We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Amex airline fee credit: What it is and how to use it

  • Jason Stauffer

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    One of the best American Express credit card perks is the annual credit for airline incidental fees. This is a valuable benefit that comes with cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

    With it, you can get up to $200 or up to $250 toward incidentals on your airline of choice, and the credits renew each calendar year. You can choose which airline the credit will apply to when you open the card, but it has to be used by the end of the year — which is approaching quickly.

    Here’s a look at what types of fees do (and don’t) qualify for these credits. And how to select your airline.

    The information for the Hilton Aspire card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    What is the Amex airline fee credit?

    The Amex airline fee credit is an up to $200 credit you can use for incidental travel expenses. These credits can save you money on things like checked bags, day passes to airport lounges and inflight food and drinks.

    You don’t have to use the entire credit at once — you can split it up In any increments. And once the qualifying charge posts to your account, you’ll see the credit within four weeks. 

    Amex cards that offer an annual airline fee credit

    These Amex travel credit cards come with airline incidental fee credits (enrollment required):

    If you have The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, choosing the right airline is even more important because you’ll get an extra benefit: Using the Amex Pay With Points feature to purchase airfare through the Amex travel portal, cardholders get a 35% points rebate on all business and first-class tickets (up to 500,000 points back per calendar year). And you’ll get the same 35% points rebate on all coach flights booked with your selected airline through the Amex travel portal using the Pay With Points feature.

    You can choose from these 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.

    (Photo by Bignai/Shutterstock)

    What can the credit be used for?

    You can use the credit for fees including:

    You cannot use fee credits for fees including:

    Just be sure that your purchase is separate from your airline ticket so that it shows up as a different transaction.

    How to select your qualifying airline

    If you have an American Express card with 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.

    Log in to your Amex account

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

    Amex cards with airline incidental credits include (terms apply):

    This is an easy way to save some money on an airline you fly often. If you have experience with reimbursement for airline-fee credits, please share.

        For more travel and credit card news, deals and analysis sign-up for our newsletter here.

    Featured photo by Nattapol_Sritongcom/Shutterstock.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)