Update: Gary Leff at View from the Wing and Dave Grossman at Miles Talk both quote sources at Amex stating that this partnership is not ending. Both point to the Delta private jets program as being what the language on the application terms page is meant to cover. While that would certainly make some sense given the date, the private jets discount is referenced elsewhere in the terms and not at all in the section highlighted below. I’d love to see Amex clean up the terms to make whatever they meant clearer, but I do believe those sources that say that Amex will not lose Delta as a transfer partner. That’s the best outcome here.
Loyalty Lobby reports on a juicy rumor that Delta will stop being an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner after 8/31/21. I find this scenario somewhat hard to believe, but John Ollila shares a screen shot from someone’s Membership Rewards account that notes the partnership ending on 8/31/21 and a reader of ours had also pointed out a similar observation in terms elsewhere, so it is at least possible that this transfer partnership will end even though my gut instinct is that it is unlikely.
Again, John shares a screen shot from the Delta transfer page of a cardholder’s account. Under the SkyMiles member name and number for the transfer, it says:
Starting August 8/31/21 [sic], the Delta SkyMiles/American Express transfer program benefit will end.
Note the typo — my first indication that something may be amiss is that they wrote out the month name and then also used the numerical abbreviation for the month. That doesn’t sound like a final draft of something written by the bank, but on the other hand they had a number of typographical errors in the Resy offer when it was first published, so perhaps the typo here shouldn’t be surprising.
To be clear, not all cardholders are seeing that message. I don’t see it in our accounts and neither does Greg.
However, an eagle-eyed reader also pointed out a similar note in the terms on an Amex Platinum card application. They noticed this in the terms (still there are the time of writing in the offer terms on the Resy offer).
SkyMiles Program
This benefit will end on 8/31/21. All Delta SkyMiles® program rules apply to SkyMiles program membership, miles, offers, mile accrual, mile redemption and travel benefits. To review the rules, please visit delta.com/memberguide. Taxes and fees for Award Travel are the responsibility of the passenger and must be paid at the time the ticket is booked. Award Travel seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or in all markets. Partners airline benefits subject to change and subject to the terms and conditions of each partner. All Delta Sky Club rules apply to Delta Sky Club use. To review the rules visit Delta.com/skyclub. Offer, rules and benefits subject to change.
While the above didn’t seem particularly clear, the appearance of two mentions in separate places lends some credibility here.
Delta and Amex obviously have a huge partnership. With 7 Delta credit cards currently available, Delta SkyClub access for Platinum cardholders, and Centurion lounge and now Escape lounge access for Delta Reserve cardholders, and all of the associated marketing tie-ins, it just seems hard for me to imagine that they wouldn’t continue to have Delta as a transfer partner. American Express must buy a lot of Delta miles. You would think it would be in the best interest of both sides to maintain the relationship.
On the other hand, some have surely wondered whether the recent glut of Amex points being forced upon the masses might mean some sort of devaluation of Membership Rewards. Is this the first step in that direction?
Personally, I wouldn’t be all that upset to lose Delta as a transfer partner since I never use Delta SkyMiles and the excise tax that Amex charges for transfers to domestic airline programs turns me off on transfers from Amex to US-based programs. But I imagine that many customers do take advantage of transfers to Delta, so this would be huge news if true.
Again, I find it hard to believe this would be happening, but I don’t have an explanation as to why some members would be seeing a message about the partnership ending and why it exists in the terms. Hopefully we won’t see other more valuable partnerships end. If Amex were to lose partners like ANA and Aeroplan, those would be an even bigger hit. Here’s hoping this doesn’t actually happen and that there is no more news on this front.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Mountain meet molehill. You keep trying to make a story bigger than it is. They have already responded that it only affects the private jet issue. Stop the speculation and lead with that. This is a story that their press release wasn’t clear- that’s the story.
So will delta not have AMEX cards anymore (they have 4?)
No, the answer is no.
[…] American Express Membership Rewards as a transfer partner after August 31, 2021. Frequent Miler amplified this rumor while offering reasons it might be true, as well as why it might not […]
[…] American Express Membership Rewards as a transfer partner after August 31, 2021. Frequent Miler amplified this rumor while offering reasons it might be true, as well as why it might not […]
I read elsewhere that this is an error and was only meant to apply to the private jet partnership with Delta. Is that true?
At this point, it isn’t clear. We originally took the bit in the application terms to be about the private jets program, but it still hasn’t been fixed at this point it’s hard to say. I know the David at Miles Talk is quoting someone who says nothing is changing with transfers to SkyMiles. I’ll feel more confident about that if they clean up the application terms.
[…] 这消息真是令人震惊！今天有消息说 Delta 航空从2021年8月31后将不再是 AmEx Membership Rewards 的转点伙伴。而且已经有确实的证据表示这是会发生的！ […]
I Believe Delta and Amex are in contract till 2029. https://news.delta.com/american-express-and-delta-renew-industry-leading-partnership-lay-foundation-continue-innovating
If you look at the T&C you quoted it is much more likely to be just talking about the delta private jet benefit bc the expiration date is listed right next to that……
You could be right
Then again, delta may be trying to go the AA route
It makes a lot of sense given
1) The glut of Amex MR and Delta SkyMiles being offered for signing up for Amex cards
2) A desire by both Amex and Delta to push the cobranded cards, which I believe are their most profitable
Ideally Amex want you to have all of the cards, so the less overlap the better
Wow this further cements my decision to cancel my Schwab Platinum and Gold since I don’t travel internationally much. I might get the Morgan Stanley Platinum for lounge access but this marks the end of collecting MR for me.
Not sure why you’re using words like “far-fetched” and “unlikely” when it’s written down in black-and-white (well, in black and white pixels) by Amex. While it could turn out to be some kind of mistake it’s definitely worrying. And not just for people who transfer to Delta — if Amex is going for cost containment and is willing to cut off Delta transfers, what other transfers would they be willing to hit when needed to achieve their financial targets?
This makes me question MR more in general. Amex is obviously printing a bunch of MR with the recent large offers for their platinum and gold cards… add in the apparent devaluation in cash out to Schwab and it makes me wonder if they are trying to rebalance their books a bit. Devaluations by some airlines already hit during the pandemic. Amex was most aggressive in providing points over the last year so maybe they are similarly trimming their value back.
It sounds like a suspension of transferring since Amex purchased too many mileages. They probably will add it back when inventory is low.
Annual fee of Platinum just increased, and the ability of transferring is a huge part of AF. If Amex really plans to remove the ability, they should not increase AF.
This makes no sense. If they purchased too many miles they would want to encourage transfers, no?
Delta wants you to spend more on Delta cards, not Amex brand cards.
This actually makes sense to me and I was asking about something similar on another forum a while ago – no Delta credit card will give you more than 3 Delta miles per dollar booking Delta flights, but an Amex Plat will give you 5 Delta miles per dollar booking Delta flights. Yes, Amex has the Excise tax, but those two extra points per dollar ending up costing no more than $0.0015 each (less if you go over the $99 max in a transfer).
For those not chasing a higher Delta tier through CC spend, it makes more sense to book flights with an Amex Plat than a Delta CC as you not only get the extra miles, but the flexibility to transfer to another partner like AF/VS who might offer even better redemption opportunities on DL metal. I can’t imagine Delta loves that.