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AMEX added a major temporary benefit to the AMEX Platinum card a few days ago: a $200 AMEX Travel reimbursement benefit:

Cardholders whose accounts renew between April 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 are eligible for a $200 travel credit reimbursement.

Many people may not be clear on what exactly “renew” means here: is it based on the card opening month or the month when the annual fee is charged? For example, for the well-known scenario where people can get the credit three times, if you opened the card last December and the annual fee posts in January 2021, how is the renewal month calculated? Would people in this group get the reimbursement?

The answer is: yes!

AMEX actually already hinted at this in the benefits email it sent out. If you did not receive it, you can search your inbox for the subject line below.

  • Email subject: Important news about your Platinum Card®

Using KUKU’s case as an example: one Platinum card was opened last December, and the annual fee will be charged next January. The email received looked like this, and the red box indicates that the card has the AMEX Travel reimbursement benefit:

Annual fee due next January; reimbursement benefit shown in the email

However, another Platinum card of the author’s was opened last February, and the annual fee was charged this March. That one did not include this benefit notice, but it did receive a 50,000 retention offer:

Annual fee charged this March; no reimbursement notice

So far, AMEX has not released any additional detailed terms. For now, there are only hints in the email. It is also possible that every Platinum card may unexpectedly end up getting the reimbursement after all.