One of the more difficult to use credit card benefits is the American Express Airline of Choice Benefit. The idea is simple enough. It’s a $200 annual credit card members receive to offset travel expenses. The issue is, unlike other cards the benefit is not automatic. In fact card members have to jump through a few hoops before American Express will hand out the benefit. Additionally, each year it’s a little bit of a guessing game as to which charges will count or not. The good news is that my credits finally posted and today I wanted to share my experience.
Selecting My American Express Platinum Airline Of Choice
Shortly after opening the American Express Platinum or Premier Rewards Gold card, card members should first select an airline of choice. You can do so by logging into your account here. Doing so will direct you to the American Express Airline of Choice portal. Once inside, simply select your airline of choice from the dropdown and confirm your selection.
Once you select an airline of choice in a calendar year, you can’t change that choice until the following year. Keep that in mind as selecting your airline of choice is the only way to earn the $200 travel credit. Also, the credit can only be earned on purchases made with your airline of choice.
Using The Airline Of Choice Benefit
Once you’ve selected you’re airline of choice it’s important to understand how to redeem your $200 of travel credits. Unfortunately, per the program rules certain purchases do not qualify for reimbursement. According to the official listing of qualifying charges, only incidental fees (bag fees, etc.) or in-flight incidentals (movies, beverages, food) qualify for reimbursement. Airfare, upgrades, lounge access, and airline gift cards are all considered non-qualifying charges.
Luckily, it’s been reported for some time now that American Airlines gift cards, purchases in $100 or less increments are reimbursable. I’ve used this benefit three years in a row now to purchase American Airlines gift cards and have had positive results each time.
Airline of Choice statement credits generally appear within a week following the posting of qualifying charges. There is no notification system or approval necessary. If you don’t see your statement credits appear you can call American Express to see if they can help, but generally they are unable. Usually if the airline of choice credits don’t post it’s because you made a non-qualifying purchase. As with anything however, your mileage may vary.
Final Thoughts
I’m glad that my 2017 American Express Airline of Choice credits finally posted. Each year it’s a guessing game to see if gift card purchases count. Luckily this year, American Airlines gift cards of $100 or less value seem reimbursable.
If you don’t plan to buy gift cards you should still make sure to elect an airline of choice before the end of the year. Even if you only end up using a few dollars on bag fees or in-flight food, it’s still better than using $0 of the benefit. The $200 annual travel credit helps offset the $550 annual fee on the card and is money you are owed. I can’t imagine the amount of money that goes unclaimed each year.
If you aren’t sure if you’ve used your full Airline of Choice benefit this year, visit the benefits page of your American Express account homepage. At the bottom of the screen you should find the tile (pictured above) which shows the amount of the credit used and remaining for the year.
