Songer5

I can't comment on your specific question, but you may want to consider another option.

I had a Plat Amex and used it to get Global Entry reimbursed. My sister (who I trust completely) wanted some of the Platinum perks without paying the full $450 annual fee. I added her as an Authorized User and she paid me $175 to reimburse me for the AU fees. In addition to other perks (AA, DL, US airport lounges at the time, SPG Gold status, etc), she also used her AU card to get herself Global Entry. The charge on her card was reimbursed by Amex.

However, that one AU fee allowed me to open 3 AU cards in total, so I opened up another one for my wife and mother. I used my each of the 2 new AU cards to apply for Global Entry (for my daughter and mother) and both charges were reimbursed.

aikitim

Is the Global Entry Credit per calendar year or per card year?

strikerr

Per 5 years

haibane

Pretty sure he is asking about the card not the GE time frame. I'm pretty sure its calendar year, but I am not the best source of information on this.

steveman518

You get the credit once every 5 years (to coincide with GE lasting 5 years)

haibane

Interesting. I thought for sure you could use it on different people each year. Now I can't find that supporting document. I wonder if anyone has tried this.

dbuckho

Anyone have any experience with one's account number changing and having a second GE reimbursed?

My corporate plat card was reissued with a new number due to a data breach. Received a cancellation notice from Priority Pass and have had to reenroll for that as well as the airline choice - told by the CSRs the card is essentially a brand new account. So I am thinking that I might have the one-time GE reimbursement to use again as well (in my case to use for my spouse).

LAXFlyer00

Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty certain (98.5%) you won't get away with trying to double dip because of your account number change.

While I'm merely speculating here (don't have any inside information), why I'm near certain it won't fly boils down to recognizing an account and an account number are two different animals. An account is all the set of all the records that collectively contain all the information about you/your income/your spending etc. any financial institution needs to open and maintain your account. It includes your personal information--where you live, your employer, credit info, notes reps make when you call, spending patterns etc. The account number is just that... a number, 15 digits for AMEX accounts. Its simply provides a means of linking to or looking up your account. If you're issued a new card and the account number is account number is changed, it doesn't mean the entire account is closed and a fresh one is opened in its place. Rather, the account number which was breached simply is flagged/invalidated, effectively breaking the link (or index lookup, if you will) between that account number to all the data/records that together comprise your account.

I've had my AMEX for 25 years now and in that time, have lost track of the number of replacement cards I've gone through--mostly for worn down/damaged mag strips, but a few times after having my wallet stolen. During the first dozen or so years with the card, any time I requested a replacement card, they'd send out a new card where the account number was slightly modified. The original account number looked something like 3713-726132-81007 (not a real acct number). When it needed replacing, the new account number looked something like 3713-726132-82004 (followed by 3713-726132-83009, 3713-726132-84001, etc.) Basically, the 11th digit got incremented by one and the last digit is set to a value that forms a valid account checksum. After the tenth card reissue, the numbers were recycled--until about 8-10 years ago. I noticed around then that if I requested a new card as a replacement for a worn/damaged card, the account number remained the same.

For each and every new card I had replaced, whether it came with a slightly different account number or the same as the one it replaced--nothing about the account changed. The statement date remained the same, my Membership Miles summary was reported correctly, the card itself still showed "Member Since 1987", my Baggage and Travel Delay Insurance still kicked in following an airline ticket purchase, etc. I'm sure buried somewhere in one of my account's records there's a field(s) set up to indicate if/when I used the GE benefit. If it were the case that anytime an AMEX card was lost/stolen/compromised, its account was closed and a new one opened to replace it, think of all the ramifications that could follow as a result. Say for instance, you had filed a Purchase Protection claim on some item you bought and accidentally broke/damaged. Benefits like Extended Warranty, Purchase Protection, Rental Car Insurance Waiver involve a claim process. Forms/receipts/support docs need to be collected and submitted--and once received by AMEX, get added to your account. Ah, but if standard procedure required that in the event of an data breach, any/all accounts possibly comprised must be closed and replaced with a new account--what happens to your open claim? Or, consider its May and your account renewed in January. Do you get billed the annual fee immediately because its a new account--never mind with the closed/breached account, you already paid an annual fee meant to cover 12 months of membership? Are you expected to pay a full annual fee because its a new account and then hope they offer a pro-rated refund on the closed account? Do you have to reapply for services like Baggage/Travel Delay insurance?

Bottom line is, there are three possible courses of action they can take--the simplest/least involved is issue a new account number on a replacement card. Nothing in the account itself is changed--including details on the GE benefit. So, if you used the GE benefit for yourself, the fact you have will continue to be reflected on your account. The second possibility--a very unlikely considering it requires essentially a lot of unnecessary/pointless effort--close the breached account, open a new account to replace it, then have all your account data moved from the old account to the new one. In the very unlikely case they go this route, when all is said and done, since all the account information is copied over, details on the GE benefit come part and parcel. Forget double dipping on this one. The final possibility is the only way I see any potential double dipping success--the breached account is shut down/brand spanking new account is opened. It's as if you became a cardmember for the first time. Brand spanking new account has no information from the closed account. While this possibility does potentially allow for a case of double dipping--there are countless undesirable ramifications I can think of that also come along. I'm still going with the first as to what eventually wound up being the course of action.

eeeee

I'm due for renewal, my GE expires in 6 months. I got on chat to find out if AX would reimburse the second one now, and I was told I had to wait until exactly 5 years after the first. Obviously, that's not going to work. Does anyone have any experience with getting reimbursed for the renewal prior to exactly 5 years later?

jsk1973

Unless you applied on or right after your birthday, you should have many months of extra time built in, since one's birthday is the expiration date. Are you sure you're still 6 months short of the Amex reimbursement date? (And do you really need to renew so far in advance? I thought renewals were a much easier, much simpler process (?).)

eeeee

I just received the 6 month to expiry email. I can't remember when I applied (Feb? March?), but my GE was granted on May 1, my birthday is in May, and I'm out of the country most of April.

I reviewed the GE renewal thread in the Trusted Travelers forum, and while I would like to think I'd be reapproved with no trouble, I always assume the worst. I'm thinking of doing it in January or February, and hopefully Amex would give me the credit if I complain. But I wanted to see if anyone had any experiences with this.

jsk1973

Did you look in your GOES account? There should be a message in there from the date you submitted your app (and paid) initially.

I paid for GE out of pocket a a couple years ago, but there ended up being a several-month gap from application to interview, since there were no GE offices in my home city.

Incidentally, I haven't seen anyone mention being rejected for renewal. If they learned anything about you that warranted action (arrest, etc.), you would have been notified and/or your GE status would have been revoked. You shouldn't have any trouble renewing GE in March or April, on your way out of the country.

SFO 1K

I spent a long time talking to them about this on the phone. I was told you had to wait for the 5 year anniversary of the month in which the reimbursement took place before.

I opted to go ahead and renew now and fight the charge later. The charge was credited automatically as it should have been, so I didn't have to call in and dispute it. For reference, my renewal is April 2016. My charge was processed in October 2015.

eeeee

Thanks for the data point. I'm going to reapply early and hopefully will have the same result.

flightsofideas

I have an AmEx Platinum and registered for Global Entry for 5 people (wife and three kids). Got statement credits for 5 x $100. Has anyone else had this happen? I thought I'd only get credit for one ($100) not for five!

I don't plan to call and ask about it!