Originally Posted by
Punekar
It is beyond me why UA removed this option; the entire TravelBank program seemed like it existed only to capture airline fee credits from Amex. I am sure these represented 95%+ of TB purchases. A truly bizarre decision.
Honestly, you could make that case for almost all the loopholes, across all the airlines, that have been closed over the years (e.g. AA giftcards, etc.). I would imagine, though I have no formal knowledge, that at times there may be some tension on the line between Amex and the participating carriers regarding closing blatantly obvious loopholes that Amex has explicitly stated violate the terms and conditions of the airline credit.
That said, as I mentioned in another thread, if the UA Travel Bank (or an equivalent replacement) is truly gone, it may very well mark the end of my ~15'ish year run with the Amex Platinum card. Given the increased annual fee of $695 and the ridiculous trend towards it becoming a "coupon book" it may have finally just become a river too far...
Regards