Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
If you have an AMEX Platinum Card of any kind, you’re eligible to receive a $200 airline incidental fee credit on an airline of your choice each calendar year.
That can help you save money on things like checked bags, day passes to airline lounges, in-flight food and drinks, and more!
But to take advantage, you have to select your airline!
I’ll show you how!
Select Your Qualifying Airline for an AMEX Statement Credit
Link: The Platinum Card® from American Express
Link: The Business Platinum® Card from American Express
If you have an AMEX Platinum Card (including the regular and small business versions), you’re eligible to receive a $200 statement credit each calendar year on an airline of your choice. You can choose from:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta
- Frontier Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue
- Southwest
- Spirit
- United Airlines
But to get the credit, you must select an airline! And if you previously selected an airline, you have until the end of January each year to choose a new one.
You can use the credit for:
- Checked baggage
- In-flight food or beverages
- Lounge day passes
- Change or cancellation fees
- Seat assignments
- And many other additional airline fees!
Keep in mind, AMEX says:
Incidental air travel fees must be separate charges from airline ticket charges. Fees not charged by the Card Member’s airline of choice (e.g. wireless internet and fees incurred with airline alliance partners) do not qualify for statement credits.
They also say:
This benefit doesn’t offer credit toward airline tickets, mileage points purchases or mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, upgrades, duty–free purchases, or award tickets.
Folks on FlyerTalk shared their experiences with many types of charges that were reimbursed (or not!). In my experience, airline gift cards for $50 or less do get reimbursed, and I can use those gift cards for flights later on!
And because these credits apply each calendar year, you can earn $400 in credits ($200 per year x 2 years) in the first account year you have the card. It’s a great way to off-set the annual fee!
Note: You can also get a $100 annual airline fee credit with the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express.
How to Enroll and Pick Your Airline
You only get the $200 annual credit if you enroll your card and select an airline. Here’s how.
Step 1. Log-In to Your AMEX Account
To begin, log-in to your AMEX account and click on the card you want to access. Select “Benefits.”
Under the section titled “Airline Fee Credit,” click on the text that says “Choice Required.”
Step 2. Pick Your Airline
Afterward, you’ll see a screen with a drop-down menu. When you click “Select an Airline,” you’ll see all your options.
Note: After you set your airline, you can NOT change it until the following January! So be totally certain you select the one you want most.
Step 3. Confirm Your Selection
Once you’ve made your choice, click “Select Airline” twice.
After you click the first time, you’ll see the pop-up screen above. And when you click the second time, you’re all set!
Step 4. Remember Your Selection
Now you can start spending on your selected airline right away.
Should you forget which airline you chose, you can always log-in to find out.
AMEX says qualifying fees will be reimbursed within 2 to 4 weeks. But in my experience, it’s much faster – usually 2 to 5 business days.
If you made a qualifying charge and haven’t received a statement credit after a few weeks, call AMEX at the number on the back of your card to see if they’ll manually apply the credit for you.
Bottom Line
The $200 airline incidental fee credit is a terrific perk of the AMEX Platinum Card (including the regular and small business versions).
You can get a statement credit for purchases like in-flight snacks, seat assignments, and checked baggage. But to take part, you must select an airline.
This is an easy way to save some money on an airline you fly often! Just keep in mind that once you make your choice, you’re locked-in until January of the following year.
Still confused, can I use the $200 to upgrade from economy to economy comfort on Delta? It sounds like seat upgrades are not covered, or is that different from seat assignment?
Hey, can one use the $200 credit towards early bird check-in on SW? Thanks!
if one were to get the card NOW, on January 24th, what’s the strategy for getting the incidental credit twice ($400)
Clearly, calendar year 2017 is easy…but for 2018, is it a matter of getting those incidentals in from 1/1/18-1/23/18?
Thanks
It also works on taxes I paid for rapid rewards flights! I wish I knew that last year!
I’m confused. I have Am Ex Platinum Business card. When I logon, click on benefits, and I don’t see an Airline Fee Credit option. Did I understand this post that this benefit should be on this card? Did I miss something? Thank you!
Will the credit work if I buy the SW Gift cards at a third party such as my local Kroger or must I buy directly from SW on their website?
No Larry
Do you have to pay for the entire flight on the same airline for which you request the statement credit? For example can I pay for a trip on Southwest with a Southwest credit card, but then request a statement credit from AMEX for dinner I had while on that flight, but which I paid by an AMEX card?
You could do that. Southwest doesn’t serve dinner on flights, but they do charge for drinks, and if you used your AMEX card (and had selected Southwest) you’d get a credit for that.