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 10, 2019, 7:33 am
#1231
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
First time I've encountered this before - my actual ticket got reimbursed. I believe there are other similar DPs further up in the thread.
1/6 (posted 1/7) - Ticket Purchase, $1xx **
1/7 (posted 1/8) - 4x $50 eGC purchase
1/9 - $1xx credit
The ticket purchase was partially paid for by gift card, with the remaining balance placed on the Plat. The purchase shows as eligible for 5x, but displays as "Additional Collection", which is why it triggered the reimbursement. Miscalculation on my part and slightly annoying, since I don't get any bonus points on the eGC purchase.
Based on this, I expect a credit in the upcoming days for the remainder of the benefit due to the eGC.
1/6 (posted 1/7) - Ticket Purchase, $1xx **
1/7 (posted 1/8) - 4x $50 eGC purchase
1/9 - $1xx credit
The ticket purchase was partially paid for by gift card, with the remaining balance placed on the Plat. The purchase shows as eligible for 5x, but displays as "Additional Collection", which is why it triggered the reimbursement. Miscalculation on my part and slightly annoying, since I don't get any bonus points on the eGC purchase.
Based on this, I expect a credit in the upcoming days for the remainder of the benefit due to the eGC.
Conversely, I was unable to trigger the statement credit on a $1,000+ ticket when using gift cards as partial payment, despite the remaining balance coding as an additional collection.
Jan 10, 2019, 7:59 am
#1232
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: RDU
Posts: 679
I figured, which is why I specifically mentioned that. It's something I'll keep in mind to potentially leverage for the future on lower dollar purchases.
Jan 10, 2019, 9:00 am
#1233
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Midwest
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 67
The transactions posted on Jan7, and today I got the reimbursement for the two of them ;-) I have no status wit the airline
Jan 10, 2019, 11:03 am
#1234
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: DFW
Programs: Chase Sapphire Preferred, AMEX PRG
Posts: 24
Missing Credit
Purchased a gift card with the remainder of my 2018 Platinum credit on 12/29. I haven’t received credit yet. I had $84 left so I spent around that much. Am I going to miss out because I didn’t buy a $50 GC?
Jan 10, 2019, 1:22 pm
#1235
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
Jan 10, 2019, 3:44 pm
#1236
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,740
THIS post from February 2018 suggests that logging out of your Delta account may help.
Does DL actually store the GCs in one's account, so one can automatically use it when making purchase next time?
Jan 10, 2019, 3:49 pm
#1237
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,740
Assuming you just bought a $84, not willing to shell out the $16 which you already had gotten much earlier, you now most likely not going to receive any statement credit because the $50 is the magic number (the maximum) AMEX system would reimburse. Note people got nervous when their multiple $50 got lumped together when showed as pending on AMEX. But when the transactions finally posted, they were all at $50 and people get reimbursed.
Dont get cute to try other things just to save a few bucks when there are very much tried and true method...
Jan 10, 2019, 4:28 pm
#1238
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: DFW
Programs: Chase Sapphire Preferred, AMEX PRG
Posts: 24
If you buy 2x $50 you would only need to pay $16 after $84 posted.
Assuming you just bought a $84, not willing to shell out the $16 which you already had gotten much earlier, you now most likely not going to receive any statement credit because the $50 is the magic number (the maximum) AMEX system would reimburse. Note people got nervous when their multiple $50 got lumped together when showed as pending on AMEX. But when the transactions finally posted, they were all at $50 and people get reimbursed.
Dont get cute to try other things just to save a few bucks when there are very much tried and true method...
Assuming you just bought a $84, not willing to shell out the $16 which you already had gotten much earlier, you now most likely not going to receive any statement credit because the $50 is the magic number (the maximum) AMEX system would reimburse. Note people got nervous when their multiple $50 got lumped together when showed as pending on AMEX. But when the transactions finally posted, they were all at $50 and people get reimbursed.
Dont get cute to try other things just to save a few bucks when there are very much tried and true method...
Jan 10, 2019, 11:47 pm
#1239
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Seattle
Programs: Delta PM, Alaska MVP, AMEX Plat (MR), AMEX Delta Platinum
Posts: 56
AMEX Platinum Card
Purchased 4x$50 GCs, showed $200 Delta charge pending
1/7 Posted as 4x$50 GCs
1/9 Reimbursed for all 4 GCs - 2019 $200 credit used
Purchased 4x$50 GCs, showed $200 Delta charge pending
1/7 Posted as 4x$50 GCs
1/9 Reimbursed for all 4 GCs - 2019 $200 credit used
Jan 11, 2019, 7:46 am
#1242
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 1
Hilton Aspire purchased 2x50 to test the water as there have been conflicting reports of this still working.
ordered 1/7
pending 1/8 showing as 1x100 “ticket”
posted 1/9 showing as 2x50 “tickets”
Credited 1/10 2x50
will order the final 3x50 tonight
ordered 1/7
pending 1/8 showing as 1x100 “ticket”
posted 1/9 showing as 2x50 “tickets”
Credited 1/10 2x50
will order the final 3x50 tonight
Jan 11, 2019, 10:07 am
#1243
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4
Bought a Delta ticket with mix of gift cards and the rest of it ($118.60) covered with the Platinum card a few days ago. I ended up cancelling the flight and was checking my account for the refund to post. Well I got my refund AND the AMEX airline credit. First, definitely surprised to see the ticket covered by the fee reimbursement, but, second, will it be reversed because of the refund or will it stick like how Chase does it? This might be kind of an unprecedented question since everyone buys gift cards and those obviously don't get refunds...
Jan 11, 2019, 10:11 am
#1244
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 29
AMEX Personal Plat - $200 airline credit, Delta $60 off $300 added to card
Declared Delta as partner on 1/8
After seeing confirmation of Delta as selected airline, 2 x $50 GCs individual transactions 1/8
1/9 - 4 x $50 GCs individual transactions
1/10 - saw $60 AMEX offer credited with date of 1/9
1/11 - saw 4 x $50 Airline partner reimbursement credited with date of 1/10
Look fwd to Delta flights this year, maybe stacking wife's Delta Plat companion ticket
Declared Delta as partner on 1/8
After seeing confirmation of Delta as selected airline, 2 x $50 GCs individual transactions 1/8
1/9 - 4 x $50 GCs individual transactions
1/10 - saw $60 AMEX offer credited with date of 1/9
1/11 - saw 4 x $50 Airline partner reimbursement credited with date of 1/10
Look fwd to Delta flights this year, maybe stacking wife's Delta Plat companion ticket
Jan 11, 2019, 11:35 am
#1245
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 12
4x $50 on AMEX Vanilla Platinum on 1/8
Settled on 1/9
Had all 4 credits on 1/11
2x $50 on AMEX Rewards Gold on 1/8
Settled on 1/9
Had both credits on 1/11
Just need to start flying.
Settled on 1/9
Had all 4 credits on 1/11
2x $50 on AMEX Rewards Gold on 1/8
Settled on 1/9
Had both credits on 1/11
Just need to start flying.
