Well, here’s some good-ish news regarding Amex airline incidental credits.
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about Delta SkyMiles Select — a $59 feature entitling SkyMiles members to Main Cabin 1 boarding, eight adult beverage vouchers, and a limited edition Delta “brag tag”.
Because Delta gift cards no longer code against premium Amex cards’ annual airline incidental credit, many people are sitting on a lot of unused credit.
Two Amex cards offering an annual airline incidental credit:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express ($200 annual airline incidental credit)
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express ($200 annual airline incidental credit)
I bit the bullet and used the remaining yearly credits from my Platinum Card® from American Express airline incidental credit as an experiment.
Worst case scenario: I ended up spending $59 for $80 worth of drink tickets. (And let’s not forget the limited edition brag tag! 😉 )
There are worse problems in the world.
At first, things didn’t look good (for the Amex incidental credit).
On October 21, reader Roger asked me if the $59 credited back to my Platinum Card® from American Express. I checked my Amex account and responded that, unfortunately, it didn’t.
But when I logged on to pay my bill yesterday, I noticed this little gem:
It took a while to post, but Delta SkyMiles Select counted toward my Amex Platinum airline incidental credit!
So I’m only out of pocket $3.26 for $80 worth of drink tickets since I only had $55.74 credits remaining for the year to spend.
The HOOU coupons loaded digitally into my Fly Delta App and in “My Delta” on Delta.com and they expire in one year. Now I am just waiting for the a brag tag in the mail – I simply can not wait to see it!
Should You Buy SkyMiles Select?
Many Rene’s Points readers are Delta Medallions and/or have Delta Amex cards — so buying Main Cabin 1 boarding would be wasteful.
That said: if you have Amex airline incidental credit just sitting around, you can now consider buying SkyMiles Select if you have chosen Delta as your airline credit partner. I know it’s not how you envisioned using your $200 (or $100) — but it’s better than nothing.
Why? Take a look.
If you don’t like alcohol or all of your Delta flights are in first class or Comfort Plus i.e. C+ (where adult beverages are free), you can gift the drink vouchers to others (print them on paper or to PDF or send them a screen shot of the HOOU from your Fly Delta App works as well). Or you could treat a few coach passengers to drinks. Maybe consider donating them to the blog for a Swag Saturday giveaway? Lastly, many medallions, who could get a C+ seat for free, prefer to select an exit row seat (where you do not get free drinks – even as an elite member) due to the fact that sometimes a C+ “upgrade” can cost you a real upgrade to first class!
More to Come
We’re getting lots of questions about how to use the airline incidental credit, now that Delta gift cards no longer count.
I’ve personally tested out a few different scenarios and will have a post early next week about what’s worked and what hasn’t.
All is not yet lost fellow Delta fliers.
— Chris
American Express Cards with Annual Airline Incidental Credit 
Platinum Card® from American Express ($200 annual airline incidental credit)
Business Platinum Card® from American Express ($200 annual airline incidental credit)
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card ($250 annual airline incidental credit)
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Thanks for this man. It’s always fun buying drinks for people in coach and this is WAY better than letting these expire unused. Appreciate the tip. Now for that third Woodford in 3B : )
Can you buy Delta SkyMiles Select for yourself and other people? Or does is it only for the Card holder?
@Eric: Should be able to.
Hi Chris,
My comment isn’t directly related to your topic but the closest I can find related to using the annual $200 airline fee credit. I don’t recall reading any articles you or Rene have done using this method as a way to get the credit.
A few weeks ago I bought Pay with Miles tickets for my wife and I to check out a new city we might relocate to (not gonna’ happen) and I didn’t want to completely pay with miles (there was ~$270 total) left to pay. I mistakenly paid that remainder with my AmEx Platinum (as I wanted to use the Delta AmEx reserve for the $ spend). A few days later doing the routine charge check of my AmEx accounts I was pleased to find two AmEx credits to the Platinum account of $135.40 and $64.60, to max out my $200 benefit, sweet! Below are the cost itemizations of one of the two tickets.
Fare Difference – $47.90 USD
Taxes, Fees & Charges – $87.50 USD
Service Charge – $0.00 USD
Total Charged – $135.40 USD
Thanks for all the great tips you and Rene provide. I’ve zeroed out this year’s $575 cost of the Platinum ($200 airline credit, $180 in the $30 * 6 months of PayPal, $100 Home Depot, $100 Best Buy). I haven’t found anything at Sak’s to interest me in the $50 per half but may.
Great utilization of the airline credit!
As for Saks, check out this post. I love Gucci’s mens cologne. It costs around $90. So I used my $50 credit for that and stacked with a great Rakuten offer. It ended up costing me, like, $36. So there are plenty of ways to work the credit. They even sell drinking glasses and other stuff like that.