American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card Review (Personal & Business) (Old Review NOT being Updated)
Updated February 7, 2023. Please see our updated review here.
The Facts
This review covers both the personal and business versions of Amex Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card.
American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card (Personal)
American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve BUSINESS Card
The Math
Our current valuation of SkyMiles is 1 cent per mile, and obviously we won't recommend either card for general spending. The 3x 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. After the first year, either card will only be valuable to those who can make use of the Delta benefits including airport lounge access, annual companion certificate, MQM booster, MQD waiver, etc.
If you have already had Delta Platinum Amex which means you value the companion certificate, MQM booster, and/or MQD waiver, it seems logical to upgrade it to Delta Reserve for airport lounge access and more MQM earning potential, for an additional $300 per year. However, if you don't need the extra 10K-40K MQMs, then Delta Platinum Amex + Amex Platinum may suit you better since Amex Platinum covers more lounges through Priority Pass Select, $200 airline incidentals, FHR, and several other perks.
To see how Amex Delta Reserve competes with other cards with similar annual fees, please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex Marriott Brilliant, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United MP Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, CNB Crystal, and MasterCard Black Card.
The Conclusion
With Amex Platinum providing Sky Club / Centurion Lounge access plus many other valuable perks, Delta Reserve Card is called when you are short of MQMs and/or MQDs. Delta Reserve Amex is currently rated as one of Top 10 Credit Cards for Perks.
The Facts
This review covers both the personal and business versions of Amex Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card.
American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card (Personal)
- Annual Fee: $550 for the primary card holder, and $175 for each additional user who will receive Delta Platinum Amex unless you choose to upgrade it to Delta Reserve.
- Signup Bonus: 100,000 miles after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. The bonus is not available to applicants who have or had this card or previous versions of this card. Historical Best Bonus: (1) 125K miles + 10K MQMs in 2021; (2) 80K miles + 20K MQMs + $200 home furnishing credits in 2021; (3) 80K miles + 20K MQMs + $200 with a Delta purchase in 2021; (4) 100K miles in 2022; (5) 80K miles + 20K MQMs in 2021; (6) 80K miles + 20K MQMs upon signup + 20K miles upon renewal in 2020; (7) 75K miles + 5K MQMs in 2019; (8) 70K miles + 10K MQMs in 2018.
- Personal card application landing page
- Rewards: 3x Delta and 1x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Delta 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.
- Delta Benefits: (1) The big ticket item here is obviously the airport lounge access. You receive unlimited access to 50+ Delta Sky Club for the primary cardholder plus two guests (free for the primary cardholder and $39 for each guest). No partner lounge access is provided. In addition, upon signup and each anniversary, you also receive two complimentary Sky Club guest passes. Finally, you also receive unlimited access to Centurion Lounge, Amex's premier lounge network, free for the primary cardholder and $50 for each guest. Please see our featured review to learn more about airport lounge access. (2) 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. (3) One free companion certificate (only valid in the contiguous U.S.) upon each anniversary, which is good on any class fare - you can take your companion for free when you purchase your ticket and pay taxes and fees for your companion (up to $75). This is a better version of Delta Platinum Amex's companion certificate as it can be used on first class or Delta One. (4) Status Boost: receive 15,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM) for each $30,000 you spend in a calendar year, up to 4 times. That is up to 60,000 MQMs for $120K spending. This is an enhanced version of Delta Platinum Amex's Status Boost (10K MQMs for each $25K spent, up to twice a year). In addition, an interesting feature of Delta Reserve is that you can gift your status boost MQMs to someone else. (5) Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) waiver: when you spend at least $25,000 in a calendar year, the MQD requirement towards Delta Silver, Gold, or Platinum elite status will be waived; when you spend at least $250,000 (!!) in a calendar year, the MQD requirement towards Delta Diamond elite status will be waived. (6) Complimentary upgrade access for non-elite cardholders: you will be placed on the upgrade list after Delta elite members, when you purchase Delta One, first class, Delta Comfort + fares. Basic Economy fares are not eligible. (7) Upgrade priority for Delta elite members who have this card. (8) The first checked bag free for the primary cardholder plus 8 passengers on the same reservation. (9) Receive Main Cabin 1 priority boarding (same as Delta Silver Medallion elites) for the primary cardholder plus 8 passengers on the same reservation. (10) Receive 20% discount for in-flight purchases including food & beverage, headsets, etc. but excluding Wi-Fi or charitable donations.
- Other Benefits: (1) Reimbursement for application fees for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85). (2) 24/7 concierge service. (3) 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. (4) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants. (5) Waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EVM chip. (6) Entertainment Access including American Express Presale, American Express Preferred Seating, and Premium Access (Dining Access).
- Other Facts: now you may choose three card designs: (1) 70% reclaimed plastic, (2) metal (~12 grams), and (3) Boeing 747 design in metal.
- History: in January 2020, Amex had a major revamped of Delta Reserve Card, by increasing the annual fees from $450 to $550, increasing Delta purchase bonus from 2x to 3x, adding Centurion Lounge access, adding two guest Sky Club passes, adding complimentary upgrade access for non-elite members, adding Global Entry or TSA PreCheck reimbursement, removing 15K redeemable miles booster for each $30K spent, increasing 15K MQMs booster for each $30K spent from twice to 4 times a year, and removing Sky Priority Security.
American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve BUSINESS Card
- The business version shares most of the features with the personal version with the following differences.
- Signup Bonus: 110,000 miles after you spend $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) 80K miles + 20K MQMs + $200 statement credit in 2021; (2) 80K miles + 20K MQMs upon signup + 20K miles upon renewal in 2020; (3) 110K miles in 2022; (4) 70K miles + 10K MQMs in 2018.
- Application landing page for business card
- Rewards: 3x Delta and 1x everywhere else. When you spend over $150,000 in a calendar year, you will earn 1.5x miles on purchases made in the rest of the year.
- History: the business version used to have all the features of the personal version; however, starting January 2020, Amex started differentiating the two versions, albeit slightly for now.
The Math
Our current valuation of SkyMiles is 1 cent per mile, and obviously we won't recommend either card for general spending. The 3x 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. After the first year, either card will only be valuable to those who can make use of the Delta benefits including airport lounge access, annual companion certificate, MQM booster, MQD waiver, etc.
If you have already had Delta Platinum Amex which means you value the companion certificate, MQM booster, and/or MQD waiver, it seems logical to upgrade it to Delta Reserve for airport lounge access and more MQM earning potential, for an additional $300 per year. However, if you don't need the extra 10K-40K MQMs, then Delta Platinum Amex + Amex Platinum may suit you better since Amex Platinum covers more lounges through Priority Pass Select, $200 airline incidentals, FHR, and several other perks.
To see how Amex Delta Reserve competes with other cards with similar annual fees, please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex Marriott Brilliant, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United MP Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, CNB Crystal, and MasterCard Black Card.
The Conclusion
With Amex Platinum providing Sky Club / Centurion Lounge access plus many other valuable perks, Delta Reserve Card is called when you are short of MQMs and/or MQDs. Delta Reserve Amex is currently rated as one of Top 10 Credit Cards for Perks.