Jan 1, 2022, 10:29 am
Last edit by: mia
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.
Previous versions of this thread:
2020-2021: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...2020-21-a.html
2015-2019: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...15-2019-a.html
Read this primer first
Additional Collections/Split Tender -- THIS IS A LOOPHOLE. BE DISCREET
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:
Gift cards purchased directly from Delta online are often not activated until 24-72 hours later as an anti-fraud measure. Physical gift cards purchased in retail stores (grocery, office, etc.) may activate sooner. Buying a cheap eCredit avoids these issues.
More details:
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.
Previous versions of this thread:
2020-2021: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...2020-21-a.html
2015-2019: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...15-2019-a.html
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. (Gold card $100 credit is gone as of 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
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 -- exactly $250 is known to work)
- 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.
Gift cards purchased directly from Delta online are often not activated until 24-72 hours later as an anti-fraud measure. Physical gift cards purchased in retail stores (grocery, office, etc.) may activate sooner. Buying a cheap eCredit avoids these issues.
More details:
- 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. An existing eCredit, or modifying an unflown ticket, will work just as well. 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 $230 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.
- If for example you wanted to buy 2 $125 tickets ($250 total) using 2 $50 gift cards, if you bought both in a single transaction both gift cards would apply to the first ticket -- in order to get 2 $75 additional collection charges you would have to buy the 2 tickets in separate transactions using one gift card on each. Note that there may be other downsides to buying the tickets in separate transactions, including that you could be separated if there are schedule changes or day-of flight cancellations (Delta should be able to put you back together after the former, but may not be able to do after the latter), and there could be implications for how various benefits are treated, such as losing the ability to share a credit card holder bag fee wavier with companions or in some cases resulting in different rules around Medallion companion upgrades.
- 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 (and will remain as an ecredit in the account of the named person, available for future use).
- Using Pay With Miles for multiple people works differently as well -- see this post for details.
- 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.
- There is no particular reason to be in a rush to cancel the ticket. You can avoid the headache of guessing whether the risk-free period has passed by simply booking a ticket that is weeks or months in the future (just remember to cancel it, or change it to a ticket you actually intend to fly, before the flight time on the original ticket). Alternatively you can contact Delta and explicitly request an eCredit (they will be happy to hold on to your money even if you were theoretically eligible for a full refund)
- 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 such as food and drinks
- Wifi passes to the new Viasat system may reimburse; wifi purchases on the old Gogo system do not. More information about which provider is available on which plane can be found here; Viasat flights offer a $5 per flight pass while Gogo usually charges more than that and is purchased from a website with Gogo in the URL.
- 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 reimbursement reports: DL only (2022)
Feb 20, 2022, 2:47 am
#226
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle
Programs: AAdvantage Plat+, FoundersCard, Amex Plat, TR Diamond, Marriott Gold, Wyndham Dia, HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 785
In the Wiki it says "The feature is activated immediately upon airline designation", but I also see people advising waiting 24-48 hours after changing my designated airline to Delta. I just now (over Amex Chat on my Personal Plat) changed my Airline from WN to DL, and I can see in the Benefits tab that the change is reflected. I'd like to book award tickets that will result in charges of $75 + $75 + $34 + $34, which should soak up my whole $200 benefit. Can I do it right away or do I need to wait a day or so?
Feb 20, 2022, 6:50 am
#227
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 218
In the Wiki it says "The feature is activated immediately upon airline designation", but I also see people advising waiting 24-48 hours after changing my designated airline to Delta. I just now (over Amex Chat on my Personal Plat) changed my Airline from WN to DL, and I can see in the Benefits tab that the change is reflected. I'd like to book award tickets that will result in charges of $75 + $75 + $34 + $34, which should soak up my whole $200 benefit. Can I do it right away or do I need to wait a day or so?
Feb 20, 2022, 7:19 am
#228
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
There are anecdotal reports both ways. The inconsistency tells me that an email or an online listing is not enough to be certain that the change has populated all of the relevant American Express databases. I would wait 48 hours.
Feb 24, 2022, 11:10 am
#230
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: London, England
Programs: Air Canada 50K (Star Alliance Gold), IHG Spire Elite, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 4
Can someone please confirm if I can immediately change a flight after booking it (to a more expensive flight) and have the difference coded as AC?
Feb 24, 2022, 11:17 am
#231
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,369
You shouldn't try this immediately after booking. You don't want the agent to use the 24 hour cancel on the first ticket so that you get a full refund to the card and then start over with a purchase transaction for the second ticket. I wouldn't trust a phone agent to understand and get it right for you.
Feb 24, 2022, 11:20 am
#232
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: London, England
Programs: Air Canada 50K (Star Alliance Gold), IHG Spire Elite, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 4
You shouldn't try this immediately after booking. You don't want the agent to use the 24 hour cancel on the first ticket so that you get a full refund to the card and then start over with a purchase transaction for the second ticket. I wouldn't trust a phone agent to understand and get it right for you.
Last edited by FrequentFlyerLHR; Feb 24, 2022 at 11:20 am Reason: added quote
Feb 24, 2022, 3:00 pm
#233
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: 18,895
Changing your flight via the website should be fine, even inside 24h.
Feb 24, 2022, 4:19 pm
#234
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: London, England
Programs: Air Canada 50K (Star Alliance Gold), IHG Spire Elite, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 4
Feb 26, 2022, 1:16 pm
#235
Join Date: Feb 2022
Posts: 5
Anyone booked multiple tickets using Pay with Miles?
"Gift cards are used starting with the first ticket until they are exhausted." Is it the same with Pay with Miles? I would like to book all my tickets on the same reservation if possible. Does Delta apply the miles starting with the first ticket like GCs or do you specify miles for each individual ticket in the reservation?
Feb 26, 2022, 2:02 pm
#236
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle
Programs: AAdvantage Plat+, FoundersCard, Amex Plat, TR Diamond, Marriott Gold, Wyndham Dia, HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 785
In the Wiki it says "The feature is activated immediately upon airline designation", but I also see people advising waiting 24-48 hours after changing my designated airline to Delta. I just now (over Amex Chat on my Personal Plat) changed my Airline from WN to DL, and I can see in the Benefits tab that the change is reflected. I'd like to book award tickets that will result in charges of $75 + $75 + $34 + $34, which should soak up my whole $200 benefit. Can I do it right away or do I need to wait a day or so?
2/20 1AM realized I could get the Amex plat credit for this but needed to change airline
2/20 1:05AM Risk-Free-Canceled the segment
2/21 1:15AM Used online chat to change airline WN->DL
2/22 2PM Booked all 4 award segments approx $74 x2 + $35 x2
2/24 meter shows all $200 used
2/24 JUST FOR LOLZ Amex Offers now shows $100 off $300 on Delta, too late these tix
2/25 $200 credit posted
Feb 27, 2022, 9:55 pm
#238
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,421
Feb 28, 2022, 8:53 am
#239
Join Date: Feb 2022
Posts: 5
Booking multiple tickets via Pay with Miles is not the same as gift cards
"Gift cards are used starting with the first ticket until they are exhausted." Is it the same with Pay with Miles? I would like to book all my tickets on the same reservation if possible. Does Delta apply the miles starting with the first ticket like GCs or do you specify miles for each individual ticket in the reservation?
Feb 28, 2022, 8:55 am
#240
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,050
Following up on this: I decided to just go ahead and try booking multiple tickets via Pay with Miles. When booking, you select that you want to use Pay with Miles and choose a pre-determined amount of points to convert to cash (lowest you can do is 50k = $50). Unlike the gift cards, Pay with Miles will then be deducted from each and EVERY ticket. So, for example, if you're booking four tickets, the 50k/$50 will be taken from every ticket for a total of 200k/$200. You cannot choose which tickets on the reservation to apply the Pay with Miles (important to know since Pay with Miles is usually not as good of a deal as a straight-up points). When you're completing you're booking, it will show how much you will be paying in cash after applying the Pay with Miles for the total of all the tickets together. When it's charged to your Amex, it will show this total when the transaction is pending, but when the transaction posts it splits it up into individual transactions. So, for example, if you charged $100 to your Amex for four tickets, the pending transaction would say $100, but once it posted, it would break it up into four $25 transactions. All of the transactions say "Additional Collection" with the name of the person on the ticket. I booked the tickets 2 days ago. The transactions just posted this morning, but my meter hasn't moved yet.