Advertiser Disclosure: We love living points life by using points and miles to elevate travel experiences. In the interest of being transparent with you, we may be compensated from an approved credit card's application, or from some of the products and services recommended on this site. This only happens when you click on our affiliate links. We also earn commissions from purchases made through Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Thank you for your support and especially for reading this blog! Please see our Advertiser Disclosure for more details!
American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points deliver exceptional value, especially when transferred to Amex partner frequent flyer programs for Business and First Class seats. Additionally, I find that redeeming MR points for travel through Amex Travel, known as Pay With Points, can provide a significant advantage. It is particularly beneficial if you hold an eligible Amex card that offers a points rebate, such as the American Express Business Platinum Card.
As an Amex Business Platinum cardholder, you can receive 35% Amex MR points back after you use points to pay for all or part of a flight booked through the Amex Travel site.
Amex Business Platinum’s 35% Points Rebate Ending for Any Airline Business and First Class Flights.
Currently, you can earn 35% of your Amex points back when you use Points to pay for a Business or First Class ticket booked with any airline. However, starting October 1, 2025, this benefit will be limited to Business and First Class flights on your chosen airline only.
How Does the Amex Business Platinum’s 35% Points Rebate Work?
You receive 35% American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points back up to 1,000,000 bonus points per calendar year when you use the Pay With Points feature to cover all or part of a flight booked directly with the Amex Travel site.
The 35% airline bonus rebate benefit on the American Express Business Platinum Card applies to the following two eligible airfares:
- You can receive 35% points back when you Pay With Points for any class of service booked on the qualifying airline you select each year that matches the airline you choose for the $200 Amex Airline Fee Statement Credit.
- For example, you chose United Airlines as your preferred airline for the $200 airline fee credit. When you purchase a United flight ticket through Amex Travel and use the Pay With Points feature, you will receive 35% points back of the total points you used back.
- If you select Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or Frontier Airlines to receive your 35% Airline Bonus, you must call Business Platinum Travel Service at 1-800-553-9497.
- You can receive 35% points back when you Pay With Points for a Business or First Class ticket booked with any airline. Unfortunately, starting October 1, 2025, this benefit is limited to Business/First Class flights on your selected airline only.
- See the full terms and conditions here.
How to Select A Qualifying Airline for the Amex Platinum Card Airline Fee Credit?
If you are new to this benefit, I recommend that you take time to make sure the qualifying airline you select is one you can use the Amex Airline Fee Statement Credit on each year.
To select a qualifying airline for the Amex Airline Fee Credit online, visit this link. Alternatively, you can contact Amex to have an agent select it for you.
When Should You Use Amex Travel Pay With Points?
The Pay With Points feature through Amex Travel is a simple process based entirely on the cash price of an airfare. The value of points you will get is 1 cent apiece when redeemed this way, and with the 35% points rebate, you will get 1.55 cents apiece. It is one of the main reasons why transferring Amex points to frequent flyer programs to book the same flight can offer vastly better values than this type of redemption, because you can get at least 2-3 cents of Amex MR points value, even after you factor in the 35% points rebate.
For example, you want to fly from LAX to Paris. A round-trip direct flight on the Delta One business class seat can cost at least $3,500 per person. You have a couple of options here:
- If you pay for the ticket with Amex points (Pay With Points), you are looking to use 350,000 points or 227,500 points with the 35% points rebate.
- Suppose you transfer Amex points to Virgin Atlantic frequently flyer points. In that case, you will only need 100,000 Amex points to convert to 100,000 Virgin Atlantic points to book the same round-trip ticket, subject to award availability, and that is a saving of 127,500 MR points.
Therefore, when you want to use Amex Pay With Points, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is it better to transfer Amex MR points to the frequent flyer program to book instead?
- If yes, are the award seats available for booking for the dates you want?
- If yes, is the frequent flyer program easy to deal with? Sometimes, it may not be worth it to bother with specific frequent flyer programs and end up costing your time.
- Is the cash price of the ticket low enough? The lower the airfare, the fewer Amex points you will need to spend.
Finally, keep in mind that when you Pay With Points for a flight ticket, you will also earn miles. Those miles are also qualifying miles towards the airline’s elite status, if that matters to you.
How to Use the Amex Business Platinum Card’s 35% Airline Bonus Points Rebate?
The process to book a flight using the Pay With Points feature with American Express to take advantage of the 35% points rebate benefit is very simple.
If you haven’t already, consider using Google Flights to find the cheapest flight before using the American Express travel portal. Remember, Amex Pay With Points is based on the cash price, so lower airfare means fewer points spent. Also, Amex Travel often offers cheaper “Insider Fares” for certain airlines that have special agreements with Amex, for example, Alaska Airlines, compared to booking directly. See the screenshot below:
- Go to the official Amex Travel site.
- First, log in to your Amex account through the blue Log In button at the top.
- Click on the Flights tab, and provide your search parameters.
- On the result page, you can filter through the flight criteria that you want. You will also be able to see the total Amex MR points needed to purchase the ticket. But keep in mind that those points do not include the 35% points rebate.
- Select the flight you want and follow the booking prompts to review the itinerary and provide the traveler’s information.
- You will be given Payment Options to choose from on the final page. If you want to use all points to cover the entire cost, select Use Only Points. You can also utilize the option of Use Points + Card if you’re going to use some Amex points towards the purchase.
- Please note that you are still required to provide your American Express Business Platinum Card information even if you use Pay With Points.
- Once your flight is successfully booked:
- You will see the pending charge appear on your Card’s account. Don’t worry; once the payment is posted, Amex will issue you a credit for the amount redeemed.
- Your Membership Rewards points are deducted immediately from your Amex account, and it can take up to 6-10 weeks before you see the 35% points rebate posted to your account. In some instances, it can be much faster than that.
Amex Business Platinum Card’s 35% Pay With Points Rebate FAQs
Below are some FAQs pertaining to Amex Business Platinum’s 35% airline bonus points rebate:
How long does the 35% points rebate take to post?
As mentioned above, you are still required to provide your American Express Business Platinum Card information to pay for your flight ticket even when you use the Pay With Points feature. The purchase will be posted to your Amex account, but you will receive a statement credit for the amount you use Membership Rewards points to cover.
Your American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points are deducted immediately from your account. Per Amex, it can take up to 6-10 weeks before you receive the 35% points back into your account. In my case, it took four (4) weeks for me to get the 35% points back, and sometimes it was even faster.
Below is my example timeline:
- November 1 – Redeemed Points for Amex Travel. Purchase posted and credited to Amex account.
- December 1 – Received the 35% points back.
If I have multiple Amex Membership Rewards earning cards, how do I ensure the transaction qualifies for the Business Platinum Card’s 35% points rebate?
When you purchase the airfare using the Pay With Points feature, the system never asks you which American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points you would like to use for redemption. Therefore, make sure you give the right American Express Business Platinum Card information before booking the flight. You will receive a congratulations email for your flight redemption that qualifies for the 35% airline bonus. Keep an eye out for that email the day after your redemption.
Does paying with Amex points for someone else’s transaction also qualify for the Business Platinum’s 35% points rebate?
Yes. As far as American Express is concerned, you only need to book through Amex Travel and log into your Amex account to use the Pay With Points feature.
You can purchase a flight ticket using your Amex points for just about anyone and still receive the 35% points rebate that is part of your American Express Business Platinum Card benefits.
Do I earn frequent flyer miles when booking with Amex Travel?
Yes, you will earn qualifying miles, subject to the airline’s fare class of the ticket.
Who do I contact if I need to change or cancel the flight ticket booked through Amex Travel?
To use the Amex Pay With Points feature and take advantage of the 35% points rebate benefit, you must book directly with Amex Travel. The Amex travel site acts as an online travel agency (OTA) to sell you a flight ticket for a particular airline. Therefore, when you need to make changes or cancel a flight ticket before departure that cannot be done online, you will need to work with the Amex Travel Customer Service, not the airline.
Moreover, Amex Travel Customer Service will process any refund based on the rules that are in place by the airline.
- How to Maximize Amex Business Platinum’s 35% Points Rebate (2025) - July 31, 2025
- New Swiss Senses Business and First Class Routes (2025) - July 30, 2025
- Earn Up to 100,000 Bonus ThankYou Points with the New Citi Strata Elite Card - July 29, 2025