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)
Feb 8, 2019, 7:39 am
#1321
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
Feb 8, 2019, 8:56 am
#1323
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 7
Bizarre plot twist to this: Just checked now and the 4x $50 e-gift cards have not been reimbursed, but I used three of them on a $214 flight on 2/6, then paid the remaining $64 with the Platinum card. That $64 just posted as a reimbursement.
Feb 8, 2019, 9:23 am
#1325
Moderator
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
This isn't bizarre, it's an indication of how batch processing works. The system looks for all eligible transactions on "a" date. Some are missed. Next day the system looks for all eligible transactions on "a+1" date. It doesn't look again at "a", because that consumes too much processing time. Later, they run a different process that looks at a "range" of dates, and the skipped transactions are detected. This is why they tell us to wait four weeks.
Feb 8, 2019, 7:20 pm
#1326
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2
Amex Gold:
$50 Delta e-gift card: purchased on Monday (02/04); $50 transaction posted on Tuesday (02/05); $50 deduction from airline fee allowance noticed on Thursday (02/07); $50 reimbursement visible today (02/08) but dated yesterday (02/07). That's a full working week. I recommend patience.
Wash, rinse, repeat for the next $50 Delta e-gift card and then I'm closing this card before my anniversary at the end of the month!
$50 Delta e-gift card: purchased on Monday (02/04); $50 transaction posted on Tuesday (02/05); $50 deduction from airline fee allowance noticed on Thursday (02/07); $50 reimbursement visible today (02/08) but dated yesterday (02/07). That's a full working week. I recommend patience.
Wash, rinse, repeat for the next $50 Delta e-gift card and then I'm closing this card before my anniversary at the end of the month!
Feb 8, 2019, 7:22 pm
#1327
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, UA Silver, Mobile Passport Unobtanium
Posts: 6,194
Really don't understand why so many newbs keep buying these gift cards in multiple separate transactions, often days apart, when it really isn't necessary.....?
Feb 8, 2019, 7:41 pm
#1328
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2
I've been doing this for years, thanks. I'd rather waste $50 instead of $100 if something goes wrong/changes in the 12 months' since the last time I used my allowance, especially given I haven't flown on Delta since '07.
Feb 8, 2019, 8:54 pm
#1330
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 8
bought 3 x $50 via delta.com (non-mobile). posted on Feb 1st. Still no reimbursement. Longest I've waited
Feb 9, 2019, 8:24 am
#1331
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: St. Louis, MO
Programs: HHonors Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Avis Preffered, Delta GM
Posts: 236
This is my first post but I think I have an interesting data point. I booked tickets with Delta and they posted as 2 transactions at $92.60 & 2 at $96.30. The two transactions for $92.60 were each reimbursed but a $14 balance remains (I.E. the $96 transactions were not reimbursed). Am I right to think that this means airline tickets with a value of less than ~$95 are reimbursing if this is true perhaps it should be added to the Wiki.
I just booked a flight ~$210 using my last remaining 2018 $50 gift card. AMEX just reimbursed the ~$170 for the ticket marking it as a fee. This is quite odd I thought. Has anyone else had tickets get reimbursed?
Feb 9, 2019, 9:48 am
#1332
Moderator
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Yes. Scroll back just a few posts: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30754018-post1317.html
Feb 10, 2019, 11:12 am
#1333
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
I would like to hear that someone has had a successful gift card purchase since February 5th on DL. Everyone else has been having issues since the 31st of January on AA and WN. Datapoints deeply appreciated at this point. Thanks.
Feb 10, 2019, 4:51 pm
#1334
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Arlington, VA
Programs: DL DM, 1.5 MM; AS MVP Gold 100K; HHonors Diamond; AMEX Platinum
Posts: 488
Feb 10, 2019, 7:58 pm
#1335
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
On this thread for DL, the common denominator date is 2/01.
Isn't that in early January there was / were a long delay on purchases made on certain date(s), like Jan 02 or thereabout? Took 2 or more weeks for the credits to show up.
Even when there is no glitch, it still takes 5 to 6 calendar days to see the credit shows up - usually carries the date of the day before its appearance.
So for purchase made on 2/05, it is still within the usual range of days before the credit shows up.