Delta credit cards

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Business Version Available

Annual Fee

$95, waived first year

Current Offer

Gold: 30,000 Delta miles ($1,000 initial spend) plus 50% off Delta purchases during first three month (maximum of $300).

Platinum: 50,000 Delta miles ($3,000 initial spend) plus 50% off Delta purchases during first three month (maximum of $500).

Reserve (personal): 75,000 miles ($5,000 initial spend).

Reserve (business): 40,000 miles ($3,000 initial spend).

Typical Signup Offer

30,000 Delta miles, plus $50 credit for Delta purchase in first three months

$1,000 initial spend

($450 net value, .45/$)

Signup Bonus Chart

Bonus Categories

2x Delta Purchases

1x Everywhere Else

No Foreign Transaction Fee

If you fly Delta more than a couple of times per year, you probably want to get one of their credit cards, to take advantage of the free checked bag and early boarding benefits. Most people will want to get the Gold version. But, if you are confident that you can take advantage of the annual companion certificate, need to earn some extra qualifying miles for Delta elite status, or are thinking about paying for a Delta Lounge membership, you might want to get the more expensive Platinum and/or Reserve version instead.

Jump to

• Delta Card Options
• Signup Bonus
• Delta Companion Certificates
• Other Notable Benefits
• Earning MQMs
• Bonus Categories
• Getting Rid of the Card

Delta Credit Card Options

There are seven different Delta credit cards.

Each of the following cards comes in both a personal and a business version. Other than possibly different signup bonuses, the business versions and personal versions are nearly identical.

	Gold Delta Skymiles card. This Delta Gold card is the default for people who are interested in a Delta card to take advantage of its ongoing benefits. $95 annual fee, waived the first year. Business version (Amex Webpage, Signup Bonus Chart).
	Platinum Delta Skymiles card . The Platinum version has a $195 annual fee. There are two reasons you might want to pay extra for this card. Every year, when you renew the card, you'll get a companion certificate that allows two people to fly for nearly the price of one (as long as you can still get access to a qualifying fare). And, the card provides the opportunity to earn Delta qualifying miles that can help you achieve the next level of Delta status. You can earn 5,000 MQMs as part of the signup offer, and up to 20,000 MQMs each year. Personal version (Amex Webpage, Signup Bonus Chart). Business version (Amex Webpage, Signup Bonus Chart).
	Reserve Delta Skymiles card. The Reserve version has a $450 annual fee. It earn even more qualifying miles than the Platinum version, and lets you use your companion certificate for premium cabin seats. But its most important advantage, over the Platinum version, is that it provides free access to the Delta Sky Club. Personal version (Amex Webpage, Signup Bonus Chart). Business version (Amex Webpage, Signup Bonus Chart),

In addition, there is a personal version of the:

Blue Delta Skymiles card. Delta's no-annual-fee card doesn't provide much in the way of benefits or a signup bonus, and therefore isn't particularly interesting. Amex Webpage

Changes Coming in 2020

Delta has announced a number of changes to their cards, starting in 2020:

• Every card will get new bonus categories. As with most airline credit cards, these bonus categories aren't generally very useful. You are usually better off putting your spending on other cards such as the Sapphire Reserve that earn flexible points.
• The annual fees are going up. The Gold goes from $95 to $99, the Platinum goes from $195 to $250, and the Reserve goes from $450 to $550.
• The rules for earning qualifying dollars with the Delta Platinum and Reserve card will change. This is described in more detail below.
• The Gold card will give you a $100 flight credit if you use it to spend $10,000 per year. The extra bonus almost makes it a good option to use for some of your spending, but the reward rate is still lower than the best alternative options.
• The Platinum and Reserve cards will now provide $100 TSA credits, once every five years, in case you don't have access to an available fee credit from another card.
• The Gold card will no longer enable you to purchase discounted ($29/visit) Sky Club passes. The Platinum and Reserve cards will still have this benefit, but the rate will rise to $39.
• The super-expensive Reserve card will provide Amex Centurion lounge access and 2 Sky Club Guest Passes. Reserve cardholders will also receive complimentary upgrades without Delta status, but the details of this benefit aren't available yet.

Collecting the Signup Bonus

• It is worth signing up for this card, just to collect the signup bonus. Even the normal signup bonus, of 30,000 Delta miles plus a $50 statement credit, is worth $450-500. Promotional offers of up to 75,000 miles are commonly available. The Best Credit Card Signup Bonuses.
• The $50 statement credit applies to Delta purchases, that you make within the first 90 days. If you don't need to buy a ticket during that period of time, you can buy a $50 Delta gift card online, and then use it later.
• The normal offer for the Platinum version of the card is slightly less valuable. You'll get an extra 5,000 miles (plus the 5,000 MQMs), and a $100 statement credit (rather than $50), but the annual fee is $195, and it isn't waived.

The current promotional offer of 60,000 miles is slightly worse than the Gold card's 50,000 point offer, due to the difference in first year's annual fee. But they are both excellent offers (and you can get both cards).

• The normal offer for the Reserve version of the card is much less valuable. The normal offer is 40,000 miles, but you'll need to pay a $450 annual fee. If you were getting the card for its SkyClub access and/or MQM earning capabilities, it can make sense. Otherwise, the points are barely worth more than the annual fee. But, with a promotional offer this card can be more valuable.
• You can only earn the signup bonus once per lifetime. With Amex cards, you are normally not entitled to earn the signup bonus, if you've ever had the card before. However, you may eventually receive a targeted offer that bypasses this limitation, allowing you to earn the bonus an additional time.
• However, you can earn signup bonuses for each one of these cards. Over a period of time, you can receive up to three significant signup bonuses from the Gold, Platinum, and Reserve cards. If you have a any kind of small business, you can sign up for the three business versions as well. By doing so, you can earn hundreds of thousands of Delta points. Unlock Extra Reward Points with Business Credit Cards.
• You may want to wait until you receive a better than normal offer. Since Amex will normally only let you receive the signup bonus once per lifetime, and frequently offers promotional signup offers, it can be worthwhile to postpone signing up, so you don't waste your bonus on a less valuable offer.
• You probably don't want to bother with the Blue version. Even though it has no annual fee, its normal signup bonus is only 10,000 miles. There is a limit to how many Amex cards you can have at any one time, as well as limitations on the total number of cards you can apply for during any time period. You are usually better off focusing on cards that have better signup bonuses, earning rates, or ongoing benefits.

Delta Companion Certificate

Every year, when you renew the Platinum and Reserve versions of the card, you'll receive a companion certificate that is good during the following year. This is one of the better airline companion certificates that you can get from a credit card. Guide to the Delta Airlines Companion Certificate

When you book two tickets with the certificate, one passenger only needs to pay the taxes. The Delta companion certificate can only be used for round trip flights within the contiguous United States. The certificate from the Platinum card can only be used for coach tickets, the certificate from the Reserve card, can be used for any class of service.

While you don’t have to pay a special higher fare on the initial ticket, the certificate only works with a limited number of fare classes. Once the plane starts to fill up, you will no longer be eligible to use the certificate on that flight. When tickets prices are higher than normal, and using the certificate would be most attractive, companion fares often won’t be available. Nevertheless, many people will wind up flying on Delta flights where the certificate can be used, and can save significant amounts of money.

Other Notable Benefits

• Free checked bags. The first checked bag is free for up to nine passengers, even on basic economy fares. Get Free Checked Bags with Airline Credit Cards.
• Priority boarding. Zone 1 boarding makes it easier to find space in the overhead bins.
• 20% inflight purchase discount. Good for food, beverages, and audio headsets.
• Discounted Sky Club Access. You can purchase Sky Club day passes for $29 each, for up to three passengers, rather than the normal price of $59. The $450 annual fee Reserve version comes with free Sky Club access for the primary cardholder, and the discounted $29 rate for up two guests. Unlike a Delta Sky Club membership, which retails for $495, your don't have partner lounge privileges.
• Free roadside assistance (Reserve card only). Many credit cards include a benefit where they will arrange for roadside assistance, but this card actual includes actual free roadside assistance services. Includes free towing up to 10 miles,lockout assistance, spare tire installation, jump starts, or emergency fuel. Get Free or Discounted Roadside Assistance with these Credit Cards.
• Access to Amex Offers. Amex continuously provides discount offers to their cardholders. Most of the offers are in the form of "Spend $x, get $y back", but other offers are in the form of "x% off your entire order" or "Earn an extra Membership Reward point on your purchases". To take advantage of the offers, you need to go to the Amex website, find the ones you are interested in, and "add them" to your card. Each offer will then be automatically applied when you use your card to make the corresponding purchase. Amex Offers Website.
• Free ShopRunner membership. As with all Amex cards, you are entitled to a complimentary ShopRunner membership, which provides free two-day and return shipping from around 150 of the largest online retailers. ShopRunner Website
• Exclusive access to entertainment events. Amex sponsors cardmember-only events around the country and also provides early ticket access for some other shows.

Earning MQMs with the Platinum / Reserve versions

Both the Platinum and Reserve card let you earn "qualifying miles" that can help you qualify for Delta elite status. This can be very helpful for frequent Delta flyers that need an assist to qualify for the next higher level of status.

• The "qualifying miles" you earn from these cards, don't get added to your point balance for redeeming frequent flyer tickets. They only help you achieve status during the year you earn the points.
• When you sign up, you'll receive 5,000 MQMs from the Platinum version, and 10,000 MQMs from the Reserve version. Some promotional offers for these cards don't come with the qualifying miles, but do offer larger numbers of bonus miles.
• You can earn up to an additional 100,000 MQMs each year. With the Delta Platinum card, you'll earn 10,000 MQMs and 10,000 regular miles for every $25,000 you spend on the card each year, with an annual cap of 20,000 points. With the Delta Reserve card, you'll earn 15,000 MQMs and 15,000 regular miles for every $30,000 you spend, with an annual cap of 30,000 points. If you want, you can take advantage of both cards to earn up to 50,000 MQMs, and 50,000 bonus miles (with $110,000 of spending). You can also combine the bonuses from the personal and business cards, maxing out at a total of 100,000 points with all four cards. However, you can't earn bonuses with multiple copies of the exact same card.
• Amex only allows each person to have a total of 4-6 credit cards (usually 5). Both personal and business cards count against this limit. "Charge" cards like the Platinum, Gold, or Green cards don't count. If you have or need other Amex credit cards, you might be restricted to how many Delta cards you can get.
• It is possible to earn up to 4 "mileage boosts" by upgrading a Platinum card to the Reserve card. First, spend $50,000 on the Reserve card to earn 20,000 MQMs. Then upgrade the Platinum card to the Reserve card. After you convert, you can earn an additional 30,000 MQMs by spending an additional $110,000. After the first year, you can downgrade your card back to the Platinum version and start over. Annual fees are prorated on a monthly basis.
• MQMs from the Delta Reserve card are transferable to other members. As a result, it is possible for a single Delta account to earn even more MQMs in a single year.

Bonus Categories

• You are better off making your Delta Airlines purchases with a card that earns a higher reward rate for airfare spending. 2x Delta miles is okay but not as good as what you'd earn from one of the better cards.Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
• You usually don't want to use these card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.
• However, if you are planning on earning the EQM bonuses from the Platinum or Reserve cards, it can be worthwhile to use these cards for some of your spending. When you meet the spending thresholds, you'll also earn some regular bonus miles. Assuming that you stop using the cards exactly when you meet the spending requirements, you'll be earning 1.4 miles per dollar with the Platinum card, and 1.5 miles per dollar with the Reserve card. This is better than you could earn with most, but not all other cards, even if you don't factor in the value of the elite qualifying miles.

Getting Rid of the Card

You can cancel without worrying about losing your Delta miles. Once you earn them, they are treated like any other miles in your account.

If you want to change your version of the Delta card, your best option is to cancel right after your anniversary date. You'll get a refund of the annual fee. Then you can signup for whatever version you want for the following year and collect its signup bonus (if you haven't had it before). Even if you've aren't eligible for the signup bonus, your Amex referral buddy will still be eligible for a referral fee.

However, if you missed your anniversary date, you might want to downgrade your existing card. You'll get a prorated rebate of the annual fee. You can downgrade the personal cards to the no-annual-fee version and get back at least some of your annual fee. For a business card, the cheapest option is the Business Gold card (but don't do it if you haven't already collected the signup bonus on that card).

If you want to keep your credit line open, there is no harm in converting personal Delta cards to the no-annual-fee Blue card. But, since Amex limits you to a total of 5-6 credit cards, you will likely eventually cancel any Delta Blue cards to free up space for a more valuable card.

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