canesfan

I'm in the same boat with you. Annual fee for Platinum will be charged on 1/14/12, so will probably buy AA gift cards right away, cancel Platinum card, and get PRG card. I won't be traveling that much in 2012, so card is definitely not worth it to me. Would rather have 2x gas and groceries...

af fp

Just bringing this back up, I had not found anything yet in (the very many pages of) this thread. Anyone has tried CO's maximizer? Just to clarify, the ticket is purchased already, the flight is in 2012 but the fee would be charged now I supppose.

Thanks!

scubadu

So, by "for simplicity sake" you mean "simplicity" for you, not the numerous and patient regular participants/posters whom have answered this question a countless number of times and which there is an active thread, with almost the same subject title, which has it's last post literally less than 12 hours ago

Seriously?

Signed,
scubaduIsABusyManToo

crimson12

Oy. And on your first post, too? It's not like the rest of us here aren't also busy (wo)men.

Anyway. There are lots of options. Buy a SkyClub membership. Try buying miles (no guarantee of success). Make a TATL award booking for next year. Switch your airline to AA and buy gift cards through them, and resell the gift cards. (Shouldn't be an issue, since you don't plan to fly for the rest of the year; you can switch back to DL next year.)

Also, you might consider not going with DL next year. If you're already GM, you're going to get lots of benefits (free checked luggage, etc.) that eliminate some of the incidental costs. Might be better to use your credit on another airline, and use your status on DL to get benefits there.

By the way, I haven't tried this, but if you have a friend that is traveling you could permit her to use your card to pay for incidentals (bag fees for the family, maybe), and pay you back (say, give you $100 for the $200 credit). This way your credit won't be a total loss and your friend/relative can save some money. I don't see why this wouldn't work...

JimBobDuggarIsABusyMan

Thanks for the help.
I would have preferred not to sift through another endless thread. Look, there's a 20 million FTers, maybe someone else could help me out.

And yes I am new to FT, so I didn't realize I could also search under "DL."

And unfortunately I already used my card once onboard DL to buy a "free" snack.

20 and Counting,
JBDIABM

mia

I understand your frustration, and if there were a "recipe" that reliably worked in your circumstance someone would mention it, but there isn't. You need to skim the thread (which is straightforward using the Search this Thread tool), and see what has worked and what does not.

American Express practice frequently deviates from policy, often in the customers' favor, but they do close loopholes. For example, at one point everything under $100, even tickets, was reimbursed, but no longer.

One idea that should work, but hasn't been verified is discussed in post 652 and the three posts linked to it. (When you see blue text in a post it's usually a link, in this instance it will take you directly to that post.)

joediver

I already have the Chase Presidential Plus card that gives me United Club access. I was going to try the suggestion someone made about just getting $200 in UA gift certificates for this year. Next year when my Chase card comes up for renewal I'll probably drop that one down to a low fee card and buy the club access with my AMEX basically giving me a $200 discount. As a UA 1K the price is lower too.

carwag25

Maybe Mr. Duggar is busy having "20 kids and counting"? Thanks all... I will be here all week

Seriously though, we were all newbies once (I still am) and perhaps asked questions that have been asked previously. I think there should be a rule to give each newbie a few mulligans on their first times out of the gate

crimson12

Quick question -- am I correct that, to get reimbursed, the expense has to be incurred in 2011? In other words, I could incur the expense on 12/31/11 and the reimbursement would come from my "2011 money", right, even if the reimbursement was actually processed in 2012?

Or does the reimbursement actually have to be processed and go through completely in 2011?

QSYH

The expense has to occur in 2011 in order to use your 2011 allowance. However, there has been a few cases where one used their allowance near the end of the year(2010) and it did not post until 2011. It created an issue where the credit was deducted from the 2011 allowance rather than the 2010 credit.

A few calls back and forth fixed it but I remember someone saying it was just a hassle.

georgenc

Just the e-mail one. No processing fee, so it was an even amount.

redtop43

Can anyone verify that DL gift cards are reimbursed?

Curiously it seems like you cannot buy DL gift cards online, only at an airport or ticketing location, and you can't use them online either.

osupike17

I've looked through this thread and dont see it mentioned... how do you go about checking your balance to see how much credit you have left? Would really like to take advantage of whatever I have left this year.

af fp

With CO:
- Buy Extra Miles for a trip, less than $100, refunded within 5 days of purchase.
- Online gift certificate, less than $100, refunded within 5 days of purchase.

Flyer IAH

Lucky you. I bought $75 CO gift certificate over a month ago and did not get reimbursed