Originally Posted by
STS-134
Reading the terms strictly, TB is in a kind of gray area. It doesn't fall into any of the official "prohibited" categories:
https://global.americanexpress.com/c...redit/platinum
"
Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees."
Is it an airline ticket? No.
Is it an upgrade? No.
Is it a mileage points purchase? No.
Is it a mileage points transfer fee? No.
Is it a gift card? No. In California, by law, gift card funds cannot expire. This so-called "digital wallet" is definitely not a gift card and those funds DO expire after 5 years. The one exception in California is for "promotional" cards where you receive more in face value than you paid in cash (i.e. $100 in credits at a specific merchant for $80) but it's definitely not that either. Merchants are also required to let you "cash out" a gift card if the balance falls below $10, but UA absolutely won't let you take back even $1 in cash from your TB wallet.
Is it a duty free purchase? No.
Is it an award ticket? No.
Of course, there's a strong argument to be made that it's definitely not an "incidental airline fee" either.
I totally agree with you on TB not being considered a gift card. CA is by far not the only state that has laws against gift cards expiring and allowing cashout when the balance falls below a certain threshold.
However, since as you say, TB purchases falls into a grey area, Amex is definitely within their right to decide they don't want those transactions reimbursed anymore.