“Updated 2026.2” Based on reader reports, UA Travel Bank purchases made after February 5 can no longer trigger the AMEX airline incidental fee reimbursement. We suggest waiting a bit to see whether this is a permanent shutdown or just a delay in the reimbursement system.

In addition, based on a DP from a reader, he purchased UATB on February 1 but did not receive reimbursement for a long time; after contacting customer service, he eventually got reimbursed.

According to reader reports, UATB purchases made at the end of January were reimbursed automatically.

What Is the AMEX Airline Fee Credit?

The AMEX airline fee credit is a benefit offered each calendar year to holders of certain AMEX cards. After selecting one airline, cardholders can receive a certain amount of reimbursement from AMEX in the form of a statement credit for eligible incidental fees charged by that airline. Currently, the following AMEX cards offer an airline fee credit:

The Platinum Card family, all of which offer a $200 credit, including:

Other cards include:

  • AMEX Centurion Card
  • Cards issued by First National Bank Of Omaha under the AMEX network (with a $100 credit).

Note that the AMEX Gold card stopped offering the $100 airline fee credit to new cardholders in 2021, and all Gold cards no longer have this airline fee credit starting in 2022.

How to Get the Credit

Select Your Preferred Airline

When you first get the card, the first step is to choose the airline for which you want to receive reimbursement. Once selected, you do not need to choose again the following year unless you want to switch. If you want to change it, you can do so starting on January 1 of the next year. Below is the airline selection link; just log in after clicking it to make your selection. You can also find the airline fee credit benefit on the benefits page and make changes through “learn more.”

  • Airline selection link for the AMEX Platinum family: Official link

You can choose from the following airlines:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Air Lines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue Airways
  • Spirit Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • United Airlines

Please note that you must first select the airline and then make purchases with that airline in order to get reimbursed. Generally speaking, if you have already used part of the credit with one airline (less than $200), you cannot switch to another airline. However, if you selected the wrong airline or have not yet received any reimbursement for the year, you can change the airline by phone or online chat. Starting in February, you can no longer reselect the airline directly on the website, but changing it via online chat is very convenient.

Make Eligible Purchases With That Airline (Official Definition)

Not all airline charges qualify for reimbursement. Under AMEX’s official definition, the following types of charges do qualify:

  • Change fees on paid tickets
  • Seat assignment fees
  • Phone reservation fees
  • Airline lounge day passes and annual memberships
  • Checked baggage fees
  • In-flight refreshments, movies, etc.

Under the official definition, the following types of charges do not qualify:

  • Airline tickets
  • Award ticket fees
  • Airline gift cards
  • Mileage points purchases or mileage points transfer fees
  • Upgrade fees
  • Duty Free purchases

Receive the Reimbursement

After making a purchase with the selected airline, the reimbursement generally posts within 7 business days after the charge is posted. Below is an example of a $200 reimbursement on a Platinum card:

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If your purchase falls into one of the eligible categories above but you still have not received the reimbursement after 2-4 weeks, you can call the customer service number on the back of your card for help.

Check Your Credit Status

You can now see your annual reimbursement status and selected airline under the Benefit section of the corresponding credit card. You can also check it using the link below:

Tips for Getting the Credit (Unofficial Methods)

If you genuinely spend that much each year on your selected airline, then using the official eligible categories above is the safest approach. But if you do not have that much eligible incidental spending, how can you use the full credit? Over the years, readers in the U.S. and abroad have discovered some unofficial ways to trigger the AMEX reimbursement. The main reason these loopholes exist is that AMEX automatically classifies airline purchases based on merchant coding. So even if you buy something explicitly excluded on the official list, it may still be reimbursed. These methods work the same way for Platinum and Gold cards. If you plan to use unofficial methods, there are two important rules to remember:

  • Do not call AMEX to ask whether an unofficial method will trigger reimbursement, or when your reimbursement will arrive
  • Unofficial methods may be unstable, so please keep following updates to this post to see whether they still work

The following resources are very useful. If you are short on time, you can just skip to the last few pages.

Here are methods that worked in 2021:

UA Travel Bank

Use the following link to add funds to UA Travel Bank:

“Updated 2021.12” Purchases of $100 or $250 are currently both being reimbursed.

You can log in to your UA account to check your Travel Bank balance, or use the link below directly.

The expiration rules for Travel Bank are as follows:

  • If there is no activity in the balance for 18 months, it will expire. Reloading can extend it.
  • Funds added to the account expire after 5 years, and this cannot be extended.

Small Southwest Airlines tickets:

On the Southwest website, tickets under $100 may trigger reimbursement. You can look for short-haul flights to see if any are available. It is best to choose refundable tickets, then refund them after receiving the reimbursement.

Methods that appear to have worked

【2/20 update】Today we saw several examples on Mitbbs of MPX purchases triggering FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha) airline reimbursement, so you can try that as well. FNBO cards do not require you to designate an airline. You only need to call in and activate the benefit before your first reimbursement. After that, it renews automatically every year. The MPX App still offers many gift card options, so there should be some that you can actually use. As for whether other AMEX cards can get reimbursed this way, if you have already selected UA, you can give it a try.

Methods that no longer work

Here is a summary of the unofficial methods that have already stopped working:

  • MPX
  • Delta gift cards, and the Delta gift card + credit card split-payment method
  • AA gift cards: There are basically no good workarounds; the ones that get reimbursed are those officially confirmed.
  • Alaska Airlines: Tickets under $100 may trigger reimbursement, but it is very inconsistent. If you cancel within 24 hours, AS refunds back to the credit card; after 24 hours, it goes to your wallet, which lets you use this reimbursement amount within one year. However, depending on your elite status, you may be charged different cancellation fees. Overall, we still suggest not choosing AS for this.
  • UA Travel Bank (it stopped working before, but now it seems to be reimbursable again)

Some previous data points on methods that stopped working are listed below. Click + to expand.

Methods and DPs that no longer work

Get the reimbursement twice within your first cardmember year

Because the AMEX airline fee reimbursement is calculated by calendar year (January through December), you can use it once in each calendar year. So, if you are approved for an AMEX Gold/Platinum card during the year, say in March, you can immediately use the reimbursement once and get $200/$100. Then, before the following March, you can use it again in the next calendar year and get another $200/$100. After receiving the airline reimbursement, you can choose to close the card. So in addition to the welcome bonus, you can effectively get an extra $400/$200. Not bad, right?

  • Premier Rewards Gold: 25,000 MR points as the welcome bonus + $100*2 from using the reimbursement twice
  • Platinum Card: 60,000 MR points as the welcome bonus + $200*2 from using the reimbursement twice

Things to keep in mind

  • If you used an official method and did not receive the reimbursement within the required timeframe, contact AMEX customer service. If you used an unofficial method, be patient, trust your luck, and keep an eye on major forums and blogs for updates.
  • Which unofficial method to use depends on whether you already spend money in those places. For example, if you often shop at Amazon or Sephora, then using MPX is the most convenient. At the same time, when buying gift cards, you can also earn some UA miles.
  • Unofficial methods can change at any time, so before deciding which one to use, check for updates to this article or on major forums and blogs.

Important! Summary of reimbursements being clawed back

[2020.5 update] Another wave of clawbacks has arrived. Some reimbursements tied to airline gift cards purchased two years ago were even clawed back. AMEX is really going all out to crack down on this. Relevant DP and my suggestions are as follows:

  • Clawed back after closing the card: Two readers in a WeChat group both got the reimbursement after refunding tickets, but those credits were clawed back in this wave. The common factor was that both cards had already been closed.
  • Low spending led to clawback: A friend of one group member had four Platinum cards, and only the one with very little spending had its airline reimbursement clawed back.
  • Reddit DP: Reimbursements on both a Platinum card and a Gold card were clawed back. The Platinum card had already been closed. The clawback email specifically mentioned that the reason was reimbursement triggered by purchasing airline gift cards. This kind of explicit explanation had not appeared before; previously, clawbacks were usually tied to refunds generated after ticket cancellations. (Reddit DP link)

I think AMEX will target people who got reimbursements through unofficial methods, but certainly not everyone. If you are a low-value customer, AMEX will probably come after you first—for example, if you close the card after just one year, have little or no spending on the card, opened many AMEX cards, or only spent enough to earn the welcome bonus. My suggestion: if you do not want your rewards clawed back, put more spending on your AMEX cards for now. AMEX has added quite a few new grocery and statement-credit benefits recently anyway, so there may be less reason to rush into closing the card.

“2020.4 Update” Another large wave of clawbacks has hit, and this time even credits on already-closed cards were reversed! It looks like even with WFH and RAT, AMEX is still working very hard. WeChat reader Sky had airline reimbursements clawed back on a card that was closed several months ago. Below is a screenshot of the email; the purchase was a small Southwest ticket.

If your credit was clawed back and the card is already closed, you should either manually add the card back yourself or contact customer service to do so. You definitely need to pay the money back. Closed cards may still continue generating statements for a short period of time, and failing to pay could affect your credit report and your relationship with the bank.

Image provided by WeChat reader Sky

【2020.2 Update】Today many users received emails from AMEX saying their airline incidental reimbursements had been clawed back. Based on reports from readers so far, the main patterns are as follows:

  • Clawed back: airfare paid with a gift card + credit card and then refunded; small Southwest tickets purchased directly and then canceled for a refund
  • Not clawed back: gift card + credit card payments tied to actual travel; tickets refunded into airline credit; award ticket taxes and fees reimbursed; gift cards reimbursed in early 2019; normal reimbursements

In short, many cases where the refund went directly back to the credit card have been clawed back. But if the money was actually spent, then for now it still appears to be safe, whether or not it technically met AMEX’s official reimbursement rules. It is said that AMEX will review all 2019 reimbursements, and it will probably start with these airfare-refund cases used to trigger the credit.

If your situation involved this kind of direct refund, you may get clawed back or may already have been clawed back. Be especially mindful of the following:
  • Check these cards that received reimbursements, and also check your email, to see whether anything was clawed back. If the credit card is still open, pay it back as soon as possible before the statement due date. Don’t forget that AMEX may also hit you with interest.
  • If you already closed the card, AMEX will likely mail you a paper statement. You’ll need to repay it by mailing a check or calling in. Otherwise, AMEX may report the balance to the credit bureaus and hurt your credit history.

If you bought a ticket just to trigger the reimbursement and have not yet refunded it, you may want to consider refunding it into airline credit for future travel. My guess is that after this wave, AMEX may gradually go after those who used unofficial methods to trigger reimbursements. In short, if you still have the opportunity, use up the credits sooner rather than later.

Also, if you are thinking about closing your AMEX Platinum soon, there may still be a big retention offer available. WeChat reader 水钻吃饭 was preparing to close his Morgan Stanley Platinum, and customer service directly offered him 50,000 Membership Rewards points on the spot (including signup spending, his total annual spending was only a little over 7,000).