Originally Posted by redtop43

I quoted this and highlighted the word "easily." This is technically true, you can contact them easily, you can call them and you can talk to a person, usually fairly quickly. (I have an Amex Plat so my experience may not be universal.) However you will find the total process of applying the credit anything but easy. I would estimate I've spent at least 20, probably more like 30-40 hours total to untangle a number of credits with Amex Travel. Also, in theory Amex has a $59 fee to handle the ticket but they appear to still be waiving it. AA does indeed quote a $50 fee to take over a ticket but they have waived it for me, I think will do so for all EXP's, and maybe for others if you ask.

Say you buy a $100 ticket with points. Amex will immediately charge your card $100, remove 10,000 points from your MR account, and credit your card $100. If you are eligible for a points rebate, you will get it a few weeks later. None of this is affected if you later cancel the ticket.

As someone who buys a lot of tickets from Amex (and as I've mentioned in other threads) you should buy from Amex only if (a) you are virtually certain you are going to take the trip and/or (b) you get a really good discount. I recently booked a trip that would cost $1170 on AA for three different dates on Amex, for prices of $660, $730, and $830. So for this kind of savings it's worth it to deal with the hassle if I do have to cancel.