January 22, 2017

Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles $100 Statement Credit

In the past year or so, Emily and I have picked up 6 Delta SkyMiles Amex cards.  With the miles, I was able to book a roundtrip business class award to Seoul and we'll have north of 200,000 miles leftover for another trip in the future.

All of the Delta Amex cards come with a Delta statement credit of sorts.  The Gold cards offer a $50 statement credit (first year annual fee waived) on a Delta purchase while the Platinum cards offer a $100 statement credit along with a $195 annual fee.

I figured that I'd need to make a $50 or $100 purchase to trigger the credit in each case.  I found out last week that I was wrong.  For the past credits, I've bought gift cards which triggered the credit and then used them for Delta flights.  So no big deal.


Taxes and fees for my award ticket came to around $88.  I put the charge on Emily's Platinum Delta card figuring the fees would be fully refunded and I'd find something in the future to trigger the remaining $12 credit.  To my surprise, the entire $100 statement credit posted to the account.

So if you don't value the statement credit as cash, buy something small on Delta (lowest gift card denomination is $50) and you'll get the entire statement credit.  That makes this a moneymaker on the gold cards where the annual fee is waived for the first year.  Wish I would have known this on card number one vs. six!

1 comment:

  1. Great news-- I've had the gold delta amex and have NEVER used the $50 credit. Didn't even know about it in fact! Where do you go to redeem gift cards?

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