October 24, 2024|AMEX

by Eric Lipkind

One of the great benefits of the AMEX Business Platinum Card is the Amex Pay With Points 35% points rebate on your selected airline when paying for airfare with points, up to 1,000,000 points back per calendar year.  The way this works is that you buy your airfare through American Express Travel at 1 point per cent of airfare, and you receive 35% of those points back as a rebate.   This often costs fewer points than transferring points to an airline and booking a reward flight.  Always check both ways.  The other benefit is that you earn Airline Frequent Flier Miles on the ticket because it is recognized by the airlines as a ticket paid in cash rather than an award.

In the past, the rebate took one to two months.   However, I just saw that my rebate for two different bookings came in just two days.  This is a huge improvement (although still not quite as fast as the instant points discount when booking with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card via the Chase travel portal).

In practical terms, if you see an airfare for $1,000, you can pay with points for 100,000 points.  You will then get a rebate of 35,000 points. This can be done directly on the AMEX travel website.  

Remember, you must select your chosen domestic airline through AMEX before booking.  This will be the same airline for which you receive the $200 airline incidental rebate.  The only exception is that you receive the 35% points rebate on any airline for Business and First Class tickets, with no airline selection needed. This includes international airlines.

If you need any assistance booking, please let me know.