Change Your Amex Platinum Preferred Airline Year Round!
It’s the last week of the year, which means for procrastinators it is the last few days to get all of the stuff done that should have been completed during the year. One of those things for many is maximizing the various travel credits across premium credit cards.
While I have cards from Chase, Citi, Bank of America and American Express which all have credits, most of the banks make it a bit easier. Unfortunately, American Express makes you opt-in to a certain airline by January 31 of the year, or do they?
Chatting to Select Amex Platinum Preferred Airline
This morning when double checking my Business Platinum, I noticed that I had forgotten to change my airline at the beginning of the year and thus was stuck with United. Without many good options for cashing out United I immediately felt sorry for myself, but then decided to get proactive.
To change my American Express travel credit airline, I hopped on American Express chat and told their bot what I wanted. It understood me and even asked which airline I would like to change to. (For simplicity I chose American since I know their gift cards in increments of $100 or less trigger the credit.)
While there was a brief hold, when the agent connected he already had the info from the bot and was able to change my airline without issue. It took 2 minutes, but I assume calling in would work as well.
Conclusion
If you still need to cash out your American Express airline fee credits and forgot to change your airline then there is hope. If you are sitting back having already completed your credits then good on you. I plan to do all of mine for next year in January so I’m not in this position again!
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[…] Pro Tip: How to Change Your Amex Platinum Preferred Airline for Credits AFTER the Cutoff Date! […]
[…] Speaking Of Airline Credits: Did you forget to designate your airline at the beginning of 2018, or when you got your card in 2018? Well, not all is lost. Here’s how one travel blogger was able to change his airline and use his credit before the end of the year. […]
I just changed my qualifying airline from United to American Airlines and immediately bought the $100 gift card. (And yes, in less than a couple of minutes in chat). It’s an extra $4.95 if you want the plastic card version with standard Fed-Ex shipping, or free if it’s an e-card. I’ll be relieved when I get the reimbursement. And, yes, waited till the end of the year, but I didn’t know and wasn’t sure this could be done. Great article that motivated me to take action!
For what it’s worth, I was told pretty explicitly by a very nice AmEx rep that I can change my designated airline anytime I wanted to. And, to date, that has been true. YMMV.
Question: If I’ve already received credit for say, $60 from one airline, can I do this request to change to another airline for the coming days (all in 2018)?