Attention, Delta Reserve Cardholders: Check Your SkyMiles Account For a Treat!

Loyal Delta flyers with SkyMiles Amex cards in their wallets may have felt the airline did them dirty by raising annual fees again this year. Two months after the hammer dropped, travelers paying top dollar for a *delta reserve card* are getting something extra to ease the pain.
Delta Reserve cardholders should now see an extra $100 Delta eCredit in their SkyMiles accounts as a gift from the airline. Those one-time credits actually started hitting travelers' accounts last week, but Delta just began sending emails to current Reserve cardholders on Wednesday.
Both *delta reserve card* and small business owners with the *delta reserve business* should be eligible for these credits. To check for yours, log into your SkyMiles account (or fire up your Delta app) and navigate to “Certificates & eCredits” in your wallet. If you recently opened a Reserve card, bad news: This credit is only available to existing cardholders who opened theirs before Feb. 1, 2024.
 

 
These credits were part of Delta's overhaul to its entire Amex card portfolio unveiled back in February … but the good news likely got buried in the deluge of higher fees and the dizzying array of new credits for dining , hotels , and rideshares .
Be warned: The clock is already ticking to put these credits to use. They expire on March 31, 2025 – and you have to actually take that flight before that deadline, not merely book beforehand.
Still, it's a smart move designed to keep Delta's top-paying customers and cardholders from bolting – at least for one more year, anyway.
That $100 credit is enough to zero out the Reserve card's annual fee increase from $550 to $650 (see rates & fees ). And it's an even bigger win for cardholders whose accounts renew by April 30: You won't pay that higher $650 annual fee until 2025.
As part of that apology tour, all Delta Reserve cardholders also got an extra $1,000 MQDs (for a total of $3,500) to get a head start on the higher spending requirements to earn Delta Medallion Status this year.
 
 
Got the *delta skymiles gold card* or even the *delta skymiles platinum card* ? Sorry, but you get nothing extra.
But it's not all good news for Reserve Cardholders. While Delta and Amex loaded up their premium card with more than $500 a year in money-saving credits on paper, they practically require a spreadsheet and an “Extreme Couponing” mindset to use in practice. It's up to you to remember to use new $10 credits on Uber or Lyft rides and $20 for dining at Resy-participating restaurants each month – and to register for both perks beforehand, too. 
And more pain is coming next year as the harshest restrictions for getting into Sky Clubs finally take effect, gutting unlimited access for credit cardholders. Come Feb. 1, 2025, Delta Reserve cardholders will be capped at visiting Sky Club lounges just 15 days per year. Extra visits will cost $50 a pop.
On the plus side, the Reserve Card now gets two more Sky Club guest passes for a total of four annually. And its Delta companion certificate is getting far more valuable, too: You can now use it to book BOGO flights to Hawaii, Alaska, and even Central America and the Caribbean – not just the mainland U.S.
Read more: Delta is Raising Annual Fees on SkyMiles Cards, Adding Perks
 
Bottom Line
You can have a little $100 flight credit as a treat, Delta Reserve cardholders.
Delta recently began depositing these $100 credits in many Reserve cardholders' accounts to ease the pain of annual fee hikes announced earlier this year. Just remember to put them to use before they expire at the end of March 2025.