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)
Dec 19, 2018, 7:14 pm
#1127
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 20
FWIW: I work in IT and strongly suspect you are correct about the purchases possibly being too soon after selecting the airline. It might be that the airline selection data is stored somewhere else and has to propagate/feed to the correct location before the credits will world. It also might be why Amex claims to need 4 weeks before customers can fairly cry foul. I'm afraid we're stuck in limbo until the clock runs out.
And now I'm super skittish about what to do about my new Plat. I need to burn these credits before 1/1. Yikes.
Last edited by Roasty; Dec 19, 2018 at 7:16 pm Reason: more deets
Dec 19, 2018, 7:27 pm
#1128
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 7
I am in the exact same situation as you with respect to my wife's gold card. 2x $50 cards posted on 12/12 and still no credit. Selected AA right before the purchase.
FWIW: I work in IT and strongly suspect you are correct about the purchases possibly being too soon after selecting the airline. It might be that the airline selection data is stored somewhere else and has to propagate/feed to the correct location before the credits will world. It also might be why Amex claims to need 4 weeks before customers can fairly cry foul. I'm afraid we're stuck in limbo until the clock runs out.
And now I'm super skittish about what to do about my new Plat. I need to burn these credits before 1/1. Yikes.
FWIW: I work in IT and strongly suspect you are correct about the purchases possibly being too soon after selecting the airline. It might be that the airline selection data is stored somewhere else and has to propagate/feed to the correct location before the credits will world. It also might be why Amex claims to need 4 weeks before customers can fairly cry foul. I'm afraid we're stuck in limbo until the clock runs out.
And now I'm super skittish about what to do about my new Plat. I need to burn these credits before 1/1. Yikes.
Just chat with them if it doesnt come after the 4 week period, I’m sure they will just manually push it through to keep a customer happy if worst comes to worst.
For your plat I still say go for it, I ended up doing a $200 card and almost gave up on it and got credited. From now on $100 x 2 once my credit refreshes on 1/1
Dec 19, 2018, 7:49 pm
#1129
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 20
If you bought them AFTER getting the airline choice conf email you should be fine.
Just chat with them if it doesnt come after the 4 week period, I’m sure they will just manually push it through to keep a customer happy if worst comes to worst.
For your plat I still say go for it, I ended up doing a $200 card and almost gave up on it and got credited. From now on $100 x 2 once my credit refreshes on 1/1
Regardless, I'll dutifully report my data points.
Dec 20, 2018, 8:18 am
#1130
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, UA Silver, Mobile Passport Unobtanium
Posts: 6,192
Thanks for the response.I dunno if it was after receiving the email or not (it was my wife's gold and her email address) but it was definitely after the selection was made. If it goes past 4 weeks, I'll definitely call in. We're new to AmEx so it'll be my first opportunity to test their customer service. So at least my morbid curiosity will be happy?
Regardless, I'll dutifully report my data points.
Regardless, I'll dutifully report my data points.
Dec 20, 2018, 8:30 am
#1131
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 20
Hah, yes. I am hoping they don't ask, but I'll just say I had some fees to pay for an award booking or something similarly generic. The transaction is coded right... that's all they should really need to know.
Dec 20, 2018, 10:46 am
#1132
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: CAE,AGS
Programs: AAExP, Hyatt Globalist, HHonors Gold, IHG Spire, Marriott Plat
Posts: 3,124
Dec 20, 2018, 3:01 pm
#1133
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Chicago
Posts: 108
Just saw my meter decreased to $200 today, so assuming the $50 credit will post tomorrow.
My timeline:
12/11 - Picked AA and bought $200 GC minutes after selecting my airline
12/16 - Bought $50 GC
12/19 - Meter decreased by $50
I’ll probably buy two $100 GC later today. I’m thinking I bought too soon after I selected an airline so going to give up hope on the $200 one.
If I were to eventually get reimbursed say next year for the $200, would that apply to next years credit?
I was going to buy a couple more GCs, but this sounds pretty promising. Would also like to note that I made no mention of the charge being for a gift card.
Dec 20, 2018, 5:48 pm
#1134
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 41
Here are my DPs:
For partner's Aspire:
12/3, 10pm - selected airline
12/4, 5am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/5 - saw meter go down to $0
12/7 - credits posted
For my Aspire:
12/18, midnight - selected airline
12/19, 9am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/20 - meter still showing $250 available...:/
Will update.
For partner's Aspire:
12/3, 10pm - selected airline
12/4, 5am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/5 - saw meter go down to $0
12/7 - credits posted
For my Aspire:
12/18, midnight - selected airline
12/19, 9am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/20 - meter still showing $250 available...:/
Will update.
Dec 20, 2018, 8:43 pm
#1135
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: New York City
Posts: 130
Purchased: Dec 18th, 2018 - 9:58 PM EST
Amount: $100
Doing business as: AA ARC
View Details on Merchant Website
<blahblah>
Category: Travel - Airline
Amount: $100
Doing business as: AA ARC
View Details on Merchant Website
<blahblah>
Category: Travel - Airline
Waiting for credits.
Dec 20, 2018, 9:01 pm
#1136
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Here are my DPs:
For partner's Aspire:
12/3, 10pm - selected airline
12/4, 5am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/5 - saw meter go down to $0
12/7 - credits posted
For my Aspire:
12/18, midnight - selected airline
12/19, 9am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/20 - meter still showing $250 available...:/
Will update.
For partner's Aspire:
12/3, 10pm - selected airline
12/4, 5am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/5 - saw meter go down to $0
12/7 - credits posted
For my Aspire:
12/18, midnight - selected airline
12/19, 9am - bought gift cards ($100 and $150)
12/20 - meter still showing $250 available...:/
Will update.
Dec 20, 2018, 9:31 pm
#1137
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: Hilton-Gold
Posts: 706
I purchased 200 AA eGC and was reimbursed 3 days after charge got confirmed(total 5 days). I was using credit from my Amex Business Platinum card.
Dec 21, 2018, 12:21 am
#1138
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: CA
Programs: AA PLT / MR LTPP 1/1/19 / Hilton Diamond
Posts: 540
There are many data points with $200 being reimbursed on Amex PLT and a few $250 on Aspire. I did $200 on Amex PLT myself and received credit a few weeks ago.
Dec 21, 2018, 7:25 am
#1139
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: New York City
Posts: 130
Purchased: Dec 18th, 2018 - 9:58 PM EST
Amount: $100
Doing business as: AA ARC
View Details on Merchant Website
<blahblah>
Category: Travel - Airline
Amount: $100
Doing business as: AA ARC
View Details on Merchant Website
<blahblah>
Category: Travel - Airline
Airline Fee Credits meter on Benefits page went down from $179 to $79.
Waiting on credit transaction to be posted soon.
EDIT: Second purchase
Purchased: Dec 21th, 2018 - 9:50 AM EST
Amount: $75
Doing business as: AA ARC
<blahblah>
Category: Travel - Airline
Last edited by risenmyth; Dec 21, 2018 at 7:52 am
Dec 21, 2018, 2:05 pm
#1140
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 131
My Time line - Purchased $100 AA Gift card with PLT on dec 19th, transaction posted on the same day and on expanding the transaction, it says flight details
The meter is still at $200, hope I get the credit 
Passenger Name:
Date of Departure: 12/19
Ticket Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Document Type: MISCELLANEOUS TAX(S)/FEE(S)
The meter is still at $200, hope I get the credit Passenger Name:
Date of Departure: 12/19
Ticket Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Document Type: MISCELLANEOUS TAX(S)/FEE(S)