Choose Designated Airline for Amex Platinum by Today

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I’m bumping this up to the top of the blog roll as a reminder to make a change by TODAY. You must choose the designated airline for any Platinum card (including the Business Platinum), and the Hilton Aspire card (which comes with up to $250 incidental fee credit) by today as well if you want it to be different than last year’s. 

One of the most valuable benefits of the Platinum Card® from American Express is up to $200 in statement credits for incidental fees with your designated qualifying airline every calendar year. (Enrollment required).

In other words, you won’t receive reimbursements on your card statement for incidental travel expenses across the board. You must choose an airline you wish to receive statement credits for, and that is your “designated qualifying airline” all year. You can also the call the number on the back of your card to chose your designated qualifying airline if you prefer.

If you just recently opened the the Platinum Card® from American Express and have not chosen your designated qualifying airline yet, you can do so at any time. If you have had the Platinum Card® from American Express for a while and had a qualifying designated airline set in 2018, the time window to change it is January. That means Thursday is the last day to change or choose your qualifying airline if you want it to be different than last years.

Unfortunately “incidental travel expenses” don’t include just any charge to an airline, hotel, Uber, etc., like the travel statements credits available on a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You’ll want to be careful about what airline you choose for this reason. More on that below.

How the Travel Credit for the Amex Platinum Cards Work

Amex Platinum cardholders get up to $200 in statement credits for incidental fees with your designated qualifying airline every calendar year. In order to get the up to $200 airline fee credit, you have to choose a single airline on which you will receive credits for fees incurred. Designate that airline from the list of eligible airlines here. Note that this up to $200 credit is a benefit of all the versions of the Platinum card, including the Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

The airline fee credit is supposed to be for “incidental fees” likes change fees, cancellation fees, and bag fees. The fee credit is not supposed to apply to ticket purchases, miles purchases, or gift card purchases.

But American Express’ computers decides whether a certain purchase qualifies for a fee credit, and in the experience of thousands of people, certain airline gift card purchases will result in a statement credit. That makes this benefit like getting $400 in free flights, which almost completely offsets the annual fee in one swoop.

Incidental Fee Statement Processing Time

It can take a few weeks for the offsetting statement credit to appear–though it usually takes just a few days. If yours doesn’t appear after a few weeks, you can call the number on the back of your card or initiate an online chat to get your statement credit.

Bottom Line

Choose your designated airline here or call the number on the back of your Platinum Card® from American Express to speak with a representative. If you just opened a Platinum Card, you can pick your airline at any time. You’ll only be able to choose it once, and once you have, your time window to change it is January of each year. You have until Thursday change your existing Amex designated airline. If you don’t, Amex will set it as whatever your choice was last year.