Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
It’s official! An official AMEX representative on Twitter has confirmed the rumored 5X AMEX Membership Rewards points on airfare with eligible American Express cards, starting October 6, 2016.
This appears to only apply to American Express Platinum cards. And NO new bonus categories are anticipated.
I’ll share the updates!
Earn 5X Points on Airfare With AMEX Platinum
Link: Ask AMEX Tweet
In response to a tweet from @sdice, @AskAMEX confirmed that eligible cardholders will earn 5X AMEX Membership Rewards points on airfare purchased directly from airlines. Later, they tweeted “this is an old offer,” but the original tweet is still up. Oops!
And in a separate tweet, @AskAMEX suggests there will NOT be additional bonus categories added to the upgraded card.
This is terrific news for folks who book a lot of paid flights. Because the current best cards for airfare, like the Premier Rewards Gold Card From American Express, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi ThankYou Premier Card, and Citi Prestige, earn 3X points on airline tickets.
Keep in mind, American Express Platinum cards do NOT have the best trip cancellation, delay, or lost / delayed baggage insurance. So if that’s important to you, you might still consider using a Chase or Citi card to book flights.
Bottom Line
American Express has (sort of) confirmed the American Express Platinum cards will soon earn the highest bonus points on paid airfare.
Starting October 6, 2016, eligible cardholders will earn 5X AMEX Membership Rewards points for flights purchased directly from airlines!
How long until Amex claws back those points for some made up reason? Wouldn’t waste my time and money with any of their promos, their are safer deals.
If Amex is trying to rival the Chase Reserve card and THIS is the best they can do then I am sure eventually Marriott will pull the SPG card from Amex and rebrand with Chase, too. Pitiful.
If that is the only change Amex is making to compete with Chase, then their whole Marketing team needs a refresh!