Delta and American Express Skymiles question

[Cynthiagayle01]

My sister and I are flying to Disney Nov 26 through Dec 5th. This will be the first time we have ever used Delta. We normally fly Southwest but they no longer fly out of Jackson, MS. We will now be having to fly out of our hometown on Delta.

The price on the tickets were reasonable today, so I decided to go ahead and book them. While looking it said I could go ahead and apply for a Gold American Express skymiles card. When you get the card you will receive $50 credit and with the card you get one free bag per person. However, when I applied I could not receive my new Credit Card number immediately. I even called American Express and they said I would have to wait until I received the card in the mail before I could use it.

I have a skymiles number. Do I have to wait and book the trip on my new American Express card to get the free bag per person? I don't care that much about the $50 credit but that free bag per person would be great. Can I go ahead and purchase the tickets with another credit card? Would I still get the free bag per person if I just attach my skymiles number to my reservation?

Did I make any sense? Please help. Thanks. I am afraid to wait until my card comes to purchase the tickets. I'm afraid the price will go back up. Thanks for listening to my rambling.

 

[DebbieB]

My sister and I are flying to Disney Nov 26 through Dec 5th. This will be the first time we have ever used Delta. We normally fly Southwest but they no longer fly out of Jackson, MS. We will now be having to fly out of our hometown on Delta.

The price on the tickets were reasonable today, so I decided to go ahead and book them. While looking it said I could go ahead and apply for a Gold American Express skymiles card. When you get the card you will receive $50 credit and with the card you get one free bag per person. However, when I applied I could not receive my new Credit Card number immediately. I even called American Express and they said I would have to wait until I received the card in the mail before I could use it.

I have a skymiles number. Do I have to wait and book the trip on my new American Express card to get the free bag per person? I don't care that much about the $50 credit but that free bag per person would be great. Can I go ahead and purchase the tickets with another credit card? Would I still get the free bag per person if I just attach my skymiles number to my reservation?

Did I make any sense? Please help. Thanks. I am afraid to wait until my card comes to purchase the tickets. I'm afraid the price will go back up. Thanks for listening to my rambling.

No, the ticket does not have to be purchased with your AMEX. As long as your frequent flyer number is on the reservation, it automatically links to the AMEX card and gives you the free bags. I used to get the free bag when I booked with my corporate card because my Delta frequent flyer number was on the ticket. Also, anyone on the same reservation gets 1 free bag.

Be aware that there is no fee for the first year. After that, there is. I ended up cancelling the card when the next renewal came up. I believe it was $95.

 

[sam_gordon]

The renewal is $95. However, if you have enough people flying within a year, that's easily made up in $0 for luggage fees. And no, you don't have to use the AmEx card to pay for the tickets to take advantage of the free luggage.

OP, how did you apply for the AmEx? IIRC, we followed the link directly off the Delta booking page and it gave us our $50 credit.

ETA: If you have a Skymiles number, call Delta. They should (I think) be able to see the AmEx associated with your Skymiles number (did you give AmEx your number?). If not, explain the situation. I would not wait even a day if you found a good price for airfare.

 

[Cynthiagayle01]

I applied when I was creating my skymiles account at delta.com. As long as I can still get the free bags I can use another credit card to book.. I don't mind not getting the $50 credit. I put my skymiles number in when I applied for the credit card.