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)
Jun 12, 2018, 12:18 pm
#736
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: AA Gold, IHG Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Silver
Posts: 38
6/5 - 2 AA eCerts for $100 each
1 coded as Miscellaneous Tax(s)/Fee(s) and 1 as Frequent Flyer Fee/Purchase
6/8 - 1 $100 reimbursement.
Are there any hopes of me getting the second reimbursement? Can I ask AmEx About this and tell them I bought something else?
1 coded as Miscellaneous Tax(s)/Fee(s) and 1 as Frequent Flyer Fee/Purchase
6/8 - 1 $100 reimbursement.
Are there any hopes of me getting the second reimbursement? Can I ask AmEx About this and tell them I bought something else?
Jun 13, 2018, 2:35 pm
#737
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 2
Are you able to tell which one was reimbursed? I just purchased 2 AA eCerts for $100 each and both were coded as Miscellaneous Tax(s)/Fee(s).
Jun 13, 2018, 3:46 pm
#738
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: AA Gold, IHG Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Silver
Posts: 38
I think the miscellaneous taxes and fees is the one you want based on other data points.
Jun 14, 2018, 7:47 pm
#739
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 2
Bought two $100 AA eCerts which were coded as Miscellaneous Tax(s)/Fee(s) on 6/10.
Reimbursed on 6/13.
Reimbursed on 6/13.
Jun 15, 2018, 8:50 am
#740
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,555
What causes an AA GC to get coded as a Frequent Flyer Fee?
Yesterday, I clicked on the offer to upgrade my Ascend to Aspire for 100,000 points. Today, my account was fully enabled as an Aspire account and I've selected AA as my airline for reimbursement. I'll probably book my next AA flight sometime next week, so I wanted to get my GC's bought...but don't want to do it the "wrong" way. It seems like $100 + $100 + $50 is the way to go, but getting them coded as a Frequent Flyer Fee sounds like it could impact the reimbursement (?).
Yesterday, I clicked on the offer to upgrade my Ascend to Aspire for 100,000 points. Today, my account was fully enabled as an Aspire account and I've selected AA as my airline for reimbursement. I'll probably book my next AA flight sometime next week, so I wanted to get my GC's bought...but don't want to do it the "wrong" way. It seems like $100 + $100 + $50 is the way to go, but getting them coded as a Frequent Flyer Fee sounds like it could impact the reimbursement (?).
Jun 16, 2018, 9:53 am
#741
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BAY AREA
Posts: 1,125
I bought a 100 gift card on June 6 and still no credit. Should I chat with Amex online and ask?
Jun 16, 2018, 11:53 am
#742
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
Customer Rep: "Gift cards are not reimbursable as incidental expenses for the purposes of the airline credit."
Jun 16, 2018, 12:15 pm
#743
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BAY AREA
Posts: 1,125
They don't know it's a gift card. I can tell them it's airline fee for changes to a ticket. I did buy a ticket a few weeks ago but on a different card
Last edited by trikotret; Jun 16, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Jun 16, 2018, 12:48 pm
#744
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,057
Jun 16, 2018, 1:17 pm
#745
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BAY AREA
Posts: 1,125
My charge shows tax and fees. I might just wait another week
Jun 17, 2018, 7:18 am
#746
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: TPA/DFW/K15
Programs: AA EXP, Mar AMB, HH LT DIA
Posts: 1,649
What causes an AA GC to get coded as a Frequent Flyer Fee?
Yesterday, I clicked on the offer to upgrade my Ascend to Aspire for 100,000 points. Today, my account was fully enabled as an Aspire account and I've selected AA as my airline for reimbursement. I'll probably book my next AA flight sometime next week, so I wanted to get my GC's bought...but don't want to do it the "wrong" way. It seems like $100 + $100 + $50 is the way to go, but getting them coded as a Frequent Flyer Fee sounds like it could impact the reimbursement (?).
Yesterday, I clicked on the offer to upgrade my Ascend to Aspire for 100,000 points. Today, my account was fully enabled as an Aspire account and I've selected AA as my airline for reimbursement. I'll probably book my next AA flight sometime next week, so I wanted to get my GC's bought...but don't want to do it the "wrong" way. It seems like $100 + $100 + $50 is the way to go, but getting them coded as a Frequent Flyer Fee sounds like it could impact the reimbursement (?).
Jun 18, 2018, 9:57 am
#747
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,555
Cool...thanks for the tip. That's probably what I will do.
It's silly that Amex requires us to play this game. The Citi Prestige card simply reimburses $250 of travel per year - could be as simple as a single airline ticket. Given the type of travelers likely to have an Aspire card, we don't pay many incidental airline fees since most things covered are also covered by elite status.
Jun 20, 2018, 5:36 pm
#748
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP. Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,129
6/14 $100 AA GC purchased
6/18 $100 Reimbursed
6/18 $100 Reimbursed
Jun 21, 2018, 12:19 pm
#749
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,555
Ugh. Mine is showing as "Travel - Airline". I'll buy a ticket with it in 3 days and fly in 2 weeks so I guess no real loss, but I know that won't get reimbursed.
Jun 21, 2018, 12:33 pm
#750
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952