American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles and Platinum Delta SkyMiles Review

Updated July 18, 2019.  Note: this is the old review not currently being updated.  For the updated review, check out Amex Delta SkyMiles Gold and Amex Delta SkyMile Platinum.

Our side-by-side review of four American Express Delta SkyMiles credit cards (personal and business versions of Gold and Platinum SkyMiles credit cards)

Gold Delta SkyMiles Card

The Facts
  • Annual Fee: 1st year free & $95 thereafter
  • Signup Bonus: (1) personal card: 50,000 miles after spending $1,000 within 3 months of new account opening and $50 statement credit after your first Delta purchase within the same 3 months.  (2) business card: 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 within 3 months of new account opening and $50 statement credit after your first Delta purchase within the same 3 months.  (3) Historical best bonus: 70,000 miles + $100 statement credit in 2012; 60,000 miles + $50 statement credit several times in the past years; 50,000 miles + $50 statement credit several times in the past years.
  • Personal Card Landing Page
  • Business Card Landing Page
  • Rewards: 2x Delta, 1x everywhere else.  Spend $15K a year and get a 5K mile booster; spend $25K a year and get an additional 5K mile booster.  That is a total of 10K bonus RDMs (redeemable miles) for $25K annual spending.
  • Delta Benefits: (1) Get 1st checked bag free for you plus 8 passengers on your reservation.  (2) Receive Zone-1 priority boarding (the same as Silver Medallion members) for you plus 8 passengers on your reservation.  (3) Buying a Sky Club day pass costs $29 instead of $50.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles Card

The Facts
  • Annual Fee: $195
  • Signup Bonus: (1) personal card: 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening and $100 statement credit after your first Delta purchase within the same 3 months.  (2) business card: 35,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs after spending $1,000 within 3 months of new account opening and $100 statement credit after your first Delta purchase within the same 3 months.  (3) Historical best bonus: 80K miles + 5K MQMs + $100 credit in 2019 for business card; 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 credit in 2019 for personal card; 70,000 miles + 10,000 MQMs + $100 credit several times in the past years.
  • Personal Card Landing Page
  • Business Card Landing Page
  • Rewards: 2x Delta, 1x everywhere else. Spend $25K a year and get a 10K mile booster; spend $50K a year and get an additional 10K mile booster.  While Gold Delta's mile booster is only in RDMs, Platinum Delta's is in both RDMs and MQMs
  • Delta Benefits: (1) One free companion certificate (only valid in the contiguous U.S.) upon anniversary, which is good on any economy fares - you can take your companion for free when you purchase a lowest fare ticket.  (2) Get 1st checked bag free for you plus 8 passengers on your reservation.  (3) Receive Zone-1 priority boarding (the same as Silver Medallion members) for you plus 8 passengers on your reservation.  (4) Receive 20% discount on in-flight purchases.  (5) Buying a Sky Club day pass costs $29 instead of $50.
  • Best Use of SkyMiles: Delta SkyMiles are known as "SkyPesos" for reasons.  They probably have the worst redemption value among all US based frequent flyer programs and rank low in all programs worldwide.  Also the call center training is not done well so that booking an award can be painful.  You will find for most cases the value is only a little more than 1 cent per mile.  Bare in mind that with Amex Delta cards, you can choose "Pay with Miles" option on Delta, which essentially gives you 1 cent per mile.  However, when redeeming them on premium cabins of international flights, savvy travelers can still find some good value of the miles.
  • Other Benefits: (1) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit or earn bonus MR points on select merchants when using your Amex card; you need to manually add an offer to your Amex card to be eligible for savings or bonus, and unlike other savings/bonus programs, you don't need to shop through a certain portal.  (2) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants.  (3) Waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EVM chip starting May 1, 2014.  (4) Entertainment Access including American Express Presale, American Express Preferred Seating, and Premium Access (Dining Access). 
  • Other Facts: In January 2013, Amex removed the $99 companion certificate from the Gold Delta for the new applicants.  In May 2014, Amex added waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip to both cards, but increased the annual fee on Platinum Delta from $150 to $195 at the same time.

The Math
The annual mile booster on Gold Delta makes the card returning 1.33 miles per dollar spent or 1.4 miles per dollar spent.  On Platinum Delta, it makes the card returning 1.4 miles per dollar spent.  To get the best value out of these cards, let's assuming 1.4 mile/$.

Gold Delta SkyMiles vs. Fidelity Amex: If you can somehow make use of the $99 companion certificate to negate the $95 annual fee, you have a chance to beat Fidelity.  If you value a mile at 1.43 cents, then 1.4 mile/$ x 1.43 cent/mile = 2% cash back on Fidelity.  If you spend on 2x category, then you may value SkyMiles lower.

Platinum Delta vs. Gold Delta: The difference in annual fee is $100 ($55 before May 2014).  For that you receive one annual companion certificate which could be very useful if you fly Delta.  In addition, the 10K or 20K MQMs booster will get you to the next status level much faster, thus could be invaluable to some Delta flyers.  The bottom line is if you make use of the companion certificate and/or the MQM booster, you will be better off with Platinum Delta.

The Conclusion
Even when dealing with SkyPesos, you may still have quite a chance to beat out Fidelity Amex with Amex Delta cards if you know the game well.  For most cases, it is worthwhile to upgrade Gold Delta to Platinum Delta whose companion certificate and the unique 10K or 20K MQM booster could mean a lot.