The Amex Triple Dip

Amex offers generous credits on the Amex Business Platinum and Personal Platinum that help reduce the net effective annual fee.  The next week offers the ability to “triple dip” or get three years of credits despite paying just one annual fee.  Here’s how it works.

1.  Apply for a new Amex card this week

2. Contact Amex right after your card arrives to push the statement back as far as possible

3. Spend all of your 2022 credits before Dec 31st, 2022, spend all of your 2023 credits in 2023, and then spend all your 2024 credits as soon as possible in January 2024.

4. Close the card within 30 days of the annual fee posting in Jan 2024 for a full refund of the annual 

This translates to one annual fee and three years of credits.  

American Express Platinum

$200 in airline credits each year ($600 total)

$189 in Clear credits each year ($567 total)

American Express Business Platinum

$200 in airline credits each year ($600 total)

$189 in Clear credits each year ($567 total)

While you can close your card at the end of the triple dip in Jan 2024, remember that it’s always worth contacting Amex to see if they have any retention offers that make the card worth holding on to.  Sometimes, they’ll waive the annual fee entirely.

United Credit

United TravelBank makes a lot of sense, as you can simply buy a gift card with your Personal/Business Platinum and it’ll trigger the credit.  You can use the amount in the travel bank to book a flight at a later time.  Note that it’s best to buy TravelBank credits in increments of $50 and make sure they are credited, before buying more. 

https://www.united.com/offers/travelcash

Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind.