How to use the Amex Platinum $200 airline fee credit in 2025

It's no surprise that the American Express Platinum Card® is packed with premium benefits. One of the most generous perks of the premium card is the annual statement credit for up to $200 in airline incidental fees. When fully maximized, this perk can reduce the sting of the card's $895 annual fee (see rates and fees). Enrollment is required.

The same credit is also found on The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. Additionally, the airline you select as an Amex Business Platinum Card holder for the incidental credit will be the only airline with which the 35% Pay with Points bonus perk works for Amex Travel purchases (for up to 1 million points back per calendar year).

This credit operates on a calendar year basis, which means you have from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 to use the credit. Additionally, you usually need to select your airline for the year by Jan. 31, though anecdotally, we've heard Amex has been somewhat flexible with this if you call or chat with a representative.

Amex Business Platinum Card: Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $20,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months of card membership.

Usually, it's pretty easy for a traveler to fully maximize an annual airline fee credit of up to $200 over a 12-month period.

First things first: Note that enrollment is required in advance before you can receive credit for this benefit in 2025. Here's what else you need to know.

5 suggestions on using the airline fee credit this year

Here are some ideas for using your Amex Platinum airline incidental credits throughout 2025:

• Allow an authorized user (see rates and fees) to put the fee credit to use on one of their flights.
• Pay for checked bag fees and seat assignment.
• Purchase airline lounge day passes for future use. These are often valid for one year from purchase, but be sure to check the exact terms before buying any passes. You can purchase single-use passes from Alaska Airlines for $60, from American Airlines for $79 and from United Airlines for $59. Also, know that this doesn't work 100% with all the airlines, so do some online searching for recent data points.
• Use it to splurge on food and beverages while inflight.

Enrollment is required in advance for select benefits.

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Related: How to get Delta Sky Club access, including via elite status and credit cards

Choose the right airline

If you have an Amex Platinum, you can click here to select or change your airline choice each January. (You'll need to log in to access your Amex account.) You can also access the airline selection screen by scrolling to your online account's "Benefits" section. Either way, you'll see that you can choose from the following airlines:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• JetBlue
• Southwest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• United Airlines

Amex has been pretty lenient about permitting airline selection changes well beyond the usual Jan. 31 deadline for those who call or use the online chat feature to ask. There's no guarantee that it will work for you, but it's worth trying if you want to change your airline later in the year and haven't used any of the credit yet.

Generally speaking, you might assume that the airline you most frequently fly with is the one to choose. However, picking your primary airline automatically isn't always the best choice. That's because many fees are waived if you have elite status or a cobranded credit card with that airline, so having credits to reimburse you for checked bag fees or seat selection with that airline may not be useful.

Instead, consider an airline with which you're likely to incur at least $200 in fees each year.

For example, imagine that you fly United most frequently and also hold elite status with that airline but fly American a few times each year as well. In this situation, you might be better served by choosing American for your airline fee credit.

You could use that credit for things like bag fees, extra-legroom seats or onboard food and drinks. Remember that enrollment is required in advance to use this benefit through this direct registration link. TPG credit card writer Danyal Ahmed holds elite status with American Airlines, so the Oneworld Sapphire benefits for checked bags and seat selection also apply to Alaska Airlines. This is why he chose United for the incidental credit reimbursement.

Don't forget about budget airlines, either.

Designating a low-cost carrier as your airline of choice could be a smart strategy since they charge extra fees for amenities that come automatically with some other airlines.

What is covered by the airline fee credit?

Generally, the following incidental fees will be reimbursed by using the Amex Platinum credit, as long as you make these purchases separately from the airline ticket itself (so the purchase will show up as a different transaction).

However, anything not expressly an incidental fee is not guaranteed to work and could change based on how the airline codes the transactions. For example, we've heard that United lounge passes can be coded as airfare and thus wouldn't likely trigger the credit. Here are some other examples that may or may not trigger the credit:

• Airport lounge day passes and annual memberships
• Change fees
• Checked baggage fees
• Inflight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, etc.)
• Inflight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet)
• Overweight/oversized baggage fees
• Pet flight fees
• Phone reservation fees
• Seat assignment fees

As you can imagine, it's not difficult for many frequent travelers to use the airline fee credit in a typical year.

What is not covered by the airline fee credit?

According to the terms, the Amex Platinum airline fee credit is not applicable for the following:

• Airline tickets
• Award tickets
• Charges that aren't separate from airline ticket payments (for example, you may pay to select seats when purchasing a ticket, but that may not trigger the credit)
• Duty-free purchases
• Fees charged to other card accounts (besides authorized user accounts)
• Fees not charged by the cardmember's airline of choice (for example, wireless internet and fees incurred with airline alliance partners)
• Gift cards
• Incidental air travel fees charged prior to the selection of a qualifying airline
• Mileage points purchases
• Mileage points transfer fees
• Upgrades

The airline must submit the charge under the appropriate merchant code and required service or product identifier for the charge to be recognized as an incidental air travel fee. The terms say to allow six to eight weeks after each charge for the statement credit to post to your account (though, in our experience, it is often faster). If the credit hasn't posted after that time, you can call the number on the back of the card to get the credit manually approved for valid charges.

Related: How long does it take to receive statement credits from Amex, Capital One, Chase and Citi?

It's also worth highlighting the bullet point for "fees not charged by the cardmember's airline of choice." If you book a ticket through your preferred airline but will fly on a partner airline, expect that you won't be able to use your incidental credits.

Here's an example. Say that your preferred airline is United and you book a flight through United's website, but you will actually fly on Air Canada. When you check in at the airport with Air Canada, checked bag fees would be charged by Air Canada — not United — so you wouldn't be able to use your Amex Platinum incidental credits here.

Sometimes, other small airline ticket purchases, travel bank reloads and even the taxes and fees also trigger the credit, as have some purchases of smaller amounts (around $50) of future airline travel credit.

However, those are off-label uses that could change at any time. Additionally, remember that only purchases with the airline you selected will trigger the credit.

Other Amex cards with airline fee credits

The Amex Platinum isn't the only Amex card that offers an annual airline fee credit (up to a certain amount). The following Amex cards also offer statement credits (advance enrollment is required):

• The aforementioned Business Platinum Card, which offers an annual up to $200 airline statement credit for charges by the airline you select each calendar year
• The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, which has an annual $200 airline statement credit (split into $50 quarterly credits) and is valid on eligible flight purchases made directly with an airline or through amextravel.com

The details of the airline fee credit on these cards are similar.

Related: Amex Platinum vs. Business Platinum: Which premium Amex card is right for you?

Bottom line

The up to $200 Amex airline fee statement credit is one of those use-it-or-lose-it benefits that is only worth what you make of it.

Normally, it's pretty easy to maximize this airline fee credit if you understand how it works and have a plan for the year ahead. At this point, you should have a good understanding of what does and doesn't work for the Amex Platinum Card's airline incidental credits and how you can use these credits even if you aren't traveling right away.

To learn more about Amex's cards with airline fee credits, read our full reviews of the Amex Platinum, the Amex Business Platinum and the Hilton Amex Aspire Card.

Apply here: American Express Platinum Card
Apply here: The Business Platinum Card from American Express
Apply here: Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.