Jan 18, 2016, 10:57 am
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)
Jan 6, 2016, 9:09 am
#31
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
just circling back to thank the members of this forum. If I'd relied SOLELY on Amex I would have been resigned to think that the credit was not usable towards a FC UG offer. Lo and behold, as reported here, it IS. So thankful for this forum.
So I charged $191 worth of UG offers on 12/28. The purchases posted on 12/29 and was reimbursed on 1/1. Confirmed w/ Amex that it counts towards '15 credit and yes it does.
THANKS AGAIN forum. VERY helpful!!!!
So I charged $191 worth of UG offers on 12/28. The purchases posted on 12/29 and was reimbursed on 1/1. Confirmed w/ Amex that it counts towards '15 credit and yes it does.
THANKS AGAIN forum. VERY helpful!!!!
You will get reimbursed for everything AMEX says you will. You may get reimbursed for things AMEX says you won't.
Jan 6, 2016, 9:40 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 118
True, and it isn't as if AMEX has no awareness of the issue from forums like this. But loopholes do become an issue when the information about them becomes more widely available. For example, one of the Boarding Area forums today has the following headline: "$50 e-gift card sweet spot for AMEX Platinum card Delta 'Airline fee reimbursement' 2016 (personal and business)." Now the odds are greater the the loophole changes from being only a FT sub-forum topic to something AMEX may no longer ignore.
Jan 6, 2016, 3:01 pm
#33
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 64
Did $100 on PRG that posted on Jan 3 for delta - still awaiting credit. Did Platinum for southwest same day but posted on the 2nd and got credit on the 3rd.....weird that they would give one credit so quickly and not the other.
Jan 6, 2016, 4:26 pm
#34
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: co,fb,dl,aa
Posts: 79
Delta Gift Card Question
Has anyone had any success getting a credit for a 200 gift card purchase? Is there any point in chatting AMEX?
Jan 8, 2016, 7:01 am
#35
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 64
Anyone have a $100 delta gc get credited on their PRG yet this year? I had a $100 SW gc on my plat go through but the $100 delta on my PRG has not come through after 5 days...wondering if I should have done $50?
Jan 8, 2016, 7:08 am
#36
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: BZN
Programs: AA:LT Platinum DL:LT Gold UA:1P MAR:LT Titanium
Posts: 8,291
Jan 8, 2016, 10:32 am
#37
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 261
data point. bought $50 X 4 egift card on Jan 5th, posted on Jan 7th, reimbursement posted Jan 8th
Jan 8, 2016, 12:05 pm
#38
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 371
$50
jan 5 - purchased $50 DL egift (statement date 6th)
jan 8 - reimbursement posted (statement date 7th)
strange thing is I also see a "AIRFLIGHT INSURANCE PREMIUM" $4.99 charge on 7th???
Jan 8, 2016, 2:48 pm
#39
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
Bought two $59 mileage boosters and one $15 priority boarding that posted on Jan.3 reimbursed Jan. 4.
Jan 10, 2016, 11:54 am
#40
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: BZN
Programs: AA:LT Platinum DL:LT Gold UA:1P MAR:LT Titanium
Posts: 8,291
Jan 10, 2016, 12:30 pm
#41
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
Jan 10, 2016, 6:20 pm
#42
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
I added priority boarding fees to the wiki.
Why are Global Entry fees listed? Those aren't paid to an airline. (They're reimbursed by the Platinum Card as a separate benefit entirely.)
Why are Global Entry fees listed? Those aren't paid to an airline. (They're reimbursed by the Platinum Card as a separate benefit entirely.)
Jan 10, 2016, 6:54 pm
#43
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
You're correct. The GE fee credit is a separate benefit in addition to the $200 Airline incidentals reimbursement. I have edited the Wikki to note this.
Jan 11, 2016, 6:43 am
#44
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 112
PGGM used for both Plat and PRG. charges posted 1/7, reimbursed 1/11.
Jan 11, 2016, 10:14 am
#45
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
I know Econ Comfort used to be reimbursed, has anything changed for Comfort + upgrade? Have a flight I want to upgrade and wonder if Amex will reimburse.