Today a number of changes on came into effect for the American Express Personal Premier Rewards Gold Card:
- Annual fee increased by $20 from $175 to $195, waived first year
- 2x Membership Rewards points at U.S Restaurants
- $100 Airline fee credit for incidental charges (e.g baggage fees)
- No foreign transaction fees
- “Personalized Travel Service”
The biggest change is the $100 airline credit, this benefit is now live and it’s possible to enroll, let’s have a look at it below.
The Offer
- Select a qualifying airline and then you can receive $100 per calendar year in statement credits when incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments are charged by the airline to your eligible Premier Rewards Gold Card
The Fine Print
- Must enroll in the offer and select a qualifying airline
- Qualifying airlines include:
- Alaska
- American
- Delta
- Hawaiian
- JetBlue
- Southwest
- United
Our Verdict
The best thing about this benefit is that it’s possible to get the $100 in credits per calendar year and the annual fee is waived the first year. This means that you could get 2 x $100 credits without ever having to pay an annual fee. The $100 statement credit is supposed to be for airline incident charges such as baggage fees and food/drink inflight.
In reality it’s often possible to purchase gift cards instead and receive the statement credit. Because a similar benefit applies to the American Express platinum card (although it’s for $200 per calendar year) there are lots of data points on what does/doesn’t work. I’d recommend reading the following Flyertalk threads for up to date information on what works:
It’s also worth remembering that you can currently get a sign up bonus of 50,000 points on this card.
Hat tip to mk712 on reddit.com/r/churning
