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)
Jan 2, 2022, 10:13 am
#76
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,956
Jan 2, 2022, 10:59 am
#77
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: SAN
Posts: 1,306
Was planning on killing my airline credits and Dell credits this week before downgrading or closing the card. Have to agree with others that this card has gotten too expensive with the benefits being less practical and/or easy to use.
TD
TD
Jan 2, 2022, 11:15 am
#79
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,679
I would imagine, though I have no formal knowledge, that at times there may be some tension on the line between Amex and the participating carriers regarding closing blatantly obvious loopholes that Amex has explicitly stated violate the terms and conditions of the airline credit.
If Amex did somehow pull UA away from Chase, and then closed these loopholes, I could believe it had something to do with Amex being unhappy about loopholes. But given the situation right now, I don't think it's likely.
Jan 2, 2022, 11:41 am
#80
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,901
I find it unlikely that UA would care about anything Amex says, since UA has no relationship with Amex. If Chase was unhappy about something, UA might listen, but UA does hold more power than Chase in this relationship. If UA gets angry at Chase, there are plenty of other banks UA could partner with, but there are only 3 major domestic carriers. Chase has UA, Amex has DL, and Citi has AA. How many other banks are there that have no partnership with a major airline? Bank of America has HA, which isn't a major one (and I'm sure they'd like to get a major airline partner if they could), and there's also Wells and US Bank too.
If Amex did somehow pull UA away from Chase, and then closed these loopholes, I could believe it had something to do with Amex being unhappy about loopholes. But given the situation right now, I don't think it's likely.
If Amex did somehow pull UA away from Chase, and then closed these loopholes, I could believe it had something to do with Amex being unhappy about loopholes. But given the situation right now, I don't think it's likely.
Jan 2, 2022, 11:45 am
#81
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 508
Now that the travel bank is dead, is there other options like the JetBlue, southwest hack? Buy ticket, refund to wallet?
Jan 2, 2022, 12:06 pm
#82
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,679
A few years ago, UA was widely reported to be unhappy with Chase since they felt they were competing against the CSR. Even though Chase and UA signed an exclusive contract, it didn't stop UA from complaining and wanting to renegotiate its contract with Chase. UA felt DL was getting a better offer from AMEX, so eventually, Chase relented, and negotiations began behind the scenes. UA supposedly got a much better offer from Chase. We are where we are now.
Jan 2, 2022, 12:09 pm
#83
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,901
It depends as, during the early days of the pandemic, the airlines all ran to the banks and sold miles on the cheap.
Jan 2, 2022, 12:12 pm
#84
Join Date: Dec 2020
Posts: 40
I generally use WN to get airline credit reimbursed. But this time I was planning to use United travel bank to get P1 and P2s' platinum airline credit. Alas, the travel bank did not survive in 2022! I hope that the United's modified upcoming travel bank program to work for Amex airline credit.
Jan 2, 2022, 12:24 pm
#85
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: 3,292
Post # 64 , Post # 75 , Post # 92 , Post # 94
(Please don’t use “Spot” as your dog’s name, that’s my “dogs” name!
)IIRC, one other aspect to the UA Pet Fee maneuver, UA only allows a certain # of pets on each flight. When that limit is reached, the website will not allow booking a pet fee and won’t give an explanation.
Last edited by Dr Jabadski; Jan 2, 2022 at 12:30 pm Reason: IIRC
Jan 2, 2022, 12:31 pm
#86
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 508
ah, yes, the pet fee I had forgot about that! Great memory you have!
The following 4 individual ("lesson learned") posts on (closed thread) Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: UA only (2020-21) from 2 years ago (before UA TB was the easiest way to take advantage of the AmEx Airline Fee credit) are about AmEx Airline Fee credits for UA Pet Fees. Had to refresh my memory, unfortunately significantly more complicated and jeopardize seat selection and upgrade probability.
Post # 64 , Post # 75 , Post # 92 , Post # 94
(Please don’t use “Spot” as your dog’s name, that’s my “dogs” name!)
IIRC, one other aspect to the UA Pet Fee maneuver, UA only allows a certain # of pets on each flight. When that limit is reached, the website will not allow booking a pet fee and won’t give an explanation.
Post # 64 , Post # 75 , Post # 92 , Post # 94
(Please don’t use “Spot” as your dog’s name, that’s my “dogs” name!
)IIRC, one other aspect to the UA Pet Fee maneuver, UA only allows a certain # of pets on each flight. When that limit is reached, the website will not allow booking a pet fee and won’t give an explanation.
Jan 2, 2022, 12:57 pm
#87
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: 3,292
Thank you for the compliment. If that’s true, why can’t I remember where I put my Rhodium Tanzanite Titanium Platinum Diamond All Airline and Hotel program Elite status card? 
I think the TB existed as an alternative to Gift Cards and to collect money without providing any service. I suspect that some (if not much) of TB funds (and gift cards for other airlines and businesses) never got or gets spent, thus providing free money/profits.
UA would be foolish to not have a way to get free money. UA should have a way to collect money to be used in the future, if never used it’s free profits (other than minimal accounting and administrative costs).
Hopefully whatever UA comes up with will be eligible for AmEx Airline Fee credits.
New and exciting from UA (marketing dept) perspective, probably tedious, complicated and inefficient from our perspective.
Isn’t “bizarre” UA’s middle name?
Hopefully whatever UA comes up with will be eligible for AmEx Airline Fee credits.
New and exciting from UA (marketing dept) perspective, probably tedious, complicated and inefficient from our perspective.
Isn’t “bizarre” UA’s middle name?
Jan 2, 2022, 1:26 pm
#88
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
The following 4 individual ("lesson learned") posts on (closed thread) Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: UA only (2020-21) from 2 years ago (before UA TB was the easiest way to take advantage of the AmEx Airline Fee credit) are about AmEx Airline Fee credits for UA Pet Fees. Had to refresh my memory, unfortunately significantly more complicated and jeopardize seat selection and upgrade probability.
Post # 64 , Post # 75 , Post # 92 , Post # 94
(Please don’t use “Spot” as your dog’s name, that’s my “dogs” name!)
IIRC, one other aspect to the UA Pet Fee maneuver, UA only allows a certain # of pets on each flight. When that limit is reached, the website will not allow booking a pet fee and won’t give an explanation.
Post # 64 , Post # 75 , Post # 92 , Post # 94
(Please don’t use “Spot” as your dog’s name, that’s my “dogs” name!
)IIRC, one other aspect to the UA Pet Fee maneuver, UA only allows a certain # of pets on each flight. When that limit is reached, the website will not allow booking a pet fee and won’t give an explanation.
1. Can you refund the pet fee to UA ETC or other form of credit rather than refund to card? I understand that Amex hasn't clawed back airline credits related to pet fees but you never know....
2. Can you book the pet fee when seated in First Class?
Jan 2, 2022, 1:49 pm
#89
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,032
I vaguely recall reading yours and others posts about pet fees but never paid close attention since I either used the credit on other airlines for real fees or with UA on TB. In case that doesn't come back and the pet fee is still a viable option, I'm wondering the following:
1. Can you refund the pet fee to UA ETC or other form of credit rather than refund to card? I understand that Amex hasn't clawed back airline credits related to pet fees but you never know....
2. Can you book the pet fee when seated in First Class?
1. Can you refund the pet fee to UA ETC or other form of credit rather than refund to card? I understand that Amex hasn't clawed back airline credits related to pet fees but you never know....
2. Can you book the pet fee when seated in First Class?
Jan 2, 2022, 3:10 pm
#90
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: 3,292
I believe you can but not if it’s an exit row seat or bulkhead seat.