Questions and Answers

-American Airlines is my go to, and I have status with them.

-I just received the Amex Platinum and would like to put the $200 credit towards American, which it seems I am able to do.

-Amex clearly states that the airline I designate to receive the $200 credit will also be the same one that I get 30% MR points back from.

-American is not a MR transfer partner.

-If I designate American to receive the $200 credit, will the 30% MR points feature not be utilized?

Please advise and thanks in advance!

The 30% bonus is for when you use the “pay with points” option, not for transferring MRs to an airline’s FF program. You’d book through the MR portal and use your points to pay. To AA it would appear to be a revenue flight.

Thanks MidSouth!

A follow up question: Do I get a better value booking with American on the MR portal (and getting 30% bonus), OR transferring points to British Airways and use the Avios to book American short haul flights (I live in Chicago and travel in US only for business).

Transferring 250 MRs only nets you 200 Avios, unless there’s a bonus going on, so that’s not normally a good deal anymore.

The nice thing about the pay-with-points option is that there doesn’t have to be award space on your route because you’re buying a revenue ticket that will earn miles.

I guess it depends on how expensive the short haul ticket is – sometimes those can be quite expensive. If it’s really expensive using Avios might be worth it, otherwise I’d think the book with points is better. You’ll just have to do the math and see which way you get more bang for your buck.

Probably the latter, but that’s going to be flight-specific.

Thank you both for helping out!

And, I have a question regarding AMEX and AA. I have Emerald status on OneWorld so am always allowed in OW lounges and am given comp drinks / food on flights. My AMEX gives me $200 Airline Credit on AA, but each year I only use a few $1 worth of that. Is there anything I can purchase? Like a gift card? Or something? These airline credits and Priority Club access privileges I just do not understand as I never seem to use them.

You can buy gift cards to the airline. Sometimes people will buy a $50 card and then a few days later buy another $50 card so it looks like baggage fees. Repeat the same thing a few days/weeks/months later for the full $200. You can then use those gift cards the next time you need to purchase a ticket.

The Priority Club access can be good if you’re visiting an airport that doesn’t have an AA lounge and you’re not flying in a premium cabin. Mine came in handy in Fiji where I had access by virtue of my business class ticket but I was able to guest in a friend who was flying in economy.

Thanks MidSouthSkier!
Now, I just need to figure out how to purchase a $50 gift card….. would I call AMEX? or AA? I would do that at the end of December. I am at 90,000 miles with AA now + the 10K bonus elite miles with AAdvantage Executive Card purchases and have about 6 more trips planned for 2016, so I will be well over my 100,000 for EXP…. may want to cancel one flight which would tap into a change fee cost….etc. Again, thanks for that advice.

You can buy them directly from AA: [URL]https://giftcards.aa.com/[/URL]
and, obviously, pay with your Amex. You must have designated AA as your airline of choice with Amex.

You can do this each calendar year.

Thanks so much (had this feature for so many years and never took the opportunity).

[USER=1690]@Rob in Miami[/USER], this FT thread is a good place to check before making your purchases: [URL]http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1646825-airline-fee-200-100-reimbursement-reports-aa-only-32.html[/URL]

Folks regularly report their experiences and if something is not working so it’s a good place to check in before making the purchase.