You know, sometimes Delta can be so good, and sometimes, so awful. Just trying to use a Global Upgrade certificate sometimes, you get five different answers from five different agents. So…I just keep contacting them until I get the answer I want!
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I’m guessing they lowered the refund amount from 250 down to 200 just like they lowered the credit you could get back as a benefit reward this year, after February one, in terms of credit on the credit card. It went down from 700 to I think 600 or maybe even 500 not sure.
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What does it say when you log on, if you’re not logged on, under the Delta rewards? Perhaps me and my husband are special in some way. 
Here’s my copy/paste. If they made an error, don’t tell them.
02/11/26 AMEX DELTA STAYS CREDIT
HOTEL*Delta
-$250.00
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Aha, I looked it up, and we are both right! Delta Reserve Business Amex gets $250, and Delta Reserve Amex gets $200. I’m guessing you have a personal card, not a business one like we do.
That lowering of the $700 credit to $500 as a Choice benefit really was annoying. That was a great dea.
I don’t know. I’ll look at it later, but yes, of course you are special 
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Ahh. Mystery solved!
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I am a big fan of Atmos (aka Alaska). It works best if you use Alaska domestically but it also has great international benefits, especially if you upgrade to their 2nd tier card. We run our lives through the card and will get at least a 25K companion bonus and maybe get a 100K bonus which equates to a big discount (free economy and chunk of better)
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Hilton is offering me a credit card offer (free first year, then $150). I’d be tempted, to have a card in my name only… but I already do have a Jetblue card (which I think is only $40/year). It does give automatic Hilton Gold status, which we may never get to on our own. Not sure how valuable that really is.
If the other card is not in your name only I recommend that you get it. Or another card, just to have one in your own name.
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The Jetblue Barclay rewards card account is in my name, with extra cards for husband and kids. (Well I think that’s how I set it up - I’d better double check on that; definitely our main United Visa is husband’s name with a card for me. So for possible future widow scenario I do need one.) I rarely use the JetBlue card but assume it is accepted everywhere.
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I carefully play miles games and have certainly benefitted on recent flight reservations. But have noticed some very high mileage CC offers in recent months. Not sure what is going on, aside from increasing prices perhaps making folks cautious about signing up?
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From the sites I follow on this, devaluations are common as are increased annual fees. So it makes sense that the enticements for a new sign up would be higher. Not that common sense always prevails in these cases!
I just picked up Delta Amex Gold - 90K miles if I spend $5K in 6 months. You get 15% off.
I figured it’d worth $1300.
It’s a $150 fee but waived in year one.
So I appreciate the start up bonus and so far everywhere has taken AMEX - haven’t had anyone say no AMEX (yet).
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Delta has the worst mileage redemption. I try to avoid Delta unless I have to go to a hub and the nonstop makes the most sense.
I thought this but got a $191 airfare for 13,600 points. Last year, I got my son a $99 fare for 6,000 points.
So when I factor in 90K points, it’s a great up front benefit. But - you get 15% off on points if you have the CC - and i’ll not have it in a year so I will try and use points before then.
It’s always hard to tell with points - on some SW, you get 1.1 $ per point while on other flights 1.5.
We had a happy surprise when my husband discovered $100 travel credit in the United acount Wallet, based on spending over $10k on our Chase United Explorer card.
Has anybody switched from United Explorer Card ($150/year; free checked bag, includes 2 United Club passes) to Club Card ($695/year - United Club membership) . My husband is considering it. I think it is too pricey. And… we have more than a dozen autopays that I don’t want to update with new account number.
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@Colorado_mom , I did the math on that one and it didn’t work for me.
I like the club at my home airport, and if I need to buy a pass, it’s $50. At my most frequent destination, there is no club however, so no value there. If we fly Polaris, it has its own lounge. It really depends on how much you will use it. If you typically travel with someone else and the card allows you to bring a companion traveling with you, you just might see the value.
When I was traveling a lot more frequently and had work to do at the airport, it was a much better value proposition. Now, not so much.
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That is a lot! I am irritated with the United Mileage Plus Explorer standard fee going up to $150. It has been my main card for years due to the lounge passes and free Global Entry. But am flying United less frequently these days as they don’t have direct flights from my home airport to preferred destinations. So perhaps should drop it for a few years.
I just got 90,000 free miles on an American Citi card offer for $350. I had many recent expenses to cover, so the high spend worked out. American offers direct flights to my essential destinations, though free luggage on international flights is a benefit they dropped a few years back. Also highly irritating.
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We have the United Club Card but H travels almost weekly and I travel at least monthly so it was worth it for us. Our home airport’s club is also closed for daily passes on a regular basis because it’s so busy, so it’s totally worth it for us. And now H’s new company pays the fee!
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That’s the perfect situation. 
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