Increased Sign Up Bonus on the Delta Amex Credit Cards

 

UPDATE: Some or all of the offers below have expired

Delta and American Express have been offering high signup bonuses on their co-branded cards and these offers are going to expire on July 2nd. So if you’ve been eyeing an Amex Delta Card recently or looking to make an award redemption with Delta but don’t have enough Skymiles; this is the time to open a Delta Amex Card. Lucky for you there are three variations of Amex Delta cards that are worth opening that offer great benefits.

Here are the details:

Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card:

The Gold Delta Skymiles Credit Card from American Express is currently offering a bonus of 60,000 Skymiles after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months as well as a $50 statement credit when you make a purchase with Delta in the first 3 months. The card has a $95 annual fee that is waived for the first year.

The 60,000 Skymiles bonus is worth about $720 with a 1.2 cent per mile valuation. You can always get much higher value when booking saver awards on premium cabins on partner airlines or when Delta offers award sales. 

Benefits of the Gold Delta Skymiles Credit Card:

Having the Gold Delta Card allows you to check in your first bag for free, priority boarding, 20% off inflight purchases on Delta flights as a statement credit, plus paid access to Delta Skyclubs for you and two guests whenever your flying Delta at the discounted rate of $29 per person per visit. You also earn 2X miles per dollar on Delta purchases and 1X miles on everything else.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card:

The Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card from American Express is currently offering a bonus of 75,000 Skymiles and 5,000 MQMs after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months as well as a $100 statement credit when you make a purchase with Delta in the first 3 months. The card has a $195 annual fee.

Benefits of the Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card:

Having the Platinum Delta Card allows you to check in your first bag for free, priority boarding, 20% off inflight purchases on Delta flights as a statement credit, plus paid access to Delta Skyclubs for you and two guests whenever your flying Delta at the discounted rate of $29 per person per visit. You also earn 2X miles per dollar on Delta purchases and 1X miles on everything else.

The standout perk of the Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card which justifies the higher annual fee is the Annual Companion Certificate. Every year you have the Platinum Delta Card you’ll receive a companion certificate that you can use on domestic main cabin roundtrip flights where your companion will fly for free minus the taxes and fees that are capped at $75. This is an amazing benefits that I personally used on a roundtrip flight from JFK to LAX where the paid price per person was $422. So we ended up paying $422 for one person and only $25 in taxes and fees for the other. Easily offsetting the cost of the annual fee for 2 years.

Delta Reserve® Credit Card:

The Delta Reserve Credit Card from American Express is currently offering a bonus of 75,000 Skymiles and 5,000 MQMs after you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months. The card has a $450 annual fee.

Benefits of the Delta Reserve Credit Card:

Having the Delta Reserve Card allows you to check in your first bag for free, priority boarding and 20% off inflight purchases on Delta flights as a statement credit. You also earn 2X miles per dollar on Delta purchases and 1X miles on everything else.

Unlike the other Delta cards where they offer discounted paid access to Delta Skyclubs, the Delta Reserve Card gives you complimentary access to Delta Skyclubs whenever you’re flying Delta and you can bring two guests at the discounted rate of $29 per person per visit. 

Another big benefit of the Delta Reserve Card is that it offers you an Annual Companion Certificate. However, this certificate is eligible for domestic main cabin, Delta Comfort Plus and Domestic First Class flights. The taxes and fees are also capped at $75. 

Which Amex Delta Card is right for you?

I personally think having an Amex Delta Card is essential if you travel on Delta airlines with any frequency. The free checked bag, priority boarding and 20% off inflight purchases are great benefits. When you add the increased sign up bonuses it makes the decision to add a Delta Card to your wallet a no brainer. 

The Gold Delta Card is probably the best option for you if you’re not 100% sure that carrying a Delta Card is useful for you. It comes with a great sign up bonus and the annual fee is waived the first year; so you can try it out for free then decide if you want to keep it later.

The Platinum Delta Card is great if you fly Delta with a companion even once a year because of the annual companion certificate. It’s easy to use online and you can even give it to someone else to use it; it’ll make for a very nice gift.

The Delta Reserve is only good for those of you who regularly fly on Delta and don’t have the Amex Platinum Card to get access to Delta Skyclubs. Also, the first class companion certificate is a very nice selling point if you like to splurge every now and then on a first class flight. 

Bottom Line:

Even though Delta Skymiles have a bad reputation because of the enormous amount of miles needed to redeem on Delta flights. Nowadays, with the frequent Delta Award Sales and some reasonable Delta routes; you don’t want to miss out on these increased bonus offers. I recently redeemed 54,000 Delta Skymiles for roundtrip First Class flight from New York to the Bahamas and it was a great experience for a great price.