There are lots of implications to the new year when it comes to loyalty programs and credit cards, including some benefits being reset. That includes with American Express, where those with an eligible card can receive a new airline fee credit. Based on the cards that I have, this is an opportunity to get hundreds of dollars of value per year.
In this post I wanted to talk a bit about the current state of Amex airline fee credits, given that it’s a new year, meaning that a lot of peoples’ credits have just reset.
In this post:
What are Amex airline fee credits?
Cards offer a variety of benefits, and in the case of several American Express cards, one of those is an annual airline fee credit. The credit is intended to be used toward airline fees (as the name suggests), and for many of us, benefits like this help offset the annual fees on cards.
When are Amex airline fee credits valid?
In the case of all American Express cards offering airline fee credits, the validity is based on the calendar year. This is a strict calendar year definition, so it’s not like some other cards, where it’s based on your cardmember year.
With Amex, airline fee credits are valid January 1 through December 31, and it’s a “use it or lose it” situation.
Which airlines are eligible for Amex airline fee credits?
You can designate one of the following airlines as your airline of choice for this benefit:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue Airways
- Southwest Airlines
- Spirit Airlines
- United Airlines
Which Amex cards come with airline fee credits?
The following three premium cards offer airline fee credits, in the following increments:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express (review), which has a $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), offers a $200 annual airline fee credit
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review), which has a $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), offers a $200 annual airline fee credit
- The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review), which has a $450 annual fee, offers a $250 annual airline fee credit
What can Amex airline fee credits be used for?
Per the terms, the annual airline credit can be used for purchases made directly with airlines, excluding the following:
Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees.
While there are no guarantees that this will continue to be possible, historically some items outside of those categories have been reimbursed.
The American Express forum on FlyerTalk has individual threads dedicated to reimbursement reports for each airline, including Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, and United. It can be worth looking there for inspiration on some of the best uses, as you might be surprised by what some people report having luck with.
While it varies by airline and situation, often baggage fees, award ticket fees, change and cancelation fees, seat assignment fees, lounge passes, inflight food and beverage purchases, etc., qualify for reimbursement.
How do you register for Amex airline fee credits?
Your eligible airline purchase should be automatically reimbursed when charged to a qualifying card, assuming you’ve designated an airline for this benefit.
Each year you have to designate an airline for your airline fee credit. You can change your designated airline once per year, in January, so you can now change your designated airline, if you’d like.
To verify or select your airline of choice, log into your Amex account and select an eligible card, and then click on the “Benefits” tab along the top of the page.
Once there, scroll down until you see the section that lists the airline fee credit benefit, and then click “Change Selected Airline” (if you’d like to do that.
On the next page you can scroll down, and then you’ll see the selection of airlines that you can pick.
The top of the “Benefits” page should also have a tracker that shows how much of your credit you’ve used so far this year.
If you already designated an airline last year, that will be the default one this year, so if you want to keep it you don’t have to do anything. But if you haven’t designated an airline in the past or want to change your selection, you’ll want to edit it.
Keep in mind that for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, the airline you choose is the same one for which you’ll get 35% off when redeeming points with the “Pay With Points” feature. You’ll want to choose your airline carefully.
Should Amex update the airline fee credits benefit?
When I write about the Amex airline fee credit, there are often comments from readers about how it’s time that Amex update this benefit. The Amex Platinum was the original premium credit card, though it’s interesting to see how much less restrictive travel credits are on other premium credit cards:
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) offers a $300 annual travel credit that’s valid toward any travel purchase charged to the card, with no registration required
- The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) offers a $300 annual travel credit that’s valid toward any purchase through Capital One Travel, with no registration required
By comparison, the Amex credit is highly restrictive, given that it only applies toward fees, that you need to register, need to designate an airline, etc. This benefit has gotten even less valuable during the pandemic, since most airlines have eliminated or cut change fees, which these credits apply toward.
While all of that is true, I think it’s important to acknowledge that the Amex Platinum offers an incredible number of credits, and it’s pretty clear that these benefits are designed to have a lot of breakage, or else the economics wouldn’t work out.
The Amex Platinum potentially offers over $1,800 in credits annually, and the intent is presumably that not all cardmembers maximize each of those perks. In other words, the restrictions around all of these benefits are likely by design. I wouldn’t expect Amex to ever replace a $200 airline fee credit with a flat $200 airline credit, for example.
Bottom line
While I hate when the year “resets” in terms of elite status, I do love picking up new annual airline fee credits thanks to the Amex cards I have. If you have any of the above Amex cards, you can go ahead and designate your airline of choice, and then start taking advantage of your 2023 credits… if you can figure out uses.
How do you plan on using your 2023 Amex airline fee credits?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees).
The benefits are not so "incredible" and Amex is one of the most restrictive on all of their benefits. Most of the benefits are so specific that few people have a use for it like the gym membership at a specific gym chain. Some of the benefits are so restrictive such as the Uber credit, now it's down to rides. Bad enough before it was down to money per month.
“Some of the benefits are so restrictive such as the Uber credit, now it's down to rides.”
Did something change on Jan 1? Or do you have no idea what you’re talking about?
Because the Amex benefit as recently as December was a credit into your Uber account that could be used for either food or rides, and the text on the website is unchanged.
Amex gold used to have airline credit, it doesn’t anymore?
I use mine to offset the cost of an Alaska Airlines lounge membership. However, AMEX won't recognize this charge as incidental, so the credit won't automatically apply. They require you to wait 30 days after the charge, and then you have to call in and get them to apply it. However, they do say that lounge memberships are valid for this credit. It's just their automated checking for charges do not recognize it automatically.
This benefit is more or less worthless to me. Nothing I charge seems to trigger it anymore. And if you fly business /first there are barely any fees. I'll probably use it for the few times I fly united since they are mucho stingy with lounges. Luckily, the Hilton aspire card has more than enough to offset this benefit.
Depends how you book your flights. If you book economy and then pay for an upgrade you can use the credit for the upgrade. Domestic upgrade depending on where you are going from/to is often less than the credit. If you are using points then usually the taxes and gasoline fee will trigger the credit. The key is picking an airline that you will incur such charges.
Amex has removed Frontier as an option for the airline credit.
The Ameex Delta credit used to be able to pay for Premium beverages at the Sky Clubs but that has been gone for awhile!
Ahh this post just reminds me of the good old days of the combo first year fee free Ameriprise AMEX plat card and Delta allowing the credit to pay for gift cards in $50 increments..those were some happy years of churn and burn when AMEX actually paid ME to have the plat card!
Yup bought $50 AA gift cards from 2015-2018, no questions asked, half the time it automatically got reimbursed the other times i would just do the online chat and ask for a reimbursement, they never asked what the expense was and instantly approved it. Those where the days!
Is it possible to have different aiines on different Biz Plat cards such that you get the 35% rebate on coach MR redemptions for multiple airlines?
Know I get 35% back on coach with my selected airline and the same for any biz/first tickets. Would like to get the 35% back on multiple airlines.