American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card Review (Personal & Business)
Updated August 22, 2024.
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 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 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 hefty $650 annual fee, Amex Delta Reserve (personal version) offers annual credits up to $560 ($200 for Delta Stays, $240 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 $280 as an annual fee reducer, and in this way the effective annual fee is $370, with which the card offers airport lounge access plus other Delta benefits including annual companion certificate, MQD headstart and boost, free bags, etc. By comparison, Amex Delta Platinum has an effective annual fee of $150 but doesn't offer airport lounge access and its annual companion certificate can only be used on Main Cabin tickets; in this way Amex Delta Reserve might appear to be a better deal if you ever need airport lounge access. However, if airport longe access is your primary concern, Amex Platinum, with a slightly higher annual fee of $695 but a lot of more annual credits ($200 for airline incidentals, $200 for prepaid hotel bookings via Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection, $189 for CLEAR membership, $200 for Uber or Uber Eats, $100 for Saks, $300 for Equinox memberships, and $240 for digital entertainment), might be an even better deal due to a potential lower effective annual fee and broader airport lounge coverage and luxury hotel privileges.
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 only if you are interested in annual companion certificate, MQD headstart and boost, etc.. 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: $650 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.
- Statement Credits: (1) Up to $240 Resy credits each calendar year (up to $20 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 $200 Delta Stays credit towards prepaid hotels and vacation rentals on detla.com/stays.
- Delta Benefits: (1) The big ticket item here is obviously airport lounge access. You receive unlimited access to 50+ Delta Sky Club for you plus two guests (free for the primary cardholder and $50 for each guest). Effective February 1, 2025, the unlimited access will only be available to cardholders who spend at least $75,000 per calendar year and will be replaced by 15 free visits per year for cardholders who couldn't meet the spending requirement. In addition, upon signup and each anniversary, you also receive 4 free 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, and to Escape Lounges, free for the primary cardholder and $32 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 upon each anniversary, which is good on roundtrip any class 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). This is a better version of Delta Platinum Amex's companion certificate as it can be used on first class or Delta One. (4) MQD Headstart & MQD Boost: receive 2,500 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD) each calendar year, and 1 MQD for each $10 spent on the card. (5) 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. (6) Upgrade priority for Delta elite members who have this card. (7) The first checked bag free for the primary cardholder plus 8 passengers on the same reservation. (8) Receive Main Cabin 1 priority boarding (same as Delta Silver Medallion elites) for the primary cardholder plus 8 passengers on the same reservation. (9) Receive 20% discount for in-flight purchases including food & beverage, headsets, etc. but excluding Wi-Fi or charitable donations.
- Other Benefits: (1) Complimentary Hertz Five Star status. (2) Reimbursement for application fees for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85). (3) 24/7 concierge service. (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) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants. (6) Waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EVM chip. (7) 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. In February 2024, Amex increased the annual fee from $550 to $650 while adding $240 Resy credits, $120 rideshare credits, $200 Delta Stays credits, 2,500 MQD Headstart, 1/$10 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 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, 1.5x transit & U.S. shipping & office supply stores, and 1x everywhere else,
- Annual $250 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, albeit slightly for now.
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 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 hefty $650 annual fee, Amex Delta Reserve (personal version) offers annual credits up to $560 ($200 for Delta Stays, $240 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 $280 as an annual fee reducer, and in this way the effective annual fee is $370, with which the card offers airport lounge access plus other Delta benefits including annual companion certificate, MQD headstart and boost, free bags, etc. By comparison, Amex Delta Platinum has an effective annual fee of $150 but doesn't offer airport lounge access and its annual companion certificate can only be used on Main Cabin tickets; in this way Amex Delta Reserve might appear to be a better deal if you ever need airport lounge access. However, if airport longe access is your primary concern, Amex Platinum, with a slightly higher annual fee of $695 but a lot of more annual credits ($200 for airline incidentals, $200 for prepaid hotel bookings via Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection, $189 for CLEAR membership, $200 for Uber or Uber Eats, $100 for Saks, $300 for Equinox memberships, and $240 for digital entertainment), might be an even better deal due to a potential lower effective annual fee and broader airport lounge coverage and luxury hotel privileges.
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 only if you are interested in annual companion certificate, MQD headstart and boost, etc.. Delta Reserve Amex is currently rated as one of Top 10 Credit Cards for Perks.