4 Easy Steps to Select Your $200 AMEX Airline Credit

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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 OPEN

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.