All information about American Express cards in this post has been collected independently by Miles to Memories. Some offers mentioned in this post have expired.
Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers According to Value
Some Of These Offers Have Ended Or Changed
Delta and American Express launched increased offers on their co-branded cards a few weeks back. Those offers are coming to an end on April 1st. I figured I would rank the cards according to the value offered from the welcome offers. I will also add in some commentary of other things to consider when choosing which card is best for you.
Ranking the Delta Welcome Offers According to Value
These rankings are based on a 1.25 cent per point valuation for Delta Skymiles. Remember that all of these cards come with Amex’s standard once per lifetime welcome offer language.
I will do these rankings from least to most valuable:
Delta Reserve Personal Credit Card – $450
- Earn 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 Medallion Qualification Miles after spending $5,000 within your first 3 months.
- You get an additional 20,000 Skymiles after paying the 2nd annual fee too.
- $550 annual fee
- Delta Sky Club access – you must have an arriving or departing Delta ticket to access the lounge. Can bring in up to 2 guests for $29 a piece.
- Centurion Lounge access when flying Delta.
- Earn 15,000 MQMs after you spend $30,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. You can do it up to 4 times per year.
- Priority boarding and an upgrade tie breaker plus get on the upgrade list if you have no status.
- LEARN MORE
Coming in with the least value offer is the Delta Reserve personal card. I ranked this one slightly lower than the business version even though the offers are the same. That is solely because it counts towards Chase 5/24 and the business version doesn’t.
Some Of These Offers Have Ended Or Changed
Delta Reserve Business Credit Card – $450 in value
- Earn 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 Medallion Qualification Miles after spending $5,000 within your first 3 months.
- You get an additional 20,000 Skymiles after paying the 2nd annual fee too.
- $550 annual fee
- Delta Sky Club access – you must have an arriving or departing Delta ticket to access the lounge. Can bring in up to 2 guests for $29 a piece.
- Centurion Lounge access when flying Delta.
- Earn 15,000 MQMs after you spend $30,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. You can do it up to 4 times per year.
- Priority boarding and an upgrade tie breaker plus get on the upgrade list if you have no status.
- LEARN MORE
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American
- Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 within your first 3 months.
- $0 first year annual fee, then $95
- Get 10,000 additional miles after paying the annual fee in year two.
- Earn 2X on Delta, restaurant & U.S. Supermarkets.
- Earn 1X on everything else
- LEARN MORE
The last four cards offer the same value in terms of welcome offer once taking the annual fee into account. Because of that I have to make the decision based on other factors. I am placing the personal gold card as next because it counts towards Chase 5/24 status and doesn’t offer the perks of the Platinum cards.
Some Of These Offers Have Ended Or Changed
Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Card – $750
- Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 within your first 3 months.
- $0 first year annual fee, then $95
- Get 10,000 additional miles after paying the annual fee in year two.
- Earn 2X on Delta, restaurant, U.S. shipping & U.S. advertising in select media.
- Earn 1X on everything else
- LEARN MORE
The business version of the gold card gets a slight bump just because it is a business card. If you are over Chase 5/24 then I would put the personal gold card above this since I think the earning structure is more rewarding.
Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business Card – $750
- Earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 within your first 3 months.
- $250 annual fee
- You get an additional 20,000 Skymiles after paying the 2nd annual fee too.
- Earn 3X on Delta & hotel purchases made directly with the hotel.
- Earn 1.5X on any purchases over $5,000. Capped at 50K Skymiles per year.
- 1X on everything else.
- Earn 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, up to two times per year.
- LEARN MORE
This is the first time I didn’t rank the business card as better than the personal card. That is because I think the personal version of the platinum card has a pretty good all around earning structure. Although the business version is great for big spenders going for the MQM status boost. Since it earns 1.5X on non bonus spend that is $5,000 or more per purchase.
Some Of These Offers Have Ended Or Changed
American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles – $750
- Earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 within your first 3 months.
- $250 annual fee
- You get an additional 20,000 Skymiles after paying the 2nd annual fee too.
- Earn 3X on Delta & hotel purchases made directly with the hotel.
- Earn 2X on restaurants and U.S. Supermarkets.
- 1X on everything else.
- Earn 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, up to two times per year.
- LEARN MORE
Other Considerations
It is not always all about the Benjamins yo ! Sometimes the perks and status are what truly matters. If you need the MQMs to reach the next tier of status with Delta or you just want lounge access then the personal Delta Reserve Business or Delta Reserve Personal cards are your best bet. You may lose $300 on the front end but reaching status easier and chilling in Delta lounges may be worth more than that to you.
Or you may want to keep your annual fees low and avoid them in year one. That would make one of the Gold cards your best option.
I personally think the Platinum Delta Skymiles card offers the best combination of welcome offer, spending structure and a chance at earning status quicker. Your criteria may be different though so be sure to weigh it on your own scale and decide based on your needs.
Final Thoughts
People like to bash Skymiles, even when they are offering value to Europe, but these offers from American Express are compelling. Getting over $750 on any credit card is a pretty good offer.
Which one do you think is best? Let me know in the comments.
All information about American Express cards in this post has been collected independently by Miles to Memories. Some offers mentioned in this post have expired.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
