Amex Updates Flights for 50% Rebate – But I Have To Work For It

I’m not sure what happened but I am doing an about face with Amex and their 50% rebate because now they are finally showing the flights that I need the most! Now, the 50% rebate on points from the Amex Business Platinum card is working for me like I had hoped it would originally!

Amex Updates Flights 50% Rebate

Last week, I took Amex to task a bit because the flights that were ones I really wanted to book for the 50% rebate on points were nowhere to be found. The Amex agent said they don’t offer all flights, which was a disappointment because they were available on all OTAs and on Chase’s own Ultimate Rewards portal.

Many people have loved this new 50% rebate on points used and Frequent Miler had covered how well it has worked for him. But, there are others, like Doctor of Credit, that also found it not providing as great a value as everyone might initially think, at least on the perceived value of points with Pay with Points and the rebate.

Now the Flights Are Showing Up!

Call it stubbornness or just force of habit, but when I was searching for flights again on Amex Travel last night, the flights that I had wanted all along were showing up! Not only that, but every specific flight I had originally searched for and was unable to find was now showing as available on Amex. Since I had checked these flights quite a bit before, I knew how many seats were left in various fare buckets and those numbers had not changed. I am not sure why the change and why Amex has begun to offer these flights but I am very happy about that!

But I Have To Work For It

I tried all of this before and it did not work but now this is working. If I just plug in the dates, class of service, and search, the flights I had wanted (business class on Turkish and Emirates) were not showing up. To get them to show up, I had to actually select the preferred airline and then search. That time, the flights I wanted would show up.

Make sure you select your preferred airline to have some of them show up!

I’m not sure why they don’t automatically show up and why this did not work before but at least it works now!

Takeaway

If Amex had previously not shown flights for you before that you had wanted to book, definitely check them out now because they are showing the flights for me that were not available before.

Let me know in the comments what airlines/classes are showing now that were not before!