Ultimate Guide to Delta Skymiles Amex Credit Cards (+ My Experience)

Airline credit cards can be great to help you get perks you otherwise wouldn't have. And today we're going to be talking about the Amex Delta card line. There are four credit cards at different tiers and I'll go over each of their perks and features and share how I think they would be beneficial and worth it. I've also owned one of these cards in the past so I will share about some of my experience. So let's get started. But before we get into the video let me introduce today's sponsor Aura. And I don't know about you but lately I've been getting all kinds of spam calls and emails and so on and it's getting to the point where even after individually blocking them or unsubscribing to their emails it just doesn't work. And I'm thinking someone is selling my information out there. And for many people your full name, your email, your home address, it could all be on the internet. 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So at a glance Amex offers four different Delta SkyMiles credit cards and each have their own benefits that include doubling or tripling your miles on certain spending categories, getting complimentary companion certificates, lounge access, and more. So let's first start off with the card in the lowest tier and that is the Delta Blue. So this card actually has no annual fees and may be great if you're the occasional Delta traveler. And for this card the perks are as follows. So you get two times the miles on dining at US restaurants, two times the miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta, and one times miles on everything else. And you also get up to $50 off the cost of your flight for every $5,000 in miles you redeem with pay with miles when you book on delta.com. So even though this card has very few features, it is a card with no annual fee in this card line, which is great. Because for other cards on this list, if you one day decide that you no longer want to keep them, you can always downgrade them to this card instead of canceling the card, which would otherwise hurt your credit score. So next let's move on to the second card in the line and that is the Delta Gold. And this card has no annual fee the first year and afterward it has $150 annual fee. And currently there is a welcome bonus of 40,000 miles after you spend $2,000 within six months of card opening. So going over the benefits, card members can actually take 15% off when using miles to book with travel on Delta flights or on the Delta app. For example, if you find a flight that is worth 30,000 miles with taxes and fees, and with that 15% off, you would be getting that flight for 25,500 miles. And if you already fly Delta often and have miles to transfer from, either your Delta account or you have another Amex card, you can transfer your points over. And that is just a quick and easy way to get a discount on your points to make them worth more. Additionally, with this card, you get $200 flight credit. And that is after spending $10,000 in the card per calendar year. And you get two times the miles on Delta purchases directly with Delta, two times the miles on US restaurants, takeout and delivery, along with US supermarkets. And you get your first check bag free. You get priority boarding and $100 Delta stays credit, where you get up to $100 back every year. So what makes this card worth it? Well, for the first year, not having to pay an annual fee obviously makes it worth it for any scenario, but how about the second year and onward? One thing people think about when applying for an airline credit card is to avoid having to pay baggage fees. If we fly every so often, the cost of luggage really adds up. So with Delta, the first check bag usually costs $35. And just on luggage alone, if you fly five times a year, the card will pay for itself. So that's the math for just one person, but actually this benefit can extend to up to eight companions. So if you are a family of four, each checking in a bag, that would make the first round trip worth it. So one thing to mention though, and this pretty much goes for most airline cards with free check bags. The primary cardholder must be present for everyone to get their free check bag. So if you happen to purchase a flight for someone else using your credit card, that check bag would not be free to them because you the cardholder would not be present for the flight. So that is a mistake that I actually made myself and I do frequently see people on the internet making it. So just be aware. So the weight bag fee is pretty much the highlight of this credit card. Although the priority boarding is also a nice to have, but I wouldn't say that it contributes to the cost of the card. Next up, let's get into the more premium cards. And the next one is the Delta Platinum card. And my husband had this card at one point and later on we decided to downgrade it. So first let's go over the card's perks, who I think this card would be good for, and then why we downgraded ours. So this card has a $350 annual fee with a current welcome bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 within the first six months of card opening. The thing that attracts people to this card is the companion certificate. So each year after your first, the Delta Platinum card members will receive a companion certificate in the main cabin for domestic flights, Caribbean, or Central American flights. So if you have a plus one traveling with you every year within this region, they can travel for free with you for one roundtrip flight every year. So going over some of the benefits, like the Delta Gold, Delta Platinum card holders can also get that 15% off flights when booking with miles. You get three times the miles on Delta purchases and hotels, and two times the miles on dining at U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. And then you also get different kinds of credit. So you get $120 Resi credit, which breaks down to $10 a month, and $120 Rideshare credit that also breaks down to $10 a month. And with the Resi and Rideshare credit, plus adding when you use this credit card in general, these all add up to get closer to medallion status. And then you also get $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit. And then you get the similar benefits as the Delta Gold, such as a free check bag and others. So who does this card make sense for? Besides the check bag, as discussed earlier, the companion pass is a huge part of why people get this card. Let's go over an example scenario. If you fly from San Francisco to New York roundtrip with a companion, on bags alone, you would normally be paying $140 if each of you checks in a bag. And on flights, the typical cost from San Francisco to New York is around $350. So that would cancel out the annual fee for the companion. So overall, you would just end up saving $140. So that is the minimum scenario where you would get ahead with this card. But if you can find a flight that is worth more than the annual fee, that would be ideal. And also the Resi and Rideshare credit, it can be added pluses too. With Resi, it's for restaurants and the credit would hardly cover tips as you would only get that $10 allowance per month. And if you Uber and Lyft often, that's at least some money to save. In addition, that Global Entry TSA PreCheck credit, if you don't already have a credit card that waives those fees, that can be an added benefit. So now let me go over why we ended up downgrading this card. So my husband got this card back in 2021, back when the annual fee was $250. So there was no Resi or Rideshare credit back then, but it doesn't really make much of a difference. So back when we got it, we lived in New York and we knew that every year we would have to travel back to San Francisco once a year because my husband had family there. So it did make sense for the time being. But later on, we ended up moving to Texas and also his family members moved out of San Francisco. So we no longer had a reason to fly far away. So it just became harder to predict if we could find a location to fly to that would be higher than the cost of the annual fee, since we are centrally located in America. And also back then, the pass was restricted only to the lower 48 United States. So no Hawaii, no Alaska. But since February 1st, 2024, you can now fly to all 50 states, plus Central America and the Caribbean. So that does make it more flexible and where you can go and finding a flight that tends to be a bit more expensive. If they had this back then, maybe we would have continued owning the card and gone to Alaska or Hawaii. But since we already downgraded it, we are just putting our concentrations on our other cards to use them for travel and go other places. Finally, let's move on to the last card on the list. And that is the Delta Reserve Amex card. And this one is like a more luxurious upgraded version of the Platinum. So this card's annual fee is $650 and with the current welcome bonus, it has 90,000 miles if you spend $5,000 within six months of card opening. And right now there is a limited edition credit card design where the actual metal in the card was from a retired Boeing 747 aircraft, which is pretty cool. First, let's go over the status and lounge access of this card. So the focus of this card is on status and luxury, and you do get just that. So you, first of all, do start off by getting $2,500 in medallion qualification dollars every year. So that helps you to get closer to medallion status. And for lounge access, as of right now, the card members, they can go to Delta Sky Club lounges, an unlimited number of visits, and they also get four one-time guest passes. However, after February 2025, that unlimited access will unfortunately change to 15 visits per year. And you would only get that unlimited visit if you have medallion status or you could pay to get it. This card also gets cardholders complimentary access to the Centurion lounge. So hopefully if you travel, there's at least some sort of lounge at the airport that you go. And another nice perk too, this card will get you Hertz President's Circle status for a better rental car experience. Now let's talk about the companion certificate. So this card also has a companion certificate, and it is like the enhanced and upgraded version of the Delta Platinum. So you can actually book first class Delta Comfort or Delta main cabin flights to America, the Caribbean, or Central American roundtrip flights after your first card anniversary. So this is similar to the Platinum, it's just better seats for you and your plus one. This card will also give credit to cardholders with $240 a year with Resi credit, $120 a year for Rideshare, and $200 on Delta stays. And then the card will also give you the other perks that are same as the other cards, such as the 15% off award travel, upgrade priority, TSA pre-check, and the first check bag free. So overall, if you know the Delta Platinum was already a good card for you, but you're looking for something a little bit more premium, this is definitely the card. And you can opt for business or even first class seats with the companion pass, plus you get lounge access. And I think for sure, if you know you often fly with Delta or you live in a Delta hub, these cards can be of benefit for anyone. And getting a free check bag is at least the minimum of what people are looking out for. So you at least have your choices here. So let me know your thoughts. Do you have any of these Delta Amex cards? Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you in another video. Bye.