The Chase Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa Infinite card is no longer available to new applicants, but it is available to those with Chase Marriott consumer cards via a product change. Unlike the Marriott cards, though, the Ritz card costs a whopping $450 per year. Fortunately, it also offers $300 per year in airline fee reimbursements. These reimbursements can help to mitigate that $450 annual fee if you can put them to good use.
Chase Ritz airline fee credits are offered by calendar year. For example, Ritz cardholders can get up to $300 in fee credits for charges made up until December of this year, and $300 more for charges made next calendar year.
What purchases count… officially towards Ritz airline fee credits?
Eligible incidental fees include:
- Airline lounge day pass
- Yearly lounge membership of your choice
- Airline seat upgrades
- Airline baggage fees
- In-flight internet/entertainment
- In-flight meals and drinks
- Global Entry fees
And, officially, the following purchases are not deemed to be incidental fees:
- Airline tickets
- Mileage points purchases
- Mileage points transfer fees
- Gift cards
- Duty free purchases
- Award tickets
What purchases count… unofficially towards Ritz airline fee credits?
Sometimes purchases of gift cards, award fees, or even low-cost airfare are reimbursed even though they shouldn’t be.
The key that makes the Chase Ritz-Carlton card different from some other premium cards is that the fee reimbursement is not automatic on this card. You will need to either call in to speak with an agent or send a secure message in order to request reimbursement. This means you will be relying on a human to manually credit the reimbursement….and therefore relying on that human’s interpretation of what works and scrutiny (or lack thereof) regarding your charge.
If you are looking to get reimbursed for gift cards, you may want to consider denominations that line up with fees that would ordinarily qualify for the credit. Gift cards purchased in a denomination that correlates with the associated fee for a checked or overweight bag, for instance, might be more likely to be reimbursed. On the other hand, if the charge shows up on your statement as “AIRLINE ABC – GIFT CARDS”, an agent may deny reimbursement even if you had purchased in an appropriate denomination. Secure message may be an easier method than phone, though some report the opposite is true. The things that work or don’t work vary by airline and by agent and may change over time. Something that worked in the past won’t necessarily work today — but since the best way to predict future behavior is by looking at past behavior, we will collect datapoints here to try to determine the trends.
Remember that a successful data point is more powerful than a negative datapoint in that a successful data point shows something is possible. Recognize that in some cases, you may need to HUCA (Hang up, Call again) or send a message again in order to be successful.
This resource page will be maintained and updated as we receive reader data. If you have recently attempted to receive reimbursement via your Ritz travel credit, please comment to add your data points including:
- Type of charge
- Date of charge
- Requested via phone or secure message
- Success or failure
The following table shows the unofficial stuff that works or doesn’t work with each airline that we have collected so far (note that I am including some things that officially count as well, like a seat upgrade in economy class on Lufthsana as readers sometimes ask about charges from foreign carriers and for small upgrades like extra legroom, etc):
Aeroplan |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Award fees | (Linh) |
| Award fees (see linked data point for more info on potential success) | 8/19 (Antonio) |
Air New Zealand |
|
| What works? | Recept Reports |
| New Zealand domestic flights ($73 and $25) | 8/19 (pbjclimbing) |
Air France |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Award fees | 7/2018 (JustSayin) |
Air France
|
Recent reports |
| What works? | |
| $350 Change Fee via call |
2018? (Marshall) |
American |
Recent reports |
| What works? | |
| Upgrade to first class during booking process (booking a coach ticket, click “upgrade” to book it as first class – save screen shots in case)($260) | 12/2016 (Flyertalk) |
| Seat assignment / upgrade | 8/2018 (Angie) |
| $100 gift cards* (Note that some reports indicate the charge may now appear as “American Airlines – Gift Cards” and no longer work. Secure Message is more likely to be successful than via phone.) |
3/2018 (Chris) 1/2019 (Just a Note via call) 5/19 (Martin – useful data point) |
| $75 gift cards (See note about $100 gift cards above) | Dec 2018 (A G) |
| $50 gift card | 5/19 (Richard) |
| Award taxes ($170) | 1/2017 (Doctor of Credit) |
| Award booking fee ($75) | 7/2018 (NI) |
| Partial ticket purchase (part gift card, ~$120 on Ritz card) | 7/2018 (Clay) |
| Award redeposit fees ($175) | 1/2019 (Kimbra) |
| Flight purchased with Visa Infinite $100 companion discount (~$125 / ticket) via call | 10/2018 (Geo@YQB) |
| Elite status renewal ($495), $300 reimbursed via secure message | 12/2018 (John) |
Amtrak |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Ticket purchase | 7/2018 (Josh) |
Alaska Airlines |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Award fees | Early 2017 (Denise) |
Avianca |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| What doesn’t work? | Recent reports |
| Award fees | 4/19 (Kalei) |
British Airways
|
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Award fees (note counter-data point below) | 1/2018 (JBTx) |
| What doesn’t work? | Recent reports |
| Award fees (note that this DP suggests it may still be YMMV depending on agent) | 4/19 (Kalei) |
Condor |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Seat assignment fee ($100 for two XL seats) | 1/19 (Ryan) |
Delta |
|
| What works? | |
| Comfort+ seat upgrades ($109) | 5/2017 (Flyertalk) |
| Gift cards ($50 / $200)* (See below) | 7/2018 (Phillip) |
| Award fees | 7/2018 (Clay) |
| In-flight food | 7/2018 (Clay) |
| Upfare | 7/2018 (Mike) |
| Flight purchased partly with card (~$50) and rest with gift cards | 10/2018 (Geo@YQB) |
| What doesn’t work? | Recent reports |
| Gift Card ($50) | 10/2018 (Cherry) |
Etihad |
Recent reports |
| What works? | |
| Award taxes & fees | 2/2017 (Doctor of Credit) 8/19 (pbjcliming) |
Frontier |
Recent reports |
| What works? | |
| Round trip flight. Asked for bag fees to be reimbursed, but all of it was | 12/2018 (Billy Bob) |
Iberia |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Cheap Flights (4x ~$34) | 7/2018 (Austin) |
JAL (Japan Airlines)
|
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| $300 upgrade to premium economy |
2018? (DSK) |
JetBlue |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Flight purchased with Visa Infinite $100 companion discount | 12/2018 (Clover Chan) |
Lufthansa |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Upgrade to extra legroom seating in economy class ($102) | 5/2017 (Nick) |
Norwegian |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Flight (reported as checked skis) | 12/18 (John) |
Southwest |
|
| What works? | Recent Reports |
| A1-A15 Boarding at gate ($40 or $50) | 2/2018 (Nick) and again 12/10/18 (Jonn) |
| Southwest in-flight Wi-Fi ($8) | 2/2018 (Nick) |
| Gift cards ($150) (see counter-datapoint below) | 1/2019 (T1G3R) |
| Early Bird Check In ($15) | 5/2017 (Flyertalk) |
| Business Select upgrade | 7/2018 (Abby) |
| Southwest gift card (amount unclear; note that I imagine this is YMMV depending on the rep) | 10/19 (F C) |
| What doesn’t work? | Recent reports |
| Southwest gift card ($75). Was told that purchase displayed as gift card |
12/2018 (BML) |
Singapore |
Recent reports |
| What works? | |
| Award taxes ($130) | 1/2017 (Doctor of Credit) |
Spirit |
|
| What works? | Recent Reports |
| The Thrills Combo (checked bag, seat selection, etc) $212 (2 pax) | 5/2018 (Nick) |
Turkish |
|
| What works? | Recent Reports |
| Buying miles online | 4/20 (Nick. Bought 2500 miles for $75) |
United |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| Mileage transfer fee | 1/2018 (Eason) |
WOW Airlines |
|
| What works? | |
| Upgrade to XXL seating for 2 and checked baggage fees ($300 – paid bundled with ticket and extra charges represented the majority of the charge) | 5/2015 (Nick) |
Miscellaneous |
|
| What works? | Recent reports |
| CLEAR membership |
6/2018 (Berkeley Girl) (David) |
| What doesn’t work? | Recent reports |
| CLEAR renewal |
12/2019 (Ron) |
Does Thalys train tickets count? I had called for Thalys and was denied.
How about SNCF French railway Tix?
Need some updates for 2022.
Anything?
Yes, could we update this post?
I was able to get credit by phone for AA seat upgrades during flight booking, taxes and a $100 AA gc.
I was able to use the credit for an inexpensive AA flight and taxes & fees on a few award flights.
UA TravelBank works
Can you provide details? TIA
What amount(s) did you purchase?
$50 looks a lot like a seat upgrade
United airlines, Singapore Airlines and Southwest Airlines, all for Award fees/taxes charged on May 2021. Failed via secure message (asked for proof that they are qualified charges). Called number on back of card and just told them the date and amount, no questions asked on what type of charges and reimbursed immediately.
AA $100 eGC datapoint.
2021.03.31: Requested $100 credit via Chase Secure Message.
2021.04.01: $100 credit confirmed on account.
Will this page be updated with datapoints from 2020 or 2021?
[…] 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? […]
I was able to cancel a united flight with ~310 paid upgrade to biz class, get a travel voucher due to covid and get the $300 ritz reimbursement for the charge on my card. Also used the penfed for the under $100 flights which was already credited for this year’s $100 travel credit.
[…] Turkish Miles & Smiles will sell you up to 50,000 miles for 3 cents per mile. These miles post instantly to your account, so this can be a way to top off your account for a valuable award. Turkish processes these transactions directly, so mileage purchases appear like ordinary airline charges. […]
My 450 annual fee came up. I called chase and they offered me a 150 dollar credit to keep the card, so I kept it
Did you directly ask for any retention offers, or did you just say that you were considering cancelling the card? (I never asked for retention before, so don’t know the proper method… I won’t be able to get any solid travel reimbursement this year)
I just called to say I was thinking of cancelling the card because I didn’t think the 450 fee was worth it since I couldn’t travel too much and then just casually asked if any retention offers. She said there was only one, 150 back
With the Amex Marriott allowing the annual $300 credit for dining and the CSR allowing the annual $300 credit for groceries, is there any hope for the Ritz annual $300 credit to be extended to either dining or groceries?
Very, very unlikely that they will bother doing anything like that with the Ritz card. It hasn’t been available for new applicants for a couple of years. I don’t expect that retaining customers on a discontinued card is a high enough priority for anyone to feel like there is a problem that needs to be solved in terms of the travel credit on the Ritz card.
And truth be told, given how easy it is to trigger these credits and the relative value of the card given the $300 in easy credits and annual 50K night, it’s a pretty easy win still. I’d kind of rather they ignore this card than decide they want to sunset it completely and get rid of it.
Don’t get me wrong, that would be a nice surprise if it happened — but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them to make it easier to use the credit.
Thanks for the response. Agreed that the Ritz card holds its value regardless.
I was told by an agent today that, like the CSR, gas and groceries were going to be allowed to redeem the travel incidental credit on the Chase Ritz card. That said I see no official announcement of this.
Thanks! It doesn’t hurt to get a few data points. I’ll try the Ritz card the next time I do a cheap takeout.
Following up, I found the same result as Nick. No reimbursement for dining.
I’ve been using mine at the grocery store these past two months and have used it for a restaurant purchase. None of the above automatically triggered a reimbursement. That doesn’t surprise me as the reimbursement on this card isn’t automatic. I’ll try calling to see if they reimburse anything.
Did you trying calling them for the grocery/restaurant reimbursement?
No dice. They tell me only travel. Of course, from data points in the chart on this page, we know there are many ways to trigger the credit beyond the “official” stuff. Personally, I’m at the point where I’m looking at 2021 travel, so I’m sure I’ll use it with one of the methods mentioned in this post one way or another.
Southwest e-gift card for $150
Used secure message to request reimbursement for excess baggage fees.
Worked during April 2020
Blade helicopter transfers. JFK to downtown.
250$
July of last year.
Fully reimbursed as airport transfer service.
I recently received a $175 TC for the redeposit of AA miles on 2 tix.
Sorry for the neglect to updates. I’ve added the additional DPs from discussion and added one of my own from Turkish. Keep reports coming if you’ve been using your credits in 2020. Thanks!
Frontier Discount Den $60. Denied, via secure message. 12/31/19
Sorry, been neglecting updates here. Fixing that. Did you ever call to try via the phone?
Just called the customer service number and got the credit in 2 mins – no questions asked. This was for Southwest.
Southwest eGC?
yup
What was the eGC amount for? Any particular amount to stay under, so it can easily be processed? I have around 260$ worth of credit to be used by Dec. Thanks for the help.
Air New Zealand domestic flights worked for me ~$73, ~$25. Etihad award booking taxes and fees also worked.
Just used it successfully for 6 Aeroplan award fees of $20.06 USD each. I’ve found that when using SM with Chase that if I pick the topic of “Account Inquiry”, they issue the credit after the initial message was sent explaining what charges I want credit for.
When picking the topic “Other/Inquiry Not Listed”, they ask a lot of questions as to what the charges are for and I’ve been rejected on other occasions using this topic.
12/10/18 success reimbursement for SW boarding class upgrade $50, also had a Norwegian flight for $116 that I said was for checked Ski’s
Tried calling Ritz for Avianca and British Airways, got a newbie, and he said they’re not allowed to do it for Award Fee Taxes? This is as of 4/15/19 – I’m going to try calling again, maybe I’ll get a better person, or I might try and secure message. It worked so easy before with Award Taxes when I called in. This is the first time I had a problem.
I just got reimbursed for a $50 American airlines giftcard, and when I checked my stmt it showed “GFT”, which i think stands for gift card. But not sure if the rep saw that or not, but it was the only charge on my card and got to use my travel credit
I bought American Airlines gift cards twice in March and they got reimbursed without any problems. They showed up on the statement as “AMERICAN AIR00106xxxxxxxx”.
I bought a $100 gift card (“baggage fee”) and a $200 gift card (“oversize baggage fee”). Both accepted without questions.
You mention global entry fee but the card comes with a separate $100 credit so use that first and if you have additional fees than use the credit.
Just got rejected for trying to claim the United close in booking fees of $75 each
HUCA that via SM until it works.
Condor charges a fee to be able to pre-select your seat assignment with economy-class fares. I paid $100 to select two XL (extra legroom) seats. Successfully reimbursed on 1/27/2019 via secure message.
I just had 2 $50 Delta gift cards and they showed up as gift cards……….Then I called Chase twice and twice was denied so the second call I just told them to move the credit line and close the card…………I’m sick of playing which shell has the bean in it for get this reimbursement……..if AMEX Platinum pulls the same stunt I’ll close that one also and just open another Citi Prestige since theirs is so easy to have reimbursed……………..
I have a recent successful reimbursement like the first one listed for AA, paying for the”upgrade” to first during the booking. I saved and sent the screenshot by secured message and the upgrade portion was reimbursed even though the charge was bundled as a single charge.
[…] Frequentmiler […]
9/2018 – $200 Delta Change Fee (claimed as upgrade) – Secure Message
Was able to get ticket charges refunded when booking through visa infinite portal in October of last year (flying on Alaska one way and United the other). Also was able to get a credit for the close in award fee ($50) on United last November. Both were done via SM
Hey Chris, wanted to thank you again for the bike transport fee trick from last year, have used it 4x. Makes the card that much more valuable to me.
I have a few datapoints.
Type of charge – Hawaiian airlines interisland OGG-HNL seat purchase. $79 x 2.
Date of charge – Jan 2019
Requested via phone or secure message – SM
Success or failure – Success – I stated this was seat upgrade and was granted credit
In addition, I requested a number of Southwest award travel tax fees of $5.60 and $11.20 respectively. They were initially denied via SM if I asked for drink credit but I reapplied a few months later as food credit and was reimbursed.
Type of charge – AA revenue tickets $176
Date of charge – Aug 2018
Requested via phone or secure message – SM
Success or failure – Success, stated as seat upgrade and was approved.
Greg, one other thing just FYI. I followed your post regarding Ritz card and applied prior to Marriott merger. I was already Gold Marriott under Amex Plat and was concerned that my Ritz Plat status would not carry over with merger so I made separate account for Ritz as suggested by your blog.
When merger finished, my SPG/Marriott account is now Gold as expected (downgrade because of Amex Plat status and not earned) and my Ritz account is still Plat. However when I asked to merge my Ritz and Marriott account to reflect Platinum, I was told I could not merge 2 Marriott accounts since I already merged SPG and Marriott.
No big deal, I will keep 2 accounts separate as you can borrow between accounts but wish I could merge two to make it easier. Any suggestions?
Most new datapoints have been added. On some I’m waiting for more information.
Air France change fee reimbursed, We had 2 one way changeable business CDG-Venice tickets changed them a non-changeable RT CDG-Venice / Florence-CDG. I said the $350 was a change fee when I called. . Easy approval.
Thanks. What month did you call?
Thanks for the datapoints! Keep them coming! I’ll update this post later today with the new info
Purchased three $100 gift cards from AA back in February of 2018 and then again earlier this month, in separate transactions (each card on a different day, because I thought that made more sense). Last year called three separate times to get them reimbursed. This year, made one call. No problem either time.
Do the charges show anything about gift cards?
No
American elite status renewal ($495 offer to keep gold for family member, $300 was reimbursed by Chase). December 2018.
Over secure message
JAL $300 upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy
This post has gone too far. Why would you write about something like this when it’s a closed card? You’ll just ruin everything by drawing attention to any nonconforming reimbursements.
FM was the best at drawing the line on content in the past. No more.
I find this post immensely useful. It’s a new year and folks with the card like knowing what options we have to use that $300 credit.
It’s idiotic. Since this is handled by human reps chase can shut this down with a memo OVERNIGHT! It doesn’t require an IT project or any cost benefit analysis.
Besides the factor in getting reimbursement is mostly in how you ask for it and the amount. If it’s feasible that your charge could be what it says then it works. That’s it. There’s no collection of data points necessary.
This certainly isn’t the first blog post about this subject and Chase hasn’t “shut it down” as of yet. I appreciate FM taking the time to consolidate some data points for those of us that like to know what our options are. And if it’s “idiotic”, then why are you still here?
It’s explained why this is a dumb move. These credits are controlled by humans, not automated like CSR.
What could possibly be idiotic about $300 in my back pocket.
Too bad you don’t have one.
Correct Greg is trying to Help people ($$) and they burn him..
CHEERs
Because card can be PC’d to (along with new travel credit).
I think / hope it will be helpful to dissuade people from requesting reimbursements where Chase can see that the purchases were for gift cards
Bought a $320 AA gift card online and the statement doesn’t reflect gift card, so no issues getting it redeemed via private message by saying it was for 500-mile upgrade credits.
Anon how long ago was this?
1/7/19 – successfully reimbursed for (2) $150 southwest gift cards. Claimed as oversized baggage fee for bikes.
T1G3R how long ago was this?
About 2 weeks ago
Just did the same for AA cards
(Secure message 2x)
Pam: What denomination AA gift cards? And does your transaction show any indication that it was a gift card?
I purchased 2, $150 electronic cards both this month & back in July. They show as AA only on transaction history & nothing about it being a gc. Maybe a plastic one does though from what I’ve read?
T1G3R: Does the purchase show the words “gift card” (or something similar) when you look at your transactions online?
Nothing with the word “gift card” in transactions. Just “Southwest” with a 13 digit number.
Mine also pisted as “American Air{13digitcode}.” When I click on “Details” the Category reads “Uncategorized.”
I used this card to successfully purchase and get reimbursed for 500 mile upgrade certificates on American Airlines
Paul: When?
I don’t see why that should be any kind of surprise. On paper you’re entitled to reimbursement for upgrade fees. There’s nothing more upgrade that a 500-mile upgrade cert.
I booked a ticket on Cheap-O-Air, charged $80 to the card and the rest to a different card. Also $183 taxes on an ANA award ticket. Got them reimbursed in one secure message along with a couple baggage fees on Olympic air, used up all $300 at one time.
Oh, this was late December. Fees were throughout the year. I gave specific dates and amounts.
I’m not seeing any new data points………..
There aren’t many, but those marked 12/2018 and 1/2019 are new. And thanks to reader contributions, there will be more listed very soon
Maybe you could repost this topic again? I’m hoping they’re not changing their rules for Award Taxes because I just tried 4/15/19 and got denied.
10/2018 call in: Was able to get 2 tickets on American reimbursed. Tickets booked using 100$ visa infinite discount, and came to about 125$ each after the discount. Also used the card to purchase last 50$ or so of a ticket purchased with gift cards on Delta airlines. Also reimbursed no questions asked.
I got a very tired rep in late December who volunteered to credit JetBlue flights that I used the $100 discount on.
Unfortunately, JetBlue is now excluded from the Infinite Visa $100 Companion program. So we should probably exclude this data point.
British Airways charges (for Award Taxes – on all types of flights using Avios, including on American and others on BA) have all worked so far – in late 2018 and once again in 2019.