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[Update] According to reader Rafi Wang’s DP, buying a Weee gift card can trigger the reimbursement. Weee is one of the largest Asian online supermarkets on the East and West Coasts, and it’s actually pretty decent.

[06/12 Update] Reloading a US Starbucks account can also trigger the reimbursement. Previously this was only speculation, and no one had really tested it. For people who like Starbucks, if you do not have a hotel stay planned, this is not a bad option. If you are outside the US (non-US dining purchases do not qualify for reimbursement) and also cannot use the credit for lodging, then the fallback option is to reload Starbucks. Balances in a US Starbucks account can be used in multiple countries or regions currently known to include the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the UK, and Ireland, and it will automatically settle at the live exchange rate. Personally, I think this works well for people who like to travel.

Note: this is not directly buying a Starbucks gift card; it is reloading value onto a linked gift card! I recommend doing a small test first.

H/T: DOC

From June through August, the hotel credit can be used for US dining purchases (including takeout and delivery) on: AMEX Hilton Aspire [$250 reimbursement] and AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant [$300 reimbursement]. See also:

Some Notes

When you can make eligible purchases

The key requirement is that this is limited to June through August 2020. Here is how to tell whether you have this reimbursement available:

  • Existing cardholders: If you have either of these cards, the sign that your credit has reset is your annual fee posting. As long as the annual fee has posted and you have not already used the hotel credit, just use it on dining before the end of August.
  • New cardholders: This includes newly opened cards or upgrades. Even if the annual fee has not posted yet, you can still trigger the reimbursement. For upgrades, once the card design in your account has changed, you can start spending; using the old physical card is also fine.

Note: for existing cardholders, this is technically based on your cardmember year. If you have held the card for a full year, you may still have the reimbursement even if the annual fee has not posted yet. If you are unsure, use the annual fee posting as your rule of thumb.

Which dining purchases do not count

  • Dining purchases outside the US do not count.
  • Within the US, even if the transaction shows up as dining on your statement, it still will not count unless AMEX recognizes it as a qualifying dining transaction. For example, some small merchants use customized card readers coded as dining; those may not work.
  • For US dining purchases, an easy way to tell whether it should auto-reimburse is this: if it earns the dining category multiplier, it should work. Hilton Aspire earns 7x on dining; Marriott Brilliant earns 3x on dining.

What if the reimbursement does not post properly?

Based on current DPs, it seems that purchases made on or after 5/30 can all be automatically reimbursed. Even for eligible purchases, there can sometimes be delays, or AMEX may not recognize your transaction as dining.

  • Be patient. Around weekends, reimbursements can be delayed by a few days.
  • If it still does not post, according to information from reader Александр Константинович Ю Yu, you can try online chat and ask a representative to help manually. YMMV.
  • If AMEX does not recognize it, but the statement clearly shows it was dining and you did not receive the bonus multiplier, you can also try online chat in that case, though success is still YMMV.

Some miscoded reimbursement DPs

Some grocery purchases have also triggered the reimbursement, which is pretty interesting. See:

Can you upgrade, use the credit, and then downgrade?

This is the classic “quick upgrade-downgrade” move. It is a bit abusive, so I do not recommend it.

  • If there is an upgrade bonus, absolutely do not do this. Downgrading shortly afterward can cause the bonus to be clawed back and may damage your relationship with AMEX. If you do this too often, AMEX may shut you down.
  • If it is a no-bonus upgrade, then using the credit and downgrading after exhausting it can indeed be very profitable: you can get the credit for almost no cost, or pay roughly 2 months’ prorated annual fee, get the free night certificate, and then downgrade. Still, it is a bit abusive and may affect your relationship with AMEX. It is better to play the long game.

[Note] I am only sharing the idea here; I would not do it myself. I have always believed that with credit card rewards, playing the long game is the right approach.

Reimbursement results by card

Normal dining purchases are all OK. Here are a few screenshots.

Hilton Aspire

The reimbursement is indeed very fast. In most cases, it posts the day after the dining charge posts. The reimbursement still shows as a Resort or hotel credit. In the DP below, a McDonald’s purchase was reimbursed very quickly.

Image from WeChat reader 天地之间

AMEX Hilton Aspire already comes with Hilton Diamond status. People often joke that this status is mainly useful for free breakfast or dining benefits, so it has a bit of a “Diamond for dining” reputation. Now that it also has this temporary pandemic-era dining reimbursement perk, that nickname fits even better.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

Reimbursement speed is also 1–2 days after the charge posts. For delivery purchases, the statement shows Marriott Bonvoy CREDIT. Thanks to reader doom and Александр Константинович Ю Yu for the information.

Reader Александр Константинович Ю Yu’s 5/30 purchase was also reimbursed

As a premium credit card, this card only comes with Marriott Gold status, which is much less valuable than Hilton Diamond. If you do not spend heavily, applying for this card now and using these three months of dining purchases for expenses you would already have anyway can effectively reduce the annual fee to $150, while also getting a 50,000-point Marriott free night certificate. So this is actually not a bad time to apply, with the only downside being that the current welcome bonus is not an all-time high.

Apply for these credit cards

Feel free to use our quick application links:

If you received an upgrade offer, that can also be worth considering. Usually you need to have held the lower-tier card for one year, and it is generally recommended to apply for the premium card first and only upgrade later, so you do not waste the lifetime bonus opportunity.