SusanDK

I purchased airline tickets on my new Hilton Surpass card that triggered the 100,000 point bonus. The points were credited as soon as the charge hit.

Totally unexpected, I need to refund the tickets (they are Icelandair Saga which are fully refundable, so no issue there). However, it just occurred to me that it was the charge that triggered the bonus.

I have more charges to send through on my card so will make sure to still be above the $3,000 required before I refund the airline tickets. However, I read a thread somewhere that when someone had the specific charge credited that resulted in their bonus points refunded, the points were pulled back, even though they still qualified for the bonus due to subsequent charges.

Is there any way to preempt this happening?

peterrudy

Amex can not pull back posted points from Hilton so you should be fine. Clawing back MR points usually occur with their own cards (platinum, PRG etc.,). If it ever happens, a simple phone call to the CSR should fix the issue.
If you want to be sure, transfer all your awarded Hilton points to your family member free of charge and then keep or cancel the credit card.

SusanDK

Thanks! Did not know they could not retrieve points. I thought it was unusual that the points posted to my Hilton account before the statement even closed with the relevant charges.

jags86

I can’t speak specifically for Hilton but AMEX pulled 30,000 bonus Starpoints out of my SPG account once. It turned out to be a mistake, not related to spend, but it definitely can be done.

sdsearch

Despite them not likely being able to claw back, this plan sounds like a good idea, so that they're less likely to even consider trying anything.

Keep in mind that even if they can't claw back, that doesn't mean they can't do anything. They could (dunno if they would) block any more points from going to Hilton, or something else, especially if you didn't make a good faith effort to "balance" the spend before the refund.

Happy

I would suggest you delay your refund until after you put in enough spend to cover the requirement. Then before you do the refund, CALL AMEX and ask to talk to a US-based Manager. Tell the manager what you need to do and ask the manager to put a notation in your account about the necessary refund.

The reason why I make this suggestion is due to the recently revamped T&Cs in all the AMEX cards that includes among other things, the potential claw back on refunding the "threshold" charge.

Right. Banks can claw back miles / points already sent to partners accounts. Not just AMEX, both Chase and Citi have done such clawbacks too. Even Fidelity the brokerage has done claw back of AA miles on its promotion years ago.

For poster who said AMEX cannot claw back HH pts, he is dead wrong. Just so people know. While it is not as easy and quick as clawing back its own currency, the banks can definitely claw back currency transferred to partners.

It is a matter if they decide to do so or not, not a matter if they have the ability to do so. They certainly have the ability to claw back if they want to.

From what I understand, the claw back is not manually done but it is triggered by system - by the numerous DPs from the Plat fiasco and by someone's lengthy post on his experience long before the Plat fiasco on a claw back. Hence I suggest the OP to First put in enough spend, Second call AMEX and talk to a manager so to notate the situation on the account. This is a precaution to prevent / minimize subsequent mess after the refund.

flyershmlyer

Can you point to T&C where it specifies about threshold charges?

Kagehitokiri

good post Happy. i seem to recall AA actually closing mileage accounts and seizing all miles. AA certainly does not issue their own credit cards. AA got the most discussion on FT because they were by far the most aggressive, and hit people who were not doing manufactured spend in their attempts to reduce it.