Six Delta SkyMiles American Express cards carry a Delta Stays credit, a statement credit of $100 to $250 a calendar year for hotels and vacation rentals you prepay through Delta Stays on delta.com. It's straightforward to use in full, as long as you book the right way: prepaid, through Delta's own hotel site, and charged to the card.
The catch is in the details. A pay-at-the-hotel booking doesn't fit the terms, resort fees don't count toward the credit, and a Delta Vacations package isn't eligible at all. Here's which cards carry it, how much each one gives you, and the booking rules from Amex's terms for each card and Delta Stays' own terms, all read on October 9, 2026.
Which Cards Carry It, and How Much
Amex's terms for each card give these yearly amounts:
Personal cards
- Delta SkyMiles Gold: up to $100 per calendar year ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150).
- Delta SkyMiles Platinum: up to $150 per calendar year ($350 annual fee).
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve: up to $200 per calendar year ($650 annual fee).
Business cards
- Delta SkyMiles Gold Business: up to $150 per calendar year ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150).
- Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business: up to $200 per calendar year ($350 annual fee).
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business: up to $250 per calendar year ($650 annual fee).
At each tier, the business card's credit is larger than the personal card's, for the same annual fee. The Gold Business matches the personal Platinum's $150.
Our reviews of the Delta SkyMiles Gold, Delta SkyMiles Platinum and Delta SkyMiles Reserve cover everything else each card does, and our roundup of the Delta business card offers has the current business bonuses.
How the Credit Resets
The credit runs on the calendar year, not your card anniversary. Each card's terms say total statement credits "will not exceed" the card's amount "on the Card Account per calendar year," so you can use it across more than one booking until you reach the cap.
The account is what's capped, not the person. Purchases by the basic card member and any additional card members count, but they share one yearly limit.
Watch the year-end timing. Amex goes by the date the merchant reports. The terms give the example of a booking bought on December 31 that the merchant processes as January 1: it counts against the new year's credit, if any is left. If you're trying to use this year's credit, don't leave it to the last day.
What Triggers the Delta Stays Credit
The terms describe the credit as earned when the basic card or an additional card on the account "is used to pay for a new Delta Stays prepaid hotel or vacation rental booking." The Gold Business page puts it as a credit "after using your Card to book prepaid hotels or vacation rentals through Delta Stays on delta.com."
The terms require that Amex can identify the charge. If the merchant's information doesn't flag your transaction as an eligible Delta Stays booking, the terms say you won't receive the credit. Paying through an electronic wallet or a third party such as an app store can also cost you the credit, according to the terms.
What Qualifies and What Doesn't
What qualifies: a new prepaid hotel or vacation rental booking on the Delta Stays platform at delta.com/stays, charged to an eligible card.
What doesn't count toward the credit: interest, cancellation fees, property fees, resort fees and similar fees, and any charge a property bills you directly, whether for the booking, the stay or anything else.
What isn't eligible at all: in the terms' words, "Bookings through Delta Vacations and products other than prepaid hotels and vacation rentals booked through Delta Stays will not qualify for statement credits."
That "prepaid" word does real work. Delta Stays' terms of use explain that some hotels offer a choice between "Pay Online Now," charged right away in U.S. dollars, and "Pay Later at the Hotel," where the hotel charges your card in local currency when you stay. Since the credit covers prepaid bookings and excludes charges a property bills you directly, pick "Pay Online Now" when you're booking for the credit.
Say you hold the Platinum and prepay a two-night Delta Stays booking that comes to $180 with taxes. On those numbers, the credit would cover up to $150 of it, the account's full yearly amount. A resort fee you pay at check-in wouldn't count.
Timing, Cancellations and Refunds
Amex says to allow 6 to 8 weeks after the booking is charged for the credit to post. If it hasn't shown up by then, the terms point you to the number on the back of the card.
The credit can be reversed. If the booking is refunded, canceled or modified, the terms say you may not receive the credit, or it may be taken back. The account also has to be open and not past due when the credit is issued.
Delta Stays bookings have their own cancellation rules. Delta Stays' terms of use say you can cancel or change a prepaid hotel reservation but will pay whatever fee the hotel's rules set, and some hotels don't allow changes or cancellations at all. Read the rate rules before you book a stay you might move.
Miles You Earn on the Same Booking
The card itself earns on the booking. Amex counts new Delta Stays prepaid hotel and vacation rental bookings as "Delta Purchases," which earn 2 miles per dollar on the Gold and Gold Business, and 3 miles per dollar on the Platinum, Reserve, Platinum Business and Reserve Business.
Delta pays SkyMiles separately. Its Delta Stays terms give SkyMiles members 2 miles per dollar on the base hotel or vacation rental rate of a completed stay, before taxes and fees. To get them, you have to give your SkyMiles number when you book, the name on the booking has to match the SkyMiles account, and the miles can take up to 8 weeks after the stay to post. Those miles don't count toward Million Miler status.
Two more points from Delta's terms. Spending on completed stays doesn't earn Medallion Qualification Dollars unless a limited-time offer says it does, and the Delta Stays page showed one on October 9, 2026: MQDs on eligible car rentals and hotels booked by October 20 for travel completed by December 20, with terms. And hotel loyalty points or elite status "may not be applicable" on these bookings, so don't count on your hotel program's benefits.
You can also pay with miles on some prepaid properties. Delta's terms say you won't earn miles on the part of a stay paid with miles. If the credit is the goal, the simplest path is to charge the full amount to the card.
Getting the Most From It
Book through delta.com/stays while signed in to SkyMiles, choose a prepaid rate, charge the full amount to your Delta Amex card, and do it well before December 31 if you want this year's credit. A single booking near the card's amount uses the credit in one go; smaller bookings work too, until the yearly cap is reached.
If you're choosing a card partly for this credit and you qualify for a business card, the business versions give a larger credit at each tier for the same annual fee. You can apply for the Delta SkyMiles Gold, the Platinum or the Reserve, or the Gold Business, Platinum Business and Reserve Business cards.
