Jan 6, 2020, 1:19 pm
Last edit by: rrgg
Please read: This is a community-maintained wiki post containing the most important information from this thread. You may edit the Wiki once you have been on FT for 90 days and have made 90 posts.
Reminder: you must enroll and select your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. http://www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice -or- "Call the number on the back of your Card to select a qualifying airline."
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
Quote:
TL;DR: Anything coded as an additional collection (a.k.a. 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, provided that the amount charged to your card is $250 or less (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 always $250 or less)
How to do it: With waived fee for cancellation/changes on non-refundable tickets (due to COVID-19) you get an eCredit when cancelling it, so you can:
Paying for a ticket partially with SkyMiles
NOTE that DL has two different programs for partially paying with SkyMiles, that seem superficially similar, but are quite different
other non Gift Card options
these may not credit automatically, but people have had success getting them processed manually after the fact
(DEAD) eGift Card (eCert) details
Reminder: you must enroll and select your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. http://www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice -or- "Call the number on the back of your Card to select a qualifying airline."
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 (the Gold credit is going away in 2022). Hilton Aspire AMEX is eligible for a $250 airline credit.
- You must click here to 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.
- 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
Quote:
TL;DR: Anything coded as an additional collection (a.k.a. add/collect or a/c), including difference in fare when changing flights,
How to do it: With waived fee for cancellation/changes on non-refundable tickets (due to COVID-19) you get an eCredit when cancelling it, so you can:
- Buy a non-refundable ticket with any combination of gift card/eCredit plus your AMEX, again provided that the residual amount charged to your card is $250 or less
- After credit has posted, and at least 48 hours after buying it, cancel it (ensure there's no fee for cancelling it) so you get an updated eCredit for the full ticket amount.
- alternatively, if you buy a ticket far enough in the future, there is no particular need to cancel the ticket, just change it once you have some new dates or itinerary in mind (you can change origin, destination or both)
- however, note that the waiver of change fees on Basic Economy tickets is ending: https://www.delta.com/us/en/travel-p...sbeforeapril30
- thus you should use main cabin tickets for this purpose (assuming DL does not extend the BE policy due to omicron etc.)
- You can even use the result of (2) as an eCredit to repeat step 1 with a different AMEX card if you have multiples. Note that in this context, changing an unflown future ticket is exactly equivalent to an eCredit in the amount of the ticket's value.
- 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). This is just an example; as per the previous bullet there is no reason it needs to be specifically $50, or even a gift card. The "additional collection" is what leads to the credit, the reason why it is "additional" is unimportant.
- In general, only additional collections less than ~$250 are automatically reimbursed. If you use a $50 gift card to buy a $500 ticket, a $450 additional collection will be generated but it will not be auto-reimbursed by Amex.
- If you already have gift cards or ecredits in particular denominations that don't line up well with the price of the ticket you want to buy (additional collection will end up being too much to get auto-reimbursed or too little to efficiently use up the fee credit), consider whether you may be able to reach a better outcome by splitting up the purchase -- buying a round trip as two one ways or buying multiple passengers separately. But, note that buying 2 one-ways instead of a round trip can sometimes cost more, making it not worthwhile, and note the caveats about multiple passenger purchases below, as well as considering the risk that buying 2 passengers separately can have negative implications for Medallion upgrades (if applicable) as well as creating the risk that you are separated from your travel companions if there is a flight cancellation.
- The "additional collection" transaction notation shows up after the transaction posts, on the website only (both desktop and mobile) if you click into a transaction to view the details (it does not appear in the app, or while the purchase is pending)
- Note that special care is needed when booking tickets for 2 or more people in a single transaction.
- When booking multiple people in a single transaction on Delta.com, each person's ticket charges to the credit card in a separate transaction, and gift cards are used starting with the first ticket until they are exhausted. So for example if you were booking 2x $210 tickets, for a total transaction of $420, if you used a $200 gift card the charges would post to Amex as a $10 additional collection on the first person and a $210 regular ticket charge for the second person, resulting in only a $10 reimbursement. For the same two tickets if you used a $220 gift card, the first person would be covered entirely by the gift card and the second person's ticket would charge as a $190 additional collection, resulting in a $190 reimbursement.
- This would work differently if ecredits are used instead of gift cards since ecredits are not transferrable -- ecredits can only be applied to a ticket for a person whose name is on the ecredit; if other people are booked in the same transaction, any leftover ecredit balance will *not* be applied to those other people.
- Canceling a ticket within the 24-hour[1] risk-free period generally results in funds being returned to where they came from (GC back to GC and CC back to CC) even if the ticket is non-refundable; also, Delta interprets the 24-hour risk free cancellation period generously -- you actually have until midnight of the day following the day of booking (in which time zone is oft-speculated but unclear). Thus, this can work out to nearly 48 hours if the timing is exactly right. Hence the suggestion above to cancel only after 48 hours, or avoid canceling altogether.
- Caution when buying multiple tickets in a single transaction: 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). In this situation you would need to book the two tickets separately to get the credit on each one.
- FCM offers may require accepting for the entire trip (vs just one segment) or calling in to up-fare the whole trip (please post data points either way)
Paying for a ticket partially with SkyMiles
NOTE that DL has two different programs for partially paying with SkyMiles, that seem superficially similar, but are quite different
- Pay With Miles is a feature available to DL-branded AMEX cardholders that lets you pay for part of your ticket using SkyMiles in increments of 5,000 miles = $50. If you use PWM then the remaining amount charged to your card posts as additional collection and will qualify for the fee credit (multiple data points)
- Miles + Cash is like buying an award ticket but using cash to substitute for some of the miles. As an example, you might be offered a ticket for 40,000 miles + $5.60, or 30,000 miles + $205.60 (these numbers are made up). If you choose the latter option what you are really doing is buying 10,000 miles for $200, then using those 10,000 miles plus 30,000 that you already had to buy the 40,000 ticket + $5.60 in taxes. This will post as two separate transactions, $200 for the miles purchase, and $5.60 for the taxes on the award ticket. The $5.60 will be reimbursed (just like any other award ticket). The $200 seems like it does not get automatically reimbursed, although it may post as "Frequent Flyer Fee/Purchase" in which case you have a pretty good case for getting it credited manually by contacting AMEX.
- Note: Miles + Cash is usually a terrible value (even for SkyMiles)
- See the list of FAQs at the bottom of the "Pay With Miles" page for more info (search in particular for "What is the difference between Pay with Miles and Miles + Cash?")
other non Gift Card options
- baggage and other service fees (same day change/standby, change fees, etc.)
- taxes on award flights (including the $5.60 September 11 security fee)
- in-flight purchases (EXCEPT wifi) -- although currently nothing available due to COVID?
- 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)trip extras have been discontinuedThe $59 for Delta Skymiles Select is reimbursed (posts 2180, 2182)SkyMiles Select is no longer available for purchase
these may not credit automatically, but people have had success getting them processed manually after the fact
- seat purchase fees (if you buy an upgrade and it does not credit automatically and you call in, do not call it an upgrade, call it a seat purchase/assignment fee)
- premium beverages purchased in the Sky Club (post 462)
(DEAD) eGift Card (eCert) details
- gift cards have not worked since 2019/06/22 and this section has been removed to save space. See the 2015-2019 version of this thread for historical details.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: DL only (2020-21)
Apr 23, 2020, 3:59 am
#541
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 1
Less than $50
has anyone tried this with like a $25 gift card? fare is $125 and I want to use my complete gold card fee.
Apr 23, 2020, 9:45 am
#542
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,947
Welcome to FT! The amount of the gift card is unimportant, as long as the residual amount charged to your card is less than ~$250. The scenario you describe should work fine.
Apr 23, 2020, 12:01 pm
#543
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 146
Buying a gift card directly, no longer works for reimbursement, but what people are doing is buying one or multiple gift cards and combining that with a ticket purchase. I did this myself. I bought a ticket with a total value of $382. $200 was paid via gift card and $182 was paid with my Amex card. The $182 posted as ADDITIONAL COLLECTION in the charge description and was reimbursed a few days later.
Buying gift cards directly and buying tickets directly, will not trigger the credit, but, when you combine a gift card and a credit card together to purchase a ticket, the amount, as long as the charge is under $250, should be reimbursed.
Hope this helps. Good luck and stay healthy and safe.
Buying gift cards directly and buying tickets directly, will not trigger the credit, but, when you combine a gift card and a credit card together to purchase a ticket, the amount, as long as the charge is under $250, should be reimbursed.
Hope this helps. Good luck and stay healthy and safe.
Thanks - so I actually do have potential travel in July. The fare coming up is $176 for basic and $246 for cabin.
As I know travel plan will change and I rather get credit on my account, should I go for the $246 fare? Prior to that though at which point do I buy a gift card? Do I buy a gift card first and then at check out for the main fair, have the $50 gift card apply and the remaining on my Amex Plat?
I will need to travel twice to that location - wondering if i should just do the basic fare and purchase two tickets - apply a $25 gift card instead.
Thanks!
Apr 23, 2020, 12:59 pm
#544
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 146
In terms of steps, I would do the following:
1) Purchase $25 gift card as a separate purchase.
2) Purchase $176 fare for one ticket, use the $25 gift card. Expectation is the Amex Plat will give me a credit of $156 back.
3) Purchase another $25 gift card
4) Purchase $176 fare for another ticket, use the $25 gift card. I would expect the Amex Plat to give a credit of $94.
Am I correct in this process? Any suggestions to improve this further in terms of simplification.
Apr 23, 2020, 9:58 pm
#545
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,947
Basically yes, other than some minor math mistakes which don't affect how the overall process works. Note also that (1) the Plat credit is up to $200, not $250 and (2) I think the smallest amount you can buy directly from DL or that I've seen physically in stores is $50 (but smaller denominations may be available for third party sellers) but given the amount of the tickets you're planning on buying you'll still end up with the full $200 credit.
Apr 24, 2020, 11:02 am
#546
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: St. Louis, MO
Programs: HHonors Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Avis Preffered, Delta GM
Posts: 236
I am now sitting on some e-certs. Does anyone know how a flight purchase with e-cert + CC gets coded as? Is using an e-cert like a GC to trigger "Additional Collections"
Apr 24, 2020, 11:17 am
#547
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,947
"... 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."
"... as per the previous bullet there is no reason it needs to be specifically $50, or even a gift card. The "additional collection" is what leads to the credit, the reason why it is "additional" is unimportant."
Apr 24, 2020, 3:18 pm
#548
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 15
So it appears delta is allowing free cancelations refunded as e-credits on any flights booked before September this year. I have the Hilton Amex and don't want my $250 airline credit to go to waste this year. Last year I did the $50 gift card and $275 flight hack and got $225 credited back to me as an incidental fee...
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
Apr 24, 2020, 4:42 pm
#549
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,224
So it appears delta is allowing free cancelations refunded as e-credits on any flights booked before September this year. I have the Hilton Amex and don't want my $250 airline credit to go to waste this year. Last year I did the $50 gift card and $275 flight hack and got $225 credited back to me as an incidental fee...
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
I guess your only risk is that your flight isn't canceled and Delta won't give you an eCredit - but I definitely turned about $500 in gift cards and $200 in AMEX incremental credits into Delta eCredits
Apr 24, 2020, 4:55 pm
#550
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,859
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
Apr 27, 2020, 5:33 pm
#551
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 4
So it appears delta is allowing free cancelations refunded as e-credits on any flights booked before September this year. I have the Hilton Amex and don't want my $250 airline credit to go to waste this year. Last year I did the $50 gift card and $275 flight hack and got $225 credited back to me as an incidental fee...
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
If I buy a $50 delta gift card, book a $299 flight in like July that I ave no intention of flying, get the $249 amex credit, then cancel the flight in like 2 months for the delta e-credit that doesn't expire until 09/2022 I will essentially be securing $299 of future flight credits for a $50 cost of the gift card. Has anyone done this this year. I don't plan to fly at all this year and really don't want my credit to go to waste. Amex won't take back the credit if I cancel the flight correct since the charge will stand with delta and I will only be receiving a future credit?
Thoughts?/
And those e-credits will expire one year from original to ticket date (I'm guess it's fly by that date, not book by).
How does combining multiple e-credits work? Just book a more expensive refundable fare with several of them and switch it to whatever my desired route is when the time comes?
Apr 27, 2020, 6:44 pm
#552
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 15
Thanks for sharing! So Delta will let you cancel for e-credit even if the flight isn't canceled / changed, for flights by Sept booked by May, right? That's how I'm reading their policy.
And those e-credits will expire one year from original to ticket date (I'm guess it's fly by that date, not book by).
How does combining multiple e-credits work? Just book a more expensive refundable fare with several of them and switch it to whatever my desired route is when the time comes?
And those e-credits will expire one year from original to ticket date (I'm guess it's fly by that date, not book by).
How does combining multiple e-credits work? Just book a more expensive refundable fare with several of them and switch it to whatever my desired route is when the time comes?
May 3, 2020, 10:41 am
#553
Suspended
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 3
AMEX clawbacks
Doctor of Credit has reported on AMEX clawing back airline credits that violated the terms of service going back as far as 2 years. (I couldn’t post the URL) They are either sending a bill in the mail or posting a charge to your account if it’s still open. I have not experienced the clawback myself (knock on wood). Has anyone here experienced the clawback?
These reports definitely make me skeptical moving forward. I’m reluctant to try going thru all the effort of jumping thru hoops to use these credits if they may just get clawed back a year or two later. Any thoughts on this?
EDIT: Would mileage boosters be one of the main benefits at this point that doesn’t violate the terms of service? (Besides baggage fees, change fees etc)
These reports definitely make me skeptical moving forward. I’m reluctant to try going thru all the effort of jumping thru hoops to use these credits if they may just get clawed back a year or two later. Any thoughts on this?
EDIT: Would mileage boosters be one of the main benefits at this point that doesn’t violate the terms of service? (Besides baggage fees, change fees etc)
May 3, 2020, 11:25 am
#554
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,959
May 3, 2020, 11:51 am
#555
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 15
Doctor of Credit has reported on AMEX clawing back airline credits that violated the terms of service going back as far as 2 years. (I couldn’t post the URL) They are either sending a bill in the mail or posting a charge to your account if it’s still open. I have not experienced the clawback myself (knock on wood). Has anyone here experienced the clawback?
These reports definitely make me skeptical moving forward. I’m reluctant to try going thru all the effort of jumping thru hoops to use these credits if they may just get clawed back a year or two later. Any thoughts on this?
EDIT: Would mileage boosters be one of the main benefits at this point that doesn’t violate the terms of service? (Besides baggage fees, change fees etc)
These reports definitely make me skeptical moving forward. I’m reluctant to try going thru all the effort of jumping thru hoops to use these credits if they may just get clawed back a year or two later. Any thoughts on this?
EDIT: Would mileage boosters be one of the main benefits at this point that doesn’t violate the terms of service? (Besides baggage fees, change fees etc)
I believe the clawbacks are only if you get refunded on the Amex. So if you book a flight and the airline cancels and refunded you the actual cash via Amex they will absolutely take back the credit. but if you actually fly or if you receive an e-credit the charge is never refunded by amex so they don't try and clawback any credit.