Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: DL only (2015-2019)

Jan 9, 20, 12:52 am - Wikipost

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Last edit by: MaxVO
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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

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.

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Jul 15, 19, 5:18 pm

#1711

krazykanuck

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Jul 2008

Location: IAH

Programs: DL DM, AC 50K, Hyatt Ist-iest, Starriot Platinum, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 11,483

Quote:

Originally Posted by gengar

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.

Alright, so now that we know what works, can everybody please delete their comments so we can hide it from the Amex team!

gengar, lax01, ukinny2000 and 5 others like this.

Jul 15, 19, 6:42 pm

#1712

EasternTraveler

Join Date: Aug 2006

Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford

Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott

Posts: 4,165

Quote:

Originally Posted by krazykanuck

Alright, so now that we know what works, can everybody please delete their comments so we can hide it from the Amex team!

You know how some fools are, they shout I am a thief in the streets and expect no one to notice. Not that this statement completely applies here, YMMV

Jul 15, 19, 11:18 pm

#1713

gengar

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by krazykanuck

Alright, so now that we know what works, can everybody please delete their comments so we can hide it from the Amex team!

Considering how much trouble AMEX seems to have just identifying MCCs (esp. restaurants) on the PRG, I'm not worried. They're obviously well aware of the loopholes whether we post about them or not - now, whether they care enough / are competent to close the loopholes is a different question.

GTITAN, bizum, IndyHoosier and 1 others like this.

Jul 15, 19, 11:44 pm

#1714

fobster

Join Date: Jul 2015

Location: Chicago

Programs: UA Gold, AMEX Pl, Hil Diam, Bon Plat

Posts: 9

Long time lurker here. Recently switched to DL. Switched my Plat to DL from AA in June on top of Hilton Aspire just in time for them to stop GC reimbursement. Below are my experience.

JUN17 $50 GC
JUN18 $50 Reimbursed
JUN21 $50 *2 GC. Still not reimbursed. (exact same coding as 17th GC)

JUL11 Purchased $351 ticket - $100 (GC) = $251.
JUL13 $200 Reimbursed.

I haven't cancelled my refundable ticket yet. I guess final step left. Thanks.

Jul 16, 19, 12:13 am

#1715

danhouston

Join Date: Aug 2015

Posts: 1,597

Quote:

Originally Posted by fobster

so, $351 fare is refundable? as I'm not familiar with DL, will the $100 gc be returned as gc or voucher?

Jul 16, 19, 12:18 am

#1716

Zorak

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Jun 2015

Location: SFO/SJC, BWI

Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM MM, Mlife Noir, TR 7*, Marriott Tit, UA Plat, Hyatt Glob

Posts: 15,914

Quote:

Originally Posted by danhouston

$351fare is refundable? as not familiar with DL, will the $100 gc be returned as gc or voucher?

I've done 24-hour risk free cancellation of tickets bought with mixed form of payment and everything was credited back where it came from, i.e. CC funds went back to the CC, gift card back to gift card. I would expect cancelling a refundable ticket to be the same.

Although I would also suggest if possible applying the ticket to a new itinerary (any excess fare difference will be refunded, though in that case I don't know to which FOP) instead of cancelling outright, as being more under the radar.

Jul 16, 19, 6:36 am

#1717

bradpitch92

Join Date: May 2015

Posts: 129

Quote:

Originally Posted by danhouston

so, $351 fare is refundable? as I'm not familiar with DL, will the $100 gc be returned as gc or voucher?

yeah how does this work? So buy refundable fare, get DL Amex credits after using partial GC and partial CC, and then just cancel post credit posting and Amex won't claw back credits? Or can we request the refund in a different manner?

Jul 16, 19, 12:44 pm

#1718

Gig103

Join Date: Nov 2013

Location: PHX, SEA

Programs: DL Silver, Avis President's Club, Hertz President's Circle, Global Entry (Former AA Plt/Gold)

Posts: 4,294

Jan 1: "Welcome to American Express Platinum. We offer you deals on premium travel, like IAP and FHR"
Dec 31: "Thank you for using our premium travel services which do not require paying for bags or buy-on-board food/bev. Your $200 has expired."

I know it was a loophole but it's still irritating, and at a time where they're also cutting PP restaurants while Chase is not, and Citi is cutting travel insurance while Chase is not, it's almost like the executives are conspiring to put a CSR in more wallets. I'd have one if I didn't distrust Chase so much, but Amex isn't helping these days.
/Rant

Jul 16, 19, 12:49 pm

#1719

MSPeconomist

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Sep 2009

Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM

Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM

Posts: 99,055

Quote:

Originally Posted by howtofreetravel

With united it covered the change fee for regular tickets but not awards

I would expect the opposite to be true for DL in that when you cancel a nonaward ticket with DL, you get a credit/voucher for the fare minus the change fee, while UA requires that the change fee be paid with "new money."

Happy likes this.

Jul 16, 19, 11:46 pm

#1720

fobster

Join Date: Jul 2015

Location: Chicago

Programs: UA Gold, AMEX Pl, Hil Diam, Bon Plat

Posts: 9

Quote:

Originally Posted by danhouston

so, $351 fare is refundable? as I'm not familiar with DL, will the $100 gc be returned as gc or voucher?

I purchased a refundable ticket for a September flight. I was going to wait few weeks before I cancel. I figured they will credit my CC and give me the rest in some kind of credit either a voucher or GC. This is my first time, so we shall see.

Jul 17, 19, 6:39 am

#1721

ricky320

Join Date: Jul 2019

Posts: 1

7/13: Paid ticket ($195) with $50 GC and remainder on platinum.
7/15: Transaction Posted as additional collection.
7/17: $145 Credited

wed100105 likes this.

Jul 17, 19, 9:34 am

#1722

CamaroZ28

Join Date: Nov 2015

Location: Atlanta, GA

Programs: Delta, AA, Marriott, Hyatt, SPG

Posts: 10

Additional data points:

My card-
5/10/2019: Purchased 5x$50 GC on Aspire card
5/11/2019: Transactions posted as document type "passenger ticket"
5/14/2019: 5x$50 Credits post on Aspire card

Wife's card-
6/28/2019: Purchased 5x$50 GC on Aspire card
6/29/2019: Transactions posted as document type "passenger ticket"
No credits posted so far

Seems to me that the way the gift cards code on AMEX has not changed.
Successful Credit No Credit

Last edited by CamaroZ28; Jul 17, 19 at 1:24 pm Reason: Tried to post screen shots

Jul 17, 19, 10:00 am

#1723

MaxVO

Join Date: Feb 2012

Posts: 3,795

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamaroZ28

Successful Credit No Credit

Your screen shots are in "jpg" format, not "png" (for the purpose of including the links).

Jul 17, 19, 1:25 pm

#1724

CamaroZ28

Join Date: Nov 2015

Location: Atlanta, GA

Programs: Delta, AA, Marriott, Hyatt, SPG

Posts: 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxVO

Your screen shots are in "jpg" format, not "png" (for the purpose of including the links).

I'm not sure I understand your comment, I tried updating the links so they load properly when followed. Tested incognito on my machine.

Jul 18, 19, 9:20 am

#1725

qjpqzb

Join Date: Apr 2019

Posts: 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by fobster

From my experience, although you have purchased a refundable ticket, they will still charge you around 200$ cancelation fee. Correct me if I am wrong, looking forward to you DP! Thanks.

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