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There are implications to the new year when it comes to loyalty programs and credit cards. Those with an eligible American Express card can receive a new airline fee credit. This is an opportunity to get hundreds of dollars of value per year, based on the cards that I have.
A lot of people have just reset their Amex airline fee credits, so I wanted to talk about the current state of the credits in this post.
An annual airline fee credit is one of the benefits of several American Express cards. For many of us, benefits like this help offset the annual fees on cards, and the credit is intended to be used towards airline fees.
The validity of American Express cards that offer airline fee credits is based on the calendar year. This card is not like other cards, where it is based on your cardmember year, because it is a strict calendar year definition.
Amex airline fee credits are valid through December 31, but it is a "use it or lose it" situation.
One of the following airlines can be designated as your airline of choice.
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines.
The Delta Air Lines.
The airlines are Frontier Airlines.
The airlines are Hawaiian
There is a plane on the ground, the JetBlue Airways.
The airlines are called Spirit Airlines.
Southwest Airlines.
The United Airlines.
You can designate Frontier as your airline for the Amex fee credit.
Three premium cards offer airline fee credits.
The annual airline credit can be used for purchases made directly with airlines.
Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not considered to be ancillary fees.
Some items outside of those categories have been reimbursed in the past.
The American Express forum on FlyerTalk has threads dedicated to reimbursement reports for each airline, including Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, and United. Some people report having luck with some of the best uses, so it can be worth looking there for inspiration.
Baggage fees, award ticket fees, change and cancelation fees, seat assignment fees, lounge passes, inflight food and beverage purchases, and other items are eligible for reimbursement.
Lounge passes could be used for airline fee credits.
If you have designated an airline for this benefit, your eligible airline purchase should be automatically reimbursed.
You can change your designated airline once per year in January.
To verify or select your airline, log into your Amex account, and then click on theBenefits tab along the top. You can find a link to select an airline when you scroll to the section about the airline fee credit.
AmEx could possibly update its descriptions, eh? US Airways and AirTran are still being mentioned.
If you already designated an airline last year, you don't have to do anything this year. If you haven't designated an airline in the past or want to change your selection, you'll want to edit it.
When you redeem points with the "Pay With Points" feature on the Business Platinum Card from American Express, you'll get a 35% discount. You should choose your airline carefully.
There are many comments from readers when I write about the Amex airline fee credit. The Amex Platinum was the original premium credit card, but it is interesting to see how much less restrictive travel credits are on other premium credit cards.
The Amex credit only applies to fees, so it's very restrictive, and the benefit has gotten even less valuable since most airlines have eliminated or cut change fees.
I think it is important to acknowledge that the Amex Platinum offers an incredible number of credits, and it is clear that the benefits are designed to have a lot of breakage, or else the economics wouldn't work out.
The Amex Platinum could potentially offer over $1,800 in credits annually, and the intent is that not all cardmembers maximize each of those perks. The restrictions around these benefits are likely to be designed. I don't think Amex will replace a $200 airline fee credit with a flat $200 airline credit.
I love getting new annual airline fee credits when I have the Amex cards, because I hate when the year resets in terms of elite status. If you have any of the above Amex cards, you can designate your airline of choice, and then take advantage of your 2022 credits.
How will you use your Amex airline fee credits?
The rates and fees for American Express cards can be found in the following links. The Business Platinum Card from American Express is included.
