7 Crafty Ways to Use Up Your Amex Platinum Airline Credits This Year

Among the laundry list perks that can help offset growing annual fees on your top American Express travel credit cards, few go further than annual Amex airline fee credits. But using these airline fee credits isn't as simple as it seems – at least not without some guidance.

American Express's top-of-the-line card, *amex platinum card* comes with an annual airline fee credit of up to $200, helping offset a good chunk of its sizable annual_fees annual fee (see rates & fees). But putting this credit to use isn't as easy as booking a flight: Read the rules, and you'll see they're designed mostly to cover ancillary fees like baggage and seat assignment. 

But rules were meant to be broken. Even after Amex killed off some of our favorite workarounds, there are still a handful of crafty ways to squeeze value out of these travel credits – including for booking flights on airlines like Southwest. And now that there are harsh restrictions on Delta Sky Club® access in place, you could even use these credits to stretch your Delta lounge access further or bring a friend in with you.

Here's how to use these credits wisely. 

Struggling with other credits on your travel cards? Get started with our free benefit tracker to maximize perks on 40-plus top travel cards!

How Amex Airline Credits Work

The airline credits you get from Amex travel cards are fairly straightforward … until they're not.

Both the Amex Platinum and *biz platinum* come with a credit of up to $200 each year for “incidental” airline charges. The *Hilton Aspire* previously got $250 a year in airline credits, though that ended a couple of years ago as part of a big card overhaul. 

These travel credits reset each calendar year, not based on the month you opened your account. So you can use the credits from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. Just beware that they don't carry over from year to year. You have to use them … or lose them!

These credits aren't nearly as all-encompassing as the $300 you get from the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which kicks in automatically for any travel-related purchase.

Only certain purchases on select airlines qualify. And you have to pick just one airline, though there are reports that American Express will let you change mid-way through the year by chatting with Amex. Otherwise, your selection should automatically carry over from year to year.

Just log in to your American Express account and head for the “Benefits” tab to select your preferred airline. American Express has a handy meter which tracks how much of your airline credits you've used so far.

So what airlines make the cut? All the big U.S. airline carriers are eligible.

• United Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Spirit Airlines (RIP)
• American Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• Southwest Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Alaska Airlines

And what purchases will trigger the credit? Well, a lot. But it's important to stress that buying airfare outright generally won't work – aside from a couple of workarounds, as you'll see.

Cabin upgrades, buying miles, and several other similar purchases also aren't eligible. Because most airlines have farmed out their connectivity to third-party companies, buying in-flight Wi-Fi generally won't work, either.

In short, these travel credits are meant to cover incidental fees, leaving us with just a handful of ways to use them each year. But keep reading for workarounds to fly for free with these credits.

What No Longer Works

Before we get into all the ways you can use this credit, let's take a minute to look at what no longer works. There have been some pretty significant updates to how Amex codes certain transactions already in 2026, and many of our favorite workarounds are no longer possible. 

• United Travel Bank: For years, you could load up your United Travel Bank in $100 increments – think of it like a piggy bank for United flights – and Amex would reimburse these transactions. Unfortunately, this loophole closed in early February. 
• Delta Award Taxes & Fees: Whether it was $5.60 for a domestic flight or $140 for an international roundtrip, paying SkyMiles award taxes and fees with an Amex Platinum used to be a reliable way to trigger this credit … but not anymore. This appears to be officially dead with the last successful datapoints trickling in around mid-March.
• Delta Split Payments: Using a Delta eCredit or gift card to bring down the cost of a flight below $250 used to trigger these credits –  but unfortunately, this one stopped working in mid-March, too. 

Admittedly, none of these things were supposed to work in the first place, so it's not like Amex pulled the rug out from underneath us. Nonetheless, these were among the easiest and most lucrative ways to use these credits. Seeing them go sure hurts. 

What Still Works?

The list has gotten shorter, but there are still a handful of ways you can use these credits to help you save money … including buying airfare outright. 

Here are our favorites. 

Buy Cheap Flights on Southwest & JetBlue

Until recently, Southwest was one of the few remaining airlines from which you could buy a gift card with your airline credits. But when one travel loophole closes, another one opens.

There is plenty of research that buying airfare straight from Southwest will trigger your credit … so long as the charge is under $100. That could get tricky. In most cases, it would require buying one-way flights separately rather than a round-trip fare.

The same goes for JetBlue: Recent datapoints suggest that airfare purchases under $100 (and possibly up to $150) will trigger this credit. Given the rising cost of airfare these days, finding sub-$100 fares won't be easy … but it is still possible on some routes. If you find a cheap enough flight – even if it's not one you really want – you could always book it, wait for the Amex credit to kick in, and then cancel to use the Travel Bank credit on a flight you really do want.

Just know, this will only work if you're booking a “Blue” fare or above – not basic economy. And again, be sure to pick the right airline before making your purchase.

Get Yourself Some Extra Sky Club Visits

Delta dropped the hammer on travelers waltzing into Sky Club lounges last year.

Cardholders with the *delta reserve card* are now capped at 15 visits a year (Feb. 1 – Jan. 31). It's worse with the *amex platinum*: You're limited to 10 trips.

But here's the thing: Once you've exhausted your annual lounge allotment, Delta will let cardholders pay their way into the club for $50 a pop. That's tailor-made for using the Amex Platinum's airline credits, extending your annual quota to 14. 

Just pay at the door with your Platinum Card and your credits should kick in a few days later. You can also cover the $50 guest charge this way. 

You'll just need to ensure you've selected (or changed) your preferred airline to Delta in your Amex account in order to make this work. 

Read more: Strict Delta Sky Club Limits are Coming, Use this Tip for More Visits this Year

Or Purchase Day Passes at Other Airline Lounges

From Sky Clubs to Amex Centurion Lounges to thousands of Priority Pass™ Select lounges and more, the American Express Platinum card opens more lounge doors than any other credit card. But if you're at an airport with precious few lounge options, there's another way to get into some airline lounges.

United and American Airlines both sell single-visit day passes at some lounges for $59 each if you're flying with them that day. While that may be steep, it could easily be worth it to survive a long layover.

So long as you've designated that airline on your American Express benefits, simply pay the lounge fee with your card, and these credits should kick in to cover the cost.

Pick Your Seats

Whether you're flying on a budget airline or on a basic economy fare, paying to pick your seat on the plane is the new normal.

Paying for a seat could easily be worth it. It sure beats playing middle seat roulette, and it's a great way to make flying United basic economy, American basic economy, and Delta basic economy a bit more bearable.

These big airlines typically charge between $9 and $29 or even more for a seat assignment on domestic flights. That means you can use your American Express airline credits to pick your seat on dozens of flights each year.

Just pay for your seat on your designated airline with your American Express Platinum Card, and the travel credit should kick in to cover the cost.

Note that this also works for budget airlines like Frontier, where seat selection fees are generally unavoidable.

Bring a Furry Friend

Traveling with your furry friend can be a great way to avoid pricey pet-sitting or kenneling fees – but bringing your dog (or cat) along for the ride isn’t free.

Across most U.S. airlines, you’ll typically pay a pet fee to bring a small dog or cat in the cabin, with $150 now the standard on many carriers for domestic and even shorter international flights. Meanwhile, bringing your pet on a long-haul international flight will typically cost you $200 or more. 

But that’s exactly where perks like the Amex Platinum’s airline fee credit can come in clutch – helping offset the cost of keeping your four-legged travel buddy by your side instead of back home.

Just know: The fee is charged in each direction. If you're planning a short roundtrip vacation, it probably won't make financial sense (even with the Platinum Card's $200 airline fee credit). But this can be especially useful if you have a second home or travel to see family for an extended period, where leaving your pet behind isn't much of an option. 

Buy Your Cuban Tourist Card

It's time to get creative.

There's a lot to know before you travel to Cuba … but as long as you follow the rules, you shouldn't run into any issues. And regardless of which airline or city you are flying to Havana (HAV) from, you will be required to purchase a Cuban travel visa (also known as a tourist card). Think of this as your ticket to enter Cuba, which can be purchased directly from your airline either at check-in or at the gate of your flight departing for Havana.

These tourist cards cost $50 to $100, depending on the airline. On a previous trip to Cuba, we purchased our tourist cards through Delta using our Platinum Card from American Express. Delta charges $50 for the tourist card. And since Delta was our selected airline, it was automatically reimbursed five business days later.

It isn't clear whether this will work for all other airlines flying to Havana, but we'd be shocked if it didn't.

Reduce Baggage Fees

We saved the worst for last.

This is the quintessential airline fee that these credits were designed to cover. And with airlines now charging at least $45 each way for checked bags domestically, it's not a bad way to save some money.

But there are better ways. Namely, most major U.S. airlines have a co-branded credit card that offers free checked baggage on every flight. Many don't even require you to pay for your flight with that card to get the benefit. Otherwise, you could just … not check a bag and pack just a carry-on.

So while you could use your American Express card to wipe out checked baggage fees, there are simply better options to get a bag for free.

Bottom Line

Using your $200 annual airline credit on the Amex Platinum Card isn't exactly automatic … but there are a handful of savvy ways and easy workarounds you could employ to put them to use wisely. And new strategies to use these travel credits wisely seem to pop up every year, too.

This list should show you that it's still fairly easy to maximize these travel credits.