there are reports which indicate Southwest, Delta and JetBlue flights under $99 will be reimbursed. However, this is […]
$250 UAL travel bank Hilton Aspire in one transaction 3/5/21. Credited 3 days later.
United Travel Bank still works as of March 3, 2021.
Hi Nick,
It seems that the Delta ticket split method is no longer working!
In the past, every ticket purchased partly with Gift Card or eCredit was marked as ADDITIONAL COLLECTION and trigger the refund. Not this year!
Probably it is my fault and I should be more discrete.
Success
A ticket purchase with CC payment of $117 on the gold card trigger, although the transaction details have it tagged as ADDITIONAL COLLECTION but with Passenger and Ticket details.
Failure
A larger purchase of slightly above $200 on platinum and slightly above $250 for Aspire did not trigger any credit. When I chat with the CS, they point out that it is a ticket (which you can see in the purchase details).
More DP regarding ticket split.
An additional collection of $132 and $97 did trigger the refund. However, two cases of $250 did not.
Another small concerned DP. I was cascading my ticket (buy the first ticket with small GC, 2nd with eCrdit from the 1st, then using eCredit of the 2nd for the 3rd… In the past every cancelation I got one-year expiration. Recently the eCredit will not rest its expiry date.
2/23/21: $98 Southwest ticket
2/25/21: reimbursed
Citi’s Expedia credit card with the $95 fee also has a $100 travel credit.
I did United Bank, it does have expiration date, last year, had $65 left on my Aspire, got $100 certificate. No problem. Can one do all $250 or 2 separate transactions of $125 each. They do have $100 minimum.
Is it safe to (1) use the full $200 airline credit on an AmEx biz plat on January 1st, (2) wait for the airline incidental credit to post later in January and then (3) change your airline selection before January 31st?
Essentially if you have the AmEx biz plat card can you use your airline incidental credit for airline #1 at the beginning of the year then change your airline selection to airline #2 and use the 35% point rebate on airfare booked with points with that airline?
1/15/21 Hawaiin Airlines: Main cabin seat under $50, seat upgrade @ $10 ea.
1/20/2021: Purchased Southwest one way ticket for $71.99, used $10 in Southwest travel funds (originally $81.99)
1/20/2021: Purchased Southwest one way ticket for $48.99
1/22/2021: Both charges were fully reimbursed via AMEX Platinum Airline Fee Credits
Data Point
Delta Air Lines – seat assignment change from Coach to Comfort Plus (JFK-LAX) on Jan 2,2021 for $169. Waited two weeks and used chat to request status of fee credit on personal AMEX Platinum. Advised AMEX agent that it was a seat assignment change in Coach for more legroom/closer to the front – do not say it was an “upgrade” to Comfort Plus. Credit received three days later for $169.
What did the credit show up as in your statement + how did you purchase the comfort plus? (mobile app/web/in-person?)
AMEX Airline fee reimbursement
Purchased on line at delta.com via web
I did 2 separate $94 tickets on Southwest (1 on Personal Platinum, 1 on Hilton Honors Aspire) on 1/16. Got reimbursed for them on 1/18.
Just a heads up:
Doctor of Credit is reporting that United TravelBank no longer works for this!
Mixed results with Southwest airfare: purchased $49.98 x 2 on 11/22, and $49.98 x 2 on 11/27. So far have seen reimbursement for $49.98 x 2 on 11/29; have not seen reimbursement yet for the other 2. I suspect the others are not going to work, and now am wary of trying Southwest at all for 2021.
Thoughts?
Delta Gift Card/Rest of balance on Card still works as of 12/31/2020 on Aspire and personal Platinum.
12/28/2020 I bought a Delta plane ticket on my Aspire for $260, used a $50 gift card, so I paid $210 on my Aspire. I also picked my seat for another $25. On 12/31/2020, I was reimbursed $210 and $25.
12/28/2020 I bought another Delta plane ticket on my personal Platinum card for $230, used a $50 gift card, so I paid $180 on my Platinum. On 12/31/2020, I was reimbursed $180.
1/5/2021 I checked my balance for the airline fee credit on both cards and they are refilled again, as usual per calendar year, $250 and $200 respectively. I have a feeling this well might dry up soon so I plan to buy 2 future Delta plane tickets for future travels and cancel/change dates if necessary.
Because I’m a procrastinator I didn’t use my Amex Plat Saks Credit until today (12/31) and my Airline purchases until 3 days ago. Assuming everything gets reimbursed I think I read it would count for the fee credit for the year it was purchased (2020) rather than the year it will be reimbursed (2021), but I can’t remember for sure. Anybody know? Thanks
Absolutely correct in your understanding. Airline credits will be fine. However, the Saks credit is questionable if you used it online. I don’t know for sure with Saks, but many online stores don’t actually finalize the charge until your order ships. Therefore, it’s possible that the Saks charge won’t actually get processed to your card until the order ships which will actually be in 2021 assuming they didn’t ship it today. There’s a chance that you’ll have missed out on that one. Anything you order for delivery you want to give a couple of days of wiggle room in the future.
Thanks, it’s already established but my two $100 United TB credits posted on Amex Plat (12/29 purchase,12/31 reimbursement date but didn’t show online until 1/1). Also Saks charged immediately (12/31), shipped next day, but I’m thinking it should work to count for the July-Dec credit since it’s posting as a 12/31 charge, although it does still show as pending.
From my experience, Saks Amex Plat credit is recognized the day it is POSTED. This happened to me last year where I bought something on the 30 of June and it POSTED on my statement 1 July so it counted as the July-Dec credit, thus losing out on the Jan-Jun credit. I tried calling/messaging Amex but they said they can’t do anything as it POSTED in July.
Yep, even though my purchase showed as pending on the date of purchase it wasn’t finalized until the next day and now shows 1/1, Amex says it applies to the Jan-June period. Oh well, $50 of Saks items doesn’t go very far anyways
Alaska – Premium Class seat upgrade $99 on Gold card worked 12/20 (via chat).
United Travel Bank $50 load (x4) on Platinum card worked 12/20.
UA 2X 100 PLAT
100 GOLD
STILL WORKS PAID 26 DEC 20 CREDIT 29 DEC 20
Southwest Airlines $48.98 ticket purchase on Dec 22 2020, reimbursed on Dec 24 2020
Above purchase on Amex Gold
Did the 100 bucks on United travel bank with Amex good. Still waiting for the credit. The transaction posted yesterday, so fingers crossed
12/19: Soutwest Flight $104.98 (Plat)
12/21: $104.98 reimbursed
12/22: return leg booked $104.98 (Plat)
will update when reimbursed (expecting $95.02)
booked a flight I might consider taking anyways so even if it didn’t work I wouldn’t be upset, but it looks like under $105 might be ok.
Who wants to try $110?
12/24: $95.02 reimbursement as expected
[…] Amex airline incidental credits, like those that come with the various flavors of Platinum cards or with the Hilton Aspire or Amex Gold card, are offered by the calendar year. These credits post based on the date that the charge is made on your card; even if you make a charge on 12/31 and the charge doesn’t post to your statement until a few days into 2021, it’ll count against your 2020 cap as long as the charge date shows December 31st or sooner — though beware that last year I made a couple of United club pass purchases late on 12/31 that posted immediately to my United account but the charges ended up dated 1/1. Don’t leave it until the very last minute. Also make sure you know which airline you’ve chosen (or you might be able to get a chat rep to change your chosen airline, but YMMV). See: Amex airline fee reimbursements. What still works? […]
Data point:
Card: AMEX Gold
Airline credit: Delta
Purchased $176.60 flight on 12/17; $50 gc, $50 gc, remaining balance of $76.60 charged to AMEX Gold
AMEX credit posted: 12/19
12/16/2020: 2x $100 UA TravelBank
12/18/2020: 2x $100 Reimbursement (Platinum)
[…] cash reservations in order to convert them. Rather, this is particularly good news for those with airline fee credits to use as sometimes cheap Southwest tickets (or some add-on fees) trigger incidental credits. Being able […]
12/16/20: $38.90 Southwest airfare
12/18/20: $38.90 reimbursement (Plat)
Southwest one way flights 103.98 x 2 on 12/14 – reimbursed total 200 on 12/17
12/14: Paid for a $99.29 Spirit Airlines ticket (base fare plus bags and seats all paid together) with $93.29 from existing Spirit credit for a previously canceled flight and put the last $6 on my American Express Gold card hoping to use the last of my annual $100 fee reimbursement.
12/17: American Express credited me $6 for the purchase.
Southwest $83.98 airfare, purchased on 12/13, reimbursed three days later.
Bought travel bank funds, 100 for Gold, 200 for Platinum last week. Both worked and showed in my account within two days. Had to change from Alaska to United on my gold and they did it minutes.
Can you use UA Travel Bank funds to purchase United Club day passes?
I’m also wondering if you can pay award fees with this…anyone have experience? Terms on the site were worthless, even on the purchase page, even after purchasing.
Southwest 12/08/20 two one way tickets $87.98 each and two one way tickets for wife on Companion Pass $5.60 each. Reimbursed 12/09/20. The trip will be in April and I will have to cancel it. Will Southwest give me a credit? Will Amex claw back the reimbursement? Thanks.
United travel bank on Aspire for $250 failed on 12/2. It’s coded as a ticket with a ticket number on my amex bill
BTW I’m blaming Nick.
Oh. wait….it did work………wow. I owe you guys and Nick is my favorite guy in the World. Let me clarify, that would be “favorite” in a friendly way.
12/9/20 – Purchased $40 American Airlines 500 Upgrade
12/15/20 – 500 Upgrade credited to my account.
12/5/20 – 2 southwest tickets for $44.98 each, reimbursed 12/8
12/10/20 – 1 southwest ticket for $109.96 (canceled 10 minutes after booking and assumed it wouldn’t work being over $100, but it did work), reimbursed 12/14
Amex Platinum
So you canceled it right away and you were still reimbursed? How did that work? Wouldnt you be refunded by southwest?