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The Ultimate Guide to Credit Card Statement Credits [Travel, Airline, Uber, Shopping, & Dining]

Statement Bill
BY 
Stephen Au
- UPDATED:
  1. Credit Cards  / 
  2. Strategies & Guides

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The credit card rewards landscape in the U.S. is one of the most aggressive business environments in the world. Rich rewards programs have emerged as a result of big, deregulated banks vying for market share.

While every bank takes a different approach to crafting a target market and suite of credit cards and benefits, you’ll notice that banks may offer similar perks.

Credit card statement credits are among the many benefits that are offered by the biggest players in the room: American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and more.

In this guide, we’ll dissect credit card statement credits and provide you with a one-stop-shop to figure out what statement credits are offered by what cards.

This guide will be comprehensive, covering tons of different statement credit types. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started.

Table of contents

Table of Contents

What Are Credit Card Statement Credits and What Types Are There?

Credit card statement credits are a particular benefit offered by credit card issuing banks. In simplest terms, a statement credit is a partial or full refund of specific charges on your credit card account after a qualifying activity is completed.

For example, if you have a $100 travel credit from a credit card and spend it on a qualifying plane ticket, you’ll get refunded up to $100, which basically discounts the cost by $100.

Credit card statement credits can come from a variety of means, such as redeeming rewards points or completing qualifying activity. In this guide, we’ll be focusing on the statement credits you get for completing a qualifying activity.

There are numerous types of statement credits, including, but not limited to, dining, airline fees, inflight Wi-Fi, and hotel spending.

Why Should I Care About Statement Credits?

If you play by the rules of the banks and put the right purchases on the right cards, you can get money back for your purchases. In other words, using statement credits is like picking up free money from the table.

You’d probably much rather pay $100 for something than $200 for that same thing, which is exactly how statement credits can work for you.

Hot Tip: Remember that every bank has different rules on what purchases will count towards the statement credit, so it’s essential to read the terms and conditions of each credit card’s benefits carefully before pulling the trigger on your purchases.

The statement credits we’re discussing will be ordered from highest to lowest in popularity and recognition, so just bear that in mind.

General Travel Credit

Our first statement credit is the “travel credit.” We included the “general” part because these travel credits encompass a broad variety of different transactions, which makes using the statement credit extremely easy.

As you can probably imagine, the travel credit is one of the most useful perks, up there with airport lounge access and spending bonus categories.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card, simply put, was the catalyst to the evolution of credit card rewards as we know them today. They’ve long been one of the most valuable travel rewards credit cards on the market.

When this card was released in August 2016, it offered a 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points sign-up bonus, which was an inconceivable number. However, this card has deservedly won over many hearts in doing so.

The ultra-premium card offers numerous benefits, including 3x points on travel and dining (and up to $1,000 in monthly grocery store purchases from November 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021), 50% more value in travel redemptions, airport lounge access, elite hotel benefits, car rental privileges, travel protections, and much more.

Perhaps the best part of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, however, is the $300 annual travel credit. Every cardmember year, you are eligible to get $300 in total reimbursements for the following categories:

Hot Tip: The $300 Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit can also be applied towards purchases at gas stations and grocery stores until June 30, 2021.

Whether or not you make a big purchase greater than $300 or multiple small purchases totaling up to $300, you’ll get reimbursed the full amount, as long as they fall under these categories.

Because the definition is so broad, it’ll be super easy to get the full value out of the $300 travel credit.

Citi Prestige® Card

The Citi Prestige card is Citi’s counterpart to Chase. In other words, it is Citi’s ultra-premium travel rewards credit card and it’s impressive.

This credit card offers a slew of fantastic and unique benefits, including 5x points on air travel and restaurants, complimentary fourth night free, and the ability to transfer ThankYou Rewards points to several airline partners.

One of the benefits of the Citi Prestige card is the $250 travel credit. According to Citi’s terms and conditions, the credit can be used towards purchases from:

  • Airlines
  • Hotels
  • Car rental agencies
  • Travel agencies/travel aggregators/tour operators
  • Commuter transportation
  • Ferries
  • Commuter railways
  • Subways
  • Taxis/limousines/car services
  • Passenger railways
  • Cruise lines
  • Bridge and road tolls
  • Parking lots/garages
  • Bus lines

update: Through December 30, 2021, the $250 travel credit can also be applied to supermarket and restaurant purchases. 

As you can see, this list of qualifying travel purchases is extremely broad, which is why we’ve lumped this credit into the “general travel credit” category.

It’s just so easy to use the travel credit, whether you use it on Uber rides, Avis car rentals, hotel room rates, airline tickets, or even cruise bookings!

Hot Tip: We outline all of the traits of the Citi Prestige card in our full review. The $250 travel credit from the Citi Prestige card is amazing, but be sure to also make use of the complimentary fourth night free bookings you can make twice a year! It’s easy to see why this card is one of the best Mastercard credit cards out there.

U.S. Bank Altitude™ Reserve Visa Infinite® Card

Although U.S. Bank isn’t discussed much in the world of credit card points and award travel, they are definitely a force to be reckoned with for more simple rewards seekers.

The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card is their ultra-premium credit card offering. This card has a hefty $400 annual fee, but you’ll get an awesome $325 travel credit per cardmember year.

This credit is automatic, and it can be used for purchases made directly from airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxis, limousines, passenger trains, and cruise lines. Although not as flexible as the Chase Sapphire Reserve card or Citi Prestige card, this card still offers enough options for us to categorize it as a “general travel credit.”

In addition to the whopping $325 travel credit, you’ll get other perks like Gogo inflight Wi-Fi passes, Priority Pass™ Select membership, and a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee statement credit (which will be discussed later).

Airline Fee Credit

Now that we’ve discussed the broadest form of travel credits through the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, the Citi Prestige card, and the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card, let’s move onto the next category of statement credits. 

In a world where airlines continue to come up with ways to upcharge the customer in addition to the airline ticket, there’s definitely a place for airline incidental fee credits. Using the airline incidental fee credit is a bit more involved than the general travel credit.

Eligible fees for using airline fee credits from American Express include checked bags, inflight refreshments, and more. While it’s not completely clear what is considered eligible, American Express outlines ineligible purchases as follows:

  • Airline tickets
  • Upgrades
  • Mileage points purchases
  • Mileage points transfer fees
  • Gift cards
  • Duty-free purchases
  • Award tickets (taxes and fees)

As you can see, this is more restrictive than the general travel credits shown above, as you can’t use the fee credit to buy airplane tickets, for example.

To use American Express airline fee credits, you must activate and select from 1 of the following airlines:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Air Lines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue Airways
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Spirit Airlines
  • United Airlines

Simply put, these credits don’t cover the ticket cost itself, but it can help absorb costs associated with ancillaries like baggage fees and seat selection costs. We’ll talk about the cards that offer this, then, we’ll review other bank cards that offer airline incidental credits.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

The first option we’ll be discussing is the Amex Business Platinum card. This card is an iconic symbol of American Express as a provider of business credit solutions.

The Amex Business Platinum card gives you thousands of dollars in value through their benefits every single year, and we believe that holding this card is absolutely worth it.

Besides the fact that you’ll earn 5x points per dollar spent on Amex Travel purchases and get access to thousands of airport lounges worldwide (including Centurion Lounges), you also get a $200 airline fee credit every calendar year.

In addition to the $200 airline fee credit, you get a $200 Dell shopping credit and a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee credit, which we’ll discuss in the later sections.

You can also get instant hotel elite status:

Bottom Line: The Amex Business Platinum card is undoubtedly one of the most valuable cards out there. Besides the $200 airline fee credit, there are a slew of different travel perks you get just by holding the card. Don’t sleep on this card if you want to upgrade your travel! 

American Express® Gold Card

The Amex Gold card, is, quite possibly, the most useful card in the world. The earning structure is epic:

  • 4 Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide
  • 4 Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases
  • 3 Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline, as well as airfare, prepaid hotels, vacation packages, or cruises booked through American Express Travel
  • 1 Membership Rewards Point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Hot Tip: Talking about all of the benefits and perks of the Amex Gold card would take an entire article, so we’ve taken care of that for you, too. 

Besides the jaw-dropping points-earning categories for normal spending, you’ll get these statement credits:

  • $10 credit per month (up to $120 per year) at participating restaurants, including GrubHub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and participating Shake Shack locations

If you make the most of it, you’ll come out saving lots of cash. If you pair this with a welcome bonus, you’ll find that the Amex Gold card is really worth it.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Amex Platinum card is what American Express is known for.

This quintessential Amex card is loaded to the brim with perks. Similar to the Amex Business Platinum card, the Amex Platinum card offers a $200 airline fee credit, among other benefits. 

You’ll earn a whopping 5 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or on AmexTravel.com. You’ll also earn 5x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotels booked online at AmexTravel.com.

When you consider that we value each Membership Rewards point at around 2 cents per point, you’ll get an unbeatable 10% return on spend in these categories.

What’s better is that you’ll get so many other perks even if you don’t find yourself spending on this card every day. You’ll get benefits like access to the Global Lounge Collection, which is the only credit card airport lounge access program that includes proprietary lounge locations around the world (including the Centurion Lounges). You’ll also get complimentary access to the Fine Hotels & Resorts program, which provides an average total value of $550 per stay.

You’ll get a laundry list of statement credits as follows:

  • $200 airline fee credit per calendar year
  • $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit per calendar year
  • $200 Uber Cash (up to $15 per month, plus a bonus $20 in December)
  • TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee statement credit
  • $25 Variis by Equinox monthly credit (valid up to 9 times by June 30, 2021) for on-demand virtual fitness; the monthly subscription costs $39.99 before the credit
  • Up to $30 monthly PayPal statement credit through June 30, 2021

All of these factors, plus the complimentary Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, make having this card a no-brainer for most of us.

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has a lot going for it. If you look at the benefits it offers, you might feel the immediate need to sign up for this card.

You wouldn’t be alone, because it offers unprecedented points earning multipliers, complimentary top-tier Hilton Honors Diamond status (including suite upgrades!), complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, a free weekend reward night on every cardmember anniversary, and $600 in statement credits.

In fact, you might even think that it’s pretty similar to the Amex Platinum Card.

Here’s what you can expect to get in terms of statement credits from the Hilton Aspire card:

We’ll be talking about the last 2 credits in the below sections, but rest assured that they are valuable. Notice that the first credit is actually $50 better than the airline fee credit from the Amex Platinum card and Amex Business Platinum card, which is also amazing.

Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Card

Bank of America Premium Rewards Card
Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card. Image Credit: Bank of America

The Bank of America Premium Rewards card is Bank of America’s flagship rewards credit card offering. You can earn 2 points per dollar on travel and dining and 1.5 points per dollar elsewhere. 

Although not an ultra-premium credit card, this card will enable you to enjoy up to $200 in statement credits as follows:

  • $100 airline incidental fee credit
  • TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee statement credit

We’ll be talking more in-depth about the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit in the later sections. According to Bank of America, qualifying transactions are made on domestic-originated flights on certain U.S.-domestic airline carriers including:

  • Preferred seating upgrades
  • Ticket change/cancellation fees
  • Checked baggage fees
  • Inflight entertainment
  • Onboard food and beverage charges
  • Airport lounge fees

Here’s what doesn’t count:

  • Airline ticket purchases
  • Mileage point purchases
  • Mileage point transfer fees
  • Gift cards
  • Duty-free purchases
  • Award tickets and fees incurred with airline alliance partners

All in all, the fee credit functions more like the American Express airline incidental fee credit than the Chase Sapphire Reserve card or Citi Prestige card travel credit.

Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card

City National Bank Crystal Visa Infinite Credit Card
Image Credit: City National Bank

City National Bank is a private bank focused on more affluent consumers, particularly in the media space. Their ultra-premium credit card is the Crystal Infinite card.

Besides earning 3 points per $1 spent on gasoline, grocery, airline, hotel, taxi (including Uber and Lyft), limousine, rental car, train, bus, restaurant, fast food, and takeout food dining purchases, and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases, you’ll get a $350 statement credit for airline fees. Authorized users do not get additional statement credits.

The airline fee credit counts for eligible U.S.-domestic airline carriers and includes:

  • Ticket change/cancellation fees
  • Checked baggage fees
  • Inflight entertainment
  • Onboard food and beverage charges
  • Airport lounge membership fees and day passes
  • Onboard wireless charges (excluding Gogo inflight Wi-Fi)

Besides this, you can enjoy other benefits found here.

Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Card

Ritz Carlton Rewards® Card
Image Credit: Chase

The Ritz-Carlton Rewards card is a Chase credit card that is actually no longer available to new applicants. You can upgrade a Chase Marriott card to the Ritz-Carlton Rewards card as long as you’ve had the previous card for at least 12 months.

If you have the card, you’ll enjoy these benefits (among other perks):

  • 6x Marriott points per $1 at Marriott properties
  • 3x Marriott points per $1 on dining, car rentals, and airline purchases
  • 2x Marriott points per $1 on all other purchases
  • $300 annual travel credit per calendar year
  • Free Night Certificate every year after account anniversary, valid for 1 night stay at a property with a redemption level up to 50,000 points
  • Automatic Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
  • 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year

This particular travel credit functions a little different than any other credit in the sense that you must call 855-896-2222 after your purchase has been processed to apply the travel credit.

Here are the non-ticket purchases that count towards the $300 travel credit:

  • Airline lounge membership or day pass fees
  • Airline seat upgrades
  • Airline baggage fees
  • Inflight entertainment/internet (Gogo inflight Wi-Fi counts)
  • Inflight meals

To learn more about the Ritz-Carlton Rewards card, click here.

Southwest Annual Travel Credit

Chase is the exclusive issuer of co-branded Southwest credit cards. With a total of 4 cards available for sign-ups, you’ll definitely see lots of ways to earn Southwest points.

Interestingly, there is only 1 credit card that offers a travel credit. Let’s talk about that below.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
Image Credit: Chase

The credit card that offers a Southwest travel credit is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card. Also known as the Southwest Priority card, this card comes with a $75 Southwest travel credit each cardmember year.

You’ll get a generous welcome bonus by signing up for the card and meeting the spending requirements, in addition to a bonus of 7,500 points after every anniversary.

You’ll earn 5x points on Southwest purchases between December 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, up to $2,000 spent per month; earn 2x after that. Plus, earn 2x points on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases and 1x on all other purchases. The card also offers a 20% rebate on inflight purchases, and 1,500 Tier Points per $10,000 on annual purchases, up to a maximum of $100,000 per year.

Hot Tip: Learn more about the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards loyalty program and how the Companion Pass can get you some serious savings.

The $75 Southwest travel credit can be used for all Southwest Airlines purchases except:

  • Upgraded Boardings
  • Inflight purchases

Plus, you’ll get statement credits for 4 Upgraded Boardings (A1-A15) per year when available!

Reward Flight Statement Credit

One of the most interesting statement credits is a Reward Flight Statement Credit. Whenever you book award travel, you’ll always be on the hook for taxes and fees.

One significant component of taxes and fees is fuel surcharges. If you’re booking a British Airways award ticket, you’ll routinely find one-way business class fuel surcharges of $500 and one-way first class fuel surcharges of $900.

This will put a massive dent in your wallet… unless you have a card that can offset these taxes and fees in the form of a statement credit.

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

chase british airways visa signature
Image Credit: Chase

Currently, the only credit card that offers a statement credit specifically for reward flight taxes and fees is the British Airways Visa card.

Also, if you spend $30,000 in a calendar year (or $20,000 within your first year of account opening), you’ll earn a Travel Together Ticket, which will enable you to get a second award seat for a companion on the same flight in the same cabin when you book a reward flight on a British Airways mainline flight originating in and returning to the U.S. You’ll just have to pay for the taxes and fees.

Hot Tip: To get the complete picture of the British Airways Visa card, check out our full review.

If you pay for your British Airways reward flight taxes and fees with the British Airways Visa card, you’ll receive a statement credit of $100 for an economy or premium economy booking or $200 for a business or first class booking. You can receive 1 statement credit per reservation up to 3 times per year.

This means that if you book 3 business/first class award reservations, you can earn up to $600 in reward flight statement credits per year!

Bottom Line: This unique benefit is a welcome addition to the statement credit world, and it goes a long way to easing the financial burden of British Airways award travel.

Uber Cash

The crowdsourcing ride-share app Uber is one of the most convenient additions to make personal and business travel easier. If you have the right card, you can get free Uber rides and even elite status!

Amex Platinum Card

We discussed the Amex Platinum card in detail above as it relates to the airline fee credits and other perks. However, the Amex Platinum card also comes with a $200 annual Uber Cash.

The structure is the Uber Cash benefit is split into $15 increments every month, plus an additional $20 in December. Additionally, you’ll become an Uber VIP, connecting you to drivers who have at least a 4.8-star rating and “high-quality cars.”

To use it, all you have to do is add your Amex Platinum card to your Uber account. Once you add your card, you’ll see “Uber Cash” as a payment option. Choose that and simply begin taking rides.

Amex Gold Card

Similarly to the Amex Platinum card, the Amex Gold card receives $10 in Uber Cash per month , up to a $120 a year, to use for U.S. Uber Eats and Uber rides. Ensure that you add your Amex Gold to the Uber app to receive the benefit.

Saks Fifth Avenue Credit

In the spirit of unique benefits, Amex also offers a shopping credit for Saks Fifth Avenue purchases on some cards.

Amex Platinum Card

The first Amex card that offers the Saks Fifth Avenue credit is the ultra-premium Amex Platinum card. The structure of the Saks credit is such that you’ll get 2 equal statement credits up to $50 each half of the year. Specifically, you’ll get up to $50 from January to June and then another $50 from July to December.

This credit is valid only at Saks Fifth Avenue online or at U.S. and U.S. territories store locations. It’s not valid for Saks Fifth Avenue gift cards, purchases at outlet locations (both in-store and online), restaurant purchases located within the store, online bill pay for Saks credit, online purchases shipped outside the U.S., or at Saks OFF 5th locations.

You need to enroll in this benefit to use it. After that, simply use the card as normal and you’ll see a statement credit within 2-4 weeks.

Centurion Card

The Centurion card is one of the pinnacles of status symbols. This invite-only charge card requires you to spend somewhere around $350,000-$500,000 on your American Express accounts every year.

Some of the perks include complimentary Hilton Diamond and Delta Platinum Medallion status. Also, you’ll get access to a personal Centurion concierge for exclusive tours, concert tickets, impossible-to-get restaurant reservations, and more.

Starting in 2020, the Centurion card got a facelift, adding perks like Equinox Destination Access Membership, Airport Meet & Greet benefits, CLEAR membership, The Private Suite memberships, and more.

Also, as of January 1, 2020, cardholders will get $1,000 in Saks credits every year in the form of quarterly $250 statement credits. Besides this perk, Saks stores will open for Centurion cardmembers outside of normal business hours, which allows services like early-morning makeovers or late-night private shopping.

Hot Tip: Don’t miss our article on the 25+ best things you can buy with your Saks credit!

Dining Credit

With gourmet dining options all around the world and a growing need for convenience, it’s not terribly surprising that people are spending more at restaurants and food delivery. Dining credits can help offset some of the costs of eating out, so let’s take a glance at how you can get dining credits.

Amex Gold Card

Currently, the only card that offers a dining credit is the Amex Gold card. Incidentally, the Amex Gold card also offers an abundance of key benefits that foodies and travelers will love.

The Amex Gold card offers up to $120 per year ($10 per month) in statement credits at participating restaurants:

  • GrubHub
  • Seamless
  • The Cheesecake Factory
  • Ruth’s Chris Steak House
  • Participating Shake Shack locations

All you have to do is make purchases at these restaurants with your Amex Gold card and you’re all set!

Dell Credit

Office supplies and electronics can make up a bulk of your expenses, depending on the nature of your business. This is where a statement credit from Dell might come in handy. When this particular statement credit is leveraged properly, you can seriously upgrade your computer set-up, headphone game, audio accessories, and much more.

Amex Business Platinum

The only card that offers the Dell statement credit is that Amex Business Platinum card. This card was refreshed to include the full gamut of business perks.

The $200 Dell credit is split up into 2 semi-annual credits of $100. You’ll get a $100 credit valid from January to June and the remaining $100 credit valid from July to December.

You have to activate the benefit by logging into your Amex online account. This benefit is valid only on purchase made directly with Dell or at dell.com in the U.S. and U.S. territories where Dell is the merchant. It’s not valid for online purchases shipped outside of the U.S.

Once you keep that in mind, just spend your card on Dell.com or at a Dell shop and you’ll see a statement credit back 2-4 weeks later.

Hotel Statement Credits

If you’re traveling a lot, you’re going to want to make the best of hotel statement credits to avoid paying an arm and leg for your lodging costs. Let’s talk about the cards that currently offer a hotel-specific credit.

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

As we’ve mentioned above, there are so many different benefits you get from the Hilton Aspire card. We won’t go through all of them again; instead, we’ll focus on the hotel-specific credits you get.

When you hold the Hilton Aspire card, you’ll get these hotel credits:

  1. $250 Hilton Resort credit every cardmember year
  2. $100 credit at Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties

The $250 is usable at any Hilton resort, and almost everything counts towards this credit. You’ll get reimbursed even for room rates, as long as it’s not an Advance Purchase rate. Find qualifying resorts here.

The $100 credit is a bit harder to use in the sense that you must use a specific rate code ZZAAP1 and book a minimum 2-night stay using the special rate code. You can use this towards a massage, food, and other on-property purchases. Find out more here.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
Image Credit: American Express

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card is an ultra-premium hotel credit card that offers loads of perks. Besides great spending categories and a Free Night Award (up to 50,000 points) every year after your cardmember anniversary, you’ll get:

  • $300 Marriott Bonvoy statement credit
  • $100 Marriott Bonvoy property credit at Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis properties

To use the $300 Marriott Bonvoy statement credit, simply use your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card on purchases. This even includes room rates, so it’s super easy to use.

CardHotel RewardsSample Benefits/Fees
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
Apply Now
(at Amex's secure site)
  • 6 Marriott Rewards Points/$1 spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
  • Up to $300 statement credit for purchases at Marriott Bonvoy hotels
  • Gold Elite status, Priority Pass Select Membership, complimentary anniversary night, premium internet access
  • Annual fee: $450
  • Terms Apply. For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, click here.

The $100 property credit must be used on a Marriott account linked to your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. It is booked via the “$100 Property Credit, Luxury Credit Card Rate” when searching online. The good news is that this particular credit isn’t usually more expensive than the member rate. Remember that stays must be 2 nights or longer to qualify.

CLEAR® Credit

CLEAR® is a biometric system for making airport security more streamlined and painless. They charge a membership fee, which can be reduced by leveraging a CLEAR Credit.

American Express® Green Card

The Amex Green Card offers an enrollment-required CLEAR credit of up to $100 per calendar year. Simply enroll your card by going to the Benefits page of your online American Express account, and you’ll be good to go.

Centurion Card

If you hold the exclusive Centurion card, you’ll receive an annual statement credit for CLEAR membership, including up to 3 family members.

LoungeBuddy Credit

LoungeBuddy is an airport lounge service that allows you to purchase access to a global network of airport lounges, regardless of cabin class or elite status. You’ll typically be charged on a per-visit basis.

Amex Green Card

The Amex Green card has an up to $100 LoungeBuddy credit that you can use per calendar year. All you have to do is put your charges on the Amex Green card and you’ll see a statement credit anywhere from 6-8 weeks after your purchase.

Inflight Wi-Fi Credits

If you travel around the world back and forth for business, you’ll find that inflight Wi-Fi charges can add up over time. The best way to avoid these charges is to get cards that offer inflight Wi-Fi statement credits.

AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®

Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
Image Credit: Barclays

The AAdvantage Aviator Red card from Barclays is an example of a card that reimburses you for inflight Wi-Fi. Every cardmember year, you’ll get up to $25 in inflight Wi-Fi statement credits when flying on American Airlines-operated flights. 

This includes its subsidiaries such as Compass Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, and more. Simply use your card and you’ll see a statement credit around 4 weeks later.

AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®

Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®
Image Credit: Barclays

The AAdvantage Aviator Silver card from Barclays is a more premium card than the AAdvantage Aviator Red card. Instead of getting a $25 inflight Wi-Fi credit every cardmember year with the AAdvantage Aviator Red card, you’ll get a $50 credit every cardmember year. 

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

Southwest Performance Business
Image Credit: Chase

The Southwest Performance Business card is Southwest’s most premium business credit card. Issued by Chase, this card has a lot of perks.

One of the perks is that you’ll receive inflight Wi-Fi credits for Wi-Fi purchases on Southwest flights. You can use the $8 Wi-Fi credit a total of 365 times every year. You’ll see it credited back to you within 1-2 business cycles.

Inflight Food and Beverage Credits

There’s also a way to get refunded for inflight food and beverage without using a travel credit. This is through inflight food and beverage credits, which are specifically for inflight meals/drinks.

AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®

The AAdvantage Aviator Silver card also card offers an astonishing benefit of up to $25 back per day as statement credits on inflight food and beverage purchases when you use your card on American Airlines-operated flights. In theory, if you flew American Airlines every day, you could max out the credit by getting $25 of free food every day.

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck Application Fee Statement Credit

One of the most universal credits for ultra-premium and even premium credit cards is the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee statement credit. Global Entry/TSA PreCheck will reduce your waiting time at the airport, often dramatically.

To apply for Global Entry, you’ll need to pay $100 and renew every 4 years. For TSA PreCheck, the application fee is $85 and you renew every 4.5 years.

There are a number of cards that offer Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee statement credit every 4 years, which you can read about here.

Grocery Store Statement Credit

Earning points for your grocery store purchases is great, but getting a statement credit that reimburses those purchases is excellent.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card now offers a $50 statement credit for grocery store purchases made within the first year after opening your account.

Limited Time Statement Credits

PayPal Statement Credit

Add your Amex Platinum card to your PayPal Wallet, use it as the method of payment at checkout, and receive a statement credit up to $30 each month through June 30, 2021.

Wireless Statement Credit

Amex has added a monthly wireless statement credit ranging from $5 to $20 (through December 31, 2021) to the eligible cards below. To enroll, locate the benefit through Amex Offers and click Add to Card.

Dining Statement Credit

Eligible cardholders, listed below, should visit Amex Offers to enroll in a $5 to $20 monthly dining statement credit (through December 31, 2021)!

Miscellaneous Credits

We have seen a wide variety of statement credits added to cards in 2020 and 2021, including these current credits:

American Express

  • Variis by Equinox Monthly Credit — Eligible cardholders can receive $10 to $25 each month in credit applied towards their subscription (terms apply).
  • Retail Statement Credits — Amex debuted a giant list of valuable Amex Offers for Amex Platinum cardholders designed to help you save money on purchases made at specific merchants like BestBuy.com, HomeDepot.com, and more (through June 30, 2021).
  • Business Statement Credits — Cardholders of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express who spend $500 or more in a single eligible transaction can get $25 back as a statement credit (up to 10x through June 30, 2021).

Hot Tip: Learn more about the statement credits that Amex has added to select cards in 2021 in our helpful guide.

Chase

  • Peloton Membership Discount — Receive annual statement credits of up to $120 for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders or up to $60 for Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders towards the cost of the all-access membership fee or digital access

Final Thoughts

Wow! What a whirlwind of credit cards we just discussed. As you can see, the world of credit card statement credits is growing and will continue to grow. Whether it’s general travel credits you can use on airplane tickets, luggage credits, lounge day pass credits, or even hotel statement credits, there are so many different ways to reduce your day-to-day costs.

Now you have an idea of the top credit card statement credits and the major rewards credit cards that offer these statement credits. Let us know about the best refunds you’ve received with statement credits!

The information regarding the American Express® Green Card, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, Citi Prestige® card, U.S. Bank Altitude™ Reserve Visa Infinite® Card, Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Card, Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card, Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Card, and The Centurion Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. 

For rates and fees of the Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, click here.

Featured Image Credit: Antonio Guillem via Shutterstock

Frequently asked questions

What is a credit adjustment on my bank statement?

Whenever you get some sort of refund, whether you return an item or utilize a credit card benefit, you’ll see a credit adjustment on your credit card statement.

This adjustment is simply giving you back the money so you don’t have to pay for the bill.

What is a statement credit?

A statement credit is the opposite of a payment in the sense that you get money credited back to your account which reduces your credit card bill instead of adding to it.

This is a common type of reward that credit card companies use.

How do you use statement credits?

Depending on the exact type of statement credit and what bank is offering it, you might need to enroll and go through a process to use it.

Some banks make it easy and you can automatically use statement credits just by swiping your card.

How you’ll receive the credit depends on the exact terms and conditions of your benefit.

What is travel statement credit?

A travel statement credit is a statement credit that is specifically for travel purposes. Different banks have different definitions of travel. Some are extremely broad and some are quite restrictive.

In order to find out what qualifies, you’ll want to check the terms and conditions of the exact credit card you are using.

Is a statement credit taxable?

Generally, statement credits are considered refunds, and they’re therefore not taxable. This isn’t financial advice, so consult your local tax professional.

Stephen Au

About Stephen Au

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Stephen has been privileged to enjoy many premium cabin products and 5-star hotels. A petroleum engineer by trade, Stephen caught the travel bug in college when he traveled to Asia several times. After 2 years of continual promotions, Stephen quit his safe and secure career path in favor of entrepreneurship.
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2 comments

  1. DaveS January 11, 2020

    Do things like the airline fee credits and Saks credit deduct from the amount spent toward an enrollment bonus? For example, if I’ve spent $5,125, but I get $250 back, have I reached the $5,000 threshold or not?

    Reply

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