AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
In its efforts to cut costs, American Express closed a loophole that allowed cardholders to use their airline fee credit to reimburse gift cards purchased directly from the airline. Although the terms and conditions have always stated that gift cards are excluded from the credit, this had never been enforced for gift cards purchased in small denominations.
Reports first surfaced last month that Delta and Southwest gift-card purchases had stopped being reimbursed, and now American Airlines purchases are no longer triggering the credit. As far as we know this policy now applies to all airlines; however, if you know of an airline that has yet to be affected, please let us know in the comments.
Same Rules, New Enforcement
Not surprisingly, there has been no formal announcement or acknowledgment from American Express about this change. Since the gift card exclusion has always been explicitly noted in the terms and conditions, this is really a case of a new enforcement strategy rather than a policy change. On its page explaining the benefit, Amex states the following:
This benefit doesn't offer credit toward airline tickets, mileage points purchases or mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, upgrades, duty–free purchases, or award tickets
Before you can receive your fee credit, you need to select a preferred airline.
Based on data points reported on FlyerTalk—a popular points and miles forum—it seems that Amex has new systems for identifying gift-card purchases. In several cases, cardholders made two airline purchases on the same day, one of which was an eligible airline-incidental fee and the other, a gift card. Several days later, the eligible fee was classified as an airline incidental, while the gift-card purchase earned no credit at all.
Cards Affected
Although reports are still coming in, it's safe to assume this applies to all Amex credit cards that provide some form of airline incidental credit as one of its perks. Popular cards in this group include:
$200 Airline Incidentals Credit
- You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you're approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount - all with no credit score impact. If you're approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card®. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
- Enjoy the benefits of the Global Lounge Collection, with over $500 of annual value if you visit Centurion Lounges and each of our partner lounges including Delta Sky Club® lounges when flying an eligible Delta flight (subject to visit limitations) , select Lufthansa lounges when flying Lufthansa, Plaza Premium lounges and Escape Lounges, and enroll in Priority Pass Select. See terms.
- A Walmart+ membership can get you free shipping with no order minimum on eligible items shipped by Walmart. Use your Platinum Card® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) and receive one statement credit for up to $12.95 (plus applicable taxes. Plus Ups not eligible) each month. Free Shipping excludes most Marketplace items, freight & certain location surcharges. Paramount+ Essential plan only, separate registration required.
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card® Account. American Express relies on airlines to submit the correct information on airline transactions to identify incidental fee purchases. If you do not see a credit for a qualifying incidental purchase on your eligible Card after 8 weeks, simply call the number on the back of your Card. Qualifying airlines are subject to change. See terms & conditions for more details.
- $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card® Members can ride or dine in style with $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a bonus $20 in December after adding their Card to their Uber account. Use your Uber Cash on rides and orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
- $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit: CLEAR® Plus helps get you to your gate faster by using unique facial attributes to verify you are you at 50+ airports nationwide. Receive up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year after you pay for your CLEAR Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the Platinum Card®.
- Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
- Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card®. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- Use Global Dining Access by Resy to access premium dining experiences. Receive Priority Notify and unlock insider access to some of the world's most sought-after restaurants with Global Dining Access by Resy. Download the Resy iOS app or log into Resy.com and add your Platinum Card® to your Resy profile to take advantage of your special benefits and discover restaurants near you.
- $695 annual fee.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- Limited Time Travel Offer: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on your Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel with your Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You can earn one or both of these offers. Offer ends 6/30/25.
- The American Express Global Lounge Collection® can provide an escape at the airport. With complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting, you have more airport lounge options than any other credit card issuer on the market as of 10/2024.
- Unlock over $1,000 in statement credits on select purchases, including tech, recruiting and wireless in the first year of membership with the Business Platinum Card®. Enrollment required.
- Fly like a pro with a $200 Airline Fee Credit. Select one qualifying airline to receive up to $200 back per year on baggage fees and other incidentals.
- NEW! Make the Business Platinum Card® work even harder for you. Hilton For Business members get up to $200 back per calendar year when you make an eligible purchase at Hilton properties across the globe. Benefit enrollment required.
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points for flights, prepaid hotels, and short-term rentals and prepaid flight + hotel packages booked at AmexTravel.com. 1X points on other eligible purchases.
- Earn 1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus.
- $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR® Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use the Business Platinum Card®.
- $695 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 1.5X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Our Take
This is disappointing news, and it takes a little of the shine off Amex cards offering these fee credits. When you consider that card issuers paid out 22.6 billion in travel rewards in 2016 (and Amex reported a 36% increase in rewards costs that year), it's not surprising they've stepped up their enforcement of the existing rules. For many, it shouldn't be hard to burn through these credits—there's no shortage of “legitimate fees” like checked bags that should trigger a reimbursement. But Amex knows many won't bother to keep track.
If you add your Membership Rewards account to AwardWallet, you'll see your remaining Amex airline fee credit (and expiration date if you're an AwardWallet Plus member) in your list of accounts.
Looking for a card with premium benefits and an easy-to-use airline fee credit? The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers a $300 travel credit that gets automatically reimbursed for any travel purchase.
- Earn 100,000 bonus points + $500 Chase Travel℠ promo credit after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Get more than $2,700 in annual value with Sapphire Reserve.
- Earn 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠, including The Edit℠ and 4x points on flights and hotels booked direct. Plus, earn 3x points on dining worldwide & 1x points on all other purchases
- $300 annual travel credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
- Access over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide with a complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership, plus every Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club with two guests. Plus, up to $120 towards Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck® every 4 years
- Get up to $150 in statement credits every six months for a maximum of $300 annually for dining at restaurants that are part of Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance, no foreign transaction fees, and more.
- Get complimentary Apple TV+, the exclusive streaming home of Apple Originals. Plus Apple Music - all the music you love, across all your devices. Subscriptions run through 6/22/27 - a value of $250 annually
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
Source: Doctor of Credit
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
