Consumer complaint received 2019-04-08
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with rewards from credit card

Complaint:
I bought airline tickets on XXXX in 2018. During the purchase, a promotional screen appeared that offered me a credit card, which has a bonus miles benefit as well as a {$250.00} statement credit for " qualifying '' purchases. 

Here are the " qualifying '' purchases on Delta 's website for a similar {$50.00} statement credit program on the same card : One statement credit for {$50.00} will be issued to your Card account after a Delta purchase is charged to your Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership, starting from the date your account is approved. In rare instances, your period to make your first Delta purchase may be shorter than 3 months if there is a delay in receiving your Card. Also, purchases may fall outside of the 3 month period in some cases, such as a delay in merchants submitting transactions to us or if the purchase date differs from the date you made the transaction. ( For example, if you buy goods online, the purchase date may be the date the goods are shipped ). Delta purchases to meet the first Delta purchase requirement include those made by both the Basic and Additional Card Members on the Card Account. Purchase must be made directly through Delta. A purchase may not qualify for the statement credit if it is submitted under a merchant code that has not been categorized as a Delta merchant code as of the date of the purchase ( s ). Credit will be issued as a Card Member statement credit approximately 8-12 weeks after your first Delta purchase. Additional Card Members on your account are not eligible for this offer. To earn the {$50.00} statement credit, your Card account must not be canceled or past due at the time of fulfillment. Purchases to meet the spend requirement do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers ( balance transfers are not available on Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Cards ), cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards ; person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke offer at any time. 

So my plan was to be in flight wifi in advance, directly through Delta. Before I made the purchase, I wanted to make sure that it would qualify, so I reached out to Delta on XXXX, with the following question : " @ Delta i purchased XXXX access through your website. Please confirm that the will act as a qualifier for my statement credit '' Here is the reply from Delta : Hello, XXXX. If you have the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card by American Express you are good to go because you get your statement credit after making ANY FIRST PURCHASE on your new Card. ( 1/2 ) *TAC When I questioned why my statement credit was not yet paid, the agent responded by saying that the purchase was through a third party, XXXX XXXX even though it was bought through Delta and that I specifically asked them if this scenario would work, which they confirmed it will. 

Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation