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It’s the start of a new week and a new month so we’re seeing Amex launching a number of new targeted offers today. One of these offers is for spending made with Delta Vacations and is offering up to $600 in statement credits for bookings paid for before the end of the year.
Spend $1,000 and get $200 back (up to 3 times) with Delta Vacations
Headline Details
Get a $200 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to spend a minimum of $1,000 in a purchase of one or more Delta Vacations packages online at delta.com/vacations by 12/31/2021. Limit of 3 statement credits (total of $600).
Key Terms
- Must first add offer to Card and then use same Card to redeem.
- Limit 1 enrolled Card per Card Member across all American Express offer channels.
- Your enrollment of an eligible American Express Card for this offer extends only to that Card.
- Offer valid for vacation package purchases made directly with Delta Vacations online only at US website delta.com/vacations, or by calling Delta Vacations at 1-800-800-1504.
- Qualifying spend must occur between November 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, whether paying for the vacation package in-full, or paying a deposit + balance.
- Valid only on purchases made in US dollars.
- Vacation packages must minimally include hotel and flight accommodations in order to qualify.
- Not valid on stand-alone flight, hotel, and car rental bookings made through delta.com.
- Excludes escorted tours and river cruises booked through Globus.
- Limit of 3 statement credits (total of $600 back) per Card Member.
- Statement credit will appear on your billing statement within 90 days after 12/31/2021, provided that American Express receives information from the merchant about your qualifying purchase.
See your targeted offer for full terms and conditions.
Thoughts
Ideally, this would have been an offer for all Delta spending and not just spending made with Delta Vacations but that doesn’t mean that this offer can’t have its uses.
The first thing to note is that the terms and conditions make it very clear that a hotel stay must be included in a booking for it to trigger a statement credit so “flight + car” bookings will not be good enough.
That’s a shame. Any hotel bookings made through Delta Vacations will be viewed as 3rd party bookings by the property and so will not earn guests any points in that hotel’s loyalty program. Guests will also not be able to make the most of any elite status benefits they may have with that hotel’s loyalty program. If hotel points and elite status benefits are important to you, the value of this offer should be viewed alongside the value of the points and benefits that you would be giving up.
On short stays, this probably won’t be an issue. On stays of more than a couple of nights, however, the benefits offered by high elite status could well outweigh the statement credit(s) being made available here.
One thing that may be worth looking into is the possibility of making a flight + hotel booking where the hotel is only booked for a single night of a much longer stay. This doesn’t appear to be something that’s possible via the Delta Vacations website but may be possible by calling Delta Vacations via the number listed in the terms and conditions.
If this is possible and as long as the booking remains a “flight + hotel” booking and not two separate bookings (one flight booking and one hotel booking), you could book a single night at the cheapest hotel available at your destination via Delta Vacations and spend the rest of your trip at a hotel you book separately while still triggering the statement credit. You could even ignore the cheap hotel booking completely if it’s incredibly cheap (i.e never check-in).
Bottom Line
Amex has launched a new promotion for bookings made with Delta Vacations that include a hotel stay. Up to $600 in statement credits is on offer for bookings made through the end of the year but anyone considering making the most of this offer should keep in mind the restrictions that come with 3rd party hotel bookings. If you have high elite status with one or more hotel chains the savings from the Amex offer may not cover what you lose. If you don’t have hotel elite status or simply don’t care about missing out on elite benefits, the savings on offer could be worthwhile.
