One of the American Express business Platinum benefits is to receive 50% back in points when you use Membership Rewards to pay with points (on all classes for one airline and any airline for first & business class flights). The 50% back in points used to post within 24 hours of making a redemption and now the wait is anywhere from 6-10 weeks.
People had been having some success calling in and getting the points manually adjusted ahead of schedule, but American Express reps have been instructed to no longer make these manual adjustments. I won’t go into details about why American Express have made this change, but I’d be surprised if this policy change isn’t here to stay.
This obviously makes this benefit and American Express points significantly less valuable. For example, let’s say you’re a couple booking a flight. Previously you could book one ticket, receive the rebate after a day or two and then book a second ticket. Now you need enough points in your account for both tickets and then still won’t have access to the 50% back in points for two months (give or take). I’d also recommend reading sirtheta’s evaluation of this benefit here.
Hat tip to reader Robert additional data points and discussion can be found on DDF
