Will Delta stop being an Amex transfer partner next month?

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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.

a man sitting in a chair

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.

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