Amex Clamps Down On Illegal Points Sales, Via New Account Rules

To put it lightly, people are obsessed with points. Thanks to arbitrage opportunities where the purchase of points can save money on the same flights versus paying cash, there’s good reason for that too. Unfortunately, that also brings problems, notably in the form of illegal points sales which go against loyalty program rules, and all sorts of grey and black market shadow accounts to facilitate these bold moves. In an interesting turn of events, Amex is taking major steps to counter this action, which has resounding consequences…

The Black Market Of Points

There’s an opaque world within travel where mileage brokers break loyalty program rules by finding ways around them. Basically, they earn lots of miles via a variety of dubious ways, and then they sell those miles, or tickets using said miles onto others who pay a premium for the privilege. In theory, the person paying is still saving what the ticket may have cost them using cash.

We’ve never advocated for anyone to use services outside loyalty program boundaries for the simple reason that there’s always inherent risk involved, including having an account shut down without notice. No one wants to lose all their points, or miss out on a trip. Right?

The Problems This Brings

Above all else, the rules are the rules. You can’t sell your miles to other people, nor can you sell them “airline tickets” which you then book with miles to pocket the savings. All other ethics aside, it’s just simply not allowed in airline loyalty program terms and conditions, and that’s – that.

The problem here is that people get caught out, showing up at the airport only to be quizzed by airline employees who suspect that rules have been broken, and find themselves completely out of luck from time to time. In addition, these mileage brokers flood the market, which can then mean less availability for actual normal customers who want to find dates using their points.

What Amex Is Doing

Banks have progressively cracked down on turning their transferrable points into grey/black market businesses. At one point, you could convert Amex Points into airline miles regardless of the name on the loyalty program account. Then, it became only people named on the account, but an easy work around was simply to add someone as an authorized user and just never send them an actual card.

Now, American Express, per One Mile At A Time, will not allow points transfers to any authorized users who have not been on an account for at least 90 days. In other words, if you try to usurp the rules by constantly adding and deleting authorized users, so that you can sell points to them and transfer said points to them, that’s no longer going to fly. An authorized user account must be active for 90 days before any points can be transferred from Amex to another program.

Friendly Fire And Helpful Tips

It’s worth noting that there are plenty of innocent points enthusiasts who may temporarily get caught up in the fracas here, who are simply trying to move points between partners or family. If you do have plans to transfer points to a person of legitimate interest to you, be sure to add them as an authorized user ASAP, so that the 90 day waiting period will pass.

As always, these people are technically able to make charges on your account if you give them a card, so never make anyone an authorized user who you wouldn’t trust to be responsible. That, and just maybe don’t actually hand them a card.