• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • ABOUT & CONTACT
  • Beginners Guide
  • Amazon Affiliate Link
Bougie Miles

Bougie Miles

Luxury Travel Brought to You by Miles and Points

  • MILES & POINTS
    • Airline
    • Hotel
    • Credit Cards
  • Loyalty Programs
  • Credit Cards
    • credit card benefits
    • Credit Card Rewards
  • CASINO
  • TRAVEL
    • Reviews
    • Booking Travel
  • Deals
  • CREDIT CARD OFFERS
    • BEST TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS
    • BEST HOTEL CREDIT CARDS
    • BEST CASH BACK CREDITS CARDS

How I Maximized $900 in American Airlines Amex Platinum Airline Credits

December 17, 2020 Leave a Comment

Founderscard Offers AA Status Challenge

Bougie Miles may receive commissions from certain affiliates. BougieMiles.com has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. BougieMiles.com and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

In This Post

  • AA Airline Credits Gift Card Alternatives
    • What’s the Big Deal?
    • Amex Platinum Airline Credits: AA Charges Still Being Reimbursed
      • Mileage Multiplier
      • 500 Mile Upgrades
      • Seat Upgrades
    • Final Thoughts

AA Airline Credits Gift Card Alternatives

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I made a huge mistake this year with several of my beloved American Express Cards. Disregarding almost every principle that governs my travel reward style, I put every single one of my eggs in the same basket by selecting American as my airline for each and every Amex card’s airline credit choice. In the past I spread the love for the Amex Platinum Airline Credits between Jetblue and Delta and never had any trouble maximizing my credits between seat upgrades and gift cards.

This year I hit Executive Platinum with AA and I thought I’d be able to get the most out of the elite milage bonus by using gift cards to purchase paid flights. Well, American Airlines Gift cards stopped working to trigger Amex credits this year, so now what? While I believe my reasoning was sound, I’ve seen enough things change in this biz to ruin even the best laid plans that I should have at least made one non AA election. As of June 14, Doctor of Credit has reported gift cards may be working again to trigger the credit, but there aren’t enough data points to know for sure at this point.

Amex platinum Airline Credits
Amex platinum Airline Credits

What’s the Big Deal?

Many of the fees and charges covered by the Amex fee reimbursement are often free If you have elite status. Even low level status will often yield free bags, free drinks, lounge access and premium economy (or better) upgrades. This doesn’t leave too many incidental charges for those of us lucky enough to be elites. Additionally, if you’re chasing status you want to pay cash for some of your tickets and upgrades so that they count towards qualification, so a gift card is really the perfect compromise.

READ: How to Use Amex Airline Credits Without Travel During Quarantine (2021)

Amex Platinum Airline Credits: AA Charges Still Being Reimbursed

  • Mileage Multiplier
  • 500 Mile Upgrades
  • Seat Upgrades

Screen Shot 2019-05-07 at 5.09.22 PM.png

Mileage Multiplier

When you book an AA flight you have the option to purchase additional miles at approx. 3 cents a piece. Of course, 3 cents is not a great value but you can certainly redeem those miles for way more than that, especially if they’re free. You should pay for the flight first without adding the multiplier so that the transactions are separate. For full details on mileage multiplier check out the dedicated AA page.

 

500 Mile Upgrades

500 Mile Upgrades can be purchased from American Airlines for $40 each. AAdvantage elites and their companions can use these certificates, if available, to upgrade to the next cabin of service. Each 500 Mile Upgrade covers 500 miles of air travel per leg, so a 2200 mile flight would require 5 certificates.

Seat Upgrades

Although expressly excluded by Amex from eligible fees upgrading a seat after the initial booking has worked for me when the upgrade price was under $200, I haven’t tried anything over that amount.

Final Thoughts

It’s always a good idea to diversify a bit more than I did but if you’re stuck in a tricky spot, just being creative is often the solution. If you’re unsure of whether certain expenses will qualify for a credit check out the specific airlines’ thread on Flyertalk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Benefits, Credit Cards Tagged With: airline, amex, amex platinum, Amex platinum Airline Credit, miles, travel credits

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Disclosure: Bougie Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Bougie Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Primary Sidebar

SEARCH

Bougie Miles New YouTube Channel

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Bougie Miles

Luxury travel brought to you by miles and points.

LATEST POSTS

a pool with a building in the background

Complete Guide to IHG One Rewards Program

March 25, 2025

match status

GUIDE: Casino Status Matching (UPDATED!)

February 23, 2025

a hotel with a large bed and a large window

Complete Guide to The Accor Live Limitless hotel program

February 2, 2025

a large statue in a city

MGM Marriott Partnership Guide: Bonvoyed or Not Bonvoyed?

December 30, 2024

Newsletter

Footer

YouTube Channel

Recent

  • Hyatt Regency Lisbon Review
  • Complete Guide to IHG One Rewards Program
  • GUIDE: Casino Status Matching (UPDATED!)
  • Complete Guide to The Accor Live Limitless hotel program
  • MGM Marriott Partnership Guide: Bonvoyed or Not Bonvoyed?

Newsletter

© 2025 Bougie Miles All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Bougie Miles with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.