For as much as I love the American Express Platinum card and get positive value from the card’s credits, that doesn’t mean that every credit is so simple to use. I’m not even talking about the $300 Equinox credit that barely covers one month of the gym’s membership fee. No, I’m speaking of the famously stringent Airline Fee Credit. However, this past week, I did the impossible and turned this credit into a better flying experience.
When you see the words “Airline Fee Credit,” you might assume that this means it applies to flights booked. In actuality, Amex narrows this credit to what they call “incidental fees.” So, while baggage fees, seat selection fees, and in-flight purchases may qualify, actual airfare as well as other purchases, such as first class upgrades are excluded. On top of that, Amex makes you choose one eligible airline for the year, allowing you to only earn your credit on purchases from that carrier. Needless to say, this is all kind of pain.
In the past, I’ve allowed my friend and authorized user to burn off this credit by paying for friends to get into the Delta SkyClub along with him. However, after I booked a flight on American Airlines for my FinCon trip, I realized I needed to make a change. After chatting with an Amex rep on their site, they let me know that, while they typically only allow you to choose your airline in January, they’d make this change for me since I hadn’t yet used my credit.
So how did this benefit me? Well, although class upgrades are apparently not eligible, seat selections within the same class are allowed. Thus, I decided to choose Main Cabin Extra seats for my DFW to PDX and PDX to DFW flights. That means that I was able to use $120 of my $200 credit! As a bonus, despite it being a full flight, I ended up with an empty middle seat on my way to Portland.
To add to my experience, I also upgraded the short legs of my flight (between DFW and SGF). But, in this case, I cashed in some of the miles I’ve earned from my Bask Bank account to go claim a first-class seat. Do I need a larger seat for a sub-90-minute flight? Not really — but it’s always nice.
Of course, with American Express expected to update its Platinum card any day now, we’ll see whether this version of the Airline Fee Credit sticks around. Some suppose (or, more likely, hope) that it will be revamped into something better, while others think it may just go away entirely. We’ll have to wait on that but for now, I’m glad to have this credit… even if there are a few hoop-jumps involved.