I love technology, but sometimes technology decisions baffle me. Take, for example, Delta and their 3 gift cards redemption limit on their website.
Airline Gift Cards
Customers can buy airline gift cards, either from the airlines or at a store. I purchased a handful of Delta gift cards over the years, due in part from credit card airline reimbursements. I had also been gifted a few gift cards by family members. Most are in $50 denomination, with a few in higher denomination. I knew it was only a matter of time before I use them.
I got that chance earlier this year, when I was looking to book a trip for 3 passengers. It was only when I got to the payment page when I realize you could only use 3 gift cards per transaction.
Seriously? When the Delta gift cards are cash equivalents?
Also, nowhere on its website (its gift card ordering page, the FAQ, or the terms of conditions) indicates that there is a gift card redemption limit per transaction, either.
Because of this limitation, I decided to use up smaller denomination first. I can get around the limit quite easily. Instead of booking a round trip, I decided to book a one way reservation for each person, pricing out at about $150 per passenger. I was able to use up the smaller denomination gift cards that way, but it was a major waste of my time. As a Delta cardholder, the baggage benefit that would have been extended to those on my reservation, did not apply to my party.
Interestingly, since I ended up booking the trip as one-way reservations, I looked to see if there are better deals on the return. It turned out there was a deal with Jetblue. If Delta didn’t make it such as hassle to use up their own gift cards, I would have opted to book with them the whole way through.
In Conclusion
Delta, if you are reading this: You can do better than a 3 gift cards redemption limit. Maybe you have legitimate concerns about fraudulent uses, but a 3 gift cards redemption limit rule is not very customer-friendly. Maybe you could also take lesson from other airlines too.
For example, American Airlines (AA) allows the use of “up to eight (8) Gift Cards at one time toward the purchase of a ticket to hundreds of exciting destinations throughout the world.”
Also, it can’t hurt to be more transparent about the limit, so people can decide whether or not to buy your gift card.
Because of this limit, I’ve actually begun to opt in favor of buying other airline gift cards.
Have you run into this situation?
they can do more than 3 if you call them, I’ve done it
Personally, I have been buying some discount Delta gift cards from a few of the gift card exchanges (though I will NEVER do business with abc/cardcash again after they sold me a fraudulent card and my ticket was cancelled…) and I’ve had good experiences with raise and gift card mart. I was actually lucky enough to find a $1000 gift card from gift card mart today! 🙂 combined with a $300 card, Tokyo here I come!!
“If redeemed at http://www.delta.com,a maximum of three eGifts or Cards can be applied towards a single transaction, regardless of the number of tickets purchased as part of that transaction; if redeemed through any other method, a maximum of three eGifts or Cards can be applied toward a single ticket. eGifts and Cards can be used with other eGifts and/or Cards, but cannot be used in conjunction with any other certificate, voucher or credit towards a single ticket.” So it’s there per the “Other T&C”, but you’re right it can be mitigated to 3 per ticket (not transaction) via phone or… Read more »
Sadly that doesn’t work too well for international though…
Thanks for the heads up. I can use my credit cards for airline reimbursement and after reading this article i’ll choose AA gift cards. There’s no reason for a limit of 3 cards especially when you bought them directly from the airline.