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)
Sep 24, 2022, 10:31 am
#1291
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Sep 29, 2022, 11:49 pm
#1292
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 15
Would the following work?
1. buy Alaska airlines ticket with biz plat.
2. call rewards team and have them redeem points against the charge.
2b. get 35% MR rebate.
3. convert ticket to wallet funds.
4. Use wallet funds + companion cert.
1. buy Alaska airlines ticket with biz plat.
2. call rewards team and have them redeem points against the charge.
2b. get 35% MR rebate.
3. convert ticket to wallet funds.
4. Use wallet funds + companion cert.
Sep 30, 2022, 7:06 am
#1293
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
Your strategy may work - I know it does in some form with Delta where you can control yourself to rebook a canceled ticket vs United where you still need to call Amex to rebook; they won't allow you to do it yourself unless you pay $50 for them to take possession of the ticket. Perhaps someone with past experience booking Alaska via Amex travel can chime in.
Sep 30, 2022, 10:26 am
#1294
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 15
I don't know if this would work or not but there is no need to call them to redeem points. You just select to use only points for payment during checkout.
Your strategy may work - I know it does in some form with Delta where you can control yourself to rebook a canceled ticket vs United where you still need to call Amex to rebook; they won't allow you to do it yourself unless you pay $50 for them to take possession of the ticket. Perhaps someone with past experience booking Alaska via Amex travel can chime in.
Your strategy may work - I know it does in some form with Delta where you can control yourself to rebook a canceled ticket vs United where you still need to call Amex to rebook; they won't allow you to do it yourself unless you pay $50 for them to take possession of the ticket. Perhaps someone with past experience booking Alaska via Amex travel can chime in.
Sep 30, 2022, 10:54 am
#1295
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Where do you see that you can redeem points or qualify for the rebate unless you book through Amex Travel?
To use Pay with Points, you must charge your eligible airfare purchase through American Express Travel to a Membership Rewards® program-enrolled American Express® Card. Points will be debited from your Membership Rewards account, and credit for corresponding dollar amount will be issued to the American Express Card account used. If points redeemed do not cover entire amount, the balance of purchase price will remain on the American Express Card account. Points must be used at the time of booking. Pay with Points requires a minimum redemption of 5,000 points.
Business Platinum Card Members will receive 3.5 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 through American Express Travel (35% Airline Bonus), up to 1,000,000 bonus points per calendar year, per each Membership Rewards account. For First or Business class flights on a Card Member's selected qualifying airline, the Card Member will still receive only 3.5 extra points for every 10 points redeemed. Card Member must select a qualifying airline at https://global.americanexpress.com/c...iness-platinum. Only the Basic Card Member or Authorized Account Manager(s) on the Card Account can select the qualifying airline. The airline you select for the 35% Airline Bonus and the $200 Airline Fee Credit must be the same. Card Members who have not chosen a qualifying airline will be able to do so at any time. Card Members who have already selected a qualifying airline will be able to change their choice one time each year in January at https://global.americanexpress.com/c...iness-platinum or by calling the number on the back of your Card. Card Members who do not change their airline selection will remain with their current airline.
If you select Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or Frontier Airlines to receive your 35% Airline Bonus you must call Business Platinum Travel Service at 1-800-553-9497 to book. A flight booked as part of a travel package or booked with the American Express U.S. Representative Travel Network is not eligible for the 35% Airline Bonus. In addition, to be eligible to receive extra points, Card account(s) must not be cancelled or past due at the time of extra points fulfillment. If booking is canceled, the extra points will be deducted from your Membership Rewards account. Extra points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account approximately 6-10 weeks after eligible airfare purchases appear on your billing statement. See membershiprewards.com/terms for Membership Rewards program terms and conditions. This 35% Airline Bonus is the maximum Membership Rewards points you can get back for Pay with Points on flights booked through American Express Travel. Bonus ID: A6ZB.
Business Platinum Card Members will receive 3.5 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 through American Express Travel (35% Airline Bonus), up to 1,000,000 bonus points per calendar year, per each Membership Rewards account. For First or Business class flights on a Card Member's selected qualifying airline, the Card Member will still receive only 3.5 extra points for every 10 points redeemed. Card Member must select a qualifying airline at https://global.americanexpress.com/c...iness-platinum. Only the Basic Card Member or Authorized Account Manager(s) on the Card Account can select the qualifying airline. The airline you select for the 35% Airline Bonus and the $200 Airline Fee Credit must be the same. Card Members who have not chosen a qualifying airline will be able to do so at any time. Card Members who have already selected a qualifying airline will be able to change their choice one time each year in January at https://global.americanexpress.com/c...iness-platinum or by calling the number on the back of your Card. Card Members who do not change their airline selection will remain with their current airline.
If you select Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or Frontier Airlines to receive your 35% Airline Bonus you must call Business Platinum Travel Service at 1-800-553-9497 to book. A flight booked as part of a travel package or booked with the American Express U.S. Representative Travel Network is not eligible for the 35% Airline Bonus. In addition, to be eligible to receive extra points, Card account(s) must not be cancelled or past due at the time of extra points fulfillment. If booking is canceled, the extra points will be deducted from your Membership Rewards account. Extra points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account approximately 6-10 weeks after eligible airfare purchases appear on your billing statement. See membershiprewards.com/terms for Membership Rewards program terms and conditions. This 35% Airline Bonus is the maximum Membership Rewards points you can get back for Pay with Points on flights booked through American Express Travel. Bonus ID: A6ZB.
Sep 30, 2022, 11:00 am
#1296
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,201
I believe you need to buy the ticket directly through American Express Travel, not through another agency or direct from the airline.
Sep 30, 2022, 1:19 pm
#1297
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Yellow Springs
Programs: AS 75k
Posts: 1,523
Why do you want to buy the ticket directly with Alaska? Unlike buying tickets on many other airlines through Amex travel, there really isn't a problem with Alaska.
Sep 30, 2022, 1:20 pm
#1298
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 282
chaboi
My guess is you could buy a ticket directly with the airline and then reach out to apply points to cover the charges. They'll likely only apply them at .6 cents per point and I highly doubt you'd get a 35% rebate of those points. It's really easy to just do it directly with AmEx Travel(for a reason). Just have to be willing to sacrifice direct bookings to take advantage of the Business Platinum.
My guess is you could buy a ticket directly with the airline and then reach out to apply points to cover the charges. They'll likely only apply them at .6 cents per point and I highly doubt you'd get a 35% rebate of those points. It's really easy to just do it directly with AmEx Travel(for a reason). Just have to be willing to sacrifice direct bookings to take advantage of the Business Platinum.
Sep 30, 2022, 4:00 pm
#1299
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
chaboi
My guess is you could buy a ticket directly with the airline and then reach out to apply points to cover the charges. They'll likely only apply them at .6 cents per point and I highly doubt you'd get a 35% rebate of those points. It's really easy to just do it directly with AmEx Travel(for a reason). Just have to be willing to sacrifice direct bookings to take advantage of the Business Platinum.
My guess is you could buy a ticket directly with the airline and then reach out to apply points to cover the charges. They'll likely only apply them at .6 cents per point and I highly doubt you'd get a 35% rebate of those points. It's really easy to just do it directly with AmEx Travel(for a reason). Just have to be willing to sacrifice direct bookings to take advantage of the Business Platinum.
Oct 5, 2022, 3:12 pm
#1300
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,290
Just did my first (100%) Pay With Points ticket purchase, using a new Biz Plat card. I’ve read the Wiki and reviewed much of this (recent) thread but I’m still unclear on a couple of things.
On the search results page, the flights I clicked on showed ~150,000 points (or ~$1500). Once I clicked on that all the following pages (passenger info, seats, ID, payment) stated ~130,000 points/~$1300 and my card now has an (expected) pending charge for ~$1300. Is it common for the price to change in the minute or two from the search results page to the payment pages?
(From the Wiki, my bold underline: ) “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.” Is this still a mystery? For this “purchase” should I expect zero points, 1300 points, 5200 points, 6500 points?
Webpages clearly stated “Cancellation within 24 hours by calling ….” For some airlines those 24 hours actually end at midnight of the next day, potentially allowing almost 48 hours to cancel. For AmEx is it 24 hours from time of purchase or until midnight tomorrow?
I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
I purchased a ticket for the same flight which I booked via a Delta award 5 months ago, wondering if and how quickly Delta might figure that out. Obviously I’ll cancel the first ticket but I’d like to wait 24 hours to ensure the AmEx ticket is intact, not available at a lower price and possibly cancel the award ticket by phone and ask the agent to put me in the seat reserved on the award ticket. Details: booked LGA (1st) -ATL (Biz Delta One)-LIM using 200,000 SkyMiles 5 months ago, selected excellent window seat for the long flight. Booked JFK (Econ Comfort) - ATL (Biz Delta One) - LIM same date so I now have 2 seats reserved for me on the same ATL-LIM flight. How risky is that?
FWIW when booking these flights as Delta award flights, searching for “Delta One” resulted in 1st class for the LGA-ATL segment. When booking on AmEx searching “Business” resulted in Econ Comfort for the JFK-ATL segment with offered $415 charge to upgrade to 1st. Both resulted in Delta One for the ATL-LIM flight. On AmEx searching for “First Class” resulted in 1st and Delta One for ~70,000 more MR (or ~$700 more dollars).
Thank you.
On the search results page, the flights I clicked on showed ~150,000 points (or ~$1500). Once I clicked on that all the following pages (passenger info, seats, ID, payment) stated ~130,000 points/~$1300 and my card now has an (expected) pending charge for ~$1300. Is it common for the price to change in the minute or two from the search results page to the payment pages?
(From the Wiki, my bold underline: ) “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.” Is this still a mystery? For this “purchase” should I expect zero points, 1300 points, 5200 points, 6500 points?
Webpages clearly stated “Cancellation within 24 hours by calling ….” For some airlines those 24 hours actually end at midnight of the next day, potentially allowing almost 48 hours to cancel. For AmEx is it 24 hours from time of purchase or until midnight tomorrow?
I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
I purchased a ticket for the same flight which I booked via a Delta award 5 months ago, wondering if and how quickly Delta might figure that out. Obviously I’ll cancel the first ticket but I’d like to wait 24 hours to ensure the AmEx ticket is intact, not available at a lower price and possibly cancel the award ticket by phone and ask the agent to put me in the seat reserved on the award ticket. Details: booked LGA (1st) -ATL (Biz Delta One)-LIM using 200,000 SkyMiles 5 months ago, selected excellent window seat for the long flight. Booked JFK (Econ Comfort) - ATL (Biz Delta One) - LIM same date so I now have 2 seats reserved for me on the same ATL-LIM flight. How risky is that?
FWIW when booking these flights as Delta award flights, searching for “Delta One” resulted in 1st class for the LGA-ATL segment. When booking on AmEx searching “Business” resulted in Econ Comfort for the JFK-ATL segment with offered $415 charge to upgrade to 1st. Both resulted in Delta One for the ATL-LIM flight. On AmEx searching for “First Class” resulted in 1st and Delta One for ~70,000 more MR (or ~$700 more dollars).
Thank you.
Oct 5, 2022, 3:47 pm
#1301
Join Date: May 2019
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 453
Just did my first (100%) Pay With Points ticket purchase, using a new Biz Plat card. I’ve read the Wiki and reviewed much of this (recent) thread but I’m still unclear on a couple of things.
On the search results page, the flights I clicked on showed ~150,000 points (or ~$1500). Once I clicked on that all the following pages (passenger info, seats, ID, payment) stated ~130,000 points/~$1300 and my card now has an (expected) pending charge for ~$1300. Is it common for the price to change in the minute or two from the search results page to the payment pages?
(From the Wiki, my bold underline: ) “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.” Is this still a mystery? For this “purchase” should I expect zero points, 1300 points, 5200 points, 6500 points?
Webpages clearly stated “Cancellation within 24 hours by calling ….” For some airlines those 24 hours actually end at midnight of the next day, potentially allowing almost 48 hours to cancel. For AmEx is it 24 hours from time of purchase or until midnight tomorrow?
I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
I purchased a ticket for the same flight which I booked via a Delta award 5 months ago, wondering if and how quickly Delta might figure that out. Obviously I’ll cancel the first ticket but I’d like to wait 24 hours to ensure the AmEx ticket is intact, not available at a lower price and possibly cancel the award ticket by phone and ask the agent to put me in the seat reserved on the award ticket. Details: booked LGA (1st) -ATL (Biz Delta One)-LIM using 200,000 SkyMiles 5 months ago, selected excellent window seat for the long flight. Booked JFK (Econ Comfort) - ATL (Biz Delta One) - LIM same date so I now have 2 seats reserved for me on the same ATL-LIM flight. How risky is that?
FWIW when booking these flights as Delta award flights, searching for “Delta One” resulted in 1st class for the LGA-ATL segment. When booking on AmEx searching “Business” resulted in Econ Comfort for the JFK-ATL segment with offered $415 charge to upgrade to 1st. Both resulted in Delta One for the ATL-LIM flight. On AmEx searching for “First Class” resulted in 1st and Delta One for ~70,000 more MR (or ~$700 more dollars).
Thank you.
On the search results page, the flights I clicked on showed ~150,000 points (or ~$1500). Once I clicked on that all the following pages (passenger info, seats, ID, payment) stated ~130,000 points/~$1300 and my card now has an (expected) pending charge for ~$1300. Is it common for the price to change in the minute or two from the search results page to the payment pages?
(From the Wiki, my bold underline: ) “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.” Is this still a mystery? For this “purchase” should I expect zero points, 1300 points, 5200 points, 6500 points?
Webpages clearly stated “Cancellation within 24 hours by calling ….” For some airlines those 24 hours actually end at midnight of the next day, potentially allowing almost 48 hours to cancel. For AmEx is it 24 hours from time of purchase or until midnight tomorrow?
I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
I purchased a ticket for the same flight which I booked via a Delta award 5 months ago, wondering if and how quickly Delta might figure that out. Obviously I’ll cancel the first ticket but I’d like to wait 24 hours to ensure the AmEx ticket is intact, not available at a lower price and possibly cancel the award ticket by phone and ask the agent to put me in the seat reserved on the award ticket. Details: booked LGA (1st) -ATL (Biz Delta One)-LIM using 200,000 SkyMiles 5 months ago, selected excellent window seat for the long flight. Booked JFK (Econ Comfort) - ATL (Biz Delta One) - LIM same date so I now have 2 seats reserved for me on the same ATL-LIM flight. How risky is that?
FWIW when booking these flights as Delta award flights, searching for “Delta One” resulted in 1st class for the LGA-ATL segment. When booking on AmEx searching “Business” resulted in Econ Comfort for the JFK-ATL segment with offered $415 charge to upgrade to 1st. Both resulted in Delta One for the ATL-LIM flight. On AmEx searching for “First Class” resulted in 1st and Delta One for ~70,000 more MR (or ~$700 more dollars).
Thank you.
Oct 6, 2022, 12:03 am
#1302
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
(From the Wiki, my bold underline: ) “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.” Is this still a mystery? For this “purchase” should I expect zero points, 1300 points, 5200 points, 6500 points?
Webpages clearly stated “Cancellation within 24 hours by calling ….” For some airlines those 24 hours actually end at midnight of the next day, potentially allowing almost 48 hours to cancel. For AmEx is it 24 hours from time of purchase or until midnight tomorrow?
I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
Thank you.
Webpages clearly stated “Cancellation within 24 hours by calling ….” For some airlines those 24 hours actually end at midnight of the next day, potentially allowing almost 48 hours to cancel. For AmEx is it 24 hours from time of purchase or until midnight tomorrow?
I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
Thank you.
2. I've never had to cancel an Amex booking but I would do it within 24 hours of booking even though I know that with some airlines they allow until midnight the following day. Wouldn't want to take the risk unless someone here tells me they have first hand experience being able to cancel for refund until midnight the following day.
3. I have usually received an email around the time that the 35% is reimbursed. It comes around the day of or up to 2 days after the reimbursement occurs.
Oct 25, 2022, 7:40 pm
#1303
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
I had booked a domestic Delta flight with Amex travel using points for this evening. Delta canceled the flight (I still am not sure why) and auto re-booked me with a stop for late tomorrow which would have me arrive way past the time of my appointment and was pointless. Original flight was direct and was about 3.5 hours long. The new trip duration increased to almost double that between both flights and the 1.5+ hour wait time in between.
I talked myself blue in the face to get them to rebook me on an early morning direct flight with UA which had availability and I know that people have success making Delta book with other airlines when all they have to offer you of themselves is crap. But no dice, they just kept telling me they don't see availability when I clearly saw it myself and showed it to them. Not wanting to continue wasting time I accepted their offer of a refund. Anyone knows what will happen since it was the airline that canceled and it wasn't me canceling on the Amex site? The card they said they were refunding is not the last 4 digits of the card I used with Amex travel.
I talked myself blue in the face to get them to rebook me on an early morning direct flight with UA which had availability and I know that people have success making Delta book with other airlines when all they have to offer you of themselves is crap. But no dice, they just kept telling me they don't see availability when I clearly saw it myself and showed it to them. Not wanting to continue wasting time I accepted their offer of a refund. Anyone knows what will happen since it was the airline that canceled and it wasn't me canceling on the Amex site? The card they said they were refunding is not the last 4 digits of the card I used with Amex travel.
Nov 6, 2022, 4:50 am
#1304
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,290
(Oct 5) Just did my first (100%) Pay With Points ticket purchase, using a new Biz Plat card. I’ve read the Wiki and reviewed much of this (recent) thread but I’m still unclear on a couple of things. … I understand that AmEx will return or rebate 35% of the points in about a month, will AmEx notify me of that in any way or will I only see my MR balance increase by 35% of ~130,000?
I purchased a ticket for the same flight which I booked via a Delta award 5 months ago, wondering if and how quickly Delta might figure that out. Obviously I’ll cancel the first ticket but I’d like to wait 24 hours to ensure the AmEx ticket is intact, not available at a lower price and possibly cancel the award ticket by phone and ask the agent to put me in the seat reserved on the award ticket. Details: booked LGA (1st) -ATL (Biz Delta One)-LIM using 200,000 SkyMiles 5 months ago, selected excellent window seat for the long flight. Booked JFK (Econ Comfort) - ATL (Biz Delta One) - LIM same date (with AmEx points) so I now have 2 seats reserved for me on the same ATL-LIM flight. How risky is that? … Thank you.
I purchased a ticket for the same flight which I booked via a Delta award 5 months ago, wondering if and how quickly Delta might figure that out. Obviously I’ll cancel the first ticket but I’d like to wait 24 hours to ensure the AmEx ticket is intact, not available at a lower price and possibly cancel the award ticket by phone and ask the agent to put me in the seat reserved on the award ticket. Details: booked LGA (1st) -ATL (Biz Delta One)-LIM using 200,000 SkyMiles 5 months ago, selected excellent window seat for the long flight. Booked JFK (Econ Comfort) - ATL (Biz Delta One) - LIM same date (with AmEx points) so I now have 2 seats reserved for me on the same ATL-LIM flight. How risky is that? … Thank you.
First Experience Datapoint Follow-Up: No problems with 2 seats booked on the same flight. AmEx ticket went from processing to purchased/confirmed within ~12 hours, which was also ~48 hours prior to departure. I called Delta a few hours after ticket purchase, surprisingly terrific agent was able to switch seats for the international flight and cancel the award ticket. In hindsight, I needn’t have worried about that aspect.
Of course, as could have been predicted according to Murphy’s Law, the international flight was delayed by 16 hours. I received compensation as documented here, I believe my case for compensation was bolstered due to having “purchased” the ticket vice it being a Delta award ticket.
Remaining Question: Have yet to receive the 35% rebate/reimbursement and now that’s the aspect about which I’m (excessively and perhaps irrationally) concerned. For some reason which escapes me right now, maybe written earlier on this thread, as I wrote previously (“…35% of the points in about a month…”), I’ve been expecting the 35% at about 30 days from purchase date. I’ve again reviewed “You’ll receive 35% of the Membership Rewards® points used for flights with your selected airline back, approximately 6-10 weeks after charges appear on your billing statement.”
Wondering about the usual or typical timeframe (if there is one) for the actual posting of the 35% points back. Thanks again.
Nov 6, 2022, 5:18 am
#1305
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954