Why to Pick Your Least Flown Airline for Your Fee Credit

American Express offers an Airline Incidental fee on a number of their credit cards. This includes a $200 on the consumer American Express Platinum Card, and a $250 credit on the American Express Hilton Aspire Card. While this fee can be used for checked bags, seat selection, in-flight meals and more, it cannot be used to purchase flights themselves, upgrades, etc. Additionally, American Express has you choose one individual airline for your fee credit every year.

While many choose the primary airline they fly, I believe that is not the best option. If you are an American Airlines loyalist, then why would you pick American Airlines for your credit if you already get free bags and seat selection. Rather, you are better off selecting an Airline such as Delta, that you do not fly nearly as often (assuming you will still fly Delta in that calendar year). Another option would be to select an ultra low-cost carrier such as Spirit, and use the incidental fee credit to pay for carry ons, seat selection, or anything else that the airline will nickel and dime you for. It is also good to note that the incidental credit in this case must be in a separate transaction than the purchase of the tickets. Instead of adding on the upgrades at the time of purchase, it is better to purchase the tickets and then add the addons in a second transaction after booking.

Although my two most flown airlines are Southwest and American, this year I chose to apply my airline fee voucher to Delta. I knew that I had at least two round trip flights with Delta that would require checking a suitcase, so without status, a business class ticket or a Delta co branded credit card, I would have had to pay out of pocket for these checked bags.

The first round trip required checking a ski bag and a boot bag (only counts as one bag as long as the combined weight is below 50 lbs) round trip. For the second round-trip ticket, my family needed to check two bags each direction. Both of these round-trip itineraries were within North America, for which Delta charges $30 one way for your first checked bag. Having checked 6 bags total, I used up $180 of the $200 from the American Express Platinum Card. While I still have $20 remaining to use, I got much better value out of selecting Delta, with 6 free bags, rather than selecting my primary airline, American, where I would have nothing to spend the $200 credit on.

No matter what airline you select, the most important thing is that the credit is working for you. Remember that your mileage may vary (YMMV) and that each traveler’s situation is different. Although I recommend selecting a low-cost airline or one you fly infrequently, if you can get use out of selecting your primary, that is all that matters. Overall, make sure to use the free airline fee credits that your credit cards give you!