Easy Peasy – How to select your Amex incidental-fee-credit airline

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If you have an American Express card that has an airline incidental fee credit, you’ll need to choose the airline the credits apply to before you make an eligible purchase. You can make this selection when you open the account and you can change your choice once per year in January. Although, I have been able to get Amex to change my selection mid-year as a courtesy, so it’s always worth asking if you’re in that situation.

This article will show you how to make your airline selection on your own by logging into your American Express account. But you can always call the number on the back of your card or you can use Amex’s secure chat to make your selection.

These credits can save you money on things like checked bags, day passes to airport lounges, inflight food and drinks. For more details read our guide on how to use your amex airline fee credits.

Select your qualifying airline

These Amex travel credit cards come with airline incidental fee credits:

• The Platinum Card® from American Express – Up to $200 in airline incidental fee credits
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express – Up to $200 in airline incidental fee credits
• The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card – Up to $250 in airline incidental fee credits
• American Express® Gold Card – Up to $100 in airline incidental fee credits

And you can choose from these airlines:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Delta
• Frontier Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• JetBlue
• Southwest
• Spirit
• United Airlines

If you previously selected an airline, you have until the end of January each year to choose a new one or it will stay the same as before.

How to pick your airline

Log in to your Amex account

To begin, log in to your Amex account and in the upper right corner of the page click on the card you want to access. Then, select “Benefits.”

Pick your airline

Afterward, you’ll see a screen with info boxes detailing your card’s benefits. Scroll down until you see the airline credit perk, which will include a tracker showing you how much of the credit you still have available to use. In the screenshot below, you can see I’ve already made my selection for the year, but if you haven’t there should be a link there for you to click to make your airline choice or just click “Learn More.”

Then click the big blue “Select An Airline” button to make and confirm your choice.

Or you can click this link and log in to your account to be brought directly to the above page.

Bottom Line

The Amex airline fee credits can be valuable perks, but to take full advantage you’ll have to jump through some hoops. First, be sure to select your airline before you make any qualifying purchases. And be aware that these credits don’t apply to airfare, instead you can get a statement credit for purchases like inflight snacks, seat assignments and checked baggage.

This is an easy way to save some money on an airline you fly often.

Featured photo by Nattapol_Sritongcom/Shutterstock.