Delta Amex Card - Sign up By 1/29/2020 to Avoid Annual Fee Increases

This week, American Express announced changes to their Delta Amex credit cards.  Among the changes is annual fee increases for all of the Delta-branded Amex cards.  Some benefits have been improved or added, though this post does not delve into all the changes.  This post is a heads-up that signing up now makes sense, to get the card before the annual fee increases take effect.

The changes take effect on Jan 30, 2020.  

Also, this week, Amex announced higher-than-normal sign-up bonuses for its personal Delta Amex credit cards.  (The business versions of the Gold, Platinum, and Reserve Delta Amex cards currently have mediocre sign-up bonuses; only the personal versions are worth signing up for right now.)

These good sign-up bonuses are typically offered twice a year. These offers were previously offered 1st quarter 2019.

The increased bonuses for the Platinum and Reserve card are currently available only via referral from existing cardholders.  The Gold card signup bonus is the same via referral as the public offer.  

Please click my link if you are interested in any of the offers below.

http://refer.amex.us/JASONWc8CN?XLINK=MYCP

After clicking the referral link, click the 'View all Cards with a Referral Offer' link, then click the 'Looking for a Personal Card?' link to see the personal Delta Amex cards.

Background Reading

Frequent Miler and Rene's Points both have decent recaps and analysis of the changes.  Many of the changes are positive and many are negative.

For current cardholders it is really a personal decision as to how the card changes affect your own decision whether to cancel, keep, downgrade, or replace one card with another.  For me, the loss of 15k bonus SkyMiles at $30k and another 15k miles at $60k is a major blow.  That, along with the annual fee increase, has me feeling that the Reserve card is no longer worth it.

My bottom line analysis is that post-changes, the Platinum card makes more sense than the Reserve card for most folks.  More details available in the articles below:

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/delta-credit-cards-huge-changes-coming/https://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2019/09/30/major-changes-and-higher-fees-coming-to-delta-american-express-cards/https://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2019/09/30/my-thoughts-on-the-new-delta-american-express-benefits-fees-and-more/

Last Day for Increased Delta Amex Credit Card Signup Bonuses

Weds April 3rd - today - is the last day to get higher-than-normal signup bonuses for several Delta-branded American Express credit cards.

The increased bonuses for new customers are available only via referral from existing cardholders.  Please click my link if you are interested in any of the offers below.

http://refer.amex.us/JASONW2rUF?XLINK=MYCP 

After clicking the link, click the View all Cards with a Referral Offer to see the other Delta Amex personal credit cards.  To see the Delta Amex business credit cards, click the Looking for a Business Card? link

Recap of Current Signup Bonuses - Delta Amex Personal Credit Cards

• Gold Delta SkyMiles card:  60,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit after $2,000 spend in first 3 months.  Annual fee waived first year, then $95/yr
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles card:  75,000 SkyMiles + 5,000 MQMs (toward elite status earning) + $100 statement credit after $3,000 spend in first 3 mos.  $195 annual fee (NOT waived first year)
• Delta Reserve card:  75,000 SkyMiles + 5,000 MQMs after $5,000 spend in 3 mos.  $450 annual fee (NOT waived first year)
• Blue Delta SkyMiles card - this is NOT a good card.  Signup bonus is only 10,000 miles after $500 spend in first 3 mos.  No annual fee.  Earning rate is only 1/2 SkyMile per $1 on most purchases except Delta purchases - terrible

Recap of Current Signup Bonuses - Delta Amex Business Credit Cards

The business cards have signup bonuses that are in some cases better than the personal cards, although not everyone may be comfortable applying for a business credit card.  For some reason, the increased signup bonuses are not working via referral link, but they are still publicly available.  Click the Frequent Miler article below for links to the application pages

• Gold Delta SkyMiles Business card:  70,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit after $4,000 spend in 3 mos.  Annual fee $95/yr waived first year
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business card:  80,000 SkyMiles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit after $6,000 spend in 3 mos.  $195 annual fee (NOT waived first year)

Background reading

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/increased-referral-offers-on-delta-personal-cards/
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/inceased-delta-biz-offers-now-too/

70k SkyMiles + 1 year Delta Sky Club access + 10k MQMs for $450

[This offer was previously 40,000 miles, and in the past has been as low as 10,000 miles, but is offered now at 70,000 miles which is by far the best offer ever on this card.]

American Express is offering a signup bonus of 70,000 Delta SkyMiles plus 10,000 MQMs on the Amex Delta Reserve business credit card.  Signup bonus requires $5,000 spend within first 3 months.

Below is my referral URL for the Business version of the Amex Delta Reserve Card.

http://refer.amex.us/JASONWXtbm?XLINK=MYCP

If you apply, I'd appreciate you using my referral link as I'll earn some free SkyMiles.  The offer via referral is the same as the publicly available offer, so you don't lose anything by using the link.  Referral offer on business version of the card ends on 11/07/2018.

Card also provides free Delta Sky Club access for cardholder when traveling on same-day Delta flight.

This is the first time so many SkyMiles  are included in the sign-up bonus for the Reserve card.  (The *personal* Reserve card signup bonus is still 40,000 SkyMiles.)  in the past, the bonus has fluctuated between 10k and 40k SkyMiles, plus the 10k Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs, aka Delta elite status qualifying miles).

The business version of the card is great because most business credit cards do NOT hit your personal credit report or affect your credit inquiries or credit score.  Anyone can apply for a business credit card; you do NOT need an incorporated business or a company Tax ID number to be approved for a business credit card.  All you need is a legitimate small business or side business with a history of decent amount of revenue and a good amount of expected expenses.

Annual fee on this card is $450, which is steep, but still cheaper than buying a Sky Club membership separately.  Delta Diamond members can choose free individual Sky Club membership (costs one of the member's three Choice Benefits) or an executive Sky Club membership (costs two Choice Benefits).  Diamond elites who have complimentary Sky Club access via credit card such as the Reserve personal or business card, also can choose a Delta Sky Club Guest Pass.  This costs one Choice Benefit and allows two guests to join the member in the Sky Club free.  This is a smarter way to go; get individual SkyClub access by paying $450 annual fee for the Reserve card, and in exchange you free up an additional Choice Benefit instead of using TWO Choice Benefits for the Executive Membership.

Personally, I'd rather choose the 4 global or 8 regional upgrade certificates, or gift Gold status to another person (or use all 3 Choice benefits to gift Gold status to 3 people), and pay for the Sky Club via the Reserve card annual fee instead rather than waste a Diamond Choice Benefit on Sky Club membership.

Basics

• Earn 70,000 Delta SkyMiles and 10,000 MQMs after $5,000 spend within first 3 months of card membership
• Must apply via referral link by November 7, 2018, to be eligible for sign-up bonus
• Earn 1 SkyMile per dollar on all purchases.  Earn 2x per dollar on Delta spending (in-flight purchases, airfare, etc)
• Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product before
• $450 annual fee

How Good is This Deal?

• Outstanding...for $450, signing up for this card is an absolute no-brainer.
• 70k SkyMiles can be used for:
• Award flights (get $800-1,500 value depending on what/when you book); OR
• Revenue flights - cardholders receive the ability to use miles at 1 cent per mile toward paid/revenue flights - Delta calls this feature "Pay With Miles."  The 70k bonus miles are worth $700 toward paid Delta travel - this easily offsets the $450 annual fee in first year
• SkyClub individual membership alone is well worth the annual fee for the card.  Also provides a discounted rate for up to 2 guests per visit
• 10k Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) after meeting the minimum initial spend
• Earn up to 30k additional MQMs and 30k additional SkyMiles per year - Earn 15,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) and 15,000 bonus SkyMiles after $30,000 spend on the card in a calendar year. Earn an additional 15,000 MQMs and an additional 15,000 bonus SkyMiles after $60,000 spend on the card in a calendar year.  So it is possible to earn 40k MQMs in the first year holding this card.
• If you spend right around $30k or $60k per year on the card, you will earn right around 1.5 SkyMiles per dollar
• MQMs with Delta are valuable particularly because any earned beyond a status level MQMs roll over to the following year
• This year, Delta offered a third MQM bonus spend threshold - another 15k MQMs after $90k annual spend
• Companion Certificate - main cabin or first class companion certificate each year on card renewal
• Upgrade tiebreaker - Cardmembership is one of the factors in determining the upgrade list on each flight, so holding this card slightly improves one's chances of first class upgrade on domestic flights.  Specifically, the Reserve card is the upgrade tiebreaker when two passengers have the same Medallion status and booked in same fare class.

Other Card Benefits

• 24/7 Concierge
• 20% off in-flight Delta purchases paid with the card
• First checked bag free on every flight
• Priority boarding (Zone 1) on Delta flights
• Purchase protection, baggage protection, Global Assist hotline, premium roadside assistance, car rental loss and damage insurance, extended warranty - typical benefit suite for many higher-end credit cards

Last Call - 70,000 Delta SkyMiles for $195

This offer expires on May 16, 2018.

The offer is still available via referral, but only thru 5/16/2018.  (The public offer has expired.)

Here is my referral link for the personal version of the Delta Amex Platinum card:  http://refer.amex.us/JASONWoAVH?XLINK=MYCP

Delta Amex Platinum personal & business - 70,000 SkyMiles + $100 statement credit

• 70,000 Delta SkyMiles + 10,000 MQMs (elite status miles) after $3K spend in first 3 months
• $100 statement credit after Delta purchase in first 3 months
• $195 annual fee NOT waived in first year
• 10k bonus miles and 10k bonus MQMs (towards elite status) after $25k spend and + second 10k bonus miles and 10k MQMs after $50k spend per calendar year
• Free domestic economy companion certificate after first year.  (Yes, this certificate really works.  Once it is in your SkyMiles account, you can use it regardless of whether your Delta Amex Platinum credit card account is open.)
• Priority boarding and free checked bags.
• Offer expires 5/16/2018
• TIP:  *Any* spend with Delta, such as a $2 headphone or $8 snack box during a flight, should trigger the entire statement credit; you do not need to spend $100 to get the $100 credit
• The personal and business version are two cards with the same signup bonus and benefits.  A person can hold both cards at the same time
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/four-new-offers-70k-60k-skymiles  (note that these offers expired in April, unless you apply via a referral link from someone.)

1 year Delta Sky Club access + 40k SkyMiles + 10k MQMs for $450

American Express is again offering 40,000 Delta SkyMiles plus 10,000 MQMs on the Amex Delta Reserve personal and business credit cards.  Requires $3,000 spend within first 3 months.

Below is my referral URL for the Business version of the Amex Delta Reserve Card.

http://refer.amex.us/JASONWHjUT


If you apply, I'd appreciate you using my referral link as I'll earn some free SkyMiles.  The offer via referral is the same as the publicly available offer, so you don't lose anything by using the link.  Referral offer on business version of the card ends on 1/31/2018.

Card also provides free Delta Sky Club access for cardholder when traveling on same-day Delta flight.

Although this offer has been around a few months, it is the first time so many SkyMiles  are included in the sign-up bonus for the Reserve cards.  Typically the bonus has been 10k SkyMiles, or as low as 5k SkyMiles, plus the 10k Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs, aka elite status qualifying miles).

The business version of the card is great because most business credit cards do NOT hit your personal credit report or affect your credit inquiries or credit score.  Anyone can apply for a business credit card; you do NOT need an incorporated business or a company Tax ID number to be approved for a business credit card.  All you need is a legitimate small business or side business with a history of decent amount of revenue and a good amount of expected expenses.

Annual fee on this card is $450, which is steep, but still cheaper than buying a Sky Club membership separately.  Delta Diamond members can choose free individual Sky Club membership (costs one of the member's three Choice Benefits) or an executive Sky Club membership (costs two Choice Benefits).  Diamond elites who have complimentary Sky Club access via credit card such as the Reserve personal or business card, also can choose a Delta Sky Club Guest Pass.  This costs one Choice Benefit and allows two guests to join the member in the Sky Club free.  This is a smarter way to go; get individual SkyClub access by paying $450 annual fee for the Reserve card, and in exchange you free up an additional Choice Benefit instead of using TWO Choice Benefits for the Executive Membership.

Personally, I'd rather choose the 4 global or 8 regional upgrade certificates, or gift Gold status to another person (or use all 3 Choice benefits to gift Gold status to 3 people), and pay for the Sky Club via the Reserve card annual fee instead rather than waste a Diamond Choice Benefit on Sky Club membership.

Basics

• Earn 40,000 Delta SkyMiles and 10,000 MQMs after $3,000 spend within first 3 months of card membership
• Must apply via referral link by April 24, 2019 to be eligible for sign-up bonus
• Earn 1 SkyMile per dollar on all purchases.  Earn 2x per dollar on Delta spending (in-flight purchases, airfare, etc)
• Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product before
• $450 annual fee

How Good is This Deal?

• Excellent...for $450, signing up for this card is an absolute no-brainer.
• 40k SkyMiles can be used for:
• Award flights (get $500-700 value depending on what/when you book); OR
• Revenue flights - cardholders receive the ability to use miles at 1 cent per mile toward paid/revenue flights - Delta calls this feature "Pay With Miles."  The 40k bonus miles are worth $400 toward paid Delta travel - this basically offsets the $450 annual fee in first year
• SkyClub individual membership alone is well worth the annual fee for the card.  Also provides a discounted rate for up to 2 guests per visit
• 10k Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) after meeting the minimum initial spend
• Earn up to 30k additional MQMs and 30k additional SkyMiles per year - Earn 15,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) and 15,000 bonus SkyMiles after $30,000 spend on the card in a calendar year. Earn an additional 15,000 MQMs and an additional 15,000 bonus SkyMiles after $60,000 spend on the card in a calendar year.  So it is possible to earn 40k MQMs in the first year holding this card.
• If you spend right around $30k or $60k per year on the card, you will earn right around 1.5 SkyMiles per dollar
• MQMs with Delta are valuable particularly because any earned beyond a status level MQMs roll over to the following year
• Companion Certificate - main cabin or first class companion certificate each year on card renewal
• Upgrade tiebreaker - Cardmembership is one of the factors in determining the upgrade list on each flight, so holding this card slightly improves one's chances of first class upgrade on domestic flights.  Specifically, the Reserve card is the upgrade tiebreaker when two passengers have the same Medallion status and booked in same fare class.

Other Card Benefits

• 24/7 Concierge
• 20% off in-flight Delta purchases paid with the card
• First checked bag free on every flight
• Priority boarding (Zone 1) on Delta flights
• Purchase protection, baggage protection, Global Assist hotline, premium roadside assistance, car rental loss and damage insurance, extended warranty - typical benefit suite for many higher-end credit cards

Roundtrip U.S. to Beijing - Delta Premium Economy $600+ RT Feb-Apr 2018 21k MQMs

Great mileage run for elite qualifying miles with Delta.

Earn 21,239 Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) from Chicago.

1-stop and 2-stop flights to Beijing (PEK) via Detroit (DTW).  Other routings also available for more $$, via Seattle (SEA) or other cities.

Best fares available March thru mid-April 2018.  Some February fares slightly more expensive.

• O'Hare (ORD) or Midway (MDW) as low as $653 round trip
• Boston from $615
• Other cities also available for similar pricing - e.g. Rochester NY (ROC) $671+
• Columbus (CMH) and Indianapolis (IND) both < $800
• Cleveland (CLE) $875+

Search on Google Flights.  www.google.com/flights

These flights all route thru Detroit to Beijing (PEK).  Most of them are on Delta's new Airbus A350, so you are getting a seat in Delta's new "Premium Select" cabin which is available so far only on their A350.  This is a better experience and seat than Delta's typical Comfort+ cabin on other long-haul aircraft such as the A330, B767, etc.

The connecting flights within the U.S. will mostly be booked into first class with this deal as well, but keep an eye out to be sure.

Sample Searches
CMH/IND March 8-12 from $758.  LINK
ROC April 5-9 from $671.  LINK
ORD/MDW April 5-9 from $658.  LINK
BOS March 18-26 from $665.  LINK

Great for Earning Toward Delta Elite Status

• This fare earns 20,000+ Delta Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs).  From ORD, 21,239 MQMs.  For $650-800 that's a GREAT return, especially considering it's not in the economy cabin.  Note the MQD earnings aren't great because it's 1 MQD per $1 of base fare for Delta flights.  However...
• Anyone can still waive the MQD requirement for 2019 Silver, Gold, or Platinum status with $25k credit card spend during calendar year 2018
• 21k MQMs is most of what you need for Silver (25k).  It also can push someone most of the way from Silver (25k) to Gold (50k), or Gold (50k) to Platinum (75k)
• 21,239 MQM for $653 is 3.1 cents per elite qualifying mile - a GREAT deal especially considering the deal is in premium economy, not regular economy

[DEAL GONE] Elite Status Mileage Run - U.S. to Lima Peru Business Class $513+ RT

{This airfare sale has expired.]

*UPDATE.  Fares as low as $513 round trip.  Original post was for $659 RT from LAX.  Other cities are even cheaper.  Chicago to Lima is under $600 RT.*

Prime example of an airfare that's a great way to earn toward elite status with Delta.

This airfare earns way more elite qualifying miles (MQMs) and elite qulaifying dollars (MQDs) with Delta than people realize is possible for $659

Aeromexico, along with Delta a SkyTeam member, has $659 round trip business class flights in 2018 from LAX to Lima Peru (LIM).

Also available is JFK or Orlando (MCO) to Santiago Chile from $1,012 on Aeromexico (1-stop via MEX) - with a chance to book the 787 with lie-flat business class seats.  12,350 mile roundtrip from JFK = almost 24,700 MQMs and 24,700 Sky Miles, and 4,940 MQDs

Basics

• 8,365 flown miles (Great Circle Mapper DETAILS - LAX-MEX-LIM)
• 16,730 elite qualifying miles (200% MQMs for this business class fare)
• $3,346 elite qualifying dollars (MQDs) - based on this fare class earning MQDs of 40% of the miles flown.  0.4 x 8,365 flight miles = 3,346

How Good is This Deal?

• Very good...
• Earning $3,200 MQDs for a $659 flight is excellent.  Partner flights earn MQDs based on a percentage of miles flown.  Delta's own flights (or Delta-marketed partner flights) earn 1 MQD per mile flown, but only on the main fare - not on the taxes & fees part.  If this was a Delta flight, you'd earn maybe $500-550 MQD.

Background Articles

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2017/12/15/amazing-fare-business-class-roundtrip-la-lima-peru-just-659/

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/12/15/business-class-aeromexico-1012-new-york-santiago-chile-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2017/12/15/fare-alert-1091-business-class-roundtrip-new-york-santiago-chile/