Happy new year!
One of the few good things about the new year in our part of the world (given that most elite counters are reset) is that those of us with American Express Platinum cards get a new $200 airline fee credit.
Here are the American Express cards with annual airline fee credits:
- Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Mercedes-Benz — 50,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $1,000 within three months; access to American, Delta, US Airways, and Priority Pass lounges; $475 annual fee
- The Platinum Card® from American Expres — 25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $2,000 within three months; access to American, Delta, US Airways, and Priority Pass lounges, $450 annual fee
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN Application — Access to American, Delta, US Airways, and Priority Pass lounges; $450 annual fee
You have to designate an airline for your annual fee credit, which can be done at americanexpress.com/airlinechoice. Once you log in it will give you the option to change your preferred airline. If you want to keep the same airline as last year, then you don’t need to do anything.
What’s awesome about these airline fee credits is that in most cases they can be used to purchase airline gift cards, which to me are good as cash. The American Express forum on FlyerTalk has individual threads dedicated to reimbursement reports for each airline, including Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, United, and US Airways. As you can see, these credits can be used for a wide variety of things, from lounge memberships, to cancellation fees, to status challenge fees, to (in many cases) gift cards.
Last year I purchased four $50 American Airlines gift cards.
And within a few days those amounts were reimbursed.
And I’m off to do the same right now! This is why the $450 annual fee on the Platinum card is no big deal to me for the first year — the airline fee credit is based on a calendar year, while the annual fee is based on the card member year, so it’s easy to squeeze two airline fee credits out of a single annual fee.
(In the interest of full disclosure I earn a referral bonus on some of the above links — thanks for your support!)
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January 1st, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Chris said,
Do the cards still feature a $100 towards Global Entry or has the benefit gone away?
January 1st, 2013 at 12:05 pm
lucky said,
@ Chris — Yep, that’s still a benefit.
January 1st, 2013 at 12:10 pm
frank said,
which airline u doing in 2013?
January 1st, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Ed said,
Can you let us know the success? Last year I tried and missed (with a $100). The $200 was ultimately used for other incidentals though.
January 1st, 2013 at 12:44 pm
janyyc said,
Why is the first application “exclusively for Mercedes-Benz”?
January 1st, 2013 at 12:49 pm
Eric said,
Can you have a flight booked with another airline and get into Delta, US Air, or American lounge with one of these Amex Cards?
January 1st, 2013 at 1:06 pm
tim said,
Don’t forget the incidental $200 credits with the Ritz Carlton Visa Card have reset today too – and you don’t have to specify a single airline
January 1st, 2013 at 1:07 pm
lucky said,
@ frank — American again. I plan on buying four $50 gift cards.
@ Ed — I’ll report back!
@ janyyc — It’s a different type of Platinum card co-branded with Mercedes Benz, and it has a better sign up bonus than the other version of the card.
@ Eric — With US Airways you can be flying any airline and use their lounges. However, with American and Delta you have to actually be flying them to use the lounge. That being said, you also get a Priority Pass membership, which gets you into more lounges regardless of which airline you’re flying.
January 1st, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Jim said,
Ben – love the blog and have been an avid reader for years, but the proliferation of credit card posts and subsequent referral links are getting a bit excessive.
January 1st, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Carl said,
I would advise folks to keep on top of the $200 refund. My refund did not post for the United Club membership after a month, so Amex issued a manual refund. Last year, the refund posted within a few days, so not sure why it did not post automatically this time.
January 1st, 2013 at 1:32 pm
Linda said,
I just started reading travel blogs
Could you please tell me what Global Entry is or where I can get more information? Thank you.
January 1st, 2013 at 1:39 pm
lucky said,
@ Linda — Here’s a post with more details on Global Entry:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2011/07/26/my-global-entry-registration-experience/
I highly recommend it!
January 1st, 2013 at 1:44 pm
david said,
Morgan Stanley account holders are able to get an Amex Platinum Card with 50,000 MR and only 1000 spend in 3 months. Also the second card is free. No additional 175 fee
January 1st, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Scottman said,
Ben-
Can you confirm that the Mercedez-Benz card also gets the Global Entry reimbursement? It doesn’t list that on the website. And you can’t get it if you currently have the standard Amex platinum, right?
Thanks!
January 1st, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Walt K said,
@Jim. Completely disagree with you. I appreciate these posts. Especially this one as I have a trip tomorrow and it reminded me to change my airline this year.
January 1st, 2013 at 2:21 pm
lucky said,
@ Scottman — Yes, it’s definitely eligible for the Global Entry fee reimbursement.
You’re not eligible for the sign-up bonus if you have the standard American Express Platinum card, though you never know, the bonus may post anyway. Crazier things have happened.
January 1st, 2013 at 2:32 pm
Heather @ pass the dressing said,
@ lucky & scottman: I was under the impression that you could do get MB’s bonus if you had the standard Plat. If this is not the case, do you know what the time between cards needs to be. It was my plan to cancel my Plat a couple of weeks before the annual fee hit and apply for the MB the next day. Am I out of luck?
January 1st, 2013 at 2:37 pm
lucky said,
@ Heather — I’ll double check, but the standard waiting period between getting the bonus again is 12 months.
January 1st, 2013 at 3:08 pm
Will said,
@Heather: I applied for the MB Plat while I had the regular Plat and then cancelled the regular Plat after I received the MB one and still got the bonuses
January 1st, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Scottman said,
Thanks for the info. @Will… sounds like you lucked out. @Lucky… can I apply for the premier rewards gold card if I also have the platinum and still get the points? Might jump on that if a promo is announced soon.
January 1st, 2013 at 4:39 pm
Carl said,
any reason why you did not buy a $200 gift card vs 4 $50 gift cards?
January 1st, 2013 at 6:11 pm
lucky said,
@ Scottman — The terms say that if you’re had the Platinum card in the past 90 days you can’t earn the bonus.
@ Carl — The reimubrsement seems to be triggered by small purchases from airlines (meaning any small purchase is a “fee”). Perhaps purchasing a $200 gift card works just as well, though the smaller the gift card, the more it looks like a fee.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:21 pm
John said,
Ben- Does the four $50 gift card trick only work for American? Will it work for United also?
“This is why the $450 annual fee on the Platinum card is no big deal to me for the first year ,… so it’s easy to squeeze two airline fee credits out of a single annual fee.” Ben, I thought you keep this card yr to yr. Thus only get $200 in credit.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:26 pm
lucky said,
@ John — Most reports indicate that United gift cards are reimbursed.
I do keep the card year to year, though this year plan on canceling the personal card since I have the business card as well, and then getting it again next year.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:40 pm
palefire said,
Thanks for the reminder! Buying now.
January 1st, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Logistiks said,
I have a Platinum AMEX issued through Fidelity.
Is the “25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $2,000 within three months” deal good for that card?
Thanks.
January 1st, 2013 at 7:55 pm
LTL said,
Is the MB Amex a charge card or credit card?
January 1st, 2013 at 7:59 pm
lucky said,
@ LTL — It’s a charge card.
January 1st, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Michael said,
I use this with AA whenever I have to change an award booking.
January 1st, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Kane said,
Is the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Platinum Amex identical to the standard Platinum Amex except for the sign up bonus and the fact that you have to have an MSSB account? Are you still eligible for all the other benefits, Global Entry, $200 airline credit, lounge access, etc?
January 2nd, 2013 at 9:24 am
W Brian Duncan (AKA IPBrian) said,
Has anyone tried using the Global Entry benefit two consecutive years?
January 2nd, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Heather @ pass the dressing said,
@lucky, will & scottman, yeh just upon reading the offer link page, the MB says “this product” whereas the regular Plat says “this, gold, green etc.”. I think maybe will’s story is the norm that you can have the regular Plat and the MB bonus will still post (even if you don’t cancel).
Anyone have additional anecdotal advice? Here’s hoping!
January 2nd, 2013 at 2:02 pm
lucky said,
@ Kane — Yep, that card is eligible for all the same benefits.
January 2nd, 2013 at 2:05 pm
lucky said,
@ W Brian Duncan — I know it can be used for each authorized user (which more than justifies the additional user fee), and I’d assume that you can use it multiple times (I’d say probably once a year), though it’s not explicitly written anywhere.
January 2nd, 2013 at 5:18 pm
stefan said,
Happy New Year Ben,
you say….so it’s easy to squeeze two airline fee credits out of a single annual fee….do I understand this right that if I would get the MB card this month (Jan 2013)complete the spending requirements and pay the annual fee that I could buy 4 $50 AA gift cards lets say in May and then again in July I would get a total of $400 credit on my statements? thus only paying an effective $50 annual fee for the AX MB…..THANKS for your input on this.
January 2nd, 2013 at 6:41 pm
lucky said,
@ stefan — Happy new year to you as well! You have the right idea (that you can get $400 of credits for a $450 annual fee). If you apply now you can get one credit between now and December 31, and then on January 1 of next year you’d be entitled to another $200 credit. So it’s based on calendar years, while your annual fee is based on your card anniversary.
Does that make sense?
January 2nd, 2013 at 9:54 pm
stefan said,
@lucky – Yes, it makes sense, thank you. In what form does that credit appear? Like in a side note as my points with SPG AX or? And in what time frame do I have to use this credit/s?
Thanks again for your input. Fairly new to this still. Awaiting my 2nd CC churn by the end of the month.
January 2nd, 2013 at 10:02 pm
stefan said,
@ lucky – never mind my previous post…I saw above the way the credit appears when purchasing the gift cards…correct?
January 3rd, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Alison B. said,
Does the $200 AMEX Platinum Annual Airline Credit apply per account OR per cardholder? (We have 2 cards on 1 account)
January 3rd, 2013 at 8:32 pm
lucky said,
@ stefan — It appears as a statement credit as shown above. The terms of the gift cards would apply in regards to how long you have to use them.
@ Alison — It’s per account.
January 7th, 2013 at 8:11 pm
Kathy H. said,
What value do you give 100K membership rewards points? I’m slow, but haven’t discovered MR yet…
January 7th, 2013 at 8:14 pm
lucky said,
@ Kathy — I value them at roughly 1.6 cents each, and explain my valuation here:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2012/05/25/my-updated-analysis-on-what-a-milepoint-is-worth-credit-card-points/
January 28th, 2013 at 11:03 am
Tim J said,
Is it normal for AA e-gift cards to take a few days to become available? I just purchased a few to use for a flight I was hoping to purchase today.
January 28th, 2013 at 11:07 am
lucky said,
@ Tim J — Yes, it takes 72 hours.
February 4th, 2013 at 5:47 pm
Ben said,
Does the Mercedes Platinum Amex have the $200/yr incidentals benefit? I do not see it.
It looks to me like that benefit has been replaced with credits towards leasing a Benz.
February 4th, 2013 at 7:11 pm
lucky said,
@ Ben — Yes, the card does come with the annual airline credit.
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