Does the AMEX Business Platinum Pay With Points Perk Work for Family Member Airfare?

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Million Mile Secrets reader, Jessica, commented:

Does the 50% points back Pay With Points perk with The Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN work for airfare purchased for family members who are not cardholders?  I booked a flight for myself, but need to purchase flights for my 3 children.  Can I purchase their tickets and get 50% of the points back?

Excellent question, Jessica!

The good news is the Business Platinum Pay With Points perk is NOT just for the primary cardholder.

As long as you use AMEX Membership Rewards points linked to your Business Platinum card, you’ll be eligible to get 50% of the points back after booking coach flights on your selected airline.  Or on Business Class or First Class flights on any airline.  It doesn’t matter who the passengers are!

This is a terrific perk for family travel because sometimes you can’t find enough available award seats when transferring points directly to an airline partner.

I’ll explain how using AMEX Pay With Points with the Business Platinum card can be a great deal!

Family Travel Using AMEX Business Platinum Pay With Points

Link:   The Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN 

Link:   Get 50% of Your Points Back With AMEX Business Platinum 

Link:   Selecting an Airline With the AMEX Business Platinum & Why I Chose Southwest

I’m a big fan of the Business Platinum Pay With Points perk because you can:

• Combine points earned from other AMEX Membership Rewards cards to your Business Platinum card
• Get 2 cents per point on coach airfare on your selected airline or with Business Class or First Class airfare on ANY airline
• Use points for flights without worrying about blackout dates

I selected Southwest as the airline on my Business Platinum card.  Using just the points from the amazing 100,000-point sign-up bonus and minimum spending requirement (available through January 25, 2017), I calculated I’ll get at least $2,300 worth of airfare!

And there are no restrictions on using the Pay With Points perk for others.  So you can book flights for friends or family members and still get 50% of your points back!

Keep in mind the way you redeem points using Pay With Points depends on the airline you select.

Unless you select Southwest or Spirit Airlines, you’ll have to book airfare directly through the AMEX travel portal to get 50% of your points back.

For example, if Delta is your selected airline and you’re booking coach airfare, you can enter the number of passengers traveling on the travel portal page.

After you redeem points for the flight, you’ll automatically get 50% of the points back within 8 to 10 weeks.  Remember, you’ll need to have the total number of points required to pay for the flight at the time of booking.

And if you have Southwest or Spirit airlines selected as your airline, you can book airfare directly through the airline website.

Then, after the transaction posts to your account, you can call AMEX Membership Rewards at 800-297-3276 to request they apply points towards the charge.

Again, you’ll have to wait the same amount of time to get 50% of the points back in your account.

For folks with the Companion Pass, this is a great way to book Southwest airfare.  Because you can apply AMEX Membership Rewards points toward your flight.  Then, add your companion to your reservation.  You can even use AMEX Membership Rewards points to cover your companion’s taxes and fees.

Bottom Line

Folks with the AMEX Business Platinum card can use the Pay With Points perk to get 50% of their points back, even on airfare purchased for friends or family members.

You’ll get the points credited back to your account 8 to 10 weeks after you book coach airfare on your selected airline or Business Class or First Class airfare on any airline.

Remember there’s currently an offer to earn 100,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points on the Business Platinum card after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements through January 25, 2017.

Thanks for the question, Jessica!