Jan 4, 2017, 6:59 am
Last edit by: mia
CAUTION: In February 2019, American Airlines changed the coding of gift card transactions. Although there are a few successful data points since, in general, Gift Card purchases are now explicitly identified, and no longer reimbursed by American Express.
Reminder: you must enroll and select your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. http://www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice -or- "Call the number on the back of your Card to select a qualifying airline."
Data Points on automatically reimbursed incidentals since 2017:
Admirals Club Memberships: Admirals Club Passes:
Wifi is provided by one of three third-party providers and is thus not eligible for the incidental credit.
* For items not automatically reimbursed but which are not excluded by Amex, you can try and request manual reimbursement from American Express; however, you may need to wait 14-28 days first.
To review AA reimbursement reports from 2011-2016 as well as information on gift cards, click HERE.
Reminder: you must enroll and select your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. http://www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice -or- "Call the number on the back of your Card to select a qualifying airline."
Data Points on automatically reimbursed incidentals since 2017:
Admirals Club Memberships: Admirals Club Passes:
- Yes - Hilton-gold, moe8555
- No - ShrinkTheGlobe, canesfan, jasmians, soy
- Yes - Dedicated, Rakibullslam, tsmith12, lotrbfme, mia, GTITAN, cdoobiest
- No - Alex_I, exmike, jb0506, fangtl, nall, javabytes, chitink
- Mixed - PatrickTM, Visconti, iahphx
- No - cubs105, prhocky2607
- No - PatrickTM, mileshound
- Yes - LuizMiranda, fotoflyer88, nk15, joshvworld, Hilton-gold, captaink, JCN, aftortoriello, nall
- No - pubsmeister
- Yes - jvel
- Yes - JDiver
- No - AUSINSIGHT
- No - mrlemm
- Yes - Segments
- Yes - wireless_999, saunders111, mosfet, Budoka, sdsearch
- Mixed - inevitability
Wifi is provided by one of three third-party providers and is thus not eligible for the incidental credit.
* For items not automatically reimbursed but which are not excluded by Amex, you can try and request manual reimbursement from American Express; however, you may need to wait 14-28 days first.
To review AA reimbursement reports from 2011-2016 as well as information on gift cards, click HERE.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: AA only (2017-2019)
Jul 12, 2019, 2:08 pm
#1951
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,522
Unlikely, but let us know if you experience otherwise.
Jul 12, 2019, 2:18 pm
#1952
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,949
Jul 15, 2019, 5:10 pm
#1953
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: DFW
Posts: 675
booked two short-haul flights, ~$140-$150 each way. Used $100 gift card for each direction and paid rest with my Amex Plat. $45 reimbursed on one flight, $40 on other doesn't show up in the counter. Bought the tickets about 20 minutes apart, so not sure why one would post over the other. Have a couple more of these in my future so hope to use the rest of my credits this way.
Jul 16, 2019, 6:50 pm
#1954
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: IAD / DCA
Programs: AA EP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, United Silver, Bonvoy Titanium.
Posts: 158
Jul 22, 2019, 11:31 pm
#1955
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SFO/HKG
Programs: ex-UA 1K, AA EXP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 535
The blog One Mile at a Time is reporting gift cards are no longer triggering AMEX credits.
https://onemileatatime.com/gift-card...e-fee-credits/
https://onemileatatime.com/gift-card...e-fee-credits/
Jul 23, 2019, 5:12 am
#1956
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP. Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,129
The blog One Mile at a Time is reporting gift cards are no longer triggering AMEX credits.
https://onemileatatime.com/gift-card...e-fee-credits/
https://onemileatatime.com/gift-card...e-fee-credits/
Jul 23, 2019, 8:29 am
#1957
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 77
Is it possible to buy a gc at a lounge or at the ticket counter? Anyone know how those get coded?
Jul 23, 2019, 9:27 am
#1958
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, CC Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 433
What about meal or purchases inflight? I am travelling economy with family and may buy lunch onboard if it qualifies?
Jul 23, 2019, 11:03 am
#1959
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 173
I've had success with those in the past. Haven't tried recently on AA, but those purchases are well within the T&Cs, should not be an issue. Worked for me this year with United as my airline (both food and inflight wifi).
Jul 23, 2019, 5:11 pm
#1960
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
Note that inflight wifi won't work for AA because it is billed by a third party and not AA. Inflight meals definitely work on AA.
Jul 24, 2019, 7:40 am
#1961
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 173
That's good to know. I have tons of gogo passes and just haven't used the Panasonic wifi yet, so haven't tried it. I would think that food would work though.
Jul 25, 2019, 11:30 pm
#1962
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 30
why do you need to keep (or get refunded) for the mileage multiplier if you are not going to fly? Sorry, if I misunderstood your post
Jul 26, 2019, 2:51 pm
#1963
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,635
Jul 27, 2019, 12:23 pm
#1965
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,635
The only caveat make sure you book a flight far out and cancel within the 24 hours, but if it is within a week of the trip I think you cannot cancel so that would be an epic fail.
Last edited by nk15; Jul 27, 2019 at 12:31 pm
