United TravelBank purchases stop triggering the $200 airline incidental credit

Beginning around February 5, 2026 (date approximate), United TravelBank deposits stopped triggering the up to $200 annual airline incidental fee credit on the Platinum and Business Platinum cards for cardholders who had selected United as their airline. For years these deposits, which convert to face-value United flight credit, had coded as reimbursable fees, making TravelBank the most common way to use the benefit without paying bag or seat fees. Doctor of Credit reported the change on February 16, 2026 based on cardholder reports and phone confirmations from Amex, and Frequent Miler confirmed on March 9, 2026 that no successful reimbursements had been reported in more than a month. Amex never listed TravelBank as an eligible purchase, so this is an enforcement change rather than a change to published terms; the credit remains usable for checked bags, seat selection, in-flight purchases, and similar incidental fees.

What to do: Use the airline credit on actual incidental fees (bags, seats, in-flight purchases) rather than stored-value loads.