The new year brings another $200 in airline fee credits to redeem on my Amex Platinum card. (The credit helps to offset the pricey $450 annual fee that comes with the card.)
Last year I used my fee credit to purchase Southwest gift cards. Since Kim had the Southwest Companion Pass and we needed a third ticket for Lucas. The $200 in credits would definitely come in handy for future bookings.
For those of you unsure of the Amex Platinum Airline Fee Credit, the $200 is intended to be used towards “incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments”. However, many of us purchase airline gift cards with it. To make it not look suspicious it’s recommended to purchase two $100 gift cards. Some might even buy four $50 cards.
Before spending my 2015 credit, I first needed to select a qualifying airline. (If you want to keep the airline selected from the previous year, then you don’t need to do anything.)
According to American Express: “You are eligible to change your airline selection once per calendar year in January. No action is required if you would like to keep your current airline selection in the future.”
Here are the airlines you can choose from:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Frontier Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue Airways
- Spirit Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
- US Airways
I changed my selection back to American Airlines and waited a couple of days before purchasing my first $100 gift card.
A couple of days later a fee reimbursement showed up in my Amex account for my $100 gift card. I then waited until the following day to purchase another $100 card. Once again, the fee reimbursement showed up a couple of days after.
I’m glad that the Airline Fee Credit posted without issue and I expect my next move to be a call to close out my card.
The $450 annual fee should be posting very soon. While I don’t expect to get a retention offer, I’ll definitely call and ask for one.
While it’s nice having lounge access to Amex Centurion Lounges, to me they are definitely not worth paying the fee to use. (I visited the Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas and LaGuardia last year.)
Did you already claim your Amex Platinum $200 Airline Fee Credit? If so, how did you use it?
Do you find it worth paying the annual fee to keep the Platinum card open?
