Jan 1, 2022, 11:44 am
Last edit by: rrgg
Your question is probably answered in this Wikipost
Reminder: you must enroll and select UA as your airline, then wait a day before making a reimbursable purchase. It can take a few days or a full week to be reimbursed.
Travel Bank: There'sa separate thread at this link for general discussion of Travel Bank. Travel Bank is available again Jan. 3, 2022 and posts as a Special Service Ticket reimbursed by Amex (but unofficially). May appear as United Electronic Ticketing or United Airlines Houston. Purchase here: https://www.united.com/offers/travelcash If your transaction returns a Payment Failed error, try adding your American Express card to your United Airlines profile, and repeat the transaction using the stored card. DO NOT CALL Amex to ask about being credited for this.
On December 31, 2021 United suspended Travel Bank deposit transactions and posted a message "Offer has ended."
United does not sell gift cards.
As of December 2016 American Express no longer reimburses MPX transactions.
READ BELOW for EXPENSES WHICH MAY BE REIMBURSED
Airline Taxes on Award Tickets Doesn't seem to work anymore; see post 179 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25297196-post179.html and #391
Economy Plus and First Class Upgrade Fees Subscription worked in Feb 2020, data point here. As of December 2016 there were conflicting posts; one stating that an upgrade to E+ coded as an "upgrade fee" and was, therefore, not reimbursed. Others said they were reimbursed as it was coded as "preferred seat upgrade." In February 2019, three separate FTer reported receiving varying amounts of reimbursement (dependent upon which card was used for the purchase) after purchasing an E+ annual subscription. The E+ subscriptions code as "preferred seat upgrade". Upgrading from E to FC will also not be reimbursed because it codes as a passenger ticket even when done after buying the original ticket. There seems to be a distinction between seat upgrades being reimbursed, while ticket upgrades are not.
Award AcceleratorI would not risk this. The last report of being reimbursed for Award Accelerator was for $68 on October 27, 2011. Every post about Award Accelerator since has reported "No reimbursement."
Eligible incidental fees include:
A general discussion of Travel Bank is in a separate thread .
(2021 discussion of UA available at this link.)
Reminder: you must enroll and select UA as your airline, then wait a day before making a reimbursable purchase. It can take a few days or a full week to be reimbursed.
Travel Bank: There'sa separate thread at this link for general discussion of Travel Bank. Travel Bank is available again Jan. 3, 2022 and posts as a Special Service Ticket reimbursed by Amex (but unofficially). May appear as United Electronic Ticketing or United Airlines Houston. Purchase here: https://www.united.com/offers/travelcash If your transaction returns a Payment Failed error, try adding your American Express card to your United Airlines profile, and repeat the transaction using the stored card. DO NOT CALL Amex to ask about being credited for this.
United does not sell gift cards.
As of December 2016 American Express no longer reimburses MPX transactions.
READ BELOW for EXPENSES WHICH MAY BE REIMBURSED
Airline Taxes on Award Tickets Doesn't seem to work anymore; see post 179 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25297196-post179.html and #391
Economy Plus and First Class Upgrade Fees Subscription worked in Feb 2020, data point here. As of December 2016 there were conflicting posts; one stating that an upgrade to E+ coded as an "upgrade fee" and was, therefore, not reimbursed. Others said they were reimbursed as it was coded as "preferred seat upgrade." In February 2019, three separate FTer reported receiving varying amounts of reimbursement (dependent upon which card was used for the purchase) after purchasing an E+ annual subscription. The E+ subscriptions code as "preferred seat upgrade". Upgrading from E to FC will also not be reimbursed because it codes as a passenger ticket even when done after buying the original ticket. There seems to be a distinction between seat upgrades being reimbursed, while ticket upgrades are not.
Award AcceleratorI would not risk this. The last report of being reimbursed for Award Accelerator was for $68 on October 27, 2011. Every post about Award Accelerator since has reported "No reimbursement."
Eligible incidental fees include:
- Checked baggage fees (including overweight/oversize)
- Itinerary change fees
- Phone reservation fees
- FareLock
- Pet flight fees
- Seat assignment fees (E+)
- In-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, headphones)
- In-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet unless it is billed by the airline.)
- Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
- Onboard WIFI (provided it is billed by the airline.)
A general discussion of Travel Bank is in a separate thread .
(2021 discussion of UA available at this link.)
Airline fee $250/$200 reimbursement reports: UA only (2022)
Mar 3, 2022, 12:44 pm
#722
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 2
Feb 19: switched airline preference to United on three cards (Hilton Aspire and my two personal plats). Received email confirmation of the airline preference switch for all three cards immediately.
Feb 24: charges made/posted and listed as "UNITED AIRLINES HOUSTON TX" (1x250 for Aspire/2 x 100 on each of personal plats)
Feb 28: $250 reimbursement received for Aspire, $200 reimbursement received for one plat
Nothing received for the other personal platinum, meter still showing 0/200. Airline selected of course shows United still...not sure what's going on, but looks like this TravelBank method may not be 100%... will update in a few weeks.
Feb 24: charges made/posted and listed as "UNITED AIRLINES HOUSTON TX" (1x250 for Aspire/2 x 100 on each of personal plats)
Feb 28: $250 reimbursement received for Aspire, $200 reimbursement received for one plat
Nothing received for the other personal platinum, meter still showing 0/200. Airline selected of course shows United still...not sure what's going on, but looks like this TravelBank method may not be 100%... will update in a few weeks.
Mar 3, 2022, 3:28 pm
#723
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 706
Feb 19: switched airline preference to United on three cards (Hilton Aspire and my two personal plats). Received email confirmation of the airline preference switch for all three cards immediately.
Feb 24: charges made/posted and listed as "UNITED AIRLINES HOUSTON TX" (1x250 for Aspire/2 x 100 on each of personal plats)
Feb 28: $250 reimbursement received for Aspire, $200 reimbursement received for one plat
Nothing received for the other personal platinum, meter still showing 0/200. Airline selected of course shows United still...not sure what's going on, but looks like this TravelBank method may not be 100%... will update in a few weeks.
Feb 24: charges made/posted and listed as "UNITED AIRLINES HOUSTON TX" (1x250 for Aspire/2 x 100 on each of personal plats)
Feb 28: $250 reimbursement received for Aspire, $200 reimbursement received for one plat
Nothing received for the other personal platinum, meter still showing 0/200. Airline selected of course shows United still...not sure what's going on, but looks like this TravelBank method may not be 100%... will update in a few weeks.
Mar 4, 2022, 6:43 am
#724
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Mar 4, 2022, 7:21 am
#725
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
I'll be happy to be proven wrong and OP gets a credit automatically during such a sweep but I just wouldn't keep my hopes up too high and be prepared for a do-over especially since 2 of their cards' credits posted just fine.
Mar 5, 2022, 5:05 pm
#726
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 24
When you say one of the plats reimbursed, was it a co-branded one like charles schwab?
Mar 7, 2022, 1:59 pm
#727
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 223
Purchased $183 travel bundle with ticket for someone else - include lounge access, checked bag and econ plus. Reimbursed 2 days after charges posted.
Mar 7, 2022, 7:21 pm
#728
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 24
I know the wiki says that Airline Taxes on Award Tickets no longer reimburse, but has anyone tried this recently? It looks like it was last tried a long time ago from the links provided (2015)
Mar 8, 2022, 10:52 am
#729
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 2
The one that was reimbursed was a Schwab plat, the one that was not was a vanilla plat. Thanks for the help everyone. I think I'll just wait a couple more weeks then make another purchase like you recommended. Never had this happen in the last four years.
Mar 8, 2022, 11:56 am
#730
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,290
Datapoint: New Biz Plat 2 weeks ago, called customer service the day of receipt to select UA, told wait 24 hours for airline to take effect, 24 hrs later confirmed online UA selection and did $4 test charge at grocery store, 48 hrs later did 2 x $100 UA TB, 2 x $100 credits posted 4 days after TB charges.
(Edit: Did $250 TB charges on 2 other biz Plats in early January, for each card AmEx credited $200. Don’t want anyone to think that only $100 charges work for the AmEx airline fee reimbursement. I did $100 charges this time only because with two other biz Plats and an Aspire, my TravelBank balance was high enough.)
(Edit: Did $250 TB charges on 2 other biz Plats in early January, for each card AmEx credited $200. Don’t want anyone to think that only $100 charges work for the AmEx airline fee reimbursement. I did $100 charges this time only because with two other biz Plats and an Aspire, my TravelBank balance was high enough.)
Last edited by Dr Jabadski; Mar 16, 2022 at 5:25 pm
Mar 8, 2022, 3:33 pm
#731
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: BDL,CLT,LIM
Programs: AA,BA
Posts: 345
-Had a starting TB balance of $50 from purchase in 2021.
-3 weeks ago, purchased $100 TB credit, which brought my total balance to $150.
-One day later, purchased flight for $186.50 (economy flight, no bag or seat add-ons). For this purchase I used the $150 TB funds and paid difference of $36.50 with Amex Plat.
-One week later, Amex Plat posted credits for both $100 TB purchase and $36.50 flight.
Mar 9, 2022, 4:14 am
#732
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
Great DPs. How were those charges labeled by AmEx: as an itinerary or something resembling "additional collection"?
Mar 10, 2022, 10:56 am
#733
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,639
Purchased FareLock and bought the ticket a couple of days later. Reimbursed about a week after the charges for the fare and the FareLock posted.
Changed a ticket and that resulted in ~$52 in additional collections (fare difference). This was not reimbursed.
Changed a ticket and that resulted in ~$52 in additional collections (fare difference). This was not reimbursed.
Mar 11, 2022, 4:35 pm
#734
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: PHL
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AA Gold, FB Gold, ITA Volare Executive
Posts: 3,294
What does this mean?
On Sunday, 6 March, I put $100 into my United Travel Bank, from P2's Amex Platinum. Did not have to enroll the card or anything -- just seemed to accept it as it had in 2021. The Travel Bank amount visible at united.com augmented by $100, and I just checked again -- today, early evening, Friday 11 March, and the credit is still there. Shows as expiring on 6 March 2027.
But as for the charge itself: Monday, 7 March it went pending, in the way it usually does.
Tuesday, 8 March, it was still pending.
Wednesday, 9 March, it was pending still.
Yesterday, Thursday, 10 March, it was still pending. Amex charges can pend for a while, but this seemed long to me.
So, this morning, Friday, 11 March, I was mostly relieved to see that the charge had disappeared. Not pending, not posted. I reasoned that I had caught the account in that liminal state where and when a pending charge moves to a posted charge.
And maybe I did. Except that it is now getting later and later in the day (Friday, 11 March), and there is no more sign of last Sunday's purchase. Can't call this a problem (yet), since Amex doesn't seem to want any money from me, and United is crediting me the amount. But at this point I am calling it unusual.
Late morning Saturday, 12 March: Again, no sign of a charge (pending or posted), and the incremental $100 is still visible at United. I have no explanation for what is (or is not) happening. I've had some odd postings with overseas charges, but not something like this. By the way, it occurred to me that one explanation could be, "Idiot, you used a different card!" But having assiduously checked all other cards, I can attest that this is not the explanation. To be continued....
But as for the charge itself: Monday, 7 March it went pending, in the way it usually does.
Tuesday, 8 March, it was still pending.
Wednesday, 9 March, it was pending still.
Yesterday, Thursday, 10 March, it was still pending. Amex charges can pend for a while, but this seemed long to me.
So, this morning, Friday, 11 March, I was mostly relieved to see that the charge had disappeared. Not pending, not posted. I reasoned that I had caught the account in that liminal state where and when a pending charge moves to a posted charge.
And maybe I did. Except that it is now getting later and later in the day (Friday, 11 March), and there is no more sign of last Sunday's purchase. Can't call this a problem (yet), since Amex doesn't seem to want any money from me, and United is crediting me the amount. But at this point I am calling it unusual.
Late morning Saturday, 12 March: Again, no sign of a charge (pending or posted), and the incremental $100 is still visible at United. I have no explanation for what is (or is not) happening. I've had some odd postings with overseas charges, but not something like this. By the way, it occurred to me that one explanation could be, "Idiot, you used a different card!" But having assiduously checked all other cards, I can attest that this is not the explanation. To be continued....
Last edited by Biggie Fries; Mar 12, 2022 at 9:11 am Reason: Update 1 (Saturday, 12 March)
Mar 13, 2022, 8:37 pm
#735
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,038