I have unfortunately wound up with about $480 in Delta eCredits. I booked flights for myself and my son under my SkyMiles account using my credit card. I had to cancel my son's ticket (mine is still booked).

This has unfortunately created a somewhat complicated situation.
1) I had booked two one way tickets (because that was cheaper), so there are 2 separate credits
2) because one ticket was from YYC to IAH, the value of one credit is in Canadian $
3) the credits are completely unusable online; when I look them up, I see a message that says
"We're sorry, but a portion of this eCredit has been used and fare rules prevent the redemption of any residual value."

#3 is obviously not true...we have not used ANY portion of the eCredits, and I am looking in to getting this resolved separately. However, even if resolved, the eCredits will likely have to be used to book a ticket in my son's name, and he can't travel before the expiration date.

For someone who has dealt with this before, what's the best strategy for "extending" the eCredit (if this is even possible)? It expires on 5/22/26. Does that mean a new ticket has to be booked by then, or travel has to occur by then?

If I want to try to book a new flight but then maybe have the option to change that flight to a date even further in the future, how should I time this? Wait as close to the expiration date as possible to book a new flight?

Is it possible to book another flight in the future, cancel it, and get a new eCredit with a future date?

I've done quite a bit of Google searching on this and can't get a clear answer (people seem to have mixed experiences).

Anyone here have to do this and have any tips?

I have spoken with them.

One agent said that the credits can only be used if flights are booked over the phone. That's the first problem I am trying to get fixed.

If that ends up being correct, and we are not able to obtain credits that are usable online, I'd like to have a strategy so we don't have to call multiple times.

If any one has used an eCredit recently and somehow managed to get the use by date extended, I'd be interested to hear. I've read on line a few places that in the past you could use the rebook/reschedule strategy, but they've now closed that loophole.

I don't expect Delta to make exceptions for us (I cancelled a non-refundable ticket), I just want to make sure I understand how the eCredit works.

I don't see a way around it having to be used by your son. I've had one set of clients get theirs extended BUT the lady has been battling cancer. Finally they are traveling next month. But they worked with the airline on the credit (which I think was Delta). But it was extended at least 6 months.

Good luck.

Yeah, I'm not expecting them to make the credits usable by anyone else. But currently they aren't even usable by him, so we need to get that fixed

I've seen comments online where, if the person calls and authorizes the credits to be transferred, sometimes they will do that. I'm gonna make him call about that.

My biggest question right now is what happens if we book another ticket that's beyond the expiration date of 5/22/26. Based on what I've read, we ~should~ be able to do that, but if we make any additional changes to that new ticket after the expiration date, that will completely void the credit. Just trying to confirm that's how it works.

Thought I'd come back and update this in case it helps someone else.

It's taken to this point, but we now have two eCredits that can be used online. I started out by sending an email, and as a result of that email, they corrected one eCredit (it became viewable/usable online), but the second credit was still not showing properly. It was very frustrating that they didn't correct both.

My son called and got the second eCredit issue resolved. So now we have two usable eCredits.

If I want to rebook a flight for my son, the eCredits can be used online.

However, Delta confirmed that, since I purchased the original tickets with my cc, I can also use the credits. The catch is, they can't be used online. I have to call Delta to book.

The credits just have to be used by the expiration date; we don't have to fly by that date.

Thanks for the update! Glad it worked out.

The one big lesson I've learned is, you need to check your eCredits and make sure they are correct and usable when you cancel/change a flight.

I really think Delta (and probably other airlines) purposefully make credits difficult to find and use in the hopes you will just forget about it and/or give up.

Don't wait until you are ready to use the credit to verify that it exists and what it is worth. Take the time when you cancel to do this.

Also know that when you cancel a flight, the eCredit is issued with different reference number. When you look up your credits online, you need to refer to the number in the cancellation email and NOT the original ticket number.

You can also look up eCredits online by phone number/cc number and last name.