Originally Posted by
randomasian
With travel bank dead, what are people using their Amex credits for? … Is there any way to make a booking that triggers the credit such as paying part with travel bank or doing a flight change on a non-basic economy ticket? ...
Geez, now I feel even older than dirt 😉. If TB has indeed run its course as an easy airline fee credit, I might have to go back to a procedure which I used periodically between 5 and 8 years ago, the mildly popular "Pet Fee Gambit" as
described here on the 2020-2021 thread and summarized
here and
here. I haven’t done it for 5 years, don’t know if any aspects may have changed.
Addendum:
In anticipation of soon using Pet Fee(s) Gambit again, I reviewed and consolidated many of my previous “lessons learned” comments from various
2020-2022 threads, I do not know how much of this may still be true in 2026. For some of the “not allowable” things below, the website would NOT provide an explanation for not offered or not approved, would simply fail to proceed.
- Total # of pets per flight is limited after which no more pets (fees) for that flight.
- Pet Fee(s) could easily be paid using a different form of payment than ticket purchase. (I never tried with an AmEx "Pay with Points" ticket.)
- UA Pet Fee quickly (2-3 days) triggered AmEx Airline Fee credit.
- Pet Fee cancellation usually required a phone call.
- Cancelled Pet Fees were credited back to original form of payment for the Pet Fee(s).
- AmEx Airline Fee Credits were never clawed back.
- With Pet Fee on ticket:
--- Could not select exit row seat (my usual), perhaps also could not select bulkhead seat.
--- Not eligible for CPU, no "CPU Requested" on reservation.
--- No Check-In reminder email 24 hours prior to flight.
--- On-line check-in was not available.
- After Pet Fee cancellation & UA refund, Pet Fee remained on reservations in some fashion, thus precluding each of the things above.
- Could request each of the things above
individually and
specifically (“like I’m 6 years old”*) be “reinstated” during same phone call as cancellation of Pet Fee. Exit Row seat and CPU Request could easily be confirmed, it was challenging to know for certain if other things had actually been reinstated.
Please again note that all of the above was written in the
past tense.
*AI Overview: "Explain it like I'm 5" (or 6) means breaking down a tricky topic into the simplest, shortest story possible, using words a child understands. It ignores complicated details to focus only on the main idea. Why do people ask this? Too Much Information: It helps turn a long, boring, or confusing explanation into something easy to understand. The "Einstein Rule": A famous quote says, "If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it yourself".