AMEX Business Platinum is killing the 50% rebate. I can’t begin to put to words how I feel about the matter. I’ve not even leveraged this particular benefit–it was only first announced in October. 

Image courtesy of American Express.

AMEX Platinum is killing the 50% Rebate – but what was it?

American Express enhanced the AMEX Business Platinum card benefits with a 50% rebate when you use Membership Rewards “Pay with Points” program. What does that mean?

• For economy flights – you choose an airline, and Pay with Points and you get 50% back.
• For Business and First Class – you don’t need to choose an airline, just do Pay with Points.
• Expect to receive that 50% rebate 6-8 weeks later

Why is American Express pulling it back?

Perhaps the obvious reason is, that it is such a lucrative benefit that people might be using it more than American Express intended. I can’t blame people for using it. Nick had an excellent post to highlight the true value of the benefit. For many, it seemed like a no brainer. That said, some of us–me!–didn’t happen to have a huge cache of Membership Rewards points, and so with American Express rolling back the benefit so soon after rolling it out, those of us long time cardholders are left holding a bag so to speak.

American Express’ reasoning for giving new card holders better benefits than loyal cardmembers

When I called in, the reasoning I was given, was that the 50% points rebate was actually written into the legal terms. I get that, since its probably the 4th most highlighted benefit on American Express’ sales page. But, they really could give longer term loyal cardmembers a similar bonus, instead they are hiding behind the original terms of the application. 

Poorly played American Express! 

Getting a few more points

Reading this news, I was unhappy! I was almost as unhappy as I was with the Alaska Air no-notice devaluation of Emirates awards! So, I did what any normal, rational person would do. I called American Express and threatened to cancel my card! Incidentally, the statement closes tomorrow with my annual fee. Maybe that gave me a bit of an edge. I reached out to a few friends and the results varied.

• My result: 10,000 Membership Rewards points for keeping my card open. 
• A friend’s result: 15,000 Membership Rewards points (after initially being told to pound sand) because Massachusetts requires pro-rated annual fee refunds.
• Unfortunately my wife, who’s annual fee is not yet due, received nothing, but her annual fee will be coming due soon.

Did you call to complain? Did you receive anything for it?