In this post, I will cover the American Express Platinum $200 airline travel reimbursement credit, the recent $25 statement credit for Staples.com purchases of $100 or more, an American Express Travel AMEX Offer, and my recent Chase Ritz-Carlton airline reimbursement credits. First off, I received 2 $100 statement credits on my American Express Platinum Credit Card for purchasing 2 $100 Southwest Airlines eGift Cards. The process is super easy, both statement credits posted automatically 3 days after the charges posted. This helpful FlyerTalk thread has all the details for every airline that the American Express Platinum Credit Card works with.
A few people have been asking for an update regarding Friday’s Staples.com AMEX Offer (post). I have the offer on all 6 of my American Express credit cards, but I wanted to test out the offer on only 2 credit cards for now. For my first order, I bought a $200 Visa Gift Card on Staples.com, but the charge has not posted to my American Express account yet, so I will report back later. As for my second order, I bought a $100 Southwest Airlines eGift Card on Staples.com and the charge and statement credit just posted. I am 90% sure that my Visa Gift Card purchase will earn a statement credit as well, I just have to wait a few days to find out for sure.
I saw this offer in my American Express account as well. 30% off hotel reservations made through the American Express travel portal.
Last but not least, I have some info on Chase Ritz-Carlton reimbursable travel expenses. On my recent United flight, I bought a snack box for $7.99. After the charge posted to my Chase Ritz-Carlton account, I called the Chase Ritz-Carlton number (1-855-896-2222) and asked for the charge to be reimbursed. I also paid for a United seat upgrade (Economy Plus), but I had a few schedule changes, so United refunded that charge. When I spoke with Chase yesterday, the rep was in the process of reimbursing both charges, so it will be interesting to see if the reimbursement shows up even after the charge was refunded.
If you have any questions regarding statement credits, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
So even though the Amex guidelines say the cashback is only for incidentals, you received the $200 back for gift cards?
Where do you purchase the gift cards so that they are reimburseable? Directly from the airline website?
Depending on the airline, some can be purchased directly on the airline website. I would check the FlyerTalk thread to see where to purchase each airline gift card.
Yes, I believe American Express is more lenient for airline reimbursement charges.
So AMEX just added this to their Premier Rewards Gold Card. Did you just buy a $100 gift card and then claimed it to be reimbursed?
I canceled my Amex PRG card a few weeks ago, but I believe the airline reimbursement steps and process is the same as the Amex Platinum card.
Cool thanks for input
You’re welcome. Glad to help.
Does this happen automatically?
You have to manually select your airline program, but the reimbursement is automatic.
I just received the targeted 100K Amex Platinum offer in the mail yesterday. Do you think the gift card tactic will work on United or American Airlines also? I read somewhere that airline GC might not get reimbursed by Amex from the $200 per year allowance.
I don’t know about any other airline than Southwest Airlines, so I would check out the FlyerTalk thread to see what other people’s experiences were.
I got that AMEX Travel offer, too. I’ve never booked anything through them. How are the prices: are they Expedia or Orbitz-like? And how broad is the “select hotels” designation? thanks.
I have never booked through the American Express travel service, so I cannot say what the prices and hotel selection are like. I think they only have higher end hotel properties available.
I recently used the Amex travel website for ticket on CX and the price was the same as direct from the airline, except for a service fee of about $12. However the 2X MR on the purchase more than made up for the service fee. I see it as a super cheap way to get serious MR points. This was not a deep discount “web only” type fare, so your experience may vary.
Thank you for sharing your experience using the AMEX Travel Website. I am glad you had a positive experience using the service. Enjoy your CX flight!
2 – $100 Alaska e-Gift card worked for me!
Excellent, glad you got your full $200 reimbursement :)