Hi: I came across with something interesting and thought my experience may be useful to somebody, as it contradicts the general knowledge.

I knew I could not pay the taxes with eCredits when issuing an award ticket, but I tried it on-line anyway. The Delta web said it cannot apply eCredits until all passengers are filled in, which did not make sense. So, I tried Delta chat (which I often find very useful).

Agent said that YES, it is possible to use eCredits to pay taxes (which are significant in case of an European award ticket, about $70) but the agent has to do it and I won’t qualify for 15 % discount for AMEX card holders. That was OK. I was booking a direct flight in business, CDG-CPH, operated by Air France. Both, my partner and I had eCredits for which we had no immediate use and so I was happy to use them. I booked two separate tickets on the same flight (booked on two different days, as our plan were not immediately clear). I was able to use my miles but pay taxes with my partner’s eCredits.

It turns out that the eCredits can SOMETIMES be used for paying taxes, but it depends on how the ecredits were issued. I noticed that originaly, eCredits stated “Valid on: DL Marketed Flights Operated by DL,9E,AF,KL,OO”. I did not pay much attention to this, but after issuing the award ticket, this note disappeared and now only says “Booking class: DL-ALL”.

Also, the agent said: “I cannot use one eCredit but I can use the other that I can see in your account”. My theory is that by booking a DL ticket and canceling for eCredits, the future use changes its rules: While there would not be a problem of usung the eCredit on DL flights, it does influence the possibility of using the same eCredits for taxes on a partner airline.

I will add that one of us had the eCredit issued as refund from a canceled flight. The other was a compensation after a disrupted flight.

It may be a good idea to make a screenshot before and after use to compare what changes by re-issuing the eCredits. I wish the leftover credit was not reissued after each use under a new number and new rules, but there is not much I can do with that. And I think sometimes it can change the rules in your favor (namely extending the expiration date for another year).

What is your experience with this?