Easier Than Ever to Receive Discounts on First, Business, and Premium Economy Seats Through American Express!

Joseph Hostetler

6 years ago

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.

Ever heard of the International Airline Program from American Express? If you ever find yourself buying seats fancier than coach, it’s worth a look.

Folks with certain American Express credit cards can use the program to receive discounts on First Class, Business Class, and Premium Economy seats. And AMEX has added a new feature that makes it even easier to book these deals!

If You Don’t Have the Points to Book a Free Business Class Flight, You’ll Get a Discount Through the International Airline Program

Previously, you’d have to call AMEX to book the discounts. But now, they’re giving folks the option of booking through online chat!

There are some restrictions that are still in effect with this new method:

Only tickets that both begin and end in the US are eligible
You can book a maximum of 8 tickets per booking
You’ll need to pay a $39 fee for each ticket you book through this program (waived for AMEX Centurion cardholders)
You need to pay with a qualifying AMEX card, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, or AMEX Centurion card to be eligible for the program

But the discounts you find are worth the red tape. Plus, folks who have The Platinum Card® from American Express will earn 5 AMEX Membership Rewards points per $1 when they use the International Airline Program for booking their flights.

You can also use AMEX Membership Rewards points to book these flights. And if you have The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, you’ll receive a 35% points rebate on eligible First Class and Business Class flights (up to 500,000 points back per year).

Let us know if you use the new chat function of the International Airline Program from American Express to save on fancy seats!

To make sure you never miss valuable miles & points news and promos, sign up for our email newsletter!

Hat tip: The Points Guy

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! :)