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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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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