Among the many airlines/travel credit card, Delta SkyMiles American Express Card stands out with unique benefits from both Delta Airlines and AMEX credit card.
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Delta SkyMiles has a great value with competitive redemption ratio ( minimum of 100 miles : $1 ) and this value gets better when you look for tickets under "Redeem miles" option at Delta.com. Few one way tickets start with 4,500 miles ( worth $45 ), but flight tickets may cost you between $50 to $100. This makes it interesting when you also travel by using the credit card. You can earn 2x-3x miles for purchases on Delta.
And, to make it more interesting, AMEX is running a limited time Memorial Day promotion with lucrative sign-up bonus. Expires on June 8, 2022
70,000 miles ( valued at $700 at a minimum ) after spending $2000 in first 3 months
No Annual fees for first year and if you decide to renew next year, choose Platinum card as you will get FREE Companion roundtrip ticket on your next renewal year
90,000 miles (valued at $900 at a minimum ) after spending $3000 in first 3 months.
10,000 MQMs, to help you inch closer towards delta's higher SkyMiles status
If you choose to renew the card every year, you will get a FREE companion ticket which can be worth as low as the ticket goes and to the maximum the price can go ( imagine you traveling during Spring/Summer or holiday season??? ). You will just be paying taxes for the second ticket.
My favorite is to get Gold Card with zero Annual fees and be eligible for 70,000 miles and try it out for an year. If you like it and choose to renew, you can also have an option to upgrade to Platinum card, making you eligible for an upgrade offer of usually 10,000 miles ( $100 worth ).
Below are few additional benefits available on both Cards
Earn a $100 Delta Flight Credit towards future travel after you spend $10K in purchases on the Card during a calendar year
Earn 2 miles per dollar at Restaurants including takeout and delivery and earn 2 miles per dollar at U.S. Supermarkets
First checked bag free on Delta Flights
Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding - board early, stow your carry-on bag and settle in to your seat sooner
Earn 2 miles per dollar on Delta Purchases
$0 Annual fees for first year for Gold Card and $99 as a renewal fees if you choose to renew after 1 year. And, for platinum card its $250 Annual fees. You get FREE companion ticket if you choose to renew after 1 year for platinum card
Please follow below steps to apply for the card. You should review, understand the benefits, Credit card terms and conditions and then only decide if it is a value add for you. In the next section(AMEX Offers), review the benefits which will offset your Annual fees and infact provide you with more savings.
Additional Benefits :
NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES
Receive 20% savings on IN-FLIGHT PURCHASES
Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance
Cell phone protection( $800), double warranty on purchases
Global Assist Hotline
AMEX Offers - > This is an amazing benefit offered by Amex Card. There are more than 100 discount/cashback offers varying across categories ( Electronics, Apparels, Home, Restaurants, Groceries, Travel etc… ). If we understand to efficiently use these offers, it would easily cover the yearly renewal fees. Below are few examples.
Dell - $120 back on $599 purchase
Microsoft - $75 back on $500 purchase
StitchFix - $25 back on $50 purchase
TotalWines - $20 back on $100 purchase
Restaurants - In 2021, this unique offer of Get $15 back every month on $15 purchase under restaurants category ( UberEats, Doordash, etc.. is covered as well ) was a steal
Samsclub - $25 back on $45 purchase for new membership
Amazon - $20 back on $40 purchase and also Amazon offers additional discount if we link the card to "Shop with Points" Program. Offer is subject to change and specific to users
I have just listed 5 of the offers among 100-150 such offers which will be available on an account. Now, important thing is not every Amex customer will have same offers. Based on their shopping trend, purchases and many other factors, AMEX adds tailored offers. For example, my partner got offers on Travel discounts, Amazon discount, Bestbuy, Macys, Walmart etc… which I didn't. But, we both were able to make use of the offers relevant to us.
In above example, I am easily saving $15 x 12 = $180, by just using Amex card to pay for the food. No doubt, I eat at restaurant at least once a month :-). This alone covered the Annual fees of AMEX DELTA Skymiles card - Gold. In addition, i have made purchases at Totalwines, StitchFix and few other stores among the 100 odd offers, which easily sums up to more than $300-$500 savings in a year. Again, this varies for each individual.
If you have a Platinum card, you will get a FREE Companion roundtrip ticket too. Its value depends on the route and time of your travel. We typically use it when the roundtrip ticket costs us couple of hundreds or during holiday or spring / summer time when the flight tickets are expensive. Other time, we use miles or look for cheaper options. By doing this, we typically save $300 to $500 at an average. There are times where tickets go crazy high as $900 and above, but unless emergency or an occasion which we cannot miss, we rarely travel at that time. But, if we do, its $900 savings :-).
Well, it was a long write-up and per my experience, below points make it a very interesting card
Sign up Bonus ( 70,000 miles ). This special bonus will expire soon
100+ Amex Offers which gets refreshed / updated regularly
FREE Companion ticket every year for renewing the Platinum Card
FREE Checked Bag fees for your 1st bag. It covers for all passengers in that reservation.
If this card interests you, please review its benefits on AMEX website, review their terms and conditions to make a decision to apply for the card.
Steps to Apply:
Click on "Learn More"
For Gold Card : Click on "View All Cards with a Referral offer", then scroll to choose Gold Card.
Expires on June 8, 2022. Read Terms & Conditions at below link before you apply. And, apply for this card or any other card only if it is a necessity. Never do impulsive shopping or impulsively apply for credit cards.
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