Last edit by: MaxVO
This thread is a continuation of: Airline fee $200/$100 reimbursement reports: DL only [2011 - 2015]
Credit posting delays range from several business days (typical) to several weeks (seen in Oct 2015). The T&Cs state that it could take up to four weeks, so wait at least that long before worrying, and certainly don't contact Amex prematurely
Caution: effective from 22 June 2019, gift card purchases from Delta do not get reimbursed.
Read this primer first
additional collections/split tender
THIS IS A LOOPHOLE. BE DISCREET
Anything coded as an additional collection (aka add/collect or a/c), including difference in fare when changing flights, and accepting an FCM offer, also triggers the credit and will be reimbursed; this may (insufficient data) only happen if the additional amount collected is below ~$250 (regardless of card type, e.g. there have been reports of full $100 credit for Gold card on a/c over $100 and full $200 credit for Plat on a/c over $200 but less than $250)
other non Gift Card options
(DEAD) eGift Card (eCert) details
This Section is not applicable effective 2019/06/22!
Credit posting delays range from several business days (typical) to several weeks (seen in Oct 2015). The T&Cs state that it could take up to four weeks, so wait at least that long before worrying, and certainly don't contact Amex prematurely
Caution: effective from 22 June 2019, gift card purchases from Delta do not get reimbursed.
Read this primer first
- In the Amex Membership Rewards family, both the Consumer and Business versions of the Platinum and Centurion cards qualify for a $200 airline credit. The Premier Rewards Gold (PRG) card is eligible for a $100 airline credit.
- You must
click here to<--(link dead) select Delta as your enrolled airline before you make a reimbursable purchase, else the benefit won't apply. The feature is activated immediately upon airline designation. Try logging in to your AMEX account and selecting the airline. This link may work - If you've selected DL in the past and don't wish to change airlines, there's no need to select again; current selection rolls into future years until modified.
- The T&Cs state the eligible charges, but YMMV, so don't call and ask especially about the fuzzier cases below because that will probably hasten closing of any loopholes.
- The credit is per account, not per card. If the main account has authorized users with additional cards, eligible charges may still be made on those cards, but they'll count jointly towards the same account limit.
- Credits are capped per calendar year, meaning you could tap the full amount on Dec 31st and again on Jan 1st in the extreme. Transaction date, not posting date, determines the year. Note: This is not my experience. I purchased Dec 31, 2016, posted Jan 1, 2017 and went against my 2017 credit. (TheMadBrewer)
- You will get a partial credit to bring your total annual reimbursements to the limit exactly if a qualifying charge takes you past the limit.
- After four weeks, if you've read this Wiki carefully and posted here seeking assistance but the credit still has not arrived, consider chatting with Amex online. Politely mention the "Delta extras" you thought would be reimbursed within four weeks and they'll handle it.
additional collections/split tender
THIS IS A LOOPHOLE. BE DISCREET
Anything coded as an additional collection (aka add/collect or a/c), including difference in fare when changing flights, and accepting an FCM offer, also triggers the credit and will be reimbursed; this may (insufficient data) only happen if the additional amount collected is below ~$250 (regardless of card type, e.g. there have been reports of full $100 credit for Gold card on a/c over $100 and full $200 credit for Plat on a/c over $200 but less than $250)
- Relevantly, split tender where you partially pay with a gift card, existing credit, VDB voucher etc. and partly charged to your card, are processed by DL as an add/collect and trigger the credit per above.
- Thus if you anticipate actually buying, say, a $200 DL ticket, you could buy a single $50 gift card, then buy the ticket using $50 GC and $150 on your card (the $150 will be reimbursed)
- Canceling a ticket within the 24-hour risk-free period generally results in funds being returned to where they came from (GC back to GC and CC back to CC). If you have no immediate travel plans but anticipate travel in the next year, consider buying a fully refundable ticket and then changing it later once you know your future travel dates. IF a lot of people suddenly start refunding tickets after getting the credit reimbursement this may hasten the demise of this particular loophole.
- Caution when buying multiple tickets: for example if you buy two $125 tickets in one transaction (total $250) and use one $100 GC or even two $50 GCs, they will all be applied to the same ticket and you would see one additional collection for $25 on that ticket and a separate "normal" charge for $125 for the second ticket. In this scenario only $25 will be reimbursed (instead of the $150 you might be expecting)
other non Gift Card options
- baggage and other service fees (same day change/standby, change fees, etc.)
- taxes on award flights
- in-flight purchases (EXCEPT wifi)
- SkyClub access/guest fees (but NOT gift cards purchased at a SC, which are actually activated at a 3rd party web site)
- mileage boosts (post 2499)
- The $59 for Delta Skymiles Select is reimbursed (posts 2180, 2182)
- seat assignment fees (may need to call in to have processed manually)
(DEAD) eGift Card (eCert) details
This Section is not applicable effective 2019/06/22!
- Delta eGift Cards (eCerts) have been reimbursed in practice, even though technically they do not meet the criteria listed by Amex for reimbursement. The name on the eCerts doesn't matter and need not match your card, but you must purchase using an eligible Amex card and meet the other criteria detailed in this Wiki.
- Denominations over $50 will not generate the credit. Multiple $50 eCerts will. The smallest denomination available is $50.
- To order, use this direct link to the eGift cert order page, or navigate via Delta.com>Shop>eGift Certificate.
- No need to place separate orders using multiple carts/checkouts. By adding multiple certs to one order (e.g., 4 x $50), even though they are in the same cart, the certs will post as separate transactions and still generate a credit for each.
- eCert purchases may initially authorize (show pending) as ticket purchases before posting to (finalize on) your statement. Multiple-eCert orders may authorize the combined value as a single pending ticket purchase. Don't worry; they'll post later as separate eCert charges in the qualifying amounts.
- eCerts are generated instantly, but the codes are not valid for use until 72 hours after purchase, so don't order expecting to use them in a pinch.
- A maximum of three eCerts may be redeemed per online transaction. Splitting a round-trip into two one-ways will allow you to use additional eCerts, but in some cases two one-ways may cost more than a single roundtrip so compare carefully to decide whether using more than 3 certs on a single trip is worthwhile.
- If purchasing a ticket for more than 1 person, splitting the purchase into a separate transaction for each person would also allow the use of more than 3 certs on a single trip at (usually) no additional cost. However this could have an adverse effect on ability to upgrade, upgrade priority, and other elite benefits, and on the likelihood of being reaccommodated on the same flight in the event of a flight cancellation.
- There is one recent REPORT of a telephone agent allowing more than three eCerts to be used when purchasing one ticket.
- eCerts do not expire. Their T&Cs are listed here.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: DL only (2015-2019)
#1696
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,914
Correct, that was the implicit point. Some comments seem to go in the direction that we should desperately try to find a useless expense just to trigger a credit. For many including myself, it would actually be most cost effective to cancel the high-AF cards at renewal time.
#1697
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 4
Hey sorry guys,
It turned out to work false alarm. Its because i checked on the mobile app before and it said Airline - Travel but on the desktop website it did indeed say Additional Collection
#1698
Used to be 'flymanbeast'
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Delta silver/marriot platinum
Posts: 2,795
Anyone know if award cancel fee would be covered?
#1699
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,914
#1700
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 1
Do you think you can buy Delta miles with the travel credit? I know it isn't a great value but if there is any award money left over at the end of the year you could get miles and Amex points that way if they let you.
#1701
Used to be 'flymanbeast'
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Delta silver/marriot platinum
Posts: 2,795
With united it covered the change fee for regular tickets but not awards
#1702
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Plat Pro, Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, JetBlue Mosaic 3, Amtrak Select
Posts: 966
I did a FCM upgrade for under 100 early July. Credit hasn't posted.
When I go to details, under document it says "upgrade charge" (which is against the T&Cs)
On my last FCM on in June, it didn't mention document or upgrade charge... and that credit posted within 2 days.
Feels like a software upgrade just happened
When I go to details, under document it says "upgrade charge" (which is against the T&Cs)
On my last FCM on in June, it didn't mention document or upgrade charge... and that credit posted within 2 days.
Feels like a software upgrade just happened
#1704
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: CO, UA, AA, WN, DL Gold
Posts: 2,981
Miles purchase
No, it has been established you will not get the reimbursement for miles purchase.
#1705
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 3
Card: Personal Platinum
DL Selected
Purchased 4 x $50 e-giftcards via desktop
Posted 6/22
Shows as passenger ticket
No reimbursement as of this time
P2's Gold airline credit worked like a charm last month. I've compared the two charges on each of our accounts and it looks like they coded identically so I'm still hopeful. I also haven't been credited for my Saks online purchase that posted on 6/24...maybe they will all just post at the same time..
DL Selected
Purchased 4 x $50 e-giftcards via desktop
Posted 6/22
Shows as passenger ticket
No reimbursement as of this time
P2's Gold airline credit worked like a charm last month. I've compared the two charges on each of our accounts and it looks like they coded identically so I'm still hopeful. I also haven't been credited for my Saks online purchase that posted on 6/24...maybe they will all just post at the same time..
Purchased 7/10
Posted 7/12
Meter moved 7/13
$200 credit hit my account 7/14
Hope this DP isn't beating a dead horse, but I had not seen a DP of a charge this high working to trigger the reimbursement.
#1707
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: LAS ORD
Programs: AA Pro (mostly B6) OZ♦ (flying BR/UA), BA Silver Hyatt LT, Wynn Black, Cosmo Plat, Mlife Noir
Posts: 5,992
re: UA - just want to note that AMEX has never automatically applied the credit for award redeposit fees on UA, but the phone agent always manually credits it when I call in.
#1708
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 3
Then under the "Flight Details" section there was:
Passenger Name: (which shows as my wife, one of the recipients of the tickets)
Ticket Number:
Document Type: ADDITIONAL COLLECTION
#1709
Join Date: Apr 2018
Programs: AA
Posts: 24
7/12 Bought Delta Flight for ~$220. Paid $100 with GC and $120 on Amex Gold
7/15 $100 Credit from Amex
7/15 $100 Credit from Amex
#1710
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: LAS ORD
Programs: AA Pro (mostly B6) OZ♦ (flying BR/UA), BA Silver Hyatt LT, Wynn Black, Cosmo Plat, Mlife Noir
Posts: 5,992
Obviously I already used up the my annual credit, but if this triggers the credit on DL in future years, the loophole isn't too huge of an additional hassle.
Last edited by gengar; Jul 15, 2019 at 4:46 pm