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)
Jan 8, 2022, 3:31 pm
#61
Join Date: Apr 2021
Posts: 27
I need suggestions for this scenario:
4 travelers: 2 adult, 2 minors under 16, we have tentative plans for Canada in late summer.
P1: $700 eCredit (expires 12/31/22)
P2: $450 ticket (changeable, value of original ticket expires ~12/31/22)
P3: minor
P4: minor
Delta GCs of various denominations totaling ~$2000
Remaining 2022 AmEx airline credits I would like to use:
$200 Biz Platinum
$200 Biz Platinum
$200 Platinum
$200 Schwab Platinum
$200 Schwab Platinum
I can't combine P1 or P2 and either kid on a new itinerary because you cannot combine eCredit and GC, which is necessary for additional collection on the second passenger ticket. I tried separate itineraries for each kid, GC & balance on an eligible AmEx, but minors flying solo cannot be booked online. Should I call and try to book each minor on "parallel" itineraries with either P1 or P2, with a GC and eligible AmEx? If that works, would there be any problem canceling (for eCredit) or changing a minor ticket online for a more expensive ticket & using another AmEx for more additional collection? I had hoped to burn through additional collections on all our AmEx cards, creating separate eCredits for all 4 of us and then final book when the schedule is ironed out. Currently tickets are running $450-$650/person for our target dates and destinations.
4 travelers: 2 adult, 2 minors under 16, we have tentative plans for Canada in late summer.
P1: $700 eCredit (expires 12/31/22)
P2: $450 ticket (changeable, value of original ticket expires ~12/31/22)
P3: minor
P4: minor
Delta GCs of various denominations totaling ~$2000
Remaining 2022 AmEx airline credits I would like to use:
$200 Biz Platinum
$200 Biz Platinum
$200 Platinum
$200 Schwab Platinum
$200 Schwab Platinum
I can't combine P1 or P2 and either kid on a new itinerary because you cannot combine eCredit and GC, which is necessary for additional collection on the second passenger ticket. I tried separate itineraries for each kid, GC & balance on an eligible AmEx, but minors flying solo cannot be booked online. Should I call and try to book each minor on "parallel" itineraries with either P1 or P2, with a GC and eligible AmEx? If that works, would there be any problem canceling (for eCredit) or changing a minor ticket online for a more expensive ticket & using another AmEx for more additional collection? I had hoped to burn through additional collections on all our AmEx cards, creating separate eCredits for all 4 of us and then final book when the schedule is ironed out. Currently tickets are running $450-$650/person for our target dates and destinations.
Jan 9, 2022, 12:00 pm
#62
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 88
expiration dates
Slightly off-topic, but let's say I have a $50 E-credit expiring next month. I book a new flight for $250 with the e-credit + CC and then cancel it. I now have a $250 e-credit. Is the expiration going to be next month, or does it get reset to a year?
Jan 9, 2022, 8:29 pm
#63
Join Date: Feb 2020
Programs: Amex, Citi
Posts: 15
Just another few DPs. Seems like these took longer to post than some have in the past.
Business Plat
1/3: Bought $211.30 flight with $50 GC
1/7: Meter moved
1/9: Credit posted
CS Plat
1/4: Bought $214.60 flight w/ ecredit
1/7: Posted
1/9: Meter moved and credit posted
Vanilla Plat
1/4: Bought $230.70 flight w/ GC
1/7: Posted
1/10: Meter moved, credit not posted yet
Business Plat
1/3: Bought $211.30 flight with $50 GC
1/7: Meter moved
1/9: Credit posted
CS Plat
1/4: Bought $214.60 flight w/ ecredit
1/7: Posted
1/9: Meter moved and credit posted
Vanilla Plat
1/4: Bought $230.70 flight w/ GC
1/7: Posted
1/10: Meter moved, credit not posted yet
Last edited by hman1359; Jan 10, 2022 at 4:38 pm
Jan 10, 2022, 4:46 am
#64
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New York City
Programs: UA: 1K, Hyatt: Explorist and Marriott: LF Titanium Elite
Posts: 1,268
Just another data point (will update when things post and meters move):
Personal American Express:
Personal American Express:
- January 7: Bought $538.60 ticket with a ecredit of $308.40
- January 9: It posted on AMEX for $230.20 as "Additional Collection"
- January 10: Meter hasn't moved as of this morning
- January 11: Meter moved and $200 credited
Last edited by LDNConsultant; Jan 11, 2022 at 6:10 am
Jan 10, 2022, 9:46 am
#65
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: BA Silver, SPG Platinum
Posts: 24
Additional Collection Collecting AF Pounts?
Hi all,
Bought some tickets with GCs on my CS Plat, Plat & Aspire. They posted today (as additional correction but the meter hasn’t moved yet…), but they get 5x MR and 7x Hilton points and are marked as airfare. Is this normal?
Thanks
Bought some tickets with GCs on my CS Plat, Plat & Aspire. They posted today (as additional correction but the meter hasn’t moved yet…), but they get 5x MR and 7x Hilton points and are marked as airfare. Is this normal?
Thanks
Jan 10, 2022, 10:48 am
#66
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SFO/SEA
Programs: Amex Biz Cent, Marriott LTP, Avis PC, Hilton Owners Diamond, AS MVP
Posts: 3,380
Similar situation here as well:
1/4 booked a $248 flight using $50 GC and $198 charged to Amex
1/6 transaction posted with additional collection in description
no credit or change in meter as of now (1/7 10AM). Am a bit surprised since it sounds like the meter has moved almost immediately upon charge posting for most people
I need to do this with two other Plat cards but definitely want to wait on the credit posting from the first one before I jump through the hoops to continue with other cards
1/4 booked a $248 flight using $50 GC and $198 charged to Amex
1/6 transaction posted with additional collection in description
no credit or change in meter as of now (1/7 10AM). Am a bit surprised since it sounds like the meter has moved almost immediately upon charge posting for most people
I need to do this with two other Plat cards but definitely want to wait on the credit posting from the first one before I jump through the hoops to continue with other cards
1/10 - meter moved and credit posted but for some reason backdated to 1/8. I was checked daily between 1/6 and 1/10 and nothing updated till today. Coincidentally enough, two other Amex-offered credits all posted at the same time with the same backdate (Saks credit and a retention statement credit). There must have been some batch process that happened on that day.
Jan 10, 2022, 11:10 am
#67
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SFO/SEA
Programs: Amex Biz Cent, Marriott LTP, Avis PC, Hilton Owners Diamond, AS MVP
Posts: 3,380
So just to confirm, your remaining charge after the gift card was $240 and you were able to successfully get the $200? I just want to confirm because I'm having a difficult time finding something exactly close to $447 (i.e, around $200 charge to card after accounting for my existing $247 ecredit). I don't mind eating a few dollars if I find something that results in just over $200 charged to the card, but just want to make sure an additional collection that's over $200 is still picked up for reimbursement
Jan 10, 2022, 11:11 am
#68
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SFO/SEA
Programs: Amex Biz Cent, Marriott LTP, Avis PC, Hilton Owners Diamond, AS MVP
Posts: 3,380
deleted for duplicate post
Jan 10, 2022, 11:18 am
#69
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: 18,923
Anything up to $250 will work.
Jan 10, 2022, 1:17 pm
#70
Join Date: Dec 2021
Posts: 6
Sharing another DP as the credit (both on the Amex Benefits page and on the Amex Statement) took longer than when I did the same thing a few weeks ago in 2021.
1/4: Purchased main cabin flight $447.60 through Delta site using $248.40 eCredit and remaining $199.20 on Amex Plat
1/6: Transaction of $199.20 posted (if you click on transaction on a desktop, you can see it described as "Additional Collection")
1/9: The Amex credit of $199.2 showed on statement, and through Amex Benefits, saw that $199.20 of my $200 credit had been used
1/10: Cancelled flight in exchange for eCredit of $447.60
So if you're only a couple days past the transaction post date, don't worry. There's hope!
1/4: Purchased main cabin flight $447.60 through Delta site using $248.40 eCredit and remaining $199.20 on Amex Plat
1/6: Transaction of $199.20 posted (if you click on transaction on a desktop, you can see it described as "Additional Collection")
1/9: The Amex credit of $199.2 showed on statement, and through Amex Benefits, saw that $199.20 of my $200 credit had been used
1/10: Cancelled flight in exchange for eCredit of $447.60
So if you're only a couple days past the transaction post date, don't worry. There's hope!
Jan 10, 2022, 1:27 pm
#71
Join Date: Sep 2020
Programs: Hilton Diamond
Posts: 97
Pretty sure the eCredit expiration will not change. I'd love to be wrong, but I wouldn't count on it
Jan 10, 2022, 4:31 pm
#72
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 5
A couple of questions about this method:
* If I don't have any DL status, does the ticket have to be refundable? I can't find anywhere on ticket booking page that NF tickets can be cancelled for free with ecredits received.
* Do we earn 5x points for the remaining A/C balance that is charged on a Plat card?
* If I don't have any DL status, does the ticket have to be refundable? I can't find anywhere on ticket booking page that NF tickets can be cancelled for free with ecredits received.
* Do we earn 5x points for the remaining A/C balance that is charged on a Plat card?
Jan 10, 2022, 4:37 pm
#73
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Jan 10, 2022, 6:45 pm
#74
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 60
Hello,
I purchased refundable ticket for $260 using $50 gift card. Now I found another ticket that I want to use this $260, and price of the ticket is $395 for nonrefundable fares.
When I check from modify flights, it just gives me option for refundable fares which is over $1000+ for the same $395 flight.
Is there any workaround to change refundable ticket to nonrefundable ticket?
I purchased refundable ticket for $260 using $50 gift card. Now I found another ticket that I want to use this $260, and price of the ticket is $395 for nonrefundable fares.
When I check from modify flights, it just gives me option for refundable fares which is over $1000+ for the same $395 flight.
Is there any workaround to change refundable ticket to nonrefundable ticket?
Jan 10, 2022, 7:36 pm
#75
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 5
A couple of questions about this method:
* If I don't have any DL status, does the ticket have to be refundable? I can't find anywhere on ticket booking page that NF tickets can be cancelled for free with ecredits received.
* Do we earn 5x points for the remaining A/C balance that is charged on a Plat card?
* If I don't have any DL status, does the ticket have to be refundable? I can't find anywhere on ticket booking page that NF tickets can be cancelled for free with ecredits received.
* Do we earn 5x points for the remaining A/C balance that is charged on a Plat card?