A Noteworthy, Indirect Delta Signup Bonus
A few months ago, I finally decided to phase out Amex Delta cards from my portfolio. I probably should’ve made that call much earlier, but hey, better late than never. Part of my decision had to do with Air France, Virgin Atlantic, and the former’s credit card. I’ve talked ad nauseam about my longtime affinity for Bank of America’s Air France Flying Blue card, recently refreshed to a Visa Signature. Now, the card’s signup bonus has been elevated to new heights. In my view, this current Air France card welcome offer is superior to any Delta signup bonus Amex provides, now and maybe ever. Allow me to explain.
A Delta Signup Bonus from a Bank of America Card?
A Tasty Welcome Offer
DDG recently wrote about BoA’s Air France KLM Visa Signature Card getting a bump. It seemed similar to the “standard” elevated offer we’ve seen on the product in the past, until I looked closer:
- A new cardmember earns 70k bonus miles and 100 XP for elite qualification after spending $3k within the first 90 days of account opening.
- In a fresh development, a new cardmember earns another 30k bonus miles after spending $4.5k more ($7.5k total) within the first 180 days of account opening.
So yeah, consumers can pick up a bunch of Flying Blue miles on an $89 annual fee card. But what’s the Delta angle?
Partner Awards
Flying Blue and other SkyTeam partners (including Virgin Atlantic) offer awards on Delta metal in their own rewards currency. Importantly, savings can be substantial over what Delta SkyMiles charges for their own products. I’ve routinely leveraged this with Flying Blue miles, and Virgin points to a lesser extent.
And I’m not talking a few miles here or there; quite often, it’s more like five-figure savings. With schedule flexibility and planning, I frequently find Flying Blue availability for about half the award price of what Delta charges. Occasionally, I and another friend have found Delta premium cabin space at cheaper rates with Flying Blue miles than Delta is charging for economy.
Of course, the differences aren’t always that stark. But consistently, I’m able to obtain award seats on Delta metal several thousand miles cheaper with Flying Blue currency than SkyMiles. So while I could easily consider that elevated 100k Flying Blue signup bonus akin to 200k SkyMiles, I’d more conservatively assess it in the 150k SkyMiles neighborhood. How does this stack up to current and recent Amex Delta card welcome offers?
Comparing with Amex Delta Card Bonuses
Right now, consumer Delta welcome offers are all “as high as” versions:
- Gold:Â 80k SkyMiles on $2k spend, no annual fee first year/$150 thereafter
- Platinum:Â 90k SkyMiles on $3k spend, $350 annual fee
- Reserve:Â 100k SkyMiles on $5k spend, $650 annual fee
Currently, business versions of the Delta card signup bonuses offer fewer bonus miles and require more spend. That said, they aren’t “as high as” offers. The Business Reserve provides the most miles – 80k SkyMiles on $12k spend.
And elevated offers on the consumer cards looked like this in the recent past:
- Gold:Â 90k SkyMiles after $5k spend
- Platinum:Â 100k SkyMiles after $6k spend
- Reserve:Â 125k SkyMiles after $6k spend
On the business side, the Gold recently provided the same 90k miles on $6k spend. The Platinum Business offered 100k miles on $8k spend, and the Reserve Business was at 125k miles on $15k spend. The business cards have the same annual fees as the consumer ones.
Now, I’ll bring in the current Air France card offer into the fold. Again, I conservatively estimate that many individuals can obtain Flying Blue bonus value equivalent to 150k SkyMiles by spending $7.5k on this card costing $89. That’s $1.5k more spend over six months than what the top Amex Delta card offer in recent memory (the consumer Reserve) required. But that extra spend still equates to 25k more bonus value than that recent Reserve offer.
Put the Air France card up against the current Delta offers, though, and the SUB superiority of Bank of America product is even more clear. Incorporate annual fees into the equation, and the Air France card gains additional distance. Only the Gold cards with zero cardmember year one fees best the Air France card, but they provide substantially less bonus value. All Platinum and Reserve products, still coming up well short of the Air France card bonus, cost a couple to several hundred dollars more annually.
Caveats
I’m not comparing card earning and other benefits in this article. Each individual should assess such benefits and tailor values to their specific situations, subsequently incorporating that into the welcome offers they pursue.  And, of course, many don’t have flexibility to book the cheapest Flying Blue award rates on Delta metal.
Conclusion
In this article, I haven’t focused on this elevated offer’s beauty for those looking to do bigger things with Flying Blue. I talked about those endeavors elsewhere, but here’s the long story short. Fully realizing this welcome offer does require more spend. But that whole $7.5k counts toward big spend bonus earning, made even more attractive by the recent card refresh.
In my view, this currently-elevated Air France card offer towers over all Delta Amex card signup bonuses right now, and probably ever. This is the most opportune time for individuals to pursue the Air France card if they haven’t previously done so.
Do you hold the Air France card? What’s your favorite feature?
