Amex Hilton (Aspire and Surpass Only) CC Changes

[mountainboy]

*Looks like UA TB not working for folks from 2/6 per this reddit thread...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AmexPlatinum/comments/1q29pgt/comment/o4ufmkc

 

[Zenichiro]

Delta from ATL.... About $1k

I figured out a way. Coming back from Cabo it’s only $350 non stop and I can use miles to Cabo. Still ridiculous.

 

[raddoc]

1/1 AmEx Plat UA TB received credit for 2026...
1/1 Aspire Q1 AS GC rcvd credit..
TY!

What I saw were reports that Amex changed their policy regarding UA TravelBank on 2/6/25. Curious if we have data points in our community for recent TravelBank purchases.

Edit: NM, just saw that you posted the same thing!

 

[Zenichiro]

I personally don’t believe it but we shall see.

 

[Sapper]

*Looks like UA TB not working for folks from 2/6 per this reddit thread...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AmexPlatinum/comments/1q29pgt/comment/o4ufmkc

For those who recently purchased United TravelBank to use the $50 quarterly travel credit on the Aspire (or the airline fee credit on the Amex Platinum/Business Platinum), are you still receiving the credits?

I used my Aspire right after January 1 and received the credit, but I’m seeing reports online that Amex changed its policy in early February, and that United TravelBank purchases no longer trigger the credit.

Aspire $50 to United travel bank 7 Jan, credit posted the same date.
Platinum $200 to United travel bank 7 Jan, credit posted 10 Jan.

 

[GT75]

Delta from ATL.... About $1k

I got mine for ~$730 each a few weeks ago, but now I see that they are close to $1K. That isn't a good sign.

 

[hurnik]

Was planning on using United TB for Cabo over Christmas. I have about $800 in TB and 80k miles. Crazy how it goes from about $250 a ticket to $1k starting 12/19-12/30… that’s from about any airport.

It's not just Cabo.

I'm finding that not only are prices terrible, but the mileage redemptions went crazy (at least for First Class).
On the "big 3" I'm getting about $0.006-$0.007/point on the big 3. It used to be Delta was fairly consistent at $0.01/point, but only on Christmas Day (to Cancun). The day after, it's almost 200,000 points for a $1450 ticket. United/AA are pretty bad as well. 150,000 points (AA) for a $826 ticket!!!!!

I know last year when dad and I went to PVR from DEN the pricing was not good and the way back (for me, in ALB) was much higher than previous.

Oh well.

But the pricing is all over the place. Like one airline will have $826, one $3,500 and on $1450. Wow.

 

[Zenichiro]

It's not just Cabo.

I'm finding that not only are prices terrible, but the mileage redemptions went crazy (at least for First Class).
On the "big 3" I'm getting about $0.006-$0.007/point on the big 3. It used to be Delta was fairly consistent at $0.01/point, but only on Christmas Day (to Cancun). The day after, it's almost 200,000 points for a $1450 ticket. United/AA are pretty bad as well. 150,000 points (AA) for a $826 ticket!!!!!

I know last year when dad and I went to PVR from DEN the pricing was not good and the way back (for me, in ALB) was much higher than previous.

Oh well.

But the pricing is all over the place. Like one airline will have $826, one $3,500 and on $1450. Wow.

Agree. What’s wild is United is cheaper flying from Cabo to my local airport, $305, versus Chicago at $415. And I’d still have to stop in Chicago. But if you try to fly United to Cabo anytime around Christmas from basically anywhere in the US, it’s $800 plus.

Luckily I can fly AA for 10k points to Cabo, then come back using United TravelBank and UA miles.

It’s honestly almost lawsuit worthy. It would be so easy to show that all the return flights are under $400, but departures during the exact same time are $1000.

It’s a pretty good example of how being flexible really wins. I sometimes feel like I’ve got stranded points and miles all over the place, but they definitely come in clutch.

 

[brp]

It’s honestly almost lawsuit worthy. It would be so easy to show that all the return flights are under $400, but departures during the exact same time are $1000.

You're possibly thinking something like collusion here for the lawsuit. But demand-based dynamic pricing happens all the time and it would likely be hard to prove collusion when the trends are so obvious. Wanna go somewhere popular during ultrahigh season? It's gonna cost. No real surprises here. Just pick different times to go and things are more reasonable.

Cheers.

 

[Zenichiro]

You're possibly thinking something like collusion here for the lawsuit. But demand-based dynamic pricing happens all the time and it would likely be hard to prove collusion when the trends are so obvious. Wanna go somewhere popular during ultrahigh season? It's gonna cost. No real surprises here. Just pick different times to go and things are more reasonable.

Cheers.

Yeah, I get that it’s dynamic pricing and proving collusion would be nearly impossible. It just feels wild when the exact same plane is $1,000 one direction and $350 the other. Hard not to question it when the spread is that extreme.

It just starts to feel less like pricing efficiency and more like “we know you have no alternative.”

 

[mountainboy]

Yeah, I get that it’s dynamic pricing and proving collusion would be nearly impossible. It just feels wild when the exact same plane is $1,000 one direction and $350 the other. Hard not to question it when the spread is that extreme.

It just starts to feel less like pricing efficiency and more like “we know you have no alternative.”

Very common for us in PHX...

Flights into PHX for summer are usually pretty cheap; (+ all hotels are cheap here); flights out of PHX are crazy expensive during summer usually however.

Opposite for winter...

TS/Hotels in Chicago/PNW super cheap Jan/Feb (even LAS) but much more expensive during spring break soon..

Supply & demand...

 

[Zenichiro]

Very common for us in PHX...

Flights into PHX for summer are usually pretty cheap; (+ all hotels are cheap here); flights out of PHX are crazy expensive during summer usually however.

Opposite for winter...

TS/Hotels in Chicago/PNW super cheap Jan/Feb (even LAS) but much more expensive during spring break soon..

Supply & demand...

I actually caught the flight through PHX. Will just stay over night so no biggie. 10k AA to have a layover or 45k direct from ORD. We will just stay the night!

 

[brp]

Yeah, I get that it’s dynamic pricing and proving collusion would be nearly impossible. It just feels wild when the exact same plane is $1,000 one direction and $350 the other. Hard not to question it when the spread is that extreme.

It just starts to feel less like pricing efficiency and more like “we know you have no alternative.”

"They always want to come, but they never want to leave."
- - Elle King

Cheers.

 

[mountainboy]

10k AA to have a layover or 45k direct from ORD.

Some nice AA sweet spots... Hope they last a while with Citi now converting freely 1:1 to AA...
Hope BoA starts converting to AS (wishful thinking).... Those (BoA) are the most useless points with no xfr partners (but fair for non-category spend for cashback)... Hopefully no major deval with their (BoA loyalty program) revamp coming soon...
Ok, before the thread police arrives, I will take the 5th...

 

[Zenichiro]

Some nice AA sweet spots... Hope they last a while with Citi now converting freely 1:1 to AA...
Hope BoA starts converting to AS (wishful thinking).... Those (BoA) are the most useless points with no xfr partners (but fair for non-category spend for cashback)... Hopefully no major deval with their (BoA loyalty program) revamp coming soon...
Ok, before the thread police arrives, I will take the 5th...

Agree. We have Alaska card but I may close this year and get the CITI strata premier. Seems like a no brainer.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

*Looks like UA TB not working for folks from 2/6 per this reddit thread...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AmexPlatinum/comments/1q29pgt/comment/o4ufmkc

I used all my available credits in Jan, and already used most of my Travel Bank funds. I guess I will need to monitor the blogs and see if this is really broken or just taking a while to post before the next round. I have other ways to use up the credits if needed, though TB was easy.

 

[Zenichiro]

I used all my available credits in Jan, and already used most of my Travel Bank funds. I guess I will need to monitor the blogs and see if this is really broken or just taking a while to post before the next round. I have other ways to use up the credits if needed, though TB was easy.

Yeah I haven’t seen this mentioned on any other guru platforms yet. I would think DDG or points guy would have mentioned something by now.

 

[brp]

I used all my available credits in Jan, and already used most of my Travel Bank funds. I guess I will need to monitor the blogs and see if this is really broken or just taking a while to post before the next round. I have other ways to use up the credits if needed, though TB was easy.

I get my various airline credits (Aspire & Platinum) around the first day of the relevant year/quarter (as one naturally should) so I'll have another year to see if UA TB works for Platinum. AS GCs definitely work for Aspire since this is eligible for regular airfare spend, unlike Platinum.

I'm sure more reports will surface from the reliable places like travel guru blogs and/or Flyertalk. Reddit is usually pretty solid, though, IME.

Cheers.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

If MF payments (which it seems like for me) and UA TB are dead, I'll likely drop one of two Aspire cards I have.

 

[Zenichiro]

If MF payments (which it seems like for me) and UA TB are dead, I'll likely drop one of two Aspire cards I have.

I agree, definitely looking at airline or transferrable currency if it becomes true. I love the Free nights but getting to the destination(s) is an even bigger savings, especially international.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

I agree, definitely looking at airline or transferrable currency if it becomes true. I love the Free nights but getting to the destination(s) is an even bigger savings, especially international.

We've been consistently able to get over $375 value out of the FNC's, but that way we have been using them may be no longer on our travel plans, so it may be an easy decision. I'll have to take a look at the other cards and see what benefits and Annual Fees are there for generating HH points on MF payments. If I remember correctly, we would still retain Diamond without Aspire (by owning HGVC), not that that is such a big deal for us as we generally only have a few hotel stays each year. It's not like I would be losing a bunch of upgrades or lounge access with the properties we generally stay at.

 

[brp]

If MF payments (which it seems like for me) and UA TB are dead, I'll likely drop one of two Aspire cards I have.

For Aspire, though, since airline ticket purchases count, it still seems easy to use the airline credits even if TB is dead. Bigger issue for Platinum, but not sure why this would be a deal breaker for Aspire. MFs. I get.

Cheers.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

For Aspire, though, since airline ticket purchases count, it still seems easy to use the airline credits even if TB is dead. Bigger issue for Platinum, but not sure why this would be a deal breaker for Aspire. MFs. I get.

Cheers.

When we fly United I'm generally using a Chase card to avoid baggage fees and the same with JetBlue and a Barclays card that we have. It's been really easy to buy TB funds and use them to offset part of an airfare and then throw the balance on the Chase card. We also both have Clear through the card too, but it really hasn't saved us a ton of time as we also have TSA Pre.

 

[brp]

When we fly United I'm generally using a Chase card to avoid baggage fees and the same with JetBlue and a Barclays card that we have. It's been really easy to buy TB funds and use them to offset part of an airfare and then throw the balance on the Chase card. We also both have Clear through the card too, but it really hasn't saved us a ton of time as we also have TSA Pre.

But you can still buy gift cards and deposit them with the airline, then use the Chase card for paying the balance. I know that this works with AS, and I assume that UA has GCs as well as TB?

We've seen enough times when the TSA Pre line was long enough that Clear helped. But that wouldn't be enough reason on its own.

Cheers.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

But you can still buy gift cards and deposit them with the airline, then use the Chase card for paying the balance. I know that this works with AS, and I assume that UA has GCs as well as TB?

We've seen enough times when the TSA Pre line was long enough that Clear helped. But that wouldn't be enough reason on its own.

Cheers.

I don’t think United sells GCs direct.