Apr 22, 2015, 10:57 am
Last edit by: mia
Effective June 2017 the USA Business Platinum airfare Pay-with-Points refund was reduced to 35%. This brings the net value to $0.0153 per point, essentially the same as Chase Sapphire Reserve's Pay-with-Points redemption rate.
USA Business Centurion cardholders will continue to receive a 50% refund. The Centurion version is also broader than the Platinum benefit:
Centurion: beginning October 6, 2016 you will get 50% Membership Rewards® points back when you use the Pay with Points feature for all or part of a flight on any airline. The maximum rebate per calendar year for Centurion members is (_______?)
Platinum: Business Platinum Card Members will receive 5 extra points for every 10 points they redeem for either a First or Business class flight on any airline, or for flights with their selected qualifying airline using Membership Rewards Pay with Points with American Express Travel (35% Airline Bonus). The maximum rebate per calendar year for Business Platinum Card Members is 1,000,000 points.
FAQ
Q1. How does the process work?
A1. Here is an example, buying a $1,000.00 ticket:
Q2. Must the Business Centurion or Platinum card be used to purchase the ticket?
A2. When the benefit was refreshed in October 2016 you could pay with any card linked to the same Membership Rewards account, but it appears this changed in April 2017.
Q3. Will I earn Membership Rewards points on the purchase price?
A3. You will not earn base points, but you may earn bonus points if you pay with a card that awards a bonus for airline ticket purchases, such as Business Platinum, Personal Platinum, Business Rewards Gold, Premier Rewards Gold.
Q4. What happens if I cancel the ticket?
A4. There are mixed reports, but in most examples the cost of the ticket is refunded (a second time) to the card account. In one example American Express refunded the remainder of the points instead. If you prefer the points refunded rather than a cash credit, phone into AMEX and they will restore the points and remove the credit.
Q5. Can this benefit be combined with the International Airline Program companion ticket?
A5. One poster was told no, but another was able to do so.
USA Business Centurion cardholders will continue to receive a 50% refund. The Centurion version is also broader than the Platinum benefit:
Centurion: beginning October 6, 2016 you will get 50% Membership Rewards® points back when you use the Pay with Points feature for all or part of a flight on any airline. The maximum rebate per calendar year for Centurion members is (_______?)
Platinum: Business Platinum Card Members will receive 5 extra points for every 10 points they redeem for either a First or Business class flight on any airline, or for flights with their selected qualifying airline using Membership Rewards Pay with Points with American Express Travel (35% Airline Bonus). The maximum rebate per calendar year for Business Platinum Card Members is 1,000,000 points.
FAQ
Q1. How does the process work?
A1. Here is an example, buying a $1,000.00 ticket:
- $1,000 charged to American Express card [Day 1]
- 100,000 Membership Rewards points redeemed [Day 1]
- $1,000 credited to American Express card [Day 2]
- _35,000 Membership Rewards points returned [~a month later]
- Net: $1,000 ticket for 65,000 points = $0.0154/point
Q2. Must the Business Centurion or Platinum card be used to purchase the ticket?
A2. When the benefit was refreshed in October 2016 you could pay with any card linked to the same Membership Rewards account, but it appears this changed in April 2017.
Q3. Will I earn Membership Rewards points on the purchase price?
A3. You will not earn base points, but you may earn bonus points if you pay with a card that awards a bonus for airline ticket purchases, such as Business Platinum, Personal Platinum, Business Rewards Gold, Premier Rewards Gold.
Q4. What happens if I cancel the ticket?
A4. There are mixed reports, but in most examples the cost of the ticket is refunded (a second time) to the card account. In one example American Express refunded the remainder of the points instead. If you prefer the points refunded rather than a cash credit, phone into AMEX and they will restore the points and remove the credit.
Q5. Can this benefit be combined with the International Airline Program companion ticket?
A5. One poster was told no, but another was able to do so.
Pay-with-Points flights. BUSINESS Centurion 50% refund, Plat 35%, Gold 25% (2015-23)
Jan 27, 2018, 11:20 am
#841
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Jan 31, 2018, 5:52 pm
#842
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: Whatever's Cheapest, Accruing Miles, Redeeming for Premium Cabins, Not Chasing Status Unnecessarily
Posts: 2,264
yes i do!
Feb 1, 2018, 7:56 am
#843
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Dreamland
Posts: 927
Anyone else get weirded out that in the amextravel.com site when booking airfare, they see no mention of the 35% rebate (Biz Plat here)? Just booked Biz class 100% MR points on AA (happens to be my selected airline, but thats irrelevant with booking biz/first), and the rebate is no where to be found on the website during selection/booking/confirmation.
Feb 1, 2018, 2:44 pm
#844
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: PHL
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AA Gold, FB Gold, ITA Volare Executive
Posts: 3,294
Don't worry. If you have Amex Business Platinum card, it will come.
My sense is that the rebate is a feature of the card, not the fare, which may explain why it is not touted on the Amex site. Nor is the rebate universal with respect to the currency (MR points). It only has meaning if you use MR points and you have this one very specific card. Plus there are other weirdnesses, like if you are using some cash and some MR points, the cash doesn't have to be paid by the Amex Business Plat card (and other Amex Plat card, or maybe even any Amex card at all) will do. But you still have to have the Amex Business Platinum card.
Or maybe they don't mention it (even as a footnote) for some other reason. Like sloth. Because how much work would it be to have a pop-up or something on the MR points total saying Holders of the Amex Business Platinum card will receive a rebate of 35% of thheir MR points, in approximately 30 days?.
My sense is that the rebate is a feature of the card, not the fare, which may explain why it is not touted on the Amex site. Nor is the rebate universal with respect to the currency (MR points). It only has meaning if you use MR points and you have this one very specific card. Plus there are other weirdnesses, like if you are using some cash and some MR points, the cash doesn't have to be paid by the Amex Business Plat card (and other Amex Plat card, or maybe even any Amex card at all) will do. But you still have to have the Amex Business Platinum card.
Or maybe they don't mention it (even as a footnote) for some other reason. Like sloth. Because how much work would it be to have a pop-up or something on the MR points total saying Holders of the Amex Business Platinum card will receive a rebate of 35% of thheir MR points, in approximately 30 days?.
Feb 7, 2018, 2:10 am
#845
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 67
Is there any way to provide fare hold/lock information to Business Platinum Travel services so that they can book with points and receive the rebate?
Feb 7, 2018, 12:52 pm
#846
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Miami
Programs: AA 9 Million Miler, UA 1K, DL Plat, SPG Plat, Amex Centurion
Posts: 28
Airline Benefit Bonus Maximum Increased
I received an email from American Express on Jan 31 that said,
The T&C are unfair to me, as I spent over $6.5 Million across 3 Plat cards. They are dis-incentivizing me to use my Amex cards in 2018 for more than $1MM. I have now cut back dramatically in 2018 on my Amex spend. I'm trying to send them a message. Anyone else in this same boat?
Confirmed: your Airline Bonus benefit maximum has been increased. Congratulations! Because you spent at least $1MM in 2017, the number of Membership Rewards® points you can get back with your Airline Bonus benefit in 2018 has increased from 500,000 to 1,000,000. So, when you use Pay with Points for all or part of an eligible fare, you can get 35% of those points back — now up to 1,000,000 in 2018.
Terms and Conditions 1. Limited Time Airline Bonus Points Offer: With the Airline Bonus benefit: if you have $1 million and less than $3 million in eligible spend on your Business Platinum Card in calendar year 2017, you can get up to 1 million bonus points back in 2018, and if you have $3 million or more in eligible spend in 2017, you can get up to 3 million bonus points back in 2018.
Terms and Conditions 1. Limited Time Airline Bonus Points Offer: With the Airline Bonus benefit: if you have $1 million and less than $3 million in eligible spend on your Business Platinum Card in calendar year 2017, you can get up to 1 million bonus points back in 2018, and if you have $3 million or more in eligible spend in 2017, you can get up to 3 million bonus points back in 2018.
Last edited by mia; Feb 7, 2018 at 1:52 pm Reason: Formatting
Feb 7, 2018, 1:30 pm
#847
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,406
"...if you have $3 million or more in eligible spend in 2017, you can get up to 3 million bonus points back in 2018. "
6.5 million is m
re than 3 million. It sounds like you'll be eligible for up to 3 million bonus points. Am I missing something?
6.5 million is m
re than 3 million. It sounds like you'll be eligible for up to 3 million bonus points. Am I missing something?
Feb 7, 2018, 1:39 pm
#848
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Miami
Programs: AA 9 Million Miler, UA 1K, DL Plat, SPG Plat, Amex Centurion
Posts: 28
Yes, they want $3MM on one card.
Feb 7, 2018, 1:53 pm
#849
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
How is the spend distributed across the three accounts?
Feb 7, 2018, 7:49 pm
#850
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Miami
Programs: AA 9 Million Miler, UA 1K, DL Plat, SPG Plat, Amex Centurion
Posts: 28
no one card has more than $3MM. One has $1.8MM, one has $2.6MM and one has $2.2MM in spend in 2017.
Feb 8, 2018, 6:04 am
#852
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Miami
Programs: AA 9 Million Miler, UA 1K, DL Plat, SPG Plat, Amex Centurion
Posts: 28
Yes, I have an SPG card. Also Capital One Venture and Spark cards where I earn 2 points per dollar of spend. So my big spend is going to Capital One Venture cards, until AMEX changes their rule.
The Capital One points are redeemable for any travel expenses. Better value than the Pay With Points and getting 35% back with a limit.
The Capital One points are redeemable for any travel expenses. Better value than the Pay With Points and getting 35% back with a limit.
Last edited by mia; Feb 8, 2018 at 7:42 am Reason: Combine consecutive replies
Feb 8, 2018, 7:44 am
#853
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Unless you earn more than one MR point per dollar on the spend side.
Feb 8, 2018, 9:15 am
#854
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Miami
Programs: AA 9 Million Miler, UA 1K, DL Plat, SPG Plat, Amex Centurion
Posts: 28
Separate businesses, each one with its own Plat card. I was only informed about the $3MM threshold in October, when it was too late to shift more spending onto that card. Physically impossible.
Even with earning 1.5x MR points for purchases over $5,000, once I meet the 1MM MR max reimbursement limit, the points are only worth $.015 each. Based on my travel purchases in 2017, I need a limit much higher than 1MM for 2018.
Even with earning 1.5x MR points for purchases over $5,000, once I meet the 1MM MR max reimbursement limit, the points are only worth $.015 each. Based on my travel purchases in 2017, I need a limit much higher than 1MM for 2018.
Feb 8, 2018, 1:15 pm
#855
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 116
So, for 2017, my selected airline was AA. On 1/5/2018 I used Pay with Points to buy an AA ticket to get the 50% points refund. Then, because, I'm dumb, I switched to Southwest later in January as I wanted to get Southwest gift cards as a fee rebate, having forgotten I used Pay with Points on AA just a week earlier. I figured I wouldn't get the points refund from my AA purchase, since I changed my airline for 2018 to SWA. Luckily, on 2/6 I still got my 50% points back. Phew! Got lucky there!