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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Oct 22, 2018, 7:43 am

#1006

klanfa

Join Date: Jan 2016

Posts: 610

Also waiting for reimbursement for 10/18 purchases on two accounts - still showing $100 available credit. It also took a while on girlfriend's account last week - credit posted on 10/20 but dated 10/19 (purchase 10/17). I'm hoping for reimbursement tomorrow.
Just checked the accounts (afternoon) - all credit has been used up. Good stuff.

Last edited by klanfa; Oct 22, 2018 at 2:37 pm

Oct 22, 2018, 8:04 am

#1007

lanac

Join Date: Aug 2014

Location: ORD / MDW

Posts: 49

Bought 2 $50 GCs on 10/18. Credit posted on 10/20 with no issues.

Diplomatico and klanfa like this.

Oct 22, 2018, 6:57 pm

#1008

bingaboop

Join Date: Oct 2018

Posts: 1

Amex Gold Card:

10/17 - Purchased 2x$50 on the desktop site, shown as $100 pending in a single transaction
10/18 - Posted as 2 separate transactions under "DELTA AIR LINES - ATLANTA"
10/20 - Reimbursed

Oct 23, 2018, 11:25 am

#1009

thblur7

Join Date: Oct 2018

Posts: 6

Hi,
Is anyone else having a problem purchasing GC through the Delta website? I put in all the information 4x 50$ then submit and it kicks me back to the same page, gives no error

Oct 23, 2018, 11:54 am

#1010

klanfa

Join Date: Jan 2016

Posts: 610

Quote:

Originally Posted by klanfa

Reimbursed on 10/23 with a 10/22 post date.

Oct 24, 2018, 9:21 am

#1011

Brandonzlg

Join Date: Oct 2018

Posts: 3

Purchased on 10/19 DL $50 on desktop
Posted on 10/20 as DL Atlanta
Reimbursed today ( Today is 10/24)

Last edited by Brandonzlg; Oct 24, 2018 at 9:25 am Reason: Status changed

Oct 24, 2018, 12:35 pm

#1012

Soulag

Join Date: Jun 2014

Location: SNA, VCE

Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Gold, United

Posts: 129

I just tried to resell Delta Cards on Cardcash and cardpool, which I have done before, and neither was accepting them. Does anyone know who is taking them for resale now?

Oct 24, 2018, 1:14 pm

#1013

Extragalactic

Join Date: Oct 2018

Posts: 2

Amex Gold
$50 eGift card - posted Oct 15, credit received Oct 17
Remaining airfare of $26 after applying eGift card - posted Oct 19, credit received Oct 22

Diplomatico likes this.

Oct 25, 2018, 12:23 am

#1014

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

Did 5x$50 on Aspire, got credited 4 days after posting.

As noted in wiki, transaction showed up in 'pending charges' as $250, but did eventually post as 5 individual $50 transactions.

Oct 26, 2018, 10:29 am

#1015

rjruiz

Join Date: Jan 2016

Posts: 97

2 x $50 eGifts purchased 10/23/18, initially showed as $100 one transaction, later that day 2 transactions $50. 10/25 credited no problem. And 3x points on the Amex Gold byeahh!

Oct 29, 2018, 12:19 pm

#1016

toddritt

Join Date: Oct 2018

Posts: 1

4 x $50 eGifts purchased last week and cleared on October 26. Today they were all reimbursed.

Thanks!

Oct 30, 2018, 9:46 am

#1017

fakename

Join Date: Oct 2018

Posts: 3

"a maximum of three forms of payment (including eGifts or Cards) can be applied towards a single transaction, regardless of the number of tickets purchased as part of that transaction; if redeemed through any other method, a maximum of three forms of payment (including eGifts or Cards) can be applied toward a single ticket. eGifts and Cards can be used with other eGifts and/or Cards, but cannot be used in conjunction with any other certificate, voucher or credit towards a single ticket."

I was able to use 3 egifts and Amex for remaining $23 which triggered the reimbursement. I had believed the above T&C meant only 3 total forms of payment, but it worked.

Nov 10, 2018, 2:56 pm

#1018

goodtasting

Join Date: Oct 2012

Location: HNL / SIN

Posts: 87

Designated delta as my airline, received the email confirmation, and then bought 5 gift cards in 50usd increments in one purchase with my amex aspire on oct 29. Coded as DELTA CSTAR GFTCD 877-850-1977 ME and did not change to 5 separate transactions as mentioned in other successful posts.

Was unable to access the benefits page showing the airline selected but i do have the email showing.delta has been selected. When i chatted with the rep to ask whether my airline was selected, he said no. Then when i mentioned the email, he checked again and said it was indeed enrolled and then gave me the shpiel about how gift cards are not eligible. Checked the airlinechoice page again on my mobile using "desktop version" but it says "status unavailable" for only the airline credit statusWill check later on a desktop computer when i have access. If i can get my account to show delta as the selected airline on the webpage, ill try again with a 50usd gift card purchase and see if it's successfulMaybe there was a screw up on the amex's system end in terms of enrolling me or something

Nov 10, 2018, 4:07 pm

#1019

mia

Moderator

Original Poster

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: Miami, Mpls & London

Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold

Posts: 48,953

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodtasting

..... DELTA CSTAR GFTCD 877-850-1977 ME....

This is the problem, You used the mobile site to make the purchase, and those transactions are not processed by Delta Airlines. Read the Wikipost at the top of the thread for more details. When you try again, use a PC.

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