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Amex Platinum $200 airline fee credited AA gift cards
A few days ago I went ahead and charged a couple $100 AA gift cards to my Amex Business Platinum with the expectation they would be credited a few days later. If you don’t know about this strategy, it’s a great way to use up your Amex Platinum Airline fee credit on things other than “incidentals.” For whatever reason, AA gift cards code as incidentals with Amex and, as a result, the fees get reimbursed. This makes the fee credit far more valuable as it can be used for flights directly instead of bag fees, change fees, etc. Usually this wouldn’t be of any concern and it has gone off without a hitch in years past with credits every time. However, over the last 6 or 7 months I’ve had a few friends and family tell me that their AA gift cards hadn’t been refunded. This was cause of concern as it would significantly decrease the value of holding an Amex Plat. Good news! The Amex Platinum $200 airline fee credited AA gift cards and the strategy still works!
In case you are unfamiliar with the $200 Airline fee credit perk of Amex Platinum
When I upgraded my Amex Business Gold to Platinum last fall I tried the credit out and it worked for calendar year 2016. If I’m any indication of the current policy…it’s still working in 2017
I’d read where people have had trouble if they buy gift cards on the same day. That wasn’t the case for me. I did have two independent transactions.
- You can not buy 1 – $200 gift card
- You must be 2 or more cards that total $200
- Use different transactions. Don’t but 2 cards in the same purchase.
It’s worth noting that when you purchase gift cards they aren’t immediately available for use. You have to wait 3 days.
As you can see from the Amex screen shot I purchased these gift cards on Jan 14th.
When I upgraded my Business Gold to Business Platinum I received 50,000 Amex MR. In addition, I’ve received $400 in airline credit. That nets out to just $50 in annual fee. Add in the Gogo in flight wifi passes…I’m net ahead + bonus points + lounge access + Fine Hotels and Resorts.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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