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Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers According to Value

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Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Links in this post may provide us with a commission.

Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers logo

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:

Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers

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 Personal & Business Credit Card Review

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 Express 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. 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


Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers

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.


Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers

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


Ranking the Delta Skymiles Increased Offers

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.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann is a father, husband and miles/points fanatic. He left the corporate world after starting a family in order to be a stay at home dad. Mark is constantly looking at ways to save money and stay within budget while also taking awesome vacations with his family. When he isn't caring for his family or taking a weekend trip, Mark is working towards his goal of visiting every Major League Baseball ballpark.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

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