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:

Yes - Majuki, Evo40

Admirals Club Passes:

Yes - Hilton-gold, moe8555

Admirals Club Food/Drinks:

Yes - cyncyn129, Segments, chrisny2

Award Cancellation Fee*:

No - ShrinkTheGlobe, canesfan, jasmians, soy

Award Taxes/Fees:

Yes - Dedicated, Rakibullslam, tsmith12, lotrbfme, mia, GTITAN, cdoobiest
No - Alex_I, exmike, jb0506, fangtl, nall, javabytes, chitink
Mixed - PatrickTM, Visconti, iahphx

Baggage*:

Yes - tlglenn
No - mrlemm, mlin32, abk, pubsmeister, esls79

Change Fee*:

No - cubs105, prhocky2607

Close-In Ticket Fee*:

No - PatrickTM, mileshound

Elite 500-mile Stickers:

Yes - LuizMiranda, fotoflyer88, nk15, joshvworld, Hilton-gold, captaink, JCN, aftortoriello, nall
No - pubsmeister

Elite Challenges:

Yes - skreemer6
No - stheller, tlglenn, GTITAN

External Reservation Fee:

Yes - jvel

Five Star Service:

Yes - JDiver

Infant Fees:

No - AUSINSIGHT

MCE/Seat Selection:

Yes - chapmanj9, Dedicated, Hilton-gold, jb0506, limeyx, act0fgod, nall, tlglenn
No - UAZip

Mileage Multipler:

Yes - mia, mia (two separate reports), TravelLawyer, QtownDave, nk15, nall, UAZip

Pet Fee*:

No - mrlemm

Same Day Flight Change:

Yes - Segments

Upfares:

Mixed - javabytes, javabytes - appears the amount matters
No - jvel

Upgrades:

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.

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

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Sep 15, 2018, 2:06 pm

#841

Dbears

Join Date: Jul 2013

Posts: 101

Airline reward fees

I just got the aspire care and apologize about not reading thru entire thread. I want to purchase tickets with AA points and will be hit for $200+ fees on travel to Europe. Can I get reimbursed with this card? Thanks.

Sep 16, 2018, 6:15 am

#842

txpenny

Join Date: Sep 2014

Location: TPA/DFW/K15

Programs: AA EXP, Mar AMB, HH LT DIA

Posts: 1,653

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dbears

Are the fees taxes? If so, probably not. If you use the thread tools and click the "search this thread" button for the word "aspire", you'll get 44 hits which might help you figure out how to cash out on the $250 credits. Well, 45 now, but mine won't help much.

Good luck.

Sep 16, 2018, 7:00 am

#843

Dbears

Join Date: Jul 2013

Posts: 101

Thanks for the note. I did a search and didn’t find anything specific to my ask. I am pretty sure I cant use a gift card for fees/taxes on award travel but can I get reimbursed for fees for award travel on aspire card directly. The language is somewhat vague on these fees for award travel but it sounds like this is not a good bet. Do I just need to pay and not expect reimbursement?

Sep 16, 2018, 10:37 am

#844

mia

Moderator

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: Miami, Mpls & London

Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold

Posts: 48,958

The rules are exactly the same for Aspire, Platinum and Gold. Officially, fees incurred on an award ticket are not eligible for reimbursement, but in practice the system may mistake them for a reimbursable expense. This is less likely if the charge is over $100.

lotrbfme likes this.

Sep 18, 2018, 4:48 pm

#845

mufasa12

Join Date: Sep 2018

Posts: 1

I used my amex card and tried an initial aa GC for $100.
I had google pay pre-fill my information online for my plat card. And now when I go to look on my pending charges, it had $1 for google services (it's just a hold normally for Google pay) and the aa pending charge.
I'm previously when I have used google pay for a transaction it has coded it as "GglPay XXXX"

Will this affect my reimbursement?

Sep 19, 2018, 11:12 am

#846

satz

Join Date: Jun 2011

Programs: DL, Amex MR

Posts: 287

Bought a $100 AA gc on 9/15.

Credit posted 9/19, which happened to be when the statement closed as well.

Sep 19, 2018, 11:21 am

#847

Abidjan

Join Date: May 2005

Location: Cote d'Ivoire

Programs: OW Emerald - HH Diamond

Posts: 3,418

Hilton Aspire Amex

Purchased eGC 9.18 $100
Purchased eGC 9.18 $100
Purchased eGC 9.19 $50

All posted with the document type: MISCELLANEOUS TAX(S)/FEE(S).

Full $250 credit posted 9.23

Last edited by Abidjan; Sep 23, 2018 at 11:39 am

Sep 20, 2018, 1:50 pm

#848

jh2432

Join Date: Oct 2015

Posts: 8

Weird coding

My GCs posted and coded as “American Airlines 45800-433-7300.” I purchased on 9/18, posted 9/20. Has anyone else had this happen?

Sep 22, 2018, 4:17 pm

#849

jima131

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: California

Programs: American Airlines Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond

Posts: 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by jh2432

My GCs posted and coded as “American Airlines 45800-433-7300.” I purchased on 9/18, posted 9/20. Has anyone else had this happen?

I bought 2 x 100 and 1 x 50 GC on 9/19 and it posted on 9/21 also as "American Airlines 45800-433-7300". Hope this won't be a problem.

Update 9/23/18
All 3 purchases were credited today.

Last edited by jima131; Sep 23, 2018 at 10:09 am Reason: Update report.

Sep 23, 2018, 11:45 am

#850

srallen

Join Date: Jul 2006

Programs: American, United

Posts: 228

I apologize since I'm sure this has been asked and answered, but I really don't want to screw this up. My $200 Amex Platinum AA credit expires in 3 months. As per this forum I'm going to buy a single $100 gift card and verify that I get credited for it, then buy another one. My questions are:

1. Is this where to do it? https://giftcards.aa.com/
2. Does it matter if I get Plastic Gift Cards or Virtual Gift Cards? It appears that there are handling charges for Plastic gift cards but other than that, does it matter?

thanks
Scott

Sep 23, 2018, 12:32 pm

#851

lotrbfme

Join Date: Jun 2014

Location: FL

Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinum

Posts: 1,299

Quote:

Originally Posted by srallen

you can buy 2x $100 the same day in different transactions if you want. I always buy egifts cards since they have no fees. And yes thats the website.

srallen likes this.

Sep 23, 2018, 2:22 pm

#852

kf2k3

Join Date: Mar 2011

Posts: 72

I have $73.XX in American credit left. I assume if I buy a gift card for $75, then I will only get $73.XX? I'm mainly asking will it still reimburse me even though I bought more than what I have left.

jent likes this.

Sep 24, 2018, 10:24 am

#853

jh2432

Join Date: Oct 2015

Posts: 8

Update

Quote:

Originally Posted by jh2432

My GCs posted and coded as “American Airlines 45800-433-7300.” I purchased on 9/18, posted 9/20. Has anyone else had this happen?

Seleted AA, purchased 2 $100 GC an hour later on 9/18. Reimbursed 9/23

Sep 24, 2018, 2:01 pm

#854

ferric

Join Date: Sep 2006

Posts: 55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dbears

did your award fees get reimbursed by any chance?

Sep 25, 2018, 12:37 am

#855

jhs3887

Join Date: Jun 2014

Programs: AA, Delta, Cathay, Starwood, AMEX

Posts: 11

Checking amount available

Anyone know the link to check how much of the Amex platinum $200 we have left to use. Does it restart calendar year? So purchase by 12/31? Or anniversary date? Thanks. Finally link for the gift cards for AA? Assume buy 2 $100 still works?