Jan 18, 2016, 10:57 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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

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.

For other airlines:
AA Thread
AS Thread
B6 Thread
DL Thread
F9 Thread
HA Thread
NK Thread
UA Thread
WN Thread

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

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Dec 19, 2017, 6:02 pm

#601

lexde

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 1

I just purchased $50.00 on Delta (Desktop).
Coded as:

DELTA AIR LINES
View Details on Merchant Website
ATLANTA AIRPORT
-
ATLANTA
GA
30320
UNITED STATES
Category: Travel - Airline

Will update when it posts. ~~If it codes the same I'll purchase the other 3.~~ Went ahead and got them anyway.

ETA: No "Delta Gift Cards, powered by CashStar" language in gift card email.

Last edited by lexde; Dec 19, 2017 at 6:11 pm

Dec 19, 2017, 6:19 pm

#602

nosnowjustice

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 1

I purchased 2x$50 using my desktop on 12/13, posted 12/15 and reimbursed 12/17. They also posted individually as $50 Air ticket purchases from atlanta as most have seen above.

Hoping the latest hiccup from the third party in Portland was due to a mobile version of the website or something.

Dec 19, 2017, 6:55 pm

#603

Fugaziname

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 4

Just rolled the dice with 3X$50. Desktop from central america, English/USA delta site, www.delta.com/egift, chose electronic gift card, the billing zip code and phone numbers used were from the east coast.

Posted in account as DELTA AIR LINES
ATLANTA AIRPORT
-
ATLANTA
GA
30320
UNITED STATES
Category: Travel - Airline

Dec 19, 2017, 10:05 pm

#604

uogood

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 2

Rolled the dice with 4 x $50 today. Desktop / egift / the west coast billing zip code and phone number

Email:
© 2017 Delta Air Lines, Inc. All rights reserved.
Delta Blvd. P.O. Box 20706 • Atlanta, GA 30320-6001

Pending charges on AMEX:
ATLANTA AIRPORT
-
ATLANTA
GA
30320
UNITED STATES
Category: Travel - Airline

Dec 20, 2017, 5:57 am

#605

pallhedge

Join Date: Sep 2011

Posts: 1,857

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordvaderman

Which URLs are people using when buying?

Through this one on a desktop computer
https://www.delta.com/egift/eGiftPurchase.action
the terms and conditions say:
"eGifts and Cards are issued by Delta Gift Cards, Inc. ("Delta"), an affiliate of Delta Air Lines, Inc., that is authorized to issue eGifts and Cards for sale by Delta and Delta-licensed vendors to be used toward the total purchase price of air transportation on Delta Air Lines marketed flights."

But on this one through my mobile device
https://buy-m.giftcards.delta.com/
the terms and conditions say (at the bottom):
"Delta Gift Cards, powered by CashStar"

I'm wondering if that is the difference...

Well, that's very interesting and could be the difference. Read the terms before you buy.

Dec 20, 2017, 1:53 pm

#606

cp277

Join Date: Jul 2016

Posts: 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by cp277

Purchased a $50 ecert on Sunday, the transaction posted yesterday, no credit applied yet. The posted transaction looks like this (similar to other people, some formatting removed):

Doing business as:
DELTA AIR LINES DELTA.COM
ATLANTA AIRPORT

ATLANTA
GA
30344
UNITED STATES
800.221.1212
Additional Information: 18002211212DELTA AIR LINES
Reference: [Redacted]
Category: Travel - Airline

***
I purchased a $50 ecert in November and the posted transaction looks exactly the same. The credit was applied two days later.

UPDATE: the credit posted late yesterday.

Dec 20, 2017, 9:03 pm

#607

LF72

Join Date: Nov 2017

Posts: 151

Purchased 2 x $50 on 17 Dec and was credited on 19 Dec.

Thanks for the cost-saving steers!

Dec 21, 2017, 6:32 am

#608

Fugaziname

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 4

Update

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fugaziname

**Update: purchased 3x$50 on 19/12. Posted to AMEX on 20/12 as a single $150 transaction. On 21/12 it corrected/adjusted to 3 x $50 individual transactions. No refund yet, but so far all is moving along as described in other posts.

Dec 21, 2017, 8:07 am

#609

Bob_Bobson

Join Date: Jan 2017

Posts: 1

The credit appears to be alive and well after all.

Per Wiki, I (AU) purchased 4 X $50 e-certs on 12/18 via desktop directly from Delta's site. They posted as four separate transactions on 12/19 (Category Travel: Airline), and I received credits for all on 12/20.

Last edited by Bob_Bobson; Dec 21, 2017 at 8:36 am

Dec 21, 2017, 9:44 pm

#610

Fugaziname

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fugaziname

*New Update: Still no refund but the "dial" on the benefits page that shows the "available airline credit" has adjusted down, showing that $150 are already obligated. another good sign.

Dec 22, 2017, 5:28 am

#611

Fugaziname

Join Date: Dec 2017

Posts: 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fugaziname

*New Update: Still no refund but the "dial" on the benefits page that shows the "available airline credit" has adjusted down, showing that $150 are already obligated. another good sign.

*refund posted last night. Thanks for the inside scoop.

Dec 22, 2017, 7:35 am

#612

Diplomatico

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: Truth or Consequences, NM

Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, UA Silver, Mobile Passport Unobtanium

Posts: 6,192

Purchased 2 x $50 eGift cards on 12/19.

Transactions posted on 12/21.

Statement credits received on 12/22.

Dec 22, 2017, 8:50 am

#613

Soccerjoshj07

Join Date: Apr 2016

Posts: 702

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diplomatico

Purchased 2 x $50 eGift cards on 12/19.

Transactions posted on 12/21.

Statement credits received on 12/22.

same exact DP for me. I even technically purchased my first gift card before selecting my Airline, but that was fine b/c it looks like it's when the transaction posts not when it was initiated.

Use this url: https://www.delta.com/egift/eGiftPurchase.action

geckoflyer likes this.

Dec 22, 2017, 9:47 am

#614

mathisfun

Join Date: Aug 2017

Posts: 19

I just upgraded two tickets to comfort + during check in for a total of $38. The pending charge looks like this:

"Doing business as: DELTA AIR LINES
View Details on Merchant Website
ATLANTA AIRPORT
-
ATLANTA
GA
30320
UNITED STATES
Category: Travel - Airline"

Anyone have recent experience with getting reimbursed for this type of seat upgrade? I'm aware that the terms and conditions say upgrades are not covered, but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence contained hereinbefore to make me think that it might be reimbursed.

Dec 22, 2017, 10:55 am

#615

JATR4

Join Date: Oct 2011

Location: North Carolina

Posts: 613

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathisfun

If you are patient and wait until the purchase posts, you may have your answer then.

krazykanuck likes this.

Last edited by mia; Dec 22, 2017 at 10:57 am Reason: Combine consecutive replies.