American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card Review (Personal & Business)
Updated August 18, 2024.
The Facts
This review covers both the personal and business versions of Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card.
American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card (Personal)
American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum BUSINESS Card
The Math
Our current valuation of SkyMiles is 1 cent per mile, and even with the 15% off miles feature which increases the value to ~1.18 cents, we still won't recommend either card for general spending. The 3x, 2x, and 1.5x categories might make sense to some, but in general, you probably will be better off with a non-fee 2% cashback card such as Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa.
With a $350 annual fee, Delta Platinum Amex offers annual credits up to $390 ($150 for Delta Stays, $120 for Resy, $120 for rideshare); however, Delta Stays requires prepaid bookings while the other two credit categories are monthly rather than annually, so they definitely can't be taken at full value. For example, it might be reasonable to value them at $200 as an annual fee reducer, and in this way the effective annual fee is $150, with which the card offers some Delta benefits including annual companion certificate, MQD headstart and boost, free bags, etc.
Delta Platinum Amex vs. Delta Gold Amex: The difference in annual fees is now $200. With that, on Delta Platinum Amex, you receive $290 in additional annual credits (even though they can't be taken at face value), one annual companion certificate which could be very useful if you fly Delta, and MQD headstart and boost which might be helpful to some Delta flyers. In this way, if you make use of the companion certificate, Delta Platinum Amex is very likely a better deal.
The Conclusion
We could recommend Delta Platinum Amex after the first year only when you can make use of the annual companion certificate and other Delta perks.
The Facts
This review covers both the personal and business versions of Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card.
American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card (Personal)
- Annual Fee: $350
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 miles after you spend $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Bonus is not available to applicants who have or had this card or previous versions of this card. Historical best bonus: (1) 90K miles + $200 home furnishing credits in 2021; (2) 90K miles + $200 with a Delta purchase in 2021; (3) 90K miles + 10K MQMs in 2021; (4) 90K miles in 2021; (5) 80K miles (upon signup) + 20K miles (upon renewal) in 2020; (6) 75K miles + 5K MQMs + $100 credit in 2019; (7) 70K miles + 10K MQMs + $100 credit several times in the past years.
- Personal Card Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x Delta & hotels, 2x dining & U.S. supermarkets, and 1x everywhere else.
- Best Use of SkyMiles: SkyMiles is the frequent flyer program of Delta Air Lines, a member of SkyTeam. Usually, Delta miles are best for redeeming for awards tickets on Delta or partner airlines. The value of miles depends on your itinerary; there used to be decent or great value especially when redeeming for premium cabins on international long haul flights; however, with devaluations over the years, it is getting harder to find value more than 1 cent per mile. With Amex Delta cards, you might also choose "Pay with Miles" option for Delta flights, which essentially provides fixed value at 1 cent per mile.
- Statement Credits: (1) Up to $120 Resy credits each calendar year (up to $10 in statement credits per month towards U.S. dining reservations booked via Resy.com or Resy app). (2) Up to $120 rideshare credits each calendar year (up to $10 in statement credits per month towards rideshare services). (3) Annual $150 Delta Stays credit towards prepaid hotels and vacation rentals on detla.com/stays.
- Delta Benefits: (1) Take 15% off miles for awards travel on Delta flights, essentially increasing the miles value by 18% when you redeem on Delta . Note this feature applies to awards travel only and not to the "Pay with Miles" option. (2) One free companion certificate upon each anniversary, which is good on roundtrip Main Cabin economy fares on Delta operated flights from the U.S. to domestic, Caribbean, or Central American destinations - you can take your companion for free when you purchase your ticket and pay taxes and fees for your companion (up to $80 on domestic flights and up to $250 on international flights). (3) MQD Headstart & MQD Boost: receive 2,500 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD) each calendar year, and 1 MQD for each $20 spent on the card. (4) The first checked bag free for the primary cardholder plus 8 passengers on the same reservation. (5) Receive Main Cabin 1 priority boarding (same as Delta Silver Medallion elites) for the primary cardholder plus 8 passengers on the same reservation. (6) Receive 20% discount for in-flight purchases including food & beverage, headsets, etc. but excluding Wi-Fi or charitable donations. (7) Purchase Delta Sky Club day pass for $39. (8) Complimentary upgrade list: cardmember will be added to the complimentary upgrade list, after Delta Medallion members and Amex Delta Reserve cardmembers. Due to the low priority, the chance of getting an upgrade is almost zero.
- Other Benefits: (1) Complimentary Hertz Five Star status. (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees every four years. (3) Waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EVM chip. (4) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit or earn bonus miles 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. (5) Entertainment Access including American Express Presale, American Express Preferred Seating, and Premium Access (Dining Access). (6) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants.
- History: In May 2014, Amex added waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip but increased the annual fees from $150 to $195. In January 2020, Amex added Delta & hotels as 3x categories, dining & grocery as 2x categories, and Global Entry / TSA PreCheck application reimbursement, removed redeemable miles booster for $25K or $50K spending (while keeping the MQM booster), and increased the annual fees from $195 to $250. In February 2024, Amex increased the annual fee from $250 to $350 while adding $120 Resy credits, $120 rideshare credits, $150 Delta Stays credits, 2,500 MQD Headstart, 1/$20 MQD Boost, Hertz Five Star status, and expanding companion certificate's scope from contiguous U.S. to the entire U.S., Caribbean, and Central America.
American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum BUSINESS Card
- The business version shares most of the features with the personal version with the following differences.
- Signup Bonus: 65,000 miles after spending $6,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Bonus is not available to applicants who have or had this card or previous versions of this card. Historical best bonus: (1) 90K miles + $100 statement credit in 2021; (2) 100K miles in 2022; (3) 80K miles upon signup + 20K miles upon renewal in 2020; (4) 80K miles + 5K MQMs + $100 credit in 2019.
- Business Card Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x Delta & hotels, 1.5x transit & U.S. shipping & each purchase over $5,000 (up to $100,000 in purchase in combined categories per calendar year), and 1x everywhere else.
- Annual $200 Delta Stays credit towards prepaid hotels and vacation rentals on detla.com/stays ($50 more than the personal version).
- History: the business version used to have all the features of the personal version; however, starting January 2020, Amex started differentiating the two versions.
The Math
Our current valuation of SkyMiles is 1 cent per mile, and even with the 15% off miles feature which increases the value to ~1.18 cents, we still won't recommend either card for general spending. The 3x, 2x, and 1.5x categories might make sense to some, but in general, you probably will be better off with a non-fee 2% cashback card such as Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa.
With a $350 annual fee, Delta Platinum Amex offers annual credits up to $390 ($150 for Delta Stays, $120 for Resy, $120 for rideshare); however, Delta Stays requires prepaid bookings while the other two credit categories are monthly rather than annually, so they definitely can't be taken at full value. For example, it might be reasonable to value them at $200 as an annual fee reducer, and in this way the effective annual fee is $150, with which the card offers some Delta benefits including annual companion certificate, MQD headstart and boost, free bags, etc.
Delta Platinum Amex vs. Delta Gold Amex: The difference in annual fees is now $200. With that, on Delta Platinum Amex, you receive $290 in additional annual credits (even though they can't be taken at face value), one annual companion certificate which could be very useful if you fly Delta, and MQD headstart and boost which might be helpful to some Delta flyers. In this way, if you make use of the companion certificate, Delta Platinum Amex is very likely a better deal.
The Conclusion
We could recommend Delta Platinum Amex after the first year only when you can make use of the annual companion certificate and other Delta perks.