WidgetTravels

No, there isn't. As long as the flights you want have a published LUTXV fare available , or AI for First Class, the certificate will price.

There may be flights where there are LUTXV seats, but no fares that the customer is eligible for, for reasons like advance purchase, minimum stay, day/time restrictions, etc.

But if you can buy 2 seats in those fare classes, you can use the certificate.

rylan

A few years ago when the booking engine for companion certs was horribly dysfunctional, it appeared that inventory was being hidden or there was some super-secret subset. It would regularly only display a few flights even though more were available in the eligible buckets.

With the new/current engine I haven't seen that issue occur, and it presents a variety of options... along with more possibilities if you are using the reserve cert since it will also give C+ for a segment if A/I is not available.

Online SDC however... now thats a different story with not showing all (or sometimes any) of the options

BusTrav8yrs

I believe at one time there was a "hidden" inventory and sub-fare basis because I would routinely find the A fare with the cert priced at a completely different (and often more than double) for the same A fare without the cert. I have not seen this behavior for over a year now so it seems that perhaps the hidden bucket is gone.

WidgetTravels

That definitely was an issue in the past, as most discounted First Class fares had a /WNUP designator, and since fares can't have two designators, there was no way to add the certificate designator and it wouldn't price (agents could manually price it).

Since Delta changed how discounted First Class fare basis codes are written, this isn't a concern anymore.

rylan

Yup, and I also think fares can have extended/additional designators now also in a different field of the ticket info.

mother-

Well then I humbly apologize, and clearly haven't tried since the change!

iflyalexair

You will get the certificate based on the card that is active just days before the account anniversary. I move through platinum to reserve on both of my cards each year. I make sure that my business amex, which has an account anniversary in July, is reserve by then and I get the reserve certificate.

Here was the timeline this year:

Held Platinum from Jan 1, 2017 to approx June 15, 2017.
Upgraded to Reserve on June 15, 2017 (ish).
Reserve Companion Certificate in my Delta wallet on July 4, 2017
12th month in my account year closed on July 7, 2017.
Reserve Annual fee assessed on July 7, 2017.

gooselee

1. In a thread about the success/failure of using the certs, where the underlying question many people are interested in is "Is the Amex that provides these certs worthwhile?", I think it's absolutely valid to discuss successes and derived value. For those of us that get good value from the certs, our experience and valuation is just as valid as anyone elses.

2. If you have no use for your Reserve certs, there are many on this thread (including me) who will happily take them off your hands.

3. As stated in #1 , many of us see the certs as a very large part of the value of the DL Amex cards, thus any discussion of the certs and their usability is, in fact, a discussion about the plusses/minuses of the Amex cards from which they come.

But that's just, like, my opinion.

This. I used to notice this as well (although, it was never a problem for me personally, just by luck of the draw I guess). However, for the two certs I used this year, every single flight that was selling "regular" tickets in the relevant fare classes also showed up in a search using the cert, and for the same price.

rylan

It certainly was badly broken at one point / for a while... I looked at fare basis that the cert was pulling and it was obvious that it was looking for specific fares and couldn't handle the /wnups but needed the old 'legacy' fares with the up contained in the basis and not as a designator. Unfortunately what this did was break many routes, since those fares weren't even filed on them... or they were only in high buckets. So the cert ended up going up the chain until it found one, or it pulled a full YUP and quoted that as booking into A/I.

Luckily it did get fixed somewhere along the line and seems to be pretty well behaved now.

cardsqc

Thanks. I did end up going and updating the card a couple days ago, so with my anniversary next month, looks like I should hopefully get the reserve certificate. Sounds good.

essexnyc

Was able to book JFK-LAX-JFK economy companion ticket to drop my son off at LAX for an international flight and pick him back up a couple of weeks later. Availability was on the dates I wanted at not-too-inconvenient times. I also had some other flights in between (getting me to work-then-home-then-work locations), which I was a little concerned could cause a glitch in the middle of my round trip, but it was all seamless. We were both moved (I can't say "upgraded" with a straight face) to C+ for both legs. Saved me $300 in unaccompanied minor fees and gave me 4,500 MQM compared to my just buying a ticket for him solo so positive outcome all around.

GoAmtrak

From MSP, using the Reserve cert for an A fare on MSP-SFO was a great sweet spot this year. Worked out to $395 r/t each. ^

I wonder about this, too. I canceled my AX DL Plat a few weeks ago when the annual fee came due, and the certificate is still in my account. However, unlike FlightNurse, I also still have the Reserve card. So presumably, if the cert stays in my account (I'll give it a few months before trying anything), I could still use the remaining branded AX to pay. But I fully expect it to be rescinded eventually.

gooselee

FWIW, Mrs. Lee had a DL Gold card once upon a time. She cancelled after the first AF hit, but the cert stayed in her account (it was deposited the same time the AF was billed - she never paid the AF as she cancelled right after that).

She redeemed the cert a couple months later for a flight three months after that, total 5 months after cancelling the Amex we flew the trip with no issues. This was 3+ years ago, so take it for what it's worth.

iflyalexair

Once the certificate is in your delta account, it's safe. Period. You need any AMEX to ticket.

Zorak

Just booked BWI-TPA for a Christmas cruise. 3 out of 4 legs in A, the 4th in L (there were all-A itineraries available but they don't work with the cruise timing).

Not the best use of the Reserve cert, but I was unlikely to find any other use for it before it expired.

Dunno what the reduced inventory/fare bucket conspiracy theorists will make of this:

Cheapest search result for 1 pax in Y: $678 (K outbound, Q/X broken fare inbound or $683 for straight K/Q)

Cheapest search result for 1 pax in F: $985 (A)

Reserve cert cost for 2 pax: $752 for the primary + $45 in fees for the companion (the $752 was quoted for basically all itineraries regardless of 0, 1, or 2 segments in coach)

I don't see how this pricing makes any sense, but I'm calling it a success

I can confirm this, at least so far. I no longer hold the Reserve card that spawned this (in fact, did not even have any type of AMEX card for ~2 months) but paid for this with a DL Plat.