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Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: AA only (2017-2019)

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Old Jan 4, 2017, 6:59 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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: Admirals Club Food/Drinks: Award Cancellation Fee*: Award Taxes/Fees: Baggage*: Change Fee*: Close-In Ticket Fee*: Elite 500-mile Stickers: Elite Challenges: External Reservation Fee: Five Star Service: Infant Fees: MCE/Seat Selection: Mileage Multipler: Pet Fee*: Same Day Flight Change: Upfares: Upgrades:
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.
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Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: AA only (2017-2019)

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Old Jul 28, 2019, 10:58 am
  #1966  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 70
Quick question. Day passes to Admiral Clubs I know count, but has anyone tried ACs outside the US? I want to buy a day pass to the AC in Narita T2 the next time I pass through.
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 2:29 pm
  #1967  
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I searched, but didn't find...

Will the Amex Aspire $250 airline credit apply if I have pre-selected AA as airline benefit, and I rent a car through AA.com?

I see on the AA FAQ one can use AA miles, (FAQ: "Yes. You can use AAdvantage miles to purchase hotel stays and rental cars.").

When you book an AA. com car rental, does the charge show up on the Amex? From AA? Or from Hertz/Alamo/whatever?
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 3:09 pm
  #1968  
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Originally Posted by gmt4

No offense, but welcome to five months ago. Read the wiki.
Not quite. Five months ago they stopped working at AA, but continued to work at DL, WN, atc. In the past month or so, they stopped working at all airlines.
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 3:15 pm
  #1969  
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Originally Posted by Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant
I searched, but didn't find...

Will the Amex Aspire $250 airline credit apply if I have pre-selected AA as airline benefit, and I rent a car through AA.com?

I see on the AA FAQ one can use AA miles, (FAQ: "Yes. You can use AAdvantage miles to purchase hotel stays and rental cars.").

When you book an AA. com car rental, does the charge show up on the Amex? From AA? Or from Hertz/Alamo/whatever?
Most car rentals are "pay later" (ie, at the rental counter). Those definitely get billed by Hertz/Alamo/whoever. The only question would be if the AA.com car rental has an option for "pay now" rentals. But then you need to look to see if the AA.com car rental has a banner saying "powered by <some other site>", as the UA.com car rental site does. That probably means all payments are outsourced to that other site.

That's the same reason AA.com buying miles hasn't worked as AA purchase for years, because it's been outsourced to points.com. (I don't know if that's still the case or not, I just know it was true for many many years.)
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 5:41 pm
  #1970  
stc
 
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
Most car rentals are "pay later" (ie, at the rental counter). Those definitely get billed by Hertz/Alamo/whoever. The only question would be if the AA.com car rental has an option for "pay now" rentals. But then you need to look to see if the AA.com car rental has a banner saying "powered by <some other site>", as the UA.com car rental site does. That probably means all payments are outsourced to that other site.

That's the same reason AA.com buying miles hasn't worked as AA purchase for years, because it's been outsourced to points.com. (I don't know if that's still the case or not, I just know it was true for many many years.)
I'm pretty sure it is always going to be charged by the car rental company - whether "pay in advance" or not.
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 7:22 pm
  #1971  
 
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
Not quite. Five months ago they stopped working at AA, but continued to work at DL, WN, atc. In the past month or so, they stopped working at all airlines.
One could rightly assume that when a poster posts in the AA thread that AA reimbursements are what they are referring to.
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Old Jul 29, 2019, 8:51 am
  #1972  
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Originally Posted by gmt4
One could rightly assume that when a poster posts in the AA thread that AA reimbursements are what they are referring to.
Except that, when the AA gift cards stopped working, this thread was full of questions about using other airlines for gift cards instead. So that made it relevant to this thread whether other airline's gift cards still work or not.
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Old Jul 29, 2019, 8:55 am
  #1973  
 
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
Except that, when the AA gift cards stopped working, this thread was full of questions about using other airlines for gift cards instead. So that made it relevant to this thread whether other airline's gift cards still work or not.
Never mind the fact that the poster made the statement 5 months after they stopped working as if it was breaking news, the poster posted in the AA thread, and they didn't ask about other airlines. But yeah, stick with that..
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Old Jul 29, 2019, 5:47 pm
  #1974  
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A data point:

Bought Basic Economy Fare. At the 7 day window, was able to go in and buy seats using the Amex Aspire (not the card I bought the ticket with) - seat fee reimbursed.

Bought premium wine at Admirals Club - took a few days but reimbursed.
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 10:37 am
  #1975  
 
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Originally Posted by lotrbfme
Award taxes charged to my amex triggered the credit. $50.65 each for 2 pax.
What is the fee categorized as? I have the same fees, but so far no trigger.
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 11:06 am
  #1976  
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
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Baggage, MCE, and Elite Challenge

Back in May paid for MCE (Shows on statement as: "Additional Collection") and checked bags (Shows up as: "Excess Baggage"). Fee credits appeared three days later.

Earlier this month signed-up for an elite challenge (Shows up as: "Frequent Flyer Fee/Purchase"). No credit after over 2.5 weeks. Don't see this as explicitly excluded under the T&Cs so I may call them after the four-week point.
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 2:04 pm
  #1977  
mia
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Originally Posted by tlglenn
...."Frequent Flyer Fee/Purchase"). No credit after over 2.5 weeks. Don't see this as explicitly excluded under the T&Cs .....
It is excluded:

$200 Airline Fee Credit



Benefit is available to Consumer and Business Platinum Card® and Centurion® Members only. To receive statement credits of up to $200 per calendar year toward incidental air travel fees, Card Member must select one qualifying airline at www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice. Qualifying airlines include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Only the Basic Card Member or Authorized Account Manager(s) on the Card Account can select the qualifying airline. Card Members who have not chosen one qualifying airline will be able to do so at any time. Card Members who have already selected one qualifying airline will be able to change their choice one time each year in January at www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice or by calling the number on the back of the Card. Card Members who do not change their airline selection will remain with their current airline. Statement Credits: Incidental air travel fees must be charged to the Card Member on the eligible Card Account for the benefit to apply. Incidental air travel fees charged by both the Basic and Additional Card Members on the eligible Card Account are eligible for statement credits. However, each Card Account is eligible for up to a total of $200 per calendar year in statement credits across all Cards on the Account. Incidental air travel fees must be separate charges from airline ticket charges. Fees not charged by the Card Member's airline of choice (e.g. wireless internet and fees incurred with airline alliance partners) do not qualify for statement credits. Incidental air travel fees charged prior to selection of a qualifying airline are not eligible for statement credits. Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees. The airline must submit the charge under the appropriate merchant code, industry code, or required service or product identifier for the charge to be recognized as an incidental air travel fee. Please allow 2-4 weeks after the qualifying incidental air travel fee is charged to your Card Account for statement credit(s) to be posted to the Account. We rely on airlines to submit the correct information on airline transactions, so please call the number on the back of the Card if statement credits have not posted after 4 weeks from the date of purchase. Card Members remain responsible for timely payment of all charges. To be eligible for this benefit, Card Account(s) must be not canceled and not past due at the time of statement credit fulfillment.
mia is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2019, 2:51 pm
  #1978  
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
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Does AMEX consider an elite challenge to be an award ticket or is it simply because of how AA coded the transaction?
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 3:10 pm
  #1979  
mia
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Originally Posted by tlglenn
Does AMEX consider an elite challenge to be an award ticket or is it simply because of how AA coded the transaction?
They have some other "mileage" exclusions, which indicates (to me) that they don't want to cover anything that pertains to frequent flyer programs, but of course you may succeed if you call.
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Old Aug 1, 2019, 9:05 am
  #1980  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Originally Posted by mia
They have some other "mileage" exclusions, which indicates (to me) that they don't want to cover anything that pertains to frequent flyer programs, but of course you may succeed if you call.
From what I have read it is hit or miss with calling. Having said that, I am in the same boat and am going to call. since I paid for my son's status challenge on AA Will report back. Going to be a tad upset if they deny. "Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees." If they want to exclude challenges then they need expressly to do so because :"Awards" and "mileage points purchases" are not the same to me as being an elite. Let y'all know.

Safe Travels
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