Good morning everyone. My friend Stefan @ Rapid Travel Chai asked me on Twitter about the US Bank FlexPerks $25 airline allowance and the subsequent reimbursement process. Since I could not find a recent post detailing the reimbursement process, I decided to write this post. In the past, I wrote How to Book Airfare with US Bank FlexPerks, which shows the entire searching and booking process. One of the cool perks of booking airfare with US Bank FlexPoints is that you get a $25 airline allowance for each “award” booking. On the US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card landing page, it says that baggage fees, in-flight food and drinks are eligible for reimbursement, but when you look at the terms and condition, there are no specific items included or excluded from the benefit.
PSA: FlexPoints are the currency issued by the FlexPerks program. Don’t get confused!
Here are the full details regarding the $25 airline allowance and reimbursement process:
7 FlexPerks Travel Rewards Cardmembers may receive up to a $25 airline allowance with each redeemed airline award travel ticket. Cardmembers who redeem FlexPoints for award travel may be credited up to $25 on a future statement for Qualified Purchases made using their FlexPerks Travel Rewards Card with the airline carrier providing award travel flight. “Qualified Purchases” are any purchases made with your FlexPerks Travel Rewards Card that post to your account under the airline carrier providing your award travel flight between the dates of your award travel flight. Cardmembers must call Cardmember Services at 877.978.7446 to request a statement credit within 90 days of a Qualified Purchase. Once the request is approved by Cardmember Services, the Cardmember will receive a statement credit within 4 to 6 weeks for the amount of the qualified purchase, up to $25. U.S. Bank does not have the ability to control how a merchant chooses to classify their business and therefore reserves the right to determine which purchases qualify for allowance. You may redeem allowance for Qualified Purchases only if the outstanding balance of your account is below its revolve limit and if your account is open and in good standing under the terms of your Cardmember Agreement. Once you or we close your account for any reason, your allowance may be forfeited.
Let me try to summarize the entire process in 4 steps:
- Redeem US Bank FlexPoints for airfare through the FlexPerks Travel Rewards website
- Bring your US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card on your trip and purchase items from the airline
- Within 90 days from the date the charges post to your US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card, call 1-877-978-7446 and request a statement credit up to $25
- Your statement credit will post within 4 to 6 weeks of the previous call
Here is my timeline of events, starting from the beginning. I redeemed 20,000 US Bank FlexPoints for a $395 United Airlines roundtrip flight from SFO to DEN on August 10, 2015.
My SFO-DEN United Airlines flight was on September 11, 2015, and my return DEN-SFO United Airlines flight was on September 14, 2015.
During my outbound SFO-DEN flight on September 11, 2015, I purchased 3 items onboard:
- 1 cheese and cracker snack box – $7.99
- 1 can of Heineken – $8.99
- 2 packs of Haribo Gummy Bears – $7.98
The total price conveniently came out to $24.96 and all three charges posted to my US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card on September 16, 2015.
After the charges posted to my US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card, I called 1-877-978-7446 and told the rep that I would like my recent airline allowance purchases reimbursed. I called on or slightly after September 16, 2015. My September statement closed and I did not see the $24.96 statement credit, so I called 1-877-978-7446 again. The rep “suggested” that I pay the current credit card balance ($24.96) and wait for the statement credit to post. On October 8, 2015, I paid the $24.96 balance. Fast forward another month and the $24.96 statement credit finally posted on November 2, 2015. As far as I know, there is no way to expedite the reimbursement process. Just be patient and wait it out.
I am not sure what US Bank will reimbursement, but as long as the purchase posts “under the airline carrier providing your award travel”, you should be eligible for reimbursement. ;)
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
I used mine to buy an American gift card. No hassles, took about 6 weeks for the credit to post.
Thanks for the datapoint. Did you buy it online or at the airport?
I bought 2 DL GC online on the day of departure for DL’s minimum of $50 each. Note the $25 reimbursement is per ticket purchased via Flex Perks cc, so if you buy 2 tkts, you can get $50 reimbursed (2 x $25 per ticket). I sent my request by secure US Bank message on their site. It took the full 6 weeks for my cc to be credited.
Gotcha, that’s good to hear. Glad you got your reimbursement to post on time.
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Based on what you wrote, if I book a SW ticket and cancel it and book something else with SW and charge $25 on the original travel date, I get the credit right?
You can’t book SWA tickets on the FlexPerks website, you need to call. I’m not sure how the airline reimbursement would work for SWA either. Could be good to experiment with.
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Data point – booked two Southwest tickets that were $395/each with Flexperks Travel for a 1/22 travel date. Cost 40,000 pts. Waited a day, and called Southwest to cancel the flights and give me travel credit. Booked some other southwest flights in the next few days.
Waited until 1/22 and purchased southwest early bird with Flexperks card for the new southwest flights ($15/each for four one-way tickets – total of $60 charges). Waited until the charges posted on 1/23. Emailed Flexperks through website for the $25/ticket airline allowance refund on 1/24.
They replied on 1/25 that they needed the date of travel – I replied the same day with 1/22. They replied on 1/26 saying “We have submitted your request for two airline allowances. Please allow six weeks for the credits to appear on your billing statement. ”
1/27 – found the credit for $50 on my account! Thanks Grant!
Awesome, I’ve done a few times with FlexPerks. Now I just have to use up the travel credit within a year. Thanks for sharing your positive experience!
For a return flight that we book through point, will we use it for luggage fee on united which is $25 each way i.e $50 total for roundtrip or we can only use max $25 i.e one way only.
Only $25 per trip.
So here’s a question. Since I had to book the three of us one way with one reservation and then for the way home I booked another three tickets on a different reservation number Weeks Later. Does this count as two tickets per person? So I know that I could spend $25 times 3 on the outgoing and then get a statement credit if I call within 90 days. But my question is can I do the same on the way home since it’s a different ticket.
I’m not exactly sure. I think you get $25 per person per trip, so I think you would be able to get $25 x 3 people x 2 trips = $150, but please confirm with US Bank first.
Thank you Grant. Funny thing is when you call US Bank the agent doesn’t know how it works. Their answer is, probably:)
Haha. If you have a few days between your outbound and return flights, you can make a $25 purchase on your outbound flight and then call US Bank to get reimbursed. If it works smoothly, you can try to make another $25 purchase on your return flight. If you are feeling lucky, you can try to go for the full $75 on both flights.
Exactly what I was thinking. I’ll let you know how it goes.
It worked. Because I had booked the three of us with one way tickets. We didn’t have to pay for luggage on the outbound so we got $65 worth of food on the way there. Then while on vacation I called and got the allowance. Then we got home with three more one way tickets we were able to get our bags paid for. Already got the 75.00 allowance.
That’s awesome, I’m glad you got your airline allowance reimbursement so quickly :)
Thanks, this post simplified my “who do I call” to get $50 back (2 x $25) and for the record, we bought gift cards online between departure and return and they reimbursed easy-peasy.
Awesome, I am glad my post could help you get your $25 airline reimbursement.
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I used flexperks to book two tickets on Bangkok airways. They give you a free checked bag, free inflight meal. Any suggestions on what I could use the $25 credit on?
What about in flight food and alcohol? Buy WiFi onboard?
When you phone +1 877-978-7446, ask for these specific words: “AIRLINE ALLOWANCE”. The fifth USbank agent I talked to specified to use those words, the info came up easily for her, and she applied for two “airline allowances”, one towards each of my $30 checked bag fees (outgoing, and incoming), paid for on my USbank Flex Travel card. She acted confident about it and gave me a CONFIRMATION NUMBER. Here’s hoping I’ll get the $15 + $25 = $50 back in 4-6 weeks. June, 2021
Hi Marilyn, thanks for the tip when calling in. I hope you get your statement credits soon.
do you get $25 airline allowance and $25 checked luggage credit? or just one or the other
Hi Gail, I no longer have the US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card, so I am not 100% sure if this benefit still exists, but if it does, it is a $25 credit toward the airline, so you can use it to pay for checked bags, seat assignments, in-flight food, etc.