AMEX Delta: Six Co-Branded Cards Compared — Record-High 125,000 Bonus, Expires July 15!

These six Delta co-branded cards have limited-time welcome bonuses again, with the highest being 125,000. The best deal is Delta Gold, which should be an all-time-high 90,000 welcome bonus, and the first year annual fee is waived, so you can grab the bonus and decide in year two whether to keep it. The business Gold also has no first-year annual fee and a 90,000 bonus. This limited-time offer expires July 15, so act fast!

• Delta Gold 90,000 application link
• Delta Gold Business 90,000 application link

Delta-branded cards have already introduced the As High As model, but this limited-time all-time-high bonus is the real deal. As long as you apply through the link, the welcome bonus is guaranteed. The usual as high as offers are very much case-by-case, and people with a lot of cards often don’t get great offers, so I strongly recommend applying for a Delta co-branded card while this offer is available!

Also, all six card designs have been updated with new card art. New applications should get the new design, and if you already have the old card and want the new design, you can choose to replace it, and they’ll mail you a new one.

About this offer

AMEX has also increased the welcome bonuses on these six cards. My ranking is Gold>Platinum>Reserve, for both personal and business cards. First, starting with the lower annual fee means less pressure; second, Gold has no first-year annual fee and you can also use the reimbursement benefits twice, so it offers the best value; third, starting from the lower-tier cards and working up helps you avoid the AMEX same-card application restriction.

The welcome bonuses are unquestionably at a recent high, but all minimum spending requirements for the bonuses have been extended to six months, and the required spend has gone up as well. That’s also AMEX’s way of encouraging people to keep using the card long term instead of earning the bonus and running. And one more reminder: AMEX Delta personal cards are subject to same-card restrictions, while business cards are not for now, so pay attention when applying.

• AMEX same-card credit card restriction explained

Personal cards

• No first-year annual fee, plus a 90,000 welcome bonus. I’d recommend this card for most people; it gives you flexibility either way.

• If you want something stronger and fly Delta fairly often, you can consider this Platinum. Note that if you haven’t gotten Gold yet, you should do Gold first, because once you’ve gotten Platinum, you can no longer get the Gold bonus.

• If you want Delta elite status and access to Delta’s own airport lounges, you can consider this one, but it’s best suited for people who fly very frequently. It is not suitable for most people.

Business cards

• The business version is similar. Gold has no first-year annual fee, so it can be considered first. Most people can just choose this one.

• If you travel on Delta frequently or already have the Delta Business Gold, you can consider the Delta Business Platinum.

• If you want Delta elite status and access to Delta’s own airport lounges, you can consider this one, but it’s best suited for people who fly very frequently. It is not suitable for most people.

Below, I’ll briefly analyze a few topics that help with deciding between the cards and telling them apart.

Business cards vs. personal cards

If you’re not familiar with business credit cards, I recommend reading the articles below to understand them before applying.

• Introduction to business credit cards
• Recommended US business credit cards for small business

From a benefits perspective, the business Delta cards are about the same as the personal Delta cards, so there’s no strong preference for holding one over the other. That’s why I recommend starting with the personal cards: first Gold, then Platinum, and then the business versions of those two cards, so you can pick up the welcome bonuses on all four common cards. Your cost is basically just the first year’s annual fee. If you’re going to keep one, the business card is slightly better because it can get AMEX Small Business targeted offers, but the difference is very small.

Gold vs. Platinum

For personal cards, these two are probably the most obvious comparison. First, in terms of first-year value, Gold is clearly the better deal, since the first-year annual fee is waived, while the Delta Platinum has a higher annual fee and no first-year waiver. If you’re purely after the welcome bonus, I recommend getting Gold first, then downgrading or closing it in year two. Then, when a good Delta Platinum Offer comes around in year two, apply again and do the same after you get the bonus. From a long-term holding perspective, Platinum’s spending rebate advantage isn’t that attractive, because many other cards offer much better cash back on travel spending.

• Travel credit card comparison

Platinum’s most obvious advantage is the companion ticket. Starting in year two, after you pay the annual fee, you can receive one Companion Certificate (CP). With this CP, you can bring one companion with you for free on a Delta flight. It can only be used for round-trip economy travel within the 48 contiguous U.S. states; tickets must be booked at least 14 days before departure; you must pay for the airfare and the companion’s taxes with this credit card; the trip must include a stay of 3-30 days at the destination; and eligible fare classes are L, U, T, X, and V.

• Delta official explanation

If you can use this companion ticket every year, and its value is above $150 or even $250, then this Platinum card is definitely worth considering for long-term holding.

Delta card reimbursement benefits

AMEX recently updated the benefits on these six co-branded cards and added reimbursements. That’s also in step with the AMEX Platinum coupon book trend. Whether these changes are good or not really depends on whether you can actually use these reimbursements and benefits. Before applying, I still recommend carefully checking whether the new benefits fit your situation and whether you can use them or monetize them.

Hotel reimbursement

After the refresh, Delta Gold and the other co-branded cards also added hotel reimbursement, but you need to use the card to spend on delta.com/stays, which is Delta’s own travel booking site.

• AMEX Delta Gold: $100 per calendar year
• AMEX Delta Platinum Credit Card: $150 per calendar year
• AMEX Delta Reserve Credit Card: $200 per calendar year
• AMEX Gold Delta SkyMile Business Credit Card: $150 per calendar year
• AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMile Business Credit Card: $200 per calendar year
• AMEX Delta Reserve Business Credit Card: $250 per calendar year

It looks like this uses Expedia on the backend, so pricing is probably about the same as Expedia. I randomly checked prices in Times Square, New York

However, when I checked Expedia, Delta was generally more than 10% more expensive.Let's assume that a major platform like Expedia offers some of the lowest prices online in order to stay competitive. Delta's price here is still a bit on the high side, but the difference is manageable. For reimbursements of $100-$250, it's easy to use the benefit, and taking a loss of around 15% is acceptable. Then let's see whether there are any amounts that work well for reimbursement. Arranged from low to high, there are some lower-priced options.

In summary, these reimbursement perks are still usable, with only a small discount, and their overall value is still greater than the annual fee increase; but note that rooms booked on Delta will most likely not earn chain-hotel elite nights or points.

Rideshare reimbursement

The following Delta cards can each reimburse $10 per month for rideshare and car service expenses: Uber, Lyft, Curb, Revel, and AlDeltaVia can all be used, limited to the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; you must enroll in the benefit first

• AMEX Delta Platinum credit card:
• AMEX Delta Reserve credit card
• AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMile Business business credit card
• AMEX Delta Reserve Business business credit card

Resy.com reimbursement

• AMEX Delta Platinum credit card: Up to $10 per month in dining purchases on Resy.com can be reimbursed. You must first create a Resy.com account and complete the order using that account.
• AMEX Delta Reserve credit card: Up to $20 per month in dining purchases on Resy.com can be reimbursed. You must first create a Resy.com account and complete the order using that account.
• AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMile Business business credit card: Up to $10 per month in dining purchases on Resy.com can be reimbursed. You must first create a Resy.com account and complete the order using that account.
• AMEX Delta Reserve Business business credit card: Up to $20 per month in dining purchases on Resy.com can be reimbursed. You must first create a Resy.com account and complete the order using that account.

Summary

AMEX Expedia seems to be carrying on the old AMEX Expediabook tradition, and the added resy.com benefit has also been around in partnership with AMEX for a while. However, the Delta stay reimbursement perk still surprised me. The idea should be that Delta wants more people to book hotels on its own platform and earn some commission, and the Delta points it gives out are issued by itself anyway, so it doesn't really lose money.

For anyone planning to hold these three cards for only one year, this is definitely a good thing! Because these calendar-year reimbursements let you use the benefit twice in the first cardmember year across two calendar years, while the annual fee only goes up by $50-$100. If you already plan to keep these cards long term, then based on the analysis in our review, as long as you can use any one of these added reimbursement benefits, they'll be worth a bit more than before.

Finally, about welcome bonuses: these cards' new-card bonuses are among the highest lately, but the minimum spending period has all been extended to six months, and the spending amounts have increased as well. AMEX also wants people to keep using these cards long term instead of just earning the bonus and moving on.

If you haven't applied for a Delta series card yet, getting a Delta Gold card right now is the best choice.