ijgordon

But if Amex/DL (whoever he actually spoke to) had properly advised him that he was short because the AF doesn't count (which, to be fair, is likely in the T&Cs), then he could have grown that hair, so to speak by making another charge. I think it's probably an exception worth making because he asked and was improperly advised.

I'm facing a similar (but lower-stakes) issue, I unexpectedly found myself near the $40k spend threshold for HHonors Diamond status on the mid-level Amex card (whatever they're calling it now) about 3 weeks before the end of the year, so I also paid for some 2020 travel, loaded up my metrocard and office cafeteria account, and put everything on the card (forgoing 5x MR points for airline tickets on the Amex Platinum), and I'm pretty sure I made it, but there hasn't been any notification yet (I think the T&C's say it could take a few weeks). I never called Amex to verify my spend, so if I do come up short, I'll just accept responsibility.